As so many people are divided over whether we are a play-off challenging club or a mid-table club, I have decided to evaluate our squad so that you guys can disagree with me. So here goes.

Dean Gerken: As many good saves as he might make, I don't feel comfortable with him in goal. He always has a mistake in him and looks out of his depth from corners.

Bartosz Bialowski: Excellent shot stopper at League One level, but unproven in the Championship.

Elliott Hewitt: Raw young right-back/midfielder with blistering pace. Potential to reach Premier League level.

Luke Chambers: Good centre-back, poor right-back, too slow to deal with proper wingers.

Christophe Berra: Superb centre-back, Player of the Year, IMO the best centre-back in the Championship.

Tommy Smith: Another fantastic centre-back, probably top five in the championship as well.

Tyrone Mings: Huge young left-back, great attacking potential but poor positional sense.

Jonathon Parr: Great left-back, key player in the Palace promotion side a couple of years ago.

Paul Anderson: Underrated goalscoring midfielder last season, but poor start to this one.

Luke Hyam: Excellent defensive midfielder, but needs somebody more creative beside him.

Cole Skuse: Good at breaking up play, but not the right partner for Hyam.

Kevin Bru: Good passing midfielder but not Championship standard.

Anthony Wordsworth: Good passing midfielder but out of favour with Mick McCarthy. IMO the ideal partner for Hyam.

Jay Tabb: Truly shocking last season. Started well this time but not got enough pace to be a winger.

Alex Henshall: Exciting young winger, rapid and puts in some good crosses. Deserves more game time.

Cameron Stewart: Exciting winger with Championship experience. Other than a creative midfielder, the thing we missed most last season. Surely a shoe in once he has received from injury.

Stephen Hunt: Injured and not match fit. Just here to make up the numbers.

David McGoldrick: Incredible striker. Superb shot, fantastic passing, magical skill, supreme composure and damn, I've run out of superlatives.

Daryl Murphy: Really stepped up to the plate when McGoldrick was out injured but hasn't done much as yet this season.

Frank Nouble: Big and fast so a good impact sub but his first touch is shocking and his shots go higher than Bob Marley.

Balint Bàjner: Big but poor in the air and surprisingly good with his feet. Not up to the physicality of the Championship.

Paul Taylor: Great little player. He might be a bit selfish and not try his best in training but he has been a breath of fresh air whenever he played and has made a great start to life at Rotherham.

Jack Marriott: Jack sounds like a very clinical fox-in-the-box striker who I look forward to seeing in the future.

Conor Sammon: His performances have been very fishy so far. A big lump who just perches on the edge of the box leaping like his namesake for headers. Sorry for all the fish puns.

So this is my opinion on all of our players. Sorry if I missed someone. Thoughts please?

brittaniaman added 09:31 - Aug 28 COULD NOT HAVE SUMMED IT UP BETTER MYSELF !! 100% TRUE !!
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naa added 09:55 - Aug 28 Don't disagree as such, but you are being far too generous on the players Mick has let go (Taylor and Wordsworth, neither of whom had ever really shown that much for us) and a bit harsh on some others. However, we do obviously need some creativity in the middle but Mick seems dead set that he wants the middle to be solid and have the wings create (via long balls from the back). It's Mick's way, and it's worked for him in the past. Not how I like to watch Ipswich play though, I'll admit.

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naa added 09:57 - Aug 28 Oh, I do disagree about Gerken though. I don't think he makes many good saves at all. He's solid, but unspectacular, doesn't command his box well and is too short to be a top keeper. But how often do you say "Great save" when watching him? Hardly ever. Loach was just as poor around his box and made mistakes, but his shot stopping was much better. Bialkowski sounds much the same as Loach, so not sure what the thinking was there really.

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Wickets added 10:14 - Aug 28 You didn't go to Birmingham then? Ando was great. I think both Hyam and Skuse are good holding midfielders , is there room for both of them, not if Tabb plays but if we can find a good attacking left sided midfielder maybe. Could Stewart be that man or Henshall in time. On the other side of the coin, if Berra and Smith are so good and i'm not saying there not, why do we need 2 holding plus Tabb?

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BillBlue added 10:18 - Aug 28 Pretty good summnation I think but, incidentally, in spite of all the fishy jokes, a salmon does has an 'L' in it!!
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bring_back_Wickham added 10:45 - Aug 28 Wickets - we don't need two defensive midfielders! Not with smith and beers. Maybe if we played flying wingers and full backs but at the moment 8 out of 10 played are deployed defensively
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bring_back_Wickham added 10:45 - Aug 28 Berra
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oldelsworthyfan added 11:19 - Aug 28 With luck Wordsworth and Taylor will have a long run of games with Rotherham and then we'll see if MM was right to let them go out on loan. This is win/win for MM, because if either (or both) of these two 'prove themselves' with Rotherham we can have them back as better players in January. If not.....MM was right all along! Personally, I never understood why MM dropped Wordy last season after he put in two great performances, first at Brighton (I was there) and then back home against Derby (both matches won)....only to be dropped for Skuse (of all people) against Notts Forest at home......which we could only draw!

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marco007 added 11:36 - Aug 28 Agree mostly with your comments but have a few to add: In general the defence is a decent unit that looks pretty solid and is up to the demands of the Championship. Midlfield really concerns me as it is so bereft of creativity and goals. We play a brand of football that hassles the opposition into submission but too often when we do win the ball it is like a hot potato and rarely do we see more than two passes strung together before the ball ends up back in defence and is then hoofed up the field. The only flashes of inspiration has been from Bru as he genuineley looks capable of getting his head up and finding a pass and technically he looks excellent. Up from Dids is quality and must often wonder why he is in our team as he must soon start to become frustrated with a lack of quality service. Finally, people may not agree but I have to say that in my opinion, no way is Murphy good enough for this football or even this league. Yes, he runs a lot, tried hard, and I could never question his attitude or commitment but quite simply he is not good enough! Finally, a note on dear Mick. Infortunately MM brad of football is from a different era when you could win games based on effort, attitude, desire and commitment. However, the game has moved on and all teams are able to match these traits now and what differentiates average, good and brilliants is technical ability i/e the ability to control a ball, look up, pass and move and this is the one area that we are so far behind with. I hear all the time about the work they do with players and always hear about TC being brilliant with strikers but have you seen it on match day?? Look at Murphys miss against Norwich and all round performances, look at the development of Taylor, Noubs and Marriott?? I can only assume that the demands from MM for team shape, tracking back and disciple have completely bypassed the need for technical improvement. Rant over! :)

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Wickets added 14:04 - Aug 28 Maybe we dont need 2 holding midfielders Mr Wickham but some games maybe we do! dont forget we got to the verge of play off's with them both untill Did's injury. What i feel we dont need is 2 holding plus an over the hill Jay Tabb. I would love to see us play a more attacking game but dont think we can do it with the squad we got. For me we have not added any quality in the last 2 windows. Is it that we just cant afford it?

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Superblue95 added 00:45 - Aug 29 Think it's a bit harsh to say Anderson has been poor this season, in fact I think he's looked really good. Think your being too kind to Skuse though, if he's a championship midfielder then I'd fancy my chances as one, and he shouldn't even be considered in this team. Can't argue with much else you have said though
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TomJamesLW added 17:50 - Aug 29 You got them all spot on bar Anderson, 2 assists is not a bad start, even if they were in the same game. And he just didn't get the ball against Norwich. Can't wait to see Parr play though, thought he was class against West Ham, didn't put a foot wrong.
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OldClactonBlue added 19:04 - Aug 29 So how many of these do you think might command a place in a promotion winning team? Berra, McGoldrick, yes. Unfortunately I can see McGoldrick looking for a career move soon though. Chambers, as a cb, Smith, probably Anderson, on a good day, Parr, maybe. Hewitt and Mings, hope so, but will they get the chance. The rest, I don't think so. You need goals to win enough matches to be successful and we simply don't have the personnel to provide them anymore. Grim times for Town fans!

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