Recruitment

[StocksArmy]

It seems fans are starting to lose trust in GM, his tactics and the recruitment so, just looking through recruitment alone since he rejoined us. If you were TB and GB, would you be happy? I might have missed some players but, here is my opinion.

Joe Ironside- Keep. Tactics have hung him out to dry this season.

Deji Sotona- Say no more.

Richard Wood- Mixed bag of emotions for me. Lead the playoff charge and was unbelievable in that period but, can that deem him good business? I’m on the fence.

Sterry- Another mixed bag. Wouldn’t say good signing but by no means a bad one and definitely not as bad as people make out.

McGrath- Great find, been brilliant so far.

Lawlor- Joke of a signing.

Jack Senior- I rate him but clearly McCann doesn’t see him first choice. He’s head and shoulders  better player than Fleming.

Bailey- Think we all agree on him. If I hear anyone say he’s been poor again I’ll scream. The 2 who play with him simply aren’t good enough.

Broadbent- Improved this season but IMO, poor signing.

Tom Nixon- Can’t wait to get him fit. Very good player.

Gibson- Waste of time/ money

Sharp- Not what we needed but probably no better option in League 2 football than bringing him off the bench.

Sbarra- From what I have seen very poor signing.

Clifton- For me a massive for how we play. Gets a lot of mixed opinions but, I really like him.

Emmanuel- Unpopular opinion but for me, rubbish.

Loans:
TLT- Class act
Haks- The one player we miss the most
Waters- Say no more
Craig- Miss him
Faal- Would take him back
Marsh- Didn’t get to see enough of him
Carty- Same as Marsh
Tyler Roberts- Crap
TSL- Could and should have signed better
Fleming- Would send him back now
Yeboah- Say no more
Kelly- Tidy footballer but not cut out for men’s football atm. Would send him back.
Street- Looks like he will be good.

Adding into this the new contracts given to Westbrooke and Close I think there is a lot of wasted money to answer for. Again, it’s only my opinion. Just think McCanns godlike status amongst our support isn’t justified and disappointment should be landing at his door. There is a lot of pressure on him to get this right and it has to start at Gillingham. We have just under 2 weeks to get new faces in before that game and lift the squad. Praying he proves myself and the rest of the doubters wrong.

[mpc123]

It depends how you look at things.

A quick change in midfield and all these could look to us like good players.

At the moment without that midfield everything and everyone looks disjointed.

Look at it as a manager.

You say lawlor joke of a signing?

If you sign someone you can trust and you know long term he will be on the bench but showcase a true professional within a budget then he can be a solid signing, as top keepers aren't going to come here and sit on the bench.

It needs a change in a few things for me.

We have some great forward players, yet all of them are expected to be the best defenders on corners against us.

Yesterday TSL was desperate to throw the ball out after he caught a corner. Nobody is up, that's a real opportunity  for attacking players but they are denied it based on the choices of the management team.

I don't think it will take much change to get most of these players you have flagged off actually looking half decent in games.

It's not just a case of are they good players, they wouldn't be in professional football if they weren't decent players.

[andyst79]

Not far off with that assessment but you're wrong on TSL , quality keeper for a young kid, great command of his area and superb distribution good shot stopping also had has had much more to do than TLT. I'd like to think there's time for Gibson to come good. Too early to judge Street but offered miles more in that 2nd half than Molyneux has for weeks.
 As regards to the board I'd be asking questions as they've backed the manager with the players he wanted and even went out and got business done early in the window. Then with injuries to fullbacks further reinforcements were fetched in to cover an already bloated squad. Now it seems we've got to do more business in January to make us competitive, this is after GM's said he wants to win the league, he's happy with the squad, even gone as far to say Gibson & Molly are the best 2 wingers in the league and where's this fast flowing , attacking football that was promised?

[andyst79]

It depends how you look at things.

A quick change in midfield and all these could look to us like good players.

At the moment without that midfield everything and everyone looks disjointed.

Look at it as a manager.

You say lawlor joke of a signing?

If you sign someone you can trust and you know long term he will be on the bench but showcase a true professional within a budget then he can be a solid signing, as top keepers aren't going to come here and sit on the bench.

It needs a change in a few things for me.

We have some great forward players, yet all of them are expected to be the best defenders on corners against us.

Yesterday TSL was desperate to throw the ball out after he caught a corner. Nobody is up, that's a real opportunity  for attacking players but they are denied it based on the choices of the management team.

I don't think it will take much change to get most of these players you have flagged off actually looking half decent in games.

It's not just a case of are they good players, they wouldn't be in professional football if they weren't decent players.

Agree a signing or 2 in midfield could completely change the dynamics of the team but GM doesn't do himself no favours giving it the big un.

[StocksArmy]

It depends how you look at things.

A quick change in midfield and all these could look to us like good players.

At the moment without that midfield everything and everyone looks disjointed.

Look at it as a manager.

You say lawlor joke of a signing?

If you sign someone you can trust and you know long term he will be on the bench but showcase a true professional within a budget then he can be a solid signing, as top keepers aren't going to come here and sit on the bench.

It needs a change in a few things for me.

We have some great forward players, yet all of them are expected to be the best defenders on corners against us.

Yesterday TSL was desperate to throw the ball out after he caught a corner. Nobody is up, that's a real opportunity  for attacking players but they are denied it based on the choices of the management team.

I don't think it will take much change to get most of these players you have flagged off actually looking half decent in games.

It's not just a case of are they good players, they wouldn't be in professional football if they weren't decent players.

Last season he gave Jones a new contract and signed Lawlor. Between them they played every game until he realised they were no good and brought in TLT so, Lawlor was signed for first choice IMO. Not to sit on the bench.

I agree that a couple of midfielders could change the whole dynamic of the squad and its performances but again, this was an error made in the summer. If it wasn’t, these players we are looking at would be coming in to boost us if injuries hit, they are now coming in to get us promoted which I am sure was not the plan.

[Ryaldinhio]

I don't see fans losing trust in GM. Hear a few on here mentioning it but it's the few I don't bother listening to because they generally talk 

GM has had to use the budget to build a squad in a few windows. It wasn't like he was left a decent team and just had to add a few.

Also regards the transfers and the ones that didn't work out, show me any club and/or any manager who has 100% success in the transfer market??? Its the same as any industry when your building a team, you will employ 10 find 3 or 4 worth keeping so next time you need to find 6 to swap.

The only descision I would question was giving BOTH close and westbrooke an extension. I could understand one or the other but both was strange.

People talk of the budget like there is an open cheque book. Yes Terry has backed the team financially but its spoken about like we should be Birmingham or something.

Grant has always said from day dot that he wants 2 men for every position, he would have said that in his interview with TB so squad size shouldn't be a surprise.

Regards the board questioning where we are they will look at 5 yrs of dropping down the league, will look at where we were last yr and where we are now and for the first time in a long time it's progress.

Grant and Cliff are the best management team we could get at this level IMO. If we let them go we really would be in trouble.

[andyst79]

Why's Westbrook been nowhere near the squad for weeks? Thought he was well over that injury? I could be wrong but has there been some kind of falling out?! In Grants interview the other week when he mentioned he'd shake their hand at the end of the season maybe somethings been said? I could be well wide of the mark , just a thought.

[danumdon]

Not far off with that assessment but you're wrong on TSL , quality keeper for a young kid, great command of his area and superb distribution good shot stopping also had has had much more to do than TLT. I'd like to think there's time for Gibson to come good. Too early to judge Street but offered miles more in that 2nd half than Molyneux has for weeks.
 As regards to the board I'd be asking questions as they've backed the manager with the players he wanted and even went out and got business done early in the window. Then with injuries to fullbacks further reinforcements were fetched in to cover an already bloated squad. Now it seems we've got to do more business in January to make us competitive, this is after GM's said he wants to win the league, he's happy with the squad, even gone as far to say Gibson & Molly are the best 2 wingers in the league and where's this fast flowing , attacking football that was promised?

Just on TSL in particular, you say he's a great shot stopper. I agree that he has good potential and will develop into a good keeper but i thought he could of done better with both goals yesterday, in fact if you look at a good number of goal conceded he always looks like he could have done better.

[DonnyOsmond]

His shot stopping is his worst attribute.

[andyst79]

Not far off with that assessment but you're wrong on TSL , quality keeper for a young kid, great command of his area and superb distribution good shot stopping also had has had much more to do than TLT. I'd like to think there's time for Gibson to come good. Too early to judge Street but offered miles more in that 2nd half than Molyneux has for weeks.
 As regards to the board I'd be asking questions as they've backed the manager with the players he wanted and even went out and got business done early in the window. Then with injuries to fullbacks further reinforcements were fetched in to cover an already bloated squad. Now it seems we've got to do more business in January to make us competitive, this is after GM's said he wants to win the league, he's happy with the squad, even gone as far to say Gibson & Molly are the best 2 wingers in the league and where's this fast flowing , attacking football that was promised?

Just on TSL in particular, you say he's a great shot stopper. I agree that he has good potential and will develop into a good keeper but i thought he could of done better with both goals yesterday, in fact if you look at a good number of goal conceded he always looks like he could have done better.

He's made some important saves for us this season, he was a little shaky to start off with but he's growing in confidence and improving all the time. Disagree on yesterday's goals the 2nd he had it covered until it deflected over him off McGrath. As for the 1st he looked unsighted through a crowd of body's and was wrong footed by a good finish, if anyone should have done better it was Olowu who got absolutely rinsed by their striker. If it had been Sterry people would have been having kittens on here.

[danumdon]

Looking at our squad of players you can see that its been developed with a certain game plan in mind. We've never really had the top quality to go full 433 so we have to fall back onto a 4231. Its built and designed around the qualities of the wide players who are the front line of the attacking force, the ball is expected to be kept until we can have the wingers breaking forward and to break infield with there corresponding full backs creating the overlap width and crosses, the wingers, who are inverted are designed to break inside and get balls and shots off on their best foot.

With this being the favoured formation the middle of the pitch has a requirement to be solid, unspectacular but with a mandate to support and ensure the ball is provided for the wide players to be the creative force the centre forward is going to be spending much of his game attempting to hold up through balls, supply the wings and be in position for any crosses that get delivered or feed of any scraps in the box, a very hard and specific task.

The fact that we've been found out and every manager has our number is now a big issue as our quality is not good enough to counter this, it then has us playing catch up with systems that are not our first choice and we as a squad don't move and pass sufficiently quickly or with enough quality to deal with it, it's why we end up constantly holding the ball in the back 5 and struggle to get runners into space to relieve the back line, this makes us look very slow and one paced. The midfield don't have the legs and engine to relieve and change the point of attack alongside the centre forwards who are built and designed for specific roles which are slightly different to our current requirement.

We do have two players for each position, unfortunately the second player is virtually a mirror of the first choice so we don't have a great deal of flexibility to change things.

Its a case of if our wide players don't perform then we really are on the back foot, our play just becomes a stop and rewind of the ball being constantly held in the back, no forward runners to relieve the block and our game plan is defective.

Players like Street , who had a very good debut will help this cause massively as he has pace and movement to create an out ball, but they need the whole system to function, we have log jam of midfielders who don't have the dual capabilities of defensive quality and lung bursting endurance to go with play making and creative skills.

Its a constant development of our squad that's required, GM was never going to be able to rectify our deficiencies in a short space of time, time and patience is needed along with some help in this window followed up by some rethink in the summer.

GM needs us all to stay calm and stick with him, anyone else attempting to get a tune out of this collection of players would do far worse and require a complete rebuild, at this time we just need a couple of astute additions to get the rest of the squad firing. GM knows what he needs and i'm quite sure he's working on that right now.

[obeonesarover]

on TSL being a good shot stopper, both the goals yesterday went through him, his positioning ok but his shot stopping reactions are too slow, this is not the first time he lets in goals that even Jones would gobble up, I agree his distribution is good but this lad sees himself as a sweeper the first goal yesterday went right under him and was only medium strength power , maybe we are crowding him out and should give him more room but for me TLT instead of TSL and we would be romping this league

[DonnyOsmond]

on TSL being a good shot stopper, both the goals yesterday went through him, his positioning ok but his shot stopping reactions are too slow, this is not the first time he lets in goals that even Jones would gobble up, I agree his distribution is good but this lad sees himself as a sweeper the first goal yesterday went right under him and was only medium strength power , maybe we are crowding him out and should give him more room but for me TLT instead of TSL and we would be romping this league

Walsall are better than us but we'd at least look more comfortable in the automatic spots.

[danumdon]

Not far off with that assessment but you're wrong on TSL , quality keeper for a young kid, great command of his area and superb distribution good shot stopping also had has had much more to do than TLT. I'd like to think there's time for Gibson to come good. Too early to judge Street but offered miles more in that 2nd half than Molyneux has for weeks.
 As regards to the board I'd be asking questions as they've backed the manager with the players he wanted and even went out and got business done early in the window. Then with injuries to fullbacks further reinforcements were fetched in to cover an already bloated squad. Now it seems we've got to do more business in January to make us competitive, this is after GM's said he wants to win the league, he's happy with the squad, even gone as far to say Gibson & Molly are the best 2 wingers in the league and where's this fast flowing , attacking football that was promised?

Just on TSL in particular, you say he's a great shot stopper. I agree that he has good potential and will develop into a good keeper but i thought he could of done better with both goals yesterday, in fact if you look at a good number of goal conceded he always looks like he could have done better.

He's made some important saves for us this season, he was a little shaky to start off with but he's growing in confidence and improving all the time. Disagree on yesterday's goals the 2nd he had it covered until it deflected over him off McGrath. As for the 1st he looked unsighted through a crowd of body's and was wrong footed by a good finish, if anyone should have done better it was Olowu who got absolutely rinsed by their striker. If it had been Sterry people would have been having kittens on here.

Yep fair enough, Olowu did get done but its incumbent on the rest of the defence to close down attacking players, their payer had daylight around him to score.

To me the keeper dived over the top of the first and was going down too early for the second, deflection noted.

[andyst79]

We'll agree to disagree on the goals, Olowu's been superb for us this season and will be disappointed with the goal , he got back and did the right thing not rashly diving in and giving a penalty away. As you say others weren't tracking runners but sometimes you've just got to hold your hand up and say it was a good finish. I think the goalkeeper is the least of our concerns at the moment.

[wilts rover]

If I was TB or GB I wouldn't be concerned myself with player recruitment. That's entirely down to the person I aappointed to manage the team to use the budget he was given in the way he sees best. Let people on forums/social media debate about individual players.

I would however be concerned about the style of play and performances on the pitch from the people the manager decides to use. Is he getting the best out of them? And what's his plan?

[In the box]

It seems fans are starting to lose trust in GM, his tactics and the recruitment so, just looking through recruitment alone since he rejoined us. If you were TB and GB, would you be happy? I might have missed some players but, here is my opinion.

Joe Ironside- Keep. Tactics have hung him out to dry this season.

Deji Sotona- Say no more.

Richard Wood- Mixed bag of emotions for me. Lead the playoff charge and was unbelievable in that period but, can that deem him good business? I’m on the fence.

Sterry- Another mixed bag. Wouldn’t say good signing but by no means a bad one and definitely not as bad as people make out.

McGrath- Great find, been brilliant so far.

Lawlor- Joke of a signing.

Jack Senior- I rate him but clearly McCann doesn’t see him first choice. He’s head and shoulders  better player than Fleming.

Bailey- Think we all agree on him. If I hear anyone say he’s been poor again I’ll scream. The 2 who play with him simply aren’t good enough.

Broadbent- Improved this season but IMO, poor signing.

Tom Nixon- Can’t wait to get him fit. Very good player.

Gibson- Waste of time/ money

Sharp- Not what we needed but probably no better option in League 2 football than bringing him off the bench.

Sbarra- From what I have seen very poor signing.

Clifton- For me a massive for how we play. Gets a lot of mixed opinions but, I really like him.

Emmanuel- Unpopular opinion but for me, rubbish.

Loans:
TLT- Class act
Haks- The one player we miss the most
Waters- Say no more
Craig- Miss him
Faal- Would take him back
Marsh- Didn’t get to see enough of him
Carty- Same as Marsh
Tyler Roberts- Crap
TSL- Could and should have signed better
Fleming- Would send him back now
Yeboah- Say no more
Kelly- Tidy footballer but not cut out for men’s football atm. Would send him back.
Street- Looks like he will be good.

Adding into this the new contracts given to Westbrooke and Close I think there is a lot of wasted money to answer for. Again, it’s only my opinion. Just think McCanns godlike status amongst our support isn’t justified and disappointment should be landing at his door. There is a lot of pressure on him to get this right and it has to start at Gillingham. We have just under 2 weeks to get new faces in before that game and lift the squad. Praying he proves myself and the rest of the doubters wrong.

As a L2 club we either bring in players from lower Leagues  and build them up and sell on if price is good and repeat  , or look to fish in a growing pond of out of contract players as per usual , or mix of the both OR… put a huge amounts of money only to buy over rated wanna beeswhi never live uptotheir billing .So I trust McCann but his hands are firmly tied to a fair play budget and he needs our support not the rug  pulling from under him every time some of his players let him and the supporters down . We’re only halfway through the season and a lot of big games and points to earn !! Rtid

[Tommy A]

If his hands are tied by FFP then why did he re-sign Westbook and Close? They played very little part in our great run at the end of last season and nothing this season. Complete waste of money and something most on here couldn't believe at the time.

Also, I'm not having this "inherited a poor squad etc." He did, but the team that won 10 in a row last year was obviously not poor.

Since then Grant seems to have completely lost the plot regarding signings and tactics.

That doesn't mean that I want him sacked or anything stupid. It's not unreasonable to crticise him and point out areas where he has underperformed while still supporting him and wanting him to succeed.

It's also not unreasonable to point out that, if it were a different manager without Grant's credit in the bank, then the criticism would be a lot louder and harsher.

[dickos1]

Why's Westbrook been nowhere near the squad for weeks? Thought he was well over that injury? I could be wrong but has there been some kind of falling out?! In Grants interview the other week when he mentioned he'd shake their hand at the end of the season maybe somethings been said? I could be well wide of the mark , just a thought.

Sure he was ok to play in early November but given a game off as his wife giving birth,  maybe Rovers fans should take the same attitude to Close and Westbrooke as the manager and  just not mention their names again?

Think you have a bit of an obsession with these two, regardless of any topic you manage to squeeze in these two

[Scooter]

I actually think we have some very good players

Teddy is developing nicely - miles better than Louis Jones

Olowu and McGrath have been excellent. Wood and Anderson are also very good centre halves. Plus we have Williams and Faulkner, and Bailey can drop in there so not a weak spot for me

In midfield I really like George Broadbent. He is not Claude Makelele yet but developing ok as a deep lying centre mid

Bailey is consistent, and Clifton certainly has an engine on him and gets stuck in although needs to chip in with a few more goals.
Kelly is going to be a really good player - probably in the championship. He always looks to get the ball forward.
With Close and Westbrooke we have good back up

Up front Sharp and Ironside are very good players and Street looks promising but also has good experience

The issue for me is the width. Fullbacks - Maxwell can be excellent but has been impeded by injuries. Senior has developed well but I am not convinced with Fleming

I’m on the fence with Sterry - he gets forward well and has a good delivery on him but he is poor defensively- we seem to concedes a lot of goals down his side. I like Emmanuel and would like to see more of him. We need a bit more physicality (and step overs)


Wingers- ever since GM said that Luke and Gibson are the best two wingers in the league they have both been poor. Either they are both low in confidence or have been found out. If the service to the strikers were better we would create and score more chances and maybe even take the lead at home. Then we wouldn’t be comparing TSL to TLT as we would be winning more games. Hurst is very talented but when he drives upfield he is too fast for others and then gets outmuscled


I’d like to see an old fashioned winger actually beat his man, get to the corner and whip a cross in

We are still in the mix but need to start improving our home form.

[Petche]

Why's Westbrook been nowhere near the squad for weeks? Thought he was well over that injury? I could be wrong but has there been some kind of falling out?! In Grants interview the other week when he mentioned he'd shake their hand at the end of the season maybe somethings been said? I could be well wide of the mark , just a thought.

Yep it's a strange one. He would definitely be a better option by the side of Bailey in my opinion, whereas Close who has been given a few minutes in recent weeks is truly dreadful.

[monkeytennis]

What’s the difference between the team that won ten on the bounce and the team now? And is that difference or differences the key to our dip in quality?

[Avsuptem]

What’s the difference between the team that won ten on the bounce and the team now? And is that difference or differences the key to our dip in quality?

These are questions Grant McCann is paid to answer. I think an aparent drop in form of one or 2 players, Molly being one has something to do with it but is certainly not cause for panic. I wonder who the people that are blaming McCann believe should be  or could be his replacement.

[Padge_DRFC]

May as well have chucked £200k on a fire when giving contracts to Close and Westbrook. Horror decision

[ncRover]

What’s the difference between the team that won ten on the bounce and the team now? And is that difference or differences the key to our dip in quality?

A few factors that are nothing to do with quality with the success of that team:

- That team had nothing to lose.

- It was underrated by the opposition it faced each time due to its league position. This year we have reputation as big boys, teams more likely to sit back.

- The team picked itself. The players had no fear of being dropped without good reason. This season I feel morale may be lower as some in the camp feel hard done by.

[Plumbster]

I think midfield is the key problem, and for me the chopping and changing shows that GM has not been happy with it all season, but I wonder if Wood is a bigger miss than is first apparent when looking at how well Olowu and Jay have played- are we missing his leadership and is anyone else demanding minimum standards from the rest of the team?

[Upton Rover]

He can only bring in the quality of players that match is working budget

[DearneValleyRover]

I’ll stand by the fact that I didn’t and still don’t understand why Close, Westbrooke, Jones and Anderson were given new contracts. Close and Westbrooke don’t play how McCann sets his teams up, He was always bringing a loan keeper in so no idea on Jones. Anderson unfortunately can’t keep fit long enough, you can add the first 2 to that also. That would have allowed funds to get players in that would have improved us.

[selby]

  I wouldn't call central defenders who have played in a team that has not had a clean sheet in twelve games coming up excellent, Wood and Anderson in the second half of last season, not trying to look easy on the eye, but heading, kicking and knowing where to be in the area and tight on attackers , like McCombe and Jones before them, in successful sides, they were not easy on the eye, just good defenders.
  Smacking a cross field ball 45 yards that might or might not get there, and from me to you going nowhere isn't the requirement, being fast on the turn and balanced so as not to get run past or beaten to the ball in the six yards area is defending, and keeping the ball out of our onion bag the requirement missing, looking easy on the eye is for the clips and supporters who like that sort of thing, me, I like to watch winning football and am not that fussed how we do it.

[ncRover]

  I wouldn't call central defenders who have played in a team that has not had a clean sheet in twelve games coming up excellent, Wood and Anderson in the second half of last season, not trying to look easy on the eye, but heading, kicking and knowing where to be in the area and tight on attackers , like McCombe and Jones before them, in successful sides, they were not easy on the eye, just good defenders.
  Smacking a cross field ball 45 yards that might or might not get there, and from me to you going nowhere isn't the requirement, being fast on the turn and balanced so as not to get run past or beaten to the ball in the six yards area is defending, and keeping the ball out of our onion bag the requirement missing, looking easy on the eye is for the clips and supporters who like that sort of thing, me, I like to watch winning football and am not that fussed how we do it.

Not sold on McGrath?

He was very dodgy against Port Vale but has looked great otherwise.

Is the weakness on the left side coming from Maxwell / Fleming defensively or do you think there’s more to it?