Formation

[Sparkle]

5 hours ago, valakari said:

The squad has:

Full backs in Nyambe, Elder and Forsyth...if we play 4231 or 433

Wing Backs in Ward, Wilson and Osborn...if we play 352

Wingers in NML,CBT, Jackson and Barkhuizen...if we play 433 or 343.

But most of these players are restricted to the given formations and you can't play them all..so either 6 or 7 of these 10 will sit out every game!

Smacks of either, we can play any system or he hasn't got a clue!

That about covers it whilst We don’t have a centre forward of a decent type to pivot them off as it stands either 

[i-Ram]

Surely there must be an Ian Ormonroyd or Kevin Francis type player out there that the other 10 players can kick the ball at?

[valakari]

Warne  would never entertain the idea of Chris Martin, yet he is exactly the player that his style of football needs...someone to hold the ball as a pivot and score goals as a targetman!

Personally i'm worried..i hate Warne's football and he has a record of relegation from this level..and i'm not surprised why!

[RamInSweden]

11 hours ago, i-Ram said:

Surely there must be an Ian Ormonroyd or Kevin Francis type player out there that the other 10 players can kick the ball at?

We will end up with Michael Smith now we are in the championship. We absolutely will not get a good striker if we won’t spend the money.

Yates was 2.5 million a year ago and people aren’t that impressed with him coming here.

Edited July 29 by RamInSweden

[Eoghan1884]

To start the season before we get our Lwb, Striker and Cb in I’d hope first game of the season we lineup like this

JWZ ( if possible, Vickers if not)

Nelson, Forsyth, Cashin

Wilson Adams Kenzo Osborn

Jackson Collins NML

Osborn is obviously going to be used in midfield come then end of the window but for the time being I’d trust him at lwb over tommo and elder. 

Collins will also work hard and he’ll be marked by 37 year old McFadzean so his lack of pace won’t matter. 

With Wilson, Osborn and Kenzo behind the two fast wingers we’d really be able to cause damage to a team who are set to lose 50% of their goals this week (Szmodics to Ipswich and Gallagher to Stoke). 
 

I also think fozzy has looked good in pre season and would trust him over Nyambe in the back three and over Bradley who’s hamstring is at him. 

[Ram1988]

I think Paul Warne will line up 343. I would play 433 though to get an extra man in the middle.

[Ambitious]

8 hours ago, valakari said:

Warne  would never entertain the idea of Chris Martin, yet he is exactly the player that his style of football needs...someone to hold the ball as a pivot and score goals as a targetman!

Personally i'm worried..i hate Warne's football and he has a record of relegation from this level..and i'm not surprised why!

The budget he was working on at Rotherham had nothing to do with it then?

Just the 20/21 season, so we can speak about competition, Rotherham had a wage bill of £7.2m. In comparison to the other teams that were down there: Wednesday £24.2m, Huddersfield £24.6m, Bristol £30.2m, Birmingham £31.1m, Forest £37m. 

Less than half than all of them, in some cases less than a third. 

Paul Warne has actually shown consistently that given a comparable budget to his peers and he will achieve. He got Rotherham promoted automatically with a wage bill of £5.8m in 21/22 - in comparison to some of the bigger clubs down there who again had much more substantial budgets that he finished ahead of: Sunderland £16.1m, Sheffield Wednesday £12.4m & Ipswich £16.4m. 

[Ghost of Clough]

5 hours ago, RamInSweden said:

We will end up with Michael Smith now we are in the championship. We absolutely will not get a good striker if we won’t spend the money.

Yates was 2.5 million a year ago and people aren’t that impressed with him coming here.

It's where we need to shop abroad or pickup loans. A summary of the CFs I've mentioned in the last week or so....

Abroad: 
David Strelec had a decent Euros and had 27 goal involvements last season and already has 5 in 3 games this season. Even though he's only 23, he was bought for only £600k this month.
Jovo Lukić from Borac Banja Luka (Bosnia) would be cheap punt. 25 years old CF with 1 year left on his contract, 14 goals and 6 assists last season. Dominant in the air and uses his body well to shield the ball, a very good finisher, links play well, creates chances for others, and not a bad dribbler on the ball, and contributes a lot defensively.
Mads Borchers is another cheap option. He's a 22 year old Danish forward who only joined his current club (Vaasan Palloseura, Finland) in March (having played in Denmark, Faroe Islands, Sweden and now Finland in the last 2 years). He's currently on 9 goals and 2 assists in 16 games this season.
Tomáš Bobček is a Slovak forward currently playing for Lechia, Poland. He joined them for £500k last September and has 3 years left on his contract, so would probably cost around £1m now. He had 9 goals and 4 assists in 25 games last season, but is statisticlly a good creator and finisher, good defensive contribution, but fairly average in the air.
Daniel Bîrligea is similar to Bobček but better in the air. 24 years only playing for Cluj, Romania. Capped twice for Romania, most recently in April this year. 15 goals and 7 assists in 46 games last season, and already has 2 goals and an assist in 2 games this season. I think he would cost around £1.5m.
Mathias Kvistgaarden would be a more expensive option. He's only 22 years old and plays for Brondby (Denmark) vand 3 years left on his contract. He starts the majority of games and ended up with 10 goals and 7 assists in 28 games last season. Average in the air but good in all other areas, especially the defensive side (which says a lot considering his attacking output)
Willem Geubbels is another 22 year old. Once a £18m signing for Monoco and viewed as Mbappe's replacement, he eventually moved to St Gallen, Switzerland, on a free in Jan 2023 but now only has 1 year left on his contract. He's regained some confidence and had 8 goals and 5 assists in 33 games last season. He's a good all round forward, and can also play out wide so is a good dribbler. He'd probably be the most expensive option on this list, but his history means he would fetch a nice fee if he fulfills his early promise.
Mihailo Ivanović, 19 year old CF from Vojvodina (Serbia). Had a loan to Sampdoria in 22/23 but they opted not to make it permanent. Dominant in the air, a good finisher, likes to dribble, and presses. I imagine he'd cost about £1.5m, so may be doable?
Mojmír Chytil - Slavia Praga (Czechia), 25. 3 sub apps in the Euros. Good in the air, good defensive contribution, links play, and scores plenty of goals. But way out of our price range?
Anosike Ementa - Viborg (Denmark), 22. A 6'8" giant with great link up play. 10 goals and 6 assists in 35 games. Bought for only £110k last summer but still has 2.5 years left on his contract.
Ji zz Hornkamp - Heracles (Netherlands), 26. 10 goals and 2 assists in 17 games last season after missing the first half of the season due to an ankle injury. Should be a fan favourite for chants alone...

 

Loan:
Sekou Mara made 40 matchday squads for Southampton in all competitions last season, but only played in 28 of them (1009 mins). 6 goals and 2 assists. Very good in the air. 21 years old and was in a France U21 squad last season. 
Harry Leonard was close to joining us from Blackburn on loan last January, so may be available later in the window?

[MadAmster]

Rotherham's last 4 seasons in the Championship, in chronological order...

Relegated (PW)

Relegated (PW)

8th (virtual 5th with a game in hand) when we poached PW, they dropped to 19th

Relegated

Is it beyond the realms of possibility that  this pattern says a lot more about the club's ability to attract players to be successful in the SBC rather than the managers at the helm?

[Ambitious]

12 minutes ago, MadAmster said:

Rotherham's last 4 seasons in the Championship, in chronological order...

Relegated (PW)

Relegated (PW)

8th (virtual 5th with a game in hand) when we poached PW, they dropped to 19th

Relegated

Is it beyond the realms of possibility that  this pattern says a lot more about the club's ability to attract players to be successful in the SBC rather than the managers at the helm?

They've never tried to really compete at this level, honestly. It's the same at Peterborough. Both clubs have been promoted numerous times but then have a season spending a fraction of everyone else and hoping for the best. 

[Gee SCREAMER !!]

19 hours ago, i-Ram said:

Surely there must be an Ian Ormonroyd or Kevin Francis type player out there that the other 10 players can kick the ball at?

Ormondroyd was surprisingly decent on the deck and was a great asset for the returning Davidson.  Francis on the other hand, was s****. 

[valakari]

13 hours ago, Ambitious said:

The budget he was working on at Rotherham had nothing to do with it then?

Just the 20/21 season, so we can speak about competition, Rotherham had a wage bill of £7.2m. In comparison to the other teams that were down there: Wednesday £24.2m, Huddersfield £24.6m, Bristol £30.2m, Birmingham £31.1m, Forest £37m. 

Less than half than all of them, in some cases less than a third. 

Paul Warne has actually shown consistently that given a comparable budget to his peers and he will achieve. He got Rotherham promoted automatically with a wage bill of £5.8m in 21/22 - in comparison to some of the bigger clubs down there who again had much more substantial budgets that he finished ahead of: Sunderland £16.1m, Sheffield Wednesday £12.4m & Ipswich £16.4m. 

Yes but the Championship is a big step up in the standard of players, teams and managers..his shitty football will be massively exposed and you need alot more than just running around!

Budgets dont win football matches ..just ask Brentford or Luton!

[Comrade 86]

22 minutes ago, valakari said:

Yes but the Championship is a big step up in the standard of players, teams and managers..

Surprised and somewhat disappointed to hear this, mostly because nobody else has ever said as much. What was the point of promotion then, if Warne has simply taken us from one really tough division to an even tougher one!?! Idiot. No wonder he keeps getting relegated 😑

 

[GB SPORTS]

Ji zz Hornkamp - Heracles 

Are you sure that's his real name not his porn star moniker?

 

[Anag Ram]

10 minutes ago, GB SPORTS said:

Ji zz Hornkamp - Heracles 

Are you sure that's his real name not his porn star moniker?

 

What kind of idiot calls their first pet j***?

[MadAmster]

19 hours ago, Ambitious said:

They've never tried to really compete at this level, honestly. It's the same at Peterborough. Both clubs have been promoted numerous times but then have a season spending a fraction of everyone else and hoping for the best. 

Ergo, laying the blame for their 2 relegations under PW at PWs door is likely the wrong place to lay it. Four crap seasons and the one asnd only common denominator is Rotherham United Football Club.

[rammieib]

I don't buy into a policy of changing your formation from game to game to suit the oppo. What happened to us being the controlling team and teams adjusting to us. Good teams (I appreciate we are not in that category) don't keep changing.

Secondly - we have different players suited for different formations. This to me will just create unhappiness in the end.

Right now - I'm genuinely worried. This seems such a randomly assembled group of players at the moment.

[May Contain Nuts]

38 minutes ago, MadAmster said:

Ergo, laying the blame for their 2 relegations under PW at PWs door is likely the wrong place to lay it. Four crap seasons and the one asnd only common denominator is Rotherham United Football Club.

Rotherham's chances are always slim, but Steve Evans kept them up in 2014/15, Neil Warnock saved them in 2015/16 and Matt Taylor kept them up in 2022/23.

Granted the last one was given decent head start by Warne but there's no guarantees they wouldn't have suffered a late season slump had he stayed.

This isn't actually a dig at Warne but it's also 3 relegations not 2. You can't just discount 2016/17, he had 5-6 months in charge.

Warne never had a big budget or an extensive / deep squad but along the way the club did sign / he did work with quite a number of players who've gone on to establish themselves at Championship level. Probably just not enough all at the same time.

Edited July 30 by May Contain Nuts

[MadAmster]

6 minutes ago, May Contain Nuts said:

Rotherham chances are always slim, but Steve Evans kept them up in 2014/15, Neil Warnock saved them in 2015/16 and Matt Taylor kept them up in 2022/23.

Granted the last one was given decent head start by Warne but there's no guarantees they wouldn't have suffered a late season slump had he stayed.

This isn't actually a dig at Warne but you it's 3 relegations not 2. You can't just discount the first relegation because he he came in as interim manager in November.

... and RUFC is still the one common denominator.

[May Contain Nuts]

9 minutes ago, MadAmster said:

... and RUFC is still the one common denominator.

Well yes, that sort of goes without saying. 😉