Lack of mesters

[BillyStubbsTears]

It's painfully obvious. Several weeks now of too many players performing at 80% and no-one demanding that they run through brick walls.

Disappointing but that's the season done now. We're not going to get close to 25 points from the last 12 games.

[drfchound]

Agreed BST, we don't seem to be able to compete with teams who rough us up.

[Retdon1]

Season over now. All about getting ready for a rebuild in the summer and having a proper go at getting promoted next season

[scawsby steve]

It's painfully obvious. Several weeks now of too many players performing at 80% and no-one demanding that they run through brick walls.

Disappointing but that's the season done now. We're not going to get close to 25 points from the last 12 games.

Absolutely true. The team that won the league 7 years ago was everything that this team isn't.

[pib]

I think leaving two of your best attacking players on the bench might play a part as well.

[Colin C No.3]

Yeah that’s what we need ‘mesters’.

All the best teams ‘av’ ‘em.

Liverpool.....?
Man City......?
Leicester.......?
Chelsea........?
Barcelona.....?

Mesters my a**e. It’s a cohesive football team we’re short of.

It’ll come....next season.

[firestarter]

It’s league 1 football tho Colin .. the majority of successful sides at this level needs a bit of steel.. we haven’t

[steve@dcfd]

I think leaving two of your best attacking players on the bench might play a part as well.

But only one has got 10 goals the others are in single figures. We have not replaced goals from last season. It’s not mesters it’s not nice footballers it’s goal scorers they cost money and we haven’t got enough. Only one just in double figures.

[drfchound]

I think leaving two of your best attacking players on the bench might play a part as well.

But only one has got 10 goals the others are in single figures. We have not replaced goals from last season. It’s not mesters it’s not nice footballers it’s goal scorers they cost money and we haven’t got enough. Only one just in double figures.

I know this might be hard to believe steve but we are the fourth highest scorers in the division.
Yes, I know that we got seven at Southend but Rotherham and Peterbro have had a few fives and sixes too.

[steve@dcfd]

I know but we don’t have the clinical striker for tight games.

[BillyStubbsTears]

Yeah that’s what we need ‘mesters’.

All the best teams ‘av’ ‘em.

Liverpool.....?
Man City......?
Leicester.......?
Chelsea........?
Barcelona.....?

Mesters my a**e. It’s a cohesive football team we’re short of.

It’ll come....next season.

I'm talking about MENTAL steel. The sort of characters who demand that players don't drop their standards.

Ours have sunk badly this month and there's no-one you can look at in the team and think "There's the leader."

You reckon those sides you listed don't have those characters? I think they are shot through with them.

[Bentley Bullet]

I think We are too slow and don't pass the ball quick enough.

It's like watching 11 slugs on valium.

[BigH]

It's painfully obvious. Several weeks now of too many players performing at 80% and no-one demanding that they run through brick walls.

Disappointing but that's the season done now. We're not going to get close to 25 points from the last 12 games.

Couldn't agree more. There was no sign of any steel, desire or winning mentality today.

We're a soft touch at the moment. Anyone who really wants to beat us can.

The challenge for DM is to inculcate some winning mentality and attitude into a team where it felt today as if half the players were on a nice little secondment as part of some career development exercise. Not easy.

[GazLaz]

It would help if Dazza picked the strongest team.

[steve@dcfd]

Sads yes should have played but nobody else really in my opinion.
For next season we need players like BST with mental steel. We bring in young players who are still developing sometimes they click but are not consistent.

[BillyStubbsTears]

I think We are too slow and don't pass the ball quick enough.

It's like watching 11 slugs on valium.

Bang on. When we are good, there's a dynamism about our passing. Last few weeks it's been badly missing.

[GazLaz]

Sads yes should have played but nobody else really in my opinion.
For next season we need players like BST with mental steel. We bring in young players who are still developing sometimes they click but are not consistent.

That’s the thing with loan players, it’s not as if we are even developing them for our own future gain.

[PDX_Rover]

I lost count of the number of times we played around at the back today and got caught out or almost got caught out. Great when it works but we need to alternate our game a bit.

[mushRTID]

Agreed BST, we don't seem to be able to compete with teams who rough us up.

I agree but don’t think it applies today. Shrewsbury didn’t even rough us up. They were worse than us, no idea how we lost.

[steve@dcfd]

Sads yes should have played but nobody else really in my opinion.
For next season we need players like BST with mental steel. We bring in young players who are still developing sometimes they click but are not consistent.

That’s the thing with loan players, it’s not as if we are even developing them for our own future gain.

But will the club spend the money to bring in developed players instead of young loanees. Kane and Wilks came good last season but not going to happen every year.

[BillyStubbsTears]

Sads yes should have played but nobody else really in my opinion.
For next season we need players like BST with mental steel. We bring in young players who are still developing sometimes they click but are not consistent.

That’s the thing with loan players, it’s not as if we are even developing them for our own future gain.

But will the club spend the money to bring in developed players instead of young loanees. Kane and Wilks came good last season but not going to happen every year.

You mean like Whiteman, Sadlier, Taylor, Halliday, James and Anderson?

[mrfrostsdad]

I really think the big issue is the number of loanees.
If you have 5 loan players playing every week, every season , it's all but half the team. You don't get promoted, the loan players go back (maybe even if you do as well) and so it goes on.
We've a huge re-building job this summer. Should Sadlier go (very likely) we need to bring in a minimum of 6 players who are tried and tested at this level, permanent signings, not loanees.
That will probably cost more money than we're prepared to spend. Or maybe not, who knows.
Loans are not the way forward. IMO obvs

[steve@dcfd]

Sads yes should have played but nobody else really in my opinion.
For next season we need players like BST with mental steel. We bring in young players who are still developing sometimes they click but are not consistent.

That’s the thing with loan players, it’s not as if we are even developing them for our own future gain.

But will the club spend the money to bring in developed players instead of young loanees. Kane and Wilks came good last season but not going to happen every year.

You mean like Whiteman, Sadlier, Taylor, Halliday, James and Anderson?

6 good players but 1,2or 3 could be gone in the summer. Along with all the loanees. So we will have to sign more developed players to be a better consistent side.

[vaya]

Sads yes should have played but nobody else really in my opinion.
For next season we need players like BST with mental steel. We bring in young players who are still developing sometimes they click but are not consistent.

That’s the thing with loan players, it’s not as if we are even developing them for our own future gain.

But will the club spend the money to bring in developed players instead of young loanees. Kane and Wilks came good last season but not going to happen every year.

You mean like Whiteman, Sadlier, Taylor, Halliday, James and Anderson?

6 good players but 1,2or 3 could be gone in the summer. Along with all the loanees. So we will have to sign more developed players to be a better consistent side.

Like Cole and Fejiri?

[drfchound]

Isn’t Cole signed to the end of the season....with an option to extend.
The way he is performing he won’t get the extension.

[Spud]

We're a frustrating side to watch atm, we were saying on the way home that we're a side full of talent but definitely missing something, a proper midfield mester for starters.
I agree with the OP in the main, I would say Halliday was the exception today though, particularly in the second half he was everywhere trying to drive the team forward.

[Spud]

Isn’t Cole signed to the end of the season....with an option to extend.
The way he is performing he won’t get the extension.

What I don't get about Cole is why, when the ball is played out to the wing, he goes following it out there to within ten yards of whoever is on the ball. Get in front of goal man, who are we supposed to cross to ???

[tyke1962]

I really think the big issue is the number of loanees.
If you have 5 loan players playing every week, every season , it's all but half the team. You don't get promoted, the loan players go back (maybe even if you do as well) and so it goes on.
We've a huge re-building job this summer. Should Sadlier go (very likely) we need to bring in a minimum of 6 players who are tried and tested at this level, permanent signings, not loanees.
That will probably cost more money than we're prepared to spend. Or maybe not, who knows.
Loans are not the way forward. IMO obvs

Agree I think the huge reliance on loans is definitely having an adverse effect on your ability to get out of league one and become a championship club .

It's perfectly fine to keep you stable at this level but that's obviously not the end game at Rovers .

If your better young players are loans then you aren't creating future revenue when they can be sold on at a good profit and give you an edge in League One .

Loans with an option to buy is perhaps worth looking at in the summer as an alternative strategy .

[drfchound]

Bang on tyke.
We will face a virtual rebuild again in summer as well as probably losing some of our own players, people like Sadlier who will be getting totally brassed off at being left out of the team when he clearly is one of our better ones.

[Jonathan]

The decision not to play Sadlier in the recent games is just bizarre, and I think
DM needs to explain it.

He’d been in arguably his best form of the season and is our biggest goal threat by some distance. The tinkering with the team is crazy. DM shouldn’t be above criticism, this has been poor management.