PAUL YATES

ON the face of it reasonably good business but I’m afraid the Oxford result is inviting complacency and false dawns amongst the club and fans.

Jordan Rhodes was the consummate professional and averaged a goal every other game which is excellent and nobody who has come into the club will match that.

Sometimes losing your star player galvanises the team and we must hope this occurs. The players brought in are of limited talent but we will pray they bring a freshness and spirit that has been sorely missing in recent times.

 

SAM JONES

EVEN if it is underwhelming with little money being spent, in the circumstances, Rovers’ transfer business may not be the worst and Paul Lambert will probably be satisfied.

Pace was clearly lacking, especially in attacking areas and so Lambert moved to secure the signings of two players he knows well from his time at Norwich: Simeon Jackson and Elliott Bennett. Both will no doubt be keen to prove their worth and could be important squad players.

A direct runner and goalscorer was also needed, even more so following the sale of Jordan Rhodes, and Danny Graham and Tony Watt have been brought in to be just those. Hopefully they can form an effective partnership up top for the reminder of the season.

Centre-half cover was another target due to the injury to Shane Duffy and Elliott Ward will provide this. He started well with an assured debut and clean sheet against Oxford.

Finally, the deadline day loan acquisition of attacking midfielder Jordi Gomez was just the type of player Lambert was chasing to inject some creativity back into the team. This was even more necessary after the loss of loanee Tom Lawrence. His departure was out of the club’s hands and it seems his agent had more influence in the deal than anyone else.

The Rhodes sale was heart-breaking, but probably required. Obviously the money is good for the club and Lambert appeared keen to get the deal done in order to rebuild the team in the summer. A more all-round squad is needed and while in the short term that may lead to less quality in the side, it should benefit the club if the money is spent wisely before next season.

The question is, if Rhodes was always going to be sold, should he have gone sooner, so that more replacements could have been lined up?