JHRover

Part of preparing for a transfer window is to investigate whether targets are attainable by finding out the demands and then if do-able go ahead and pursue. You don't go for a player then realise in the last few days of the window that you've been wasting time because the demands were never realistic for us. Can anyone tell me how much Chapman cost? If Mowbray is correct and he isn't going to be playing for us for some time would it not have been cheaper just to wait until the summer when he was out of contract?

Sums it up when the club are running with the '4 new signings' line for January. That's stretching it to the extreme when 2 of those were already here with deals becoming permanent, 1 of them is joining the development squad and the other isn't ready to play. It's actually 1 senior addition who the manager immediately ruled out of contention to play. Poor really. Not that we had a chronic need for new bodies but at the end of the day it's an opportunity to strengthen missed and it would have been good to add whilst we're in a good place to keep growing and improving. The same old tired excuses about the cost of players these days simply doesn't wash given the time we've had to prepare for the window. What are we going to do, never sign another player because we're not happy with prices and won't detract from first choice targets?

I can see where you're coming from, clearly this is results business and results of late have been very good, but I don't think that those 4 or 5 games should detract from the bigger picture. If we have a medium to long term plan I would expect to see signings to fit into that irrespective of how we've performed over January. Likewise if we finish the season with a winning run and end up in 7th missing the play-offs on goal difference I wouldn't expect us to put our feet up for the summer on the basis we've done well and don't need any more. This talk from Mowbray about the players he wants being way, way too expensive isn't good. If we've spent January pursuing players who are way out of our budget then we're wasting our time.

It's a bit like a self-fulfilling prophecy. Club with a limited budget wants to be able to recruit but struggles to pay the going rate for UK based players, the obvious alternative is to look overseas and yet said club can't do that because in an attempt to save cash the club has no European scouting network nor any employees with any expertise in that area. Result? It's either going for those UK players the manager familiar with or nothing, the result being that we end up paying as we did for Brereton. Hardly surprising that we're operating on such a limited and short sighted system when the club doesn't seem to look any further than Darwen when promoting itself.

So basically we're struggling to sign players due to a limited budget and not having the structure in place to bring in talent from overseas. We knew that before the window opened. I really do wonder how a club with a decade long run in the Premier League, Category A academy and a long history of signing quality from Europe can have no European scouting network. Very foolish and shortsighted to end up without one whilst rivals steam ahead on recruitment.

Pretty sure Davenport was photographed in training last week with the first team, so surely can't be far off. Don't know how he fits into the team though.

I never understand this theory that clubs keep potential signings a secret to prevent another club coming in and beating us to it. If a club is letting a player go they will try to get the best possible price for that player, so they will leak interest out to see if anyone else comes forward with a better offer. Likewise the player in question will have an agent paid to get the best deal for his client and so that individual will drip news out into public and get word out onto the footballing grapevine to see if a better offer comes forward from elsewhere. If there is interest in a player it will come out one way or another. If not into the public domain then at least in football/agent circles. Question is if there's enough time left to hijack it.

Forest will be an interesting comparison to us. We're side by side in the table, mathematically we're in a better position than them to make the play-offs. They're doing it the way many say you aren't supposed to do it - spending absolute fortunes, massive squad, eyewatering wage bill, changing managers regularly. We are the opposite - relatively stable, all the talk about the longer term, not panicking, not gambling, not spending heavily, building something up steadily. I suppose it is testament to Mowbray and the team that we are already above them after 29 games given where we've come from and what both clubs have spent. Moving forward it will be interesting to see which works out for the best - will it be Forest or us who goes closer to promotion. Will it all come crashing down there if they don't go up and are subsequently nailed for FFP breaches whilst we continue our steady upward movement on a sustainable footing? Or will they get up and we will be left wondering what if we'd have done the same at this point and 'gone for it'.

We already did that on deadline day in the last transfer window.

What about 2nd, 3rd or 4th choice? I think it is quite naïve and foolish to set out with one target in mind and refuse to go elsewhere should that not be possible. We're a mid-table 2nd division club with a limited budget. We aren't in a position to have only one choice. By all means have a favourite but have a back up to go elsewhere If needed.

I agree we shouldn't be spending for the sake of it. I would, however, hope that Mowbray has a list of targets and not just his one favourite and nothing else will do. Realistically as a Championship club we can't really afford to be so picky and fussy about our recruitment. We need a range of options to work through should 1st or 2nd choice players not be possible. There's only a handful of clubs in the world in the luxurious position of being able to go for number 1 and not look at anyone else. I agree that the need is arguably less urgent than it has been in previous years, including last season when we had a top 2 slot to secure and failure would have been catastrophic. Now we're in the relatively comfortable position of being almost safe in January with no serious pressure over the coming months and anywhere up from 12th would represent a good season. However, I would hope, given the good run we're on and the position we're in and the attractive looking fixtures we've got to come that there is the option of pushing the boat out a bit and trying to make something big happen. Promotion is unlikely and unexpected but it is possible and sometimes the fine margins such as an extra goalscorer could make a massive difference over the next 17 games. IF (touch wood it doesn't) Graham loses form or sustains an injury in the coming 17 games then we'll be in a pickle if we don't have someone else in the building. I don't particularly rate Nuttall and certainly don't think he is good enough to be leading the line in the Championship, and Brereton arguably even less so.

So what does that mean? The window has been a failure? If we tried then that suggests we wanted to bring one or more people in, no success suggests we were unable to achieve what we wanted.

Going back to Gallagher I'd be very surprised if he was an option at this late stage. If he was on the bench at Southampton tonight it's safe to assume he isn't close to leaving and Southampton aren't in a rush to get rid. Things would have to develop very quickly tomorrow for that to change and to enable him to get up from the South coast for a medical etc.

I don't think signing players from abroad like Brentford, Norwich and Leeds have done is necessarily as simple as it sounds. I don't think it is as simple as setting up some sort of network, waiting for that to bear fruit and a year or two down the line we are unearthing gems from all over. Anyone who takes some time to look at the behind the scenes structures in place at Leeds, Norwich, Brentford would soon realise that those clubs operate on completely different terms to us. They employ various highly qualified directors, technical staff, sporting directors etc. Who are very well paid and specifically tasked with using their expertise and contacts abroad to better their clubs. Norwich with Webber and Farke, Leeds with Orta and the other bloke whose name I forget, Brentford's owner also owns a Danish club and they have a unique way of working that has been very successful. I'm afraid we are miles away from that and will be until the owners decide that is a route they want to go down. That would include reducing the managers power and responsibility for recruitment and delegating to other suitable experienced staff, who we don't currently have. Like it or not the club has set itself up to be provincial in its approach. Recruitment, target audience, promotions, staffing, all diluted and downscaled over the years due to lack of a long term plan from above and cutbacks to non essential staff. I suspect anyway that Mowbray is a manager who will always look close to home when possible for his players, which is his way and that's fine, but if you want to properly tap into the European market these days in a highly competitive market you have to invest in a suitable structure to identify these players and get them in, there's no real evidence that the owners or manager have any burning desire to see that happen. It doesn't have to either. Many clubs have gone up with mainly British squads. But it does annoy me when we moan about the price and restricted options in available players without ever signing from overseas where they are generally cheaper.

So sounds and looks like Gallagher going nowhere. In Southampton's squad tonight (Austin isnt) and Pete O'Rourke saying Saints want to keep him, with numerous clubs interested anyway, so even if he was available we'd have competition. Hope we've something else up our sleeves. Telegraph seemed to suggest there was a 1st choice target in mind, but seemed to be under the impression that it was Gallagher. Will be disappointing if we don't strengthen or add to the depth of the squad.

Gallagher on the bench for Saints tonight so think if anything is going to happen there it's going to be tight on time. Safe to assume nothing close there if they're putting him on the bench for a big game tonight.

Reality is if we don't get promoted we will have to sell players. Whether that is to meet FFP requirements, to offset some losses, to recoup some for the owners, because our best players attract interest from higher divisions or just because our best players grow tired of plodding along in the Championship and want to move on. The ONLY way to ensure we are protected against departures is by getting up. These owners have very recent form for stripping the club bare after 3 seasons of missing out on promotion, following which we sold off just about everyone that could command a half decent transfer fee. So I'm sorry whilst I'd love to buy into this 'all the time in the world' theory where we can steadily and sensibly build over 2,3,4,5 years or whatever it is I'm I little bit doubtful that is going to be so straightforward, especially with these owners in place. That doesn't mean I'm advocating going for broke this season or that I'm against a multi-season development, just that if it doesn't work out as 'planned' the consequences of failure are likely to be quite significant if the post-Bowyer era is anything to go by. It may well be that things are more sustainable now than they were then, with a more manageable wage structure etc. but that really doesn't help much if the owners get a taste for sales again and start stripping the squad bare. In this hypothetical 2,3,4 season built it neglects the fact that by the end of it we'll almost certainly be without Graham, Mulgrew, Lenihan, Dack, Reed and Travis all of whom will either be retiring or elsewhere should we not get promoted within that period.

It might be fun for the message board and twitter people but really it means nothing if we don't get the deals done. For all his faults we got the Chris Brown deal done and dusted, whereas it's nice to be 'linked' to quality players until they're at Ewood having their photo taken it gets us nowhere. Interest and 'bids' for players are very cheap and easy to do. Actually getting a transfer completed and committing to a major cash outlay isn't.

He is a dingle. Doesn't matter if he's from the South East or Zanzibar if he's played for them he's a dingle and that should be a factor when considering whether to sign him, IMO. Perhaps not a deal breaker but as I said I'd tread carefully considering his age and injury record, his dingle past is just another problem. He'd be here for a few months and then off elsewhere leaving us picking up again where we are now. Option/agreement to buy very important as far as I am concerned, if nothing else to maintain the image that we're actually building something here and not just making it up as we go along depending on who comes available and the whim of those upstairs.

Tread carefully with Austin. Won't be cheap, doubt he's a long term solution for us, very dodgy injury record and he's a dingle. Players have to be exceptional to overcome the dingle hurdle in my book, not sure if he's worth it.

Gallagher played under 3 different managers at Birmingham last season - Redknapp, Cotterill, Monk

It isn't really, just pointing out that a side going for automatic promotion has assembled a lot of depth without spending very much at all whilst we, allegedly, have spent multi-millions on a prospect to develop. Most of those players are cast offs from other clubs - seen a few asking why Boro would let Assombalonga come here. Well Villa have allowed Hogan to join Sheff Utd on loan - what's the difference?

Yeah and how much have all those strikers cost Sheff Utd? Sounds like Leon Clarke is off to Wigan.

If I were betting on it I'd expect another 24 hours or so of rumours about Gallagher and Assombalonga and then for the deadline to approach before someone at Rovers informs Rich Sharpe that we're done for the window and that there's not going to be any more additions than those already in the building. I'd like to be proven wrong, but it seems very out of character for Rovers under Mowbray to go out and make a late splash in the market and bring in a first team ready player. Usually business has been concluded before deadline day or those arriving are squad players.

I'm in two minds to be honest. I'd be very pleased with a signing of Assombalonga's calibre provided the deal was reasonable and if it was a loan that there was provision in place to make it permanent come the summer. I'd be less supportive or keen on the idea if it were merely a stopgap loan until the summer and a permanent arrangement is out of the question financially. Why? Because I quite like the idea of building something that will last not a few months but a few years and whilst it would be nice to push the boat out now to try and sneak into the top 6 the probability is we won't get there this season and need to keep one eye on the longer term. So by all means invest in quality but make sure there is something to build on whatever happens. Signing Assombalonga or Gallagher purely on a loan until the summer might do a job but would then need re-visiting in a few months when we'd have to go through it all over again. In some ways I'd be more comfortable with Gallagher on loan with an agreement to make permanent come June, though I completely accept Assombalonga is currently in a different ball park to Gallagher and would be a statement of intent.