How important is the January transfer window to Rovers?

Actually I wasn’t sure Rovers had any realistic ambitions other than remaining in the Championship. And if that is the case then we are not going to see much more than loan players bolstering a fragile and lacklustre squad.

If you were the Venkys would you really be delving into your pocket to add to the £11 million dubious transfer fees for two strikers who don’t?

I’m perplexed that professional footballers can actually play so poorly as Rovers current squad and therefore loan players are likely to be a necessity.

Unfortunately you could go through 60 per cent of the team and say they are simply not good enough and have to be replaced.

Week after week we see the same schoolboy mistakes which we then have to replay in our ensuing nightmares. Multiple injuries and surprisingly the spectre of Bradley Dack’s misfortune has also seriously affected the players’ confidence and spirit. We’ve been here before.

Paul Yates

The transfer window is a good opportunity to address areas that are needed, prepare players for future roles at the club and cleanse the club of players that are surplus to requirements.

Positive business in January could invigorate the club for the second half of the season or signal a struggle ahead. There could be an argument for strengthening every area of the team but we have to be realistic and focus on the most-needed areas.

A goalkeeper and a commanding central defender would give us a much greater platform and instil the whole team with more confidence. With the injury to Dack, I’d also be interested in bringing in a creative source, possibly a Premiership loan that would inspire some excitement around the place.

At the same time I’d send Ben Brereton, John Buckley and Joe Rankin-Costello out on loan as they all need to be playing competitive football week in week out. Finally, I’d look to move a few players on including Charlie Mulgrew, Richie Smallwood and Jayson Leutwiler.

Kelvin Wilkins

With the injury to Bradley Dack, the January transfer window has now become much more important. There is no denying that Rovers are a worse team without their talisman, so to have any chance of reaching their ambitions they’re going to have to bring some players in to combat Dack’s absence.

That’s not to say we bring in a player who’s of that same quality, but a player who can take on some of the creativity and goal scoring burden.

As it stands we only have Adam Armstrong who’s stepping up to the plate. Despite our poor run of form currently, a good January transfer window could go some way to helping combat those issues and come out the other side.

Last season we didn’t improve enough and it cost us, this season we can’t let that same mistake happen.

Tom Schofield

Prior to the Wigan game and the form that we were on, the main problem would have been can we keep hold of Dack in the January transfer window but that is now no longer the issue.

To keep on the coat tails of the play off chasing pack I would like to see us sign a goalkeeper, not necessarily to replace Walton but to keep pressure on him as it’s now obvious Leutwiler is not of a high enough standard to be a back up never mind a first choice.

Since Cunningham got injured earlier in the campaign we have not had a player anywhere near as good as he was, so that’s an avenue I'd explore.

We all know the goal return of Gallagher and Brereton is not anywhere near good enough and if Graham was to get injured I worry who would score the goals so a striker would be a sign of ambition, but they are difficult to find and usually expensive.

We should also ship one or two out who have no sign of getting near the first team to keep the wage bill down.

Andrew Robinson

I think unfortunately, Rovers January business won’t have too much of an impact, positively or negatively, on the rest of the season.

Word on the block is there isn’t much money to throw around, and anyone expecting anything more than loan signings, and maybe something cheap, is expecting too much.

It will be the additions, or lack thereof, in the defensive areas which shape the second half of the season.

Bormuth, Bauer, Ogilvie, Heneghan and more have all been linked in the past year alone, but whether we see any fresh defensive faces is still to be seen. Most fans would rejoice at the signing of a centre-back, and it would probably help sure up our defensive issues which have arisen over the past two weeks.

Joe Harvey

Losing Bradley Dack was undoubtedly a hammer blow to the team and the club. Losing Ryan Nyambe and Lewis Holtby three days later compounded matters.

To me the team has struggled to adapt to the rotation in personnel and systems that have come about in 2020. We have looked worlds away from a professional performance at Bristol City in which we were also without Dack. We know the players we already have are capable of more.

I do not believe slotting in a new attacking player or two will be enough, while I do believe we have a longstanding weakness in depth along the back line which has hamstrung our ambitions going forward for years. The uncertainty of the January window aside, if I were Tony Mowbray, I would absolutely be looking to build this team back up from the back – particularly at full back.

I have faith that our attacking players can come together to pick up the pieces. But they need a solid foundation to work off. If this window can provide some stability in the way we set out the team and play on the pitch, it could be worth far more than any individual signing.

Cameron Disley

On the Birmingham display alone scoring goals is arguably the biggest need, so adding a new striker in January is Rovers’ only realistic chance of challenging the top six.

However, any signings likely to have a meaningful impact may not be a risk worth taking. At the time of the injury to Dack, it not only had an end of the season feel to the player but to Rovers’ season too.

The injury has taken away goals, assists & a driving force on the pitch. Unsurprisingly, we seen have since just how crucial Dack is.

Rovers are unlikely to have the budget to sign anyone who brings what Dack does, but even if he was still fit Rovers still only realistically had an outside play off chance. We could add a striker on loan from the Premier League but are we just a goal scorer away from the top six? I would argue against at the moment.

This is likely to be expensive too, he may be out of form and would be at the expense of the development of others in the same position.

We are also now trying to find an alternative way of playing, which we haven’t yet managed and adds to the risk. Wins against Preston and Wednesday may change this opinion but the sensible approach may be to focus efforts on playing the existing squad in to form in preparation for next season (and maybe adding players for the future).

Mike Whewell