KELVIN WILKINS

THE sale of Tom Cairney was a shock and Gary Bowyer seemed to intimate that it was out of his hands. However, I suspect he wasn’t too upset by the sale.

As talented as Tom was, Bowyer struggled to find a position for him as he was not combative enough to play in the centre of midfield or direct enough to play out wide, yet he was too talented to sit on the bench.

From a fans’ point of view, he’s a huge loss as he is one of few players who looks truly comfortable in possession and is enjoyable to watch. Rovers’ loss is certainly Fulham’s gain.

 

PAUL YATES

OBVIOUSLY the loss of Tom Cairney was a blow and quite unexpected. Last season, however, he was inconsistent and did not always live up to previous expectations.

Quite why he was sold is still something of a mystery while in-demand Jordan Rhodes remains at the club.

According to reports he seems to have benefited from the move so perhaps there are people at Fulham who are better able to help him fulfil his potential.

Presumably the powers that be feel we have enough midfielders to compensate but do we have the quality?

 

SAM JONES

IT came as a huge surprise when Cairney was sold in the summer and even more so that it was to another Championship club. After a fantastic 2013-14 season led to the midfielder picking up Rovers’ Player of the Year award, I was very optimistic he would continue this fine form into the next campaign.

At first this came to fruition as he picked up where he left off, scoring two wonder goals against Cardiff and Norwich. But his form soon dropped off and he didn’t really fit into the 4-4-2 formation Gary Bowyer often deployed, particularly at home. 

Therefore a huge profit on the player may seem like good business and help the club move closer towards ending their transfer embargo. However in a transfer window where Rovers have lost other attacking talent such as Rudy Gestede and Josh King, the assists (and inevitably the goals) have certainly dried up since they left.

The creativity and goalscoring ability that Cairney can provide, as seen in his first few games for Fulham, is something Rovers currently lack, especially with the disappointing form of Ben Marshall. 

As a result, there is a lot of pressure on Craig Conway to be Rovers’ creative force. The Scotsman continues to be a stand out performer in blue and white, making more assists than any other Championship player since he arrived at Ewood Park.