On the eve of a potentially tricky away tie at lower league opposition who managed to dump a Premier League team out in the previous round, the last thing any team needs is to find out that their top talisman (and alleged "jewel in the crown") is the subject of a huge bid and is being allowed to go and talk to them over a move. The timing could have been better, however, such is football these days amid windows and the like and money talks.
No one can deny that Rhodes hasn't been a great goalscorer for the club since his move from Huddersfield in 2011/12 but the ultimate reason he came to Blackburn was the thought of promotion. This is a player that wants to progress and play at the top level. To be fair to him promotion was never going to be on the cards this season at Blackburn after seeing other key players sold and the club being embargoed. The chance went a begging the last two seasons when we fluffed our lines in falling two points short in 2013/14 and then just never really got going despite goals galore in 2014/15. In moving to Middlesbrough (should everything go through) he has a genuine chance of promotion, they sit in an automatic spot and have gathered a team together that looks capable of lasting the distance.
For Blackburn then, it would appear that we are now in the midst of another transitionary period. This was always likely following the sale of certain players and an embargo and especially following putting a new manager in place. Lambert is quoted as saying that the Rhodes sale will help us to rebuild the club and hopefully there is the chance to do that now. It also means other players now need to step up and show what they can do. In Danny Graham we have a player who has been a proven goal scorer in the past and who needs to rediscover the sort of form that made him a wanted player, Tony Watt is young and appears to have a talent that needs to be nurtured but could be promising, whilst Simeon Jackson has so far sounded lively each time he has taken to the field.
You would have been forgiven for thinking that in the middle of all this Blackburn might meekly succumb to a defeat to Oxford in the cup, however, they responded with the perfect answer and gave the fans something to be cheerful about. The defence was resolute, chances were created and the midfield took a hold of the game. A comfortable 3-0 win, which could have been more and a place in the hat for the 5th round of the FA Cup. Watts more (sorry couldn't resist!) a goal from that man Tony on his debut will have helped to settle him following his move to Blackburn.
So whilst Rhodes is already up in the North East, Blackburn's next trip is ironically away to Middlesbrough - so quite literally all Rhodes seem to lead there. It wouldn't surprise anyone if Jordan scored against his old team but if the transfer is completed we now need to move on and find new "heroes" in the team. With Middlesbrough and Hull up next, now is the time for the squad to stand up and be counted.
Showing posts with label January Transfer Window. Show all posts
Showing posts with label January Transfer Window. Show all posts
Sunday, 31 January 2016
Saturday, 2 January 2016
Blackburn Rover's January Transfer Window Musings
Yes it's that time of the year again folks (in football anyway). No sooner have we all said Happy New Year to each other then that window that has been shut since September creaks open and rears its panes (or should that be pain) again.
This window is very slightly different for us Blackburn fans than the last two we've dealt with in that the transfer embargo imposed on us after failing the Football League Fair Play rules has (at least for now) been lifted. That isn't to say that we can suddenly start to spend copious amounts of money, far from it. The talk is of playing in the loan market (in the main or perhaps entirely). The biggest advantage then of the embargo being lifted is the ability to pay a fee (for a loan), be more competitive in what we can offer wage wise and not worry about being 1 or 2 players over a certain squad size limit. Not a lot different but hopefully enough to make possible the signing of some better quality loan players than may have previously been available to us.
The other interesting bit for us is the arrival of a new manager in Paul Lambert. This will be the first chance he has to start to make a stamp on the type of players he may want for the team and get the team moving in the right direction. He has already talked of being more creative and having to be a bit more clever in the way we create for Rhodes. There has also been some suggestion of a recognition of the fact that we have lots of midfielders who essentially do the same job.
Working from the back forwards, my personal opinion is that we are well provided for in the goalkeeping stakes. The defence is much improved (one or two lapses aside) from last season but there is a lack of competition in the right back spot. In central midfield we have Williamson, Lowe, Guthrie, Akpan and Evans who are all similar in style, I would put Evans at the top in terms of offering the team something different and more forward movement. What we lack is in creativity in there, Lawrence (on loan from Leicester) is about it unless you count Chris Taylor who works hard and gets forward. Conway remains our best "creater" of opportunities and for me Marshall has been well under par this season - again there is a lack of competition here. We also lack pace in this department too. At the front, aside from Rhodes (who by his standards is on a goal drought and a half at the time of writing) there is not much to talk about. Koita obviously is still very raw and Brown hasn't shown enough to suggest he is a solution.
For me, I would hope that we look at bringing in someone else up front as a priority who will do the work outside the box and look to bring Rhodes into play. A creative midfielder is also something I'd look at and also bring some pace into the team. If there's still enough to play with, I'd been trying to get competition in at right back as well.
Outgoings wise, there is an opportunity to try and move on any fringe type players if possible and free up some space but I would hope that we try and rebuff any big bids for our better players at this point unless Lambert is convinced it would help to improve the team and that he would then get the funds to put towards buying in players to do the job of moving us up the league.
Blackburn fans shouldn't be looking at this window as being a complete game changer, it's going to take time to get the team the way Lambert wants it but if it paves the way for improved performances in 2016 then that would be a good start.
This window is very slightly different for us Blackburn fans than the last two we've dealt with in that the transfer embargo imposed on us after failing the Football League Fair Play rules has (at least for now) been lifted. That isn't to say that we can suddenly start to spend copious amounts of money, far from it. The talk is of playing in the loan market (in the main or perhaps entirely). The biggest advantage then of the embargo being lifted is the ability to pay a fee (for a loan), be more competitive in what we can offer wage wise and not worry about being 1 or 2 players over a certain squad size limit. Not a lot different but hopefully enough to make possible the signing of some better quality loan players than may have previously been available to us.
The other interesting bit for us is the arrival of a new manager in Paul Lambert. This will be the first chance he has to start to make a stamp on the type of players he may want for the team and get the team moving in the right direction. He has already talked of being more creative and having to be a bit more clever in the way we create for Rhodes. There has also been some suggestion of a recognition of the fact that we have lots of midfielders who essentially do the same job.
Working from the back forwards, my personal opinion is that we are well provided for in the goalkeeping stakes. The defence is much improved (one or two lapses aside) from last season but there is a lack of competition in the right back spot. In central midfield we have Williamson, Lowe, Guthrie, Akpan and Evans who are all similar in style, I would put Evans at the top in terms of offering the team something different and more forward movement. What we lack is in creativity in there, Lawrence (on loan from Leicester) is about it unless you count Chris Taylor who works hard and gets forward. Conway remains our best "creater" of opportunities and for me Marshall has been well under par this season - again there is a lack of competition here. We also lack pace in this department too. At the front, aside from Rhodes (who by his standards is on a goal drought and a half at the time of writing) there is not much to talk about. Koita obviously is still very raw and Brown hasn't shown enough to suggest he is a solution.
For me, I would hope that we look at bringing in someone else up front as a priority who will do the work outside the box and look to bring Rhodes into play. A creative midfielder is also something I'd look at and also bring some pace into the team. If there's still enough to play with, I'd been trying to get competition in at right back as well.
Outgoings wise, there is an opportunity to try and move on any fringe type players if possible and free up some space but I would hope that we try and rebuff any big bids for our better players at this point unless Lambert is convinced it would help to improve the team and that he would then get the funds to put towards buying in players to do the job of moving us up the league.
Blackburn fans shouldn't be looking at this window as being a complete game changer, it's going to take time to get the team the way Lambert wants it but if it paves the way for improved performances in 2016 then that would be a good start.
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