On the Transfers Front things are at least seemingly looking up on the Centre-Back front. The name that's been thrown around today is Bakary Kone, with him apparently having a Medical and being on the verge of signing. On the one hand, I haven't seen him play as such I'll reserve judgement on him- but on the other Lyon Fans are over the moon with him going which isn't exactly a good sign. The sad thing is he'll probably still be an improvement on every Centre-Back we've got. I'm hoping it's a case of both and not one or the other when it comes to Kone and the Michael Mancienne link. Mancienne would have actually been a perfect player to have for these early stages of the season given his general versatility and ability. The thing about Forest holding off on a decision until after their game tomorrow was interesting and it'll be interesting to see how it develops between now and 6pm on Tuesday. I'd be all for it, Mancienne is without a doubt an improvement on the Centre-Back options we've currently got- including Ream.
The Defender category seems well covered, especially when there's some links with Stearman as well. Out of the Three Centre-Backs we've been linked with, all Three with the exception of Kone- who I'm not sure of one way or the other are improvements on what we've currently got. If it was a choice of 1 out of the 3 I'd take Mancienne. No proper reasoning, just gauging the reaction to the rumours from Wolves, Lyon and Forest fans.
I'll also look at a few other areas where we need to strengthen, specifically a proper Right-Winger and a Striker. I suppose it all depends on the level of investment we can expect, because there are some players who are supposedly available who would instantly lift the team and make us proper Playoff Contenders. Specifically Albert Adomah and Matej Vydra.
I saw a tweet yesterday saying that Adomah wanted a move back to London and he was open to a move to QPR, if that thing about London is true then we should be all over him- the worst thing that can happen is he turns us down. I wanted Adomah last summer- and now he's apparently handed in a Transfer Request I'm desperate for us to at least try and sign him. The Vydra thing is weird, and seemingly half the Championship is after him. I may well be deluded, but I think Vydra is actually quite a realistic option for us. He presumably wouldn't have to re-locate to move to us, and depending on how much weight there was to the Gayle rumours we've got the money to spend.
There isn't much to talk about on the Goalkeeper front now, Lonergan will of course continue in goal. The Clean Sheet on Wednesday can only have been a good thing for Lonergan regardless of how little he had to do during the game. The Bettinelli stuff will seemingly be more clear come his surgery on Tuesday, but given we got Joe Lewis on Loan for the season I think that's a pretty good indicator for the estimated time-frame.
I don't know if you can call it big news, but the news on the Defensive front that's come out today is James Husband's returned on Loan for a Month with Amorebieta going the other way for the season. I'm perfectly happy with this, Husband was one of our better players at the back-end of the season- so until Garbutt's fit at least we've finally got good cover for him. Then with Amorebieta going the other way we've gotten presumably one of our larger wage packets off of our Books for the season, and with the rumoured incident with Amorebieta and a Youth Player it was best for everyone that he moved on. It's a bit annoying that we waited until a few days before the Window closed and just before an International Break to sign Husband on Loan for a month- but we've got him and it looks like we'll finally see Voser out of the team again.
Quick thing, some people are talking about a tackle Husband did on Cairney that put him out with an injury. Does anyone really think that Kit/Rigg wouldn't know that? It's a non-issue to me.
Husband signing and presumably starting tomorrow given what Kit was saying in his interview earlier actually makes for an interesting Centre-Back debate now. As you'll know if you've read my last few Previews I thought Ream would be coming in at Left-Back until Garbutt's fit but obviously with Husband that's not necessary now. Tim Ream's a guarantee- it's just a case of who's going to partner him and it all depends on how fit Hutchinson is. If Hutchinson is fit enough to start then it's a no-brainer and he comes back into the team- but if he isn't then I've got no massive issue with Dan Burn continuing in the team. Jazz Richards might actually have some traffic coming down his side of the pitch now we've got Husband in- so that'll be something to look forward to for tomorrow. There's obviously a chance Husband might not be quite ready for tomorrow, but if that is the case the selection is even more simple with Ream going to Left-Back and Burn and Hutchinson playing Centre-Back.
The Midfield selection will be interesting and a test of Kit. After Wednesday if Kit doesn't start Tunnicliffe instead of Christensen then I'll be pissed. I get having patience and faith in Young Players, but we need points at the moment. With O'Hara available for tomorrow and Tunnicliffe's performance on Wednesday it's surely a given that they'll be the Centre-Mid selection for tomorrow. This isn't me giving up on Christensen, I'm still a big fan of his- but the simple fact is he hasn't been good enough this season. The Wings will be interesting tomorrow given we'll have pretty good cover down both sides now, I'm a lot more happy to say Pringle should come back in the team now Husband's here because while it's not ideal- it won't be leaving Voser on his own bad. It's Pringle instead of Kacaniklic for me tomorrow, if nothing else than for the "Former-Club Curse" which would mean Pringle has the game of his life and scores tomorrow. Then of course Tom Cairney will come back in at Right-Mid and hopefully he can really get into the game tomorrow, because he without a doubt can be a player who makes a difference tomorrow.
Tomorrows game will be interesting, specifically when it comes to Ross McCormack and his performance. I'm not necessarily expecting a goal but his overall performance level and play in the game will be interesting after he got off the mark for the season on Tuesday. The Interview with Kit where he told us basically that McCormack came in and asked to be played as a Striker was interesting, but if it means McCormack higher up the pitch I don't care how it came about. As I've said for the whole Month, in my opinion McCormack just needed a goal- and while it looked like a good shout on Tuesday I'll be interested to see if he carries it through to tomorrow. Who plays next to/in-front of McCormack is definitely still an open debate- which will hopefully be closed by us getting someone like Vydra in. Dembele as I said on Tuesday did everything right against Sheffield United, it just wouldn't go in for him with a large chunk of that being down to bad finishing on his part. I'd still start him because as I said he did do everything right apart from score for the large part of the game and if nothing else he can cause a lot of problems for the Rotherham defence and create space and scoring opportunities for other people.
Team for Rotherham
Tomorrows game will not be easy, just because we beat a second-string Sheffield United team doesn't mean we're suddenly a good team. Rotherham's start is really a moot point despite them doing worse than we are so far- especially given the Huddersfield game we may well go to Rotherham and make them look good. But, as always we've got to go into the game with some optimism- if nothing else than to make it all the worse when we do lose to a 90th Minute Winner from Matt Derbyshire. I said Kit needed a minimum of 4 Points from the Huddersfield and Rotherham games and I stand by that, so anything less than a win tomorrow really just isn't good enough. 5 Points from 5 Games while far from ideal isn't the end of the world heading into the International Break, but 2 or 3 from 5 simply isn't good enough- and the Sheffield United game will be looking more like a Stay of Execution than a Turning Point for Kit.
Thanks for reading as always, tomorrows game is of course the last before the International Break- but first we've got Deadline Day. I'll be doing my second All-Day Deadline Day Live-Blog thing that I did for the Winter Window- except it won't be all-day this time because the Window shuts at 6. Either way, I hope you check-in at various points during Deadline Day for that where hopefully there'll be more to talk about. Thanks again for reading, and let's just hope we go into Deadline Day and the Internationals with a win.
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