Close

[selby]

Sent in an early sick note I see, another two years of hit and miss to come.
  PS.
     Not many hits either if past history is anything to go on.

[DonnyBazR0ver]

For balance, what's your view on Miller missing Portugal then?

[Reg of the Rovers]

Miller got a bit more credit in the bank for being one highlight of a terrible team year before last, but he's missed 12 months of football now so needs to start to get back on the pitch and showing what he can do. With Ironside and Sharp, plus the quality out wide now Miller is probably third choice striker.

Close however has been pretty poor when he has played and missed a lot of football. Plus centre of the pitch is where we're shortest of strength in depth so I'm with Selby, Close has to be on borrowed time now - show us you can be fit and quality consistently or get your coat.

[roversdude]

To be fair it was a horrible challenge that crocked him this time and he had been playing well up to then. I’m one of his biggest critics but the injury wasn’t his fault not like he pulled up etc.
That said if he is to play the Matty Craig role I’m a little worried

[DearneValleyRover]

Not sure we will be showing him the door having given him a new 2 year contract although I personally have no idea why.

[selby]

I hope he proves me wrong, but he had the same problem at Portsmouth before we signed him. At the moment he must be up there as one of the poorest returns on our investment.

[ravenrover]

It's not a case of proving you right or wrrong. All that matters is GM see's the player in him. I'll take his opinion over yours

[Padge_DRFC]

Odd resigning I thought. Same with Westbrook. Weakest part of our team currently for sure.

[selby]

  Well Raven he has two years to show something, the last few have been poor, and these two years are not getting away to the best, but probably an expected start by the looks of it.
  Close and Miller want to think themselves lucky they are at a benevolent club, if they had been race horses I don't think the owners would have been so patient.

[Alan Southstand]

Doesn’t this really underline the fact that we are going to sorely miss what young Craig brought to the party. We simply have to find another Matty Craig before we kick off.

[ncRover]

We have gained a playmaker in midfield by replacing Biggins with Sbarra. Gibson can play in midfield too and is creative.

Close and Westbrooke rotation is fine

Nothing to suggest Close has been reinjured and Miller came back way ahead of schedule

[selby]

I agree Alan, or Broadbent who is well thought of both here and Sheff U to come to the party.
  A lot of people in the game thought he would be major player for us last season, lets hope he shows how good he can be this season.

[DonnyOsmond]

I agree Alan, or Broadbent who is well thought of both here and Sheff U to come to the party.
  A lot of people in the game thought he would be major player for us last season, lets hope he shows how good he can be this season.

Close and Westbrooke have both done a lot more in their careers and have a lot more ability than Broadbent.

[DonnyBazR0ver]

Doesn’t this really underline the fact that we are going to sorely miss what young Craig brought to the party. We simply have to find another Matty Craig before we kick off.

Not necessarily. Of course, Craig was an exceptional player for us, but we have to adapt and find the best combinations using the strengths of the players we have that make us effective enough to win games.

Defending and attacking as a unit, minimising those gaps, getting the ball from back to front, quickly and efficiently is what we all want to see. That maybe from more possession based football, who knows what McCann has in mind with the personnel available. We might not need a Matthew Craig clone to be successful.

[selby]

Westbrooke has had periods where he was the stand out midfielder  in what was our worst performing midfield as a unit in quite some years.
  Close when fit, and he missed long periods, was very poor and a member of that midfield at the same time, often over run, bullied and out fought, a nightmare to play behind with little thought of tracking back, and rarely played the telling ball forward, hence our poor scoring record and goals conceded.
  We were a poor side until Christmas last season when he was the mainstay of our midfield, again when fit, and we were a bottom four side when he got injured, and he was a member of a poor mid field when we got relegated from division1, again having periods of injury.
  In those seasons we have had keepers slaughtered on here, Defenders and attackers also when they have been completely let down in midfield, and poor performers put on a pedestal, then we get two loan players in and things change dramatically.
   I definitely don't see what others see obviously.
 
 

[DonnyOsmond]

Westbrooke has had periods where he was the stand out midfielder  in what was our worst performing midfield as a unit in quite some years.
  Close when fit, and he missed long periods, was very poor and a member of that midfield at the same time, often over run, bullied and out fought, a nightmare to play behind with little thought of tracking back, and rarely played the telling ball forward, hence our poor scoring record and goals conceded.
  We were a poor side until Christmas last season when he was the mainstay of our midfield, again when fit, and we were a bottom four side when he got injured, and he was a member of a poor mid field when we got relegated from division1, again having periods of injury.
  In those seasons we have had keepers slaughtered on here, Defenders and attackers also when they have been completely let down in midfield, and poor performers put on a pedestal, then we get two loan players in and things change dramatically.
   I definitely don't see what others see obviously.
 
 

This is opinions, factually with Close and Westbrooke in the team our results were far better than without them, prior to February.

[DearneValleyRover]

Westbrooke has had periods where he was the stand out midfielder  in what was our worst performing midfield as a unit in quite some years.
  Close when fit, and he missed long periods, was very poor and a member of that midfield at the same time, often over run, bullied and out fought, a nightmare to play behind with little thought of tracking back, and rarely played the telling ball forward, hence our poor scoring record and goals conceded.
  We were a poor side until Christmas last season when he was the mainstay of our midfield, again when fit, and we were a bottom four side when he got injured, and he was a member of a poor mid field when we got relegated from division1, again having periods of injury.
  In those seasons we have had keepers slaughtered on here, Defenders and attackers also when they have been completely let down in midfield, and poor performers put on a pedestal, then we get two loan players in and things change dramatically.
   I definitely don't see what others see obviously.
 
 

This is opinions, factually with Close and Westbrooke in the team our results were far better than without them, prior to February.

Not disputing that, the problem is they are hardly on the pitch

[Dutch Uncle]

Doesn’t this really underline the fact that we are going to sorely miss what young Craig brought to the party. We simply have to find another Matty Craig before we kick off.

Not necessarily. Of course, Craig was an exceptional player for us, but we have to adapt and find the best combinations using the strengths of the players we have that make us effective enough to win games.

Defending and attacking as a unit, minimising those gaps, getting the ball from back to front, quickly and efficiently is what we all want to see. That maybe from more possession based football, who knows what McCann has in mind with the personnel available. We might not need a Matthew Craig clone to be successful.

Good comment DBR. This reminds me of the time after our first season in the Championship and SOD made a similar sort of remark about the seemingly impossible task of replacing Mills and Wellens. He talked of finding a way to play with different players rather than replacing like with like. We ended up signing Oster on a free and loaning Sharp and Shackell and doing even better.

[Petche]

Wasn't sure about the Oster signing at the time but he was magnificent!

[Janso]

Wasn't sure about the Oster signing at the time but he was magnificent!

Shame he thought he was too good for us when we got relegated only to end up at I think Barnet.