RUFC - Big Enough Squad?

Rotherham United Manager, Ronnie Moore made no bones about telling everyone when he came back as manager that he thought the squad was too big. At the time he said that he wanted to cut back on players and use the loan system - which, to be fair, he`s done and done rather well.

But

On Saturday we saw loan player, Exodus Geohaghon named as the match sponsors Man of the Match, and he was Vital Rotherham`s Man of the Match last weekend at Accrington too. Exodus has to return to Peterborough after next weekends game at Southend because his loan period is up and we won`t be able to do anything regarding having him back until January and that`s if someone else hasn`t seen his potential and grabbed him. We also lost Dean Holden early when Shrewsbury called him back last week.

On Saturday I felt we were playing with two players, Tom Newey and Mark Bradley, who were only seventy per cent fit plus we lost skipper Ryan Cresswell to a back injury too which isn`t good as we`ve also got Nick Fenton out and Dale Tonge still a few weeks away. Kevin Ellison looked out of sorts and didn`t seem to get to grips with the game while Nicky Law did a lot of running and pushing up but then hadn`t got anyone to pass too or ran out of steam before producing a final product. Tom Pope didn`t seem to me to have quite grasped the game while Adam Le Fondre ran around and did what he usually does but also seemed to slip over a lot. And, I do worry what we`d do if Alfie got an injury. I wouldn`t quite say we were at sixes and sevens on Saturday - but we weren`t far off.

Yes, I know we`ve signed the Arsenal midfielder who will, I am sure, play some part and probably start next Saturday`s game and I really hope he`s the player that Moore has been looking for, who can hold the ball up and yet push forward when necessary.

So, can we rely on loan players coming in? Ronnie would like some of our fringe players to go out and get games - perhaps he should think about giving them games? To me a team should be made up of players who play together regularly but if one is injured then someone else can just step into their place - but you can`t really do that with loan players, can you?

Of course, this is only my opinion and I`d be happy to listen to what others think/saw/thought of the game and of loan players.

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