Quote Originally Posted by eddy779h34 View Post
After the dross served out for the first half dozen games. We finally have a glimmer of hope. I feel too much lost ground for a promotion season, but I would like to see us push into half way
with Beliek in midfield and a fit Ibe surely we should be a bigger threat, ]unless Rooney and Evans comes straight back in when available
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Think you’re being unnecessarily harsh on Rooney, eddy.
I’ve never rated Evans, but Rooney has only been here for ten months and he undoubtedly improved us last season.
He’s 35 now, today as it happens, and has the sort of body shape and probably genetics that are going to make it hard for him to stay in any sort of shape when he finishes playing, but, imo, he still has something to offer.
After lockdown I’ll concede he seemed to have swapped fitness for weight and he can probably be criticised for that, but he’s been asked to play all sorts of roles, one of which he’s no longer suited to, and I think he can still provide us with something in terms of know how, leadership and set pieces, though possibly largely from off the bench.
I also seem to remember Max Bird improving massively once Rooney arrived last January...it may not be coincidence that Bird’s form has collapsed correspondingly this season.