Crooks having medical today and Smith rumoured to be there also. But hey oh,we have a left back coming in who managed a grand total of 55mins first team football in the whole of last season.
well the key thing will be to replace the crooks and Smudge goals, that is 20+ lost goals there so any money has to be spent on a goal scorer otherwise it will be a long season
"But hey oh,we have a left back coming in who managed a grand total of 55mins first team football in the whole of last season". Shane Ferguson just signed. He has played 101 games in the Championship including 21 last season.
well the key thing will be to replace the crooks and Smudge goals, that is 20+ lost goals there so any money has to be spent on a goal scorer otherwise it will be a long season
I'm hoping that freddie steps up . He's capable of getting 30 and although crooks , and smudge (if he goes ) will be losses we can restyle our set-up and be effective.
We have seen many times that its very possible to get a decent target man and also we can definitely replace what crooks gave us , although that is a harder gem to find.
Freddie, barlasr and wiles along with the width we have up front seem at least as important than all the interest around the 2 big uns.
-- Edited by ian on Tuesday 20th of July 2021 06:05:16 PM
I welcome all new players to the club, hopefully they will be used to their full potential and given enough game time to bed in and perform unlike some players who under performed last season but kept thier place.
Top Cat stop looking for a fight not going to happen, I trust the medical team to do their job. We have suffered in the recent past with players that passed the medicals and still didn't give us the number of games we would expect due to injury, Jones, Robertson, MacDonald so my comment is that due to the limited finances we have I hope we do not get another one like that.
You can happen upon a player who passes a medical and who would not be affordable or available to you unless he had a history of injury. The dilemma therefore is whether you take a punt on him. If he stays injury free, you have got a real bargain. If not, supporters will criticise the signing of a 'sick note'. It is a gamble, just as signing an untried kid from the lower leagues can be a gamble.
Leon Best was an example of someone who had suffered a near career ending injury but who did a great job for us when not many other clubs would touch him. We would never have been in the frame for Leon Best at his peak. It is one way of potentially getting quality through the door within a limited budget.
I don't mind that sort of gamble as long as you don't have more than one or two in the squad at any one time. Particularly in an otherwise youngish squad that would benefit from having some experience around the place.
As it happens I don't think Shane Ferguson falls into that category in any case. He doesn't seem to have any real history of injury. He is only 30. He seems to have fallen out of favour at a Championship club, thinks he has plenty to offer and wants to play football. I don't think there is any reason to think that Ferguson is any more likely to be injured than anyone else, and on the face of it this seems like a solid signing to me.
Smiler, all good points and i do think he looks a good signing. I like the look of the other lad we are linked with that played for York, I think if we can have a solid defence and build from that then we will do ok, I think we have a good keeper, he has character and spirit and that really helps the defenders in front of him. I would like us to have a Rice/Phillips style midfielder in fron of the defence as well (don't need to play two!! but one would be good) that doesn't mean I am expecting us to spend big I am just talking about the style of player.
Good luck to Matt Crooks. We have made a big profit on him and he gave us two and a half seasons of great service. He had ups and downs in form like most players, but at times he was excellent and most of the time he was good. His stand out performance for me was a game he didnt score in - the big away win at then top Oxford when he totally bossed the game.
I think he was generally better away from home when we could counter attack. We asked a lot of him. At times we asked him to be a midfielder and a forward at the same time. He missed very few games and scored a goal every four to five. I think he will do.well at Boro and I hope he does.he wont be easy to replace.
Four hours ago which was just after 5.00 pm on Monday, 2nd August 2021. ''A recruitment source has told Football Insider that the improved bid from Rotherham is a six-figure sum which has reluctantly been accepted by Rochdale'' for Ollie Rathbone's signature.
-- Edited by wotsisname on Monday 2nd of August 2021 09:14:06 PM
