Do we need a centre half?

[balbyrover]

I thought Fielding did OK on loan last season. Why isn't he at a higher level?

I thought that..seems quite a low level to be playing at.

[glosterred]

I thought Fielding did OK on loan last season. Why isn't he at a higher level?

I thought that..seems quite a low level to be playing at.

Would higher placed teams be willing to guarantee starting positions for these young lads, probably not.


COYR

[dickos1]

Nobody should be a guaranteed a starting place anywhere

[steve@dcfd]

All three are on initial loans of month,  the reserve league, the Central league, does not start until September so he might bring them back for then.

About the level they are playing it's about which teams want them, they are young players.

[drfchound]

Why spoil what we've got? Butler and Baudry (when fit have the experience.) Wright is proving to be good enough and then we have Luke and Craig who know this league well enough. Save the money and bring in Houghton imo 😀👍

Alcock isn't good enough, he's not played well for 12 months. Luke isn't fit and when he is fit he will only play centre half now if we are absolutely desperate, he will fight for the holding role.

He needs to work on his distribution if that's where he sees himself playing IMHO. Too many loose passes in the Hartlepool game as an example.

TBF Luke had had four very good games prior to Hartlepool.
Fans had rated his performances highly.

[Paul Simpson]

People remember the odd bad performance over the many very good ones?

[IDM]

Some do, yes..

I thought Luke had slotted back into the team very well after his injury, like he had never been missing.. any player can have a poor game..

I have been saying for ages that Luke will make an outstanding defensive midfielder..

[wing commander]

    I'm tipping Wright to be a bit of a star this season...He was terribly unlucky not to get much of a chance last season even Ferguson said that, as he didn't let us down when called upon,he didn't throw his toys out the pram he just worked hard waiting for a chance...Give him a run in the team and chance to get a good understanding going and he will feel like a new signing for us..

[anton123]

Joe will be a £2 million defender in 2 years the next mat mills for us I believe keep up the good work son

[ravenrover]

Nobody should be a guaranteed a starting place anywhere

Unless of course it's part of the loan agreement😉

[RoversAlias]

McCullough was brilliant at Grimsby, ran the show in a 5-1 win and this was immediately after coming back from almost the full year out with a very bad knee injury. He was excellent in every game until the Hartlepool match which Fergie said immediately afterwards was a game too far for him and he took the blame for selecting him when he shouldn't have.

[dickos1]

Nobody should be a guaranteed a starting place anywhere

Unless of course it's part of the loan agreement😉

That's what I mean, agreements shouldn't be made like that.
Ferguson won't sign anyone that stipulates a guaranteed starting place.

[steve@dcfd]

There is a question about Baudrys and McCulloughs injury record with either the same Achilles and Knee being injured again. Will they come back fully fit, will they have same problems weeks into the season.

So I believe we need another central defender and if we can Houghton back. We don't need the defender or Houghton to come in with stipulations they must play. Wright and Butler at moment are playing well. But any injury to them would leave us short.

[drfchound]

STEVE, I may be wrong but i feel sure that when Luke was injured DF said it was a different injury to the one he had last season.

[ravenrover]

Nobody should be a guaranteed a starting place anywhere

Unless of course it's part of the loan agreement😉

That's what I mean, agreements shouldn't be made like that.
Ferguson won't sign anyone that stipulates a guaranteed starting place.

Are you sure about that?

[dickos1]

He's said it himself.

[ravenrover]

Strange how he persisted in playing Calder and Grant even though they weren't performing very well, Mason and Houghton played well so deserved to be picked each week but I still have my doubts DF says a lot of things sometimes which turn out to be not quite the truth

[idler]

Unless he has learned his lesson with those two.

[dickos1]

Strange how he persisted in playing Calder and Grant even though they weren't performing very well, Mason and Houghton played well so deserved to be picked each week but I still have my doubts DF says a lot of things sometimes which turn out to be not quite the truth

Calder and grant were on the bench numerous times

[DonnyBazR0ver]

On month long loans then there's likely to be clauses about the loanee playing every game but, that's unlikely for longer term loans like Whiteman's and Kongolo's.

As for Wright, he looks as though he has improved however, he's got a little way to go yet in experience to be the dominant centre half. The signs are good though.

[ravenrover]

Strange how he persisted in playing Calder and Grant even though they weren't performing very well, Mason and Houghton played well so deserved to be picked each week but I still have my doubts DF says a lot of things sometimes which turn out to be not quite the truth

Calder and grant were on the bench numerous times

Agreed, but mainly towards the end of their loan period when it was obvious we weren't going to extend

[TheFunk]

I saw an interview with Harry Redknapp recently and he was talking about loans. Apparently a lot of clubs do insist on the players getting a game and the penalty for not starting them is a doubling of the weekly contribution. Scary thought if true.

[drfchound]

Back on topic, the Daily Star today has a piece with DF saying he is puzzled why some fans were doubting Andy Butlers capability to do the business in L1 and that he is cooling his chase for a new CB.

[GazLaz]

Back on topic, the Daily Star today has a piece with DF saying he is puzzled why some fans were doubting Andy Butlers capability to do the business in L1 and that he is cooling his chase for a new CB.

Why was he looking for another one then, he either thought Butler or Wright weren't up to it and he thinks he's been proven wrong.

[mushRTID]

Butler was shocking last time in league one so you can't blame fans doubting, it's natural.

However he's come back in unreal shape and has started well by all accounts (iv only been Gillingham game) so fair play to him.

[swintonrover]

I don't want a new CB because of a slight on Wright or Butler, but if one of them gets injured we're in trouble. We've got no depth at Centre Back.

[drfchound]

Back on topic, the Daily Star today has a piece with DF saying he is puzzled why some fans were doubting Andy Butlers capability to do the business in L1 and that he is cooling his chase for a new CB.

Why was he looking for another one then, he either thought Butler or Wright weren't up to it and he thinks he's been proven wrong.

I think the latter is the truth.
Anyone who thinks Andy was shocking in L1 should also consider that he was playing in a system that, in the main, didn't suit the players we had at that time.
He is always better in a four.
He will prove a lot of doubters wrong this season.

Also, don't forget that Baudry is back soon.

[Alan Southstand]

We're going found in circles with this. We know Bawdry and McCullough are both supposed to be back fairly soon. What none of us know is whether either of them or both are going to come back and be fit and well. You're assuming they are and we all hope they are, but......

Also, we have 3 tough games next week and the one part of the team where we can't rest anyone is at cb. Go figure.

[Brian Young]

We have historically not been blessed with good luck where defenders are concerned, you've only got look at Jones who until he came to Rovers didn't have day off and gets injured once and it was down hill from there on . We lost the same two defenders last season and we list Butler for the odd game . So I think one more would make sense , yet it seems unlikely perhaps due to constraints on the wage bill.

[mushRTID]

We have historically not been blessed with good luck where defenders are concerned, you've only got look at Jones who until he came to Rovers didn't have day off and gets injured once and it was down hill from there on . We lost the same two defenders last season and we list Butler for the odd game . So I think one more would make sense , yet it seems unlikely perhaps due to constraints on the wage bill.

The money will still be there that we offered Taylor won't it?