As a slight aside, I heard Clinton Morrison on the radio last night say, "but when a club like Derby County come along, it's hard to say no." I mean, wtf??? I'm old enough to remember the playoffs when it was us v Derby, and also Jack Walker v Lionel Pickering. Who, I hear many say? Exactly. He was their version of Jack at the time, but Jack swotted him away & he was barely heard of outside of Derby again. Now they're poaching our manager. That's what Venky's have reduced us to & I will never, ever forgive or forget how they've trashed Jack's legacy.

He'll probably lose more than that in his pay off from Leicester.

That may be true, but the whole point is that up until January 1st we had been deeply ensconced in the top 6 most of the season, with a reasonable gap to 7th & below &/or with very winnable fixtures to come, only for the club to the fail to support Eustace with proper fresh investment (both in terms of cost & timing) in January to enable him to properly rest & rotate those who were ailing from having played too much football due to the squad depth being shallower than the sea at Southport. All whilst we've had >£35m added to the coffers, during a period when there's "no impediment to the owners continuing to fund the club". Most commentators in football feel JE has worked wonders in the circumstances, and I think most people who know the game properly and who understand the background at this club, think it's all stinky bollocks. Because it is.

That's 3 things.... but I agree with your overall point!!

Boro's storming window resulted in two own goals last night from newbies....

Well subject to all necessary papers being submitted & approved, my take on the window is that the club have done the bare minimum to support JE and the players. There's plenty of Championship experience in the signings made, some PL experience too, as well as some complete unknowns. Who knows by June which signings will be successes & which will be failures? I suspect there will be some considerable variance on this board between expectations & reality. Certainly the squad is stronger if only because there are more experienced bodies for JE to select from. Whether or not our 1st choice 11 is improved is definitely debatable, especially with Gueye's recent upturn in form, but then that 1st 11 proved itself to be good enough for top 6 anyway under JE's management, which is more than most expected it to be. And is that what January lends itself to anyway or is it as much, if not more, a chance for clubs to plug holes from injuries & suspensions as a long season unfolds? Of course the real issue here isn't anything other than the problem at the top. It's not Forshaw's fault he's not better than Travis, or Sanderson's that he's not as solid as Baath, or Kargbo's that he's not played atvthis level before. It's not them towards whom any dissatisfaction on here ought to be levelled at; nor the recruitment team; nor indeed other fans who try to see the upside of the business we've done. It's the owners & those who advise them. It's them who've sanctioned a massive £800k outlay on new players against >£35m generated in player sales; it's them who find themselves in court unable / unwilling to support the club; it's Waggott who says there's no impediment to the owners paying more when there clearly is (be it imposed on them or self-imposed). I'm not going to rate the individual players on a 1-10 basis now, I'll do that at the end of the season. But so long as they try their best and give 100% to the cause I'll support them, even if they fall short, because they're just symptoms of the real, deeper lying problem.

Well, no... "The deal is subject to approval from the relevant football authorities." We all know what happens now...

That's Bad.

Good Freudian slip there.

Yeah but we do sadly, so the rest ofvtge club have to make do & mend as a consequence, hence to comments of Paul Mani & OOJW... We all wish it were not so.

I don't think Eustace is one to "pander to the squad"! He makes his own choices for his own reasons, but also doesn't seem scared to accept if something isn't working, & change it. He's made a big thing this season about subs making telling, positive impacts. All 3 goals had key parts fir the subs to play (1 goal, 1 assist & 1 chsnce-creating dummy).

So sell. Simple. Good business people know when to get out & cut their losses.

Well we've signed 2 players in these 14 days haven't we? Didn't we sign someone really early on last Jan too?? I'm sure we've had targets in mind for a long time, but think about it. In that time our needs have changed & other teams' needs have changed; players in mind will have hit form & gone above budget or no longer be obtainable, or will have lost form & not be such good value, or have gotten injured. Rovers don't exist in a vacuum where we can click our fingers to make things happen when we want them to. Unless we're not rolling in cash to splurge & in prime position to start off a domino effect of transfers - & under these owners we never will be - then unfortunately we often have to play a waiting game for the players we want to become available within whatever budget is allocated. Nearly every team in the division will be looking for a pacey winger & a freescoring number 9...

That's all well & good but this block of games didn't include the first of them a month ago; plus, back then, we didn't know anything about injuries to Travis, Pickering or Ohashi, or the recall of Baker, which have had to be bumped up the agenda. Add this to the general uncertainty of when players come available for loan or transfer, especially at the end of a crazy amount of games in a shirt space of time & with cup games on the horizon when managers play fringe players & rotate their squads more, it means we can't just dictate what happens from our own scouting booth; there's a lot of moving parts that we have little control over.

One thing to bear in mind; when Sanderson was playing for Brum last season, after JE left he played mostly under the fabled Rooney. Forshaw has played this season mostly under.... you guessed it, Wayne Rooney. And they still beat us.... Let's not write these players off based on initial impressions.

Carter's not going to come back fully primed for Championship cut n thrust football. He'll need a few games to get up to speed, so if he's not available for another month then it's likely mid March until he's properly back to his best. That's a long time to risk reliance solely on Baath, Hyam & McFadz.

I know I'm a bit late to the party here, but that's literally what JE said in his post match interview. The signings of Sanderson & (in particular) Forshaw are short term ones to plug gaps where we're weak due to injuries & to provide motivational support on the pitch, in the dressing room, in training etc. Both have given a clear mantra in their interviews that they're here to help however they can; they've not been sold the pup of guaranteed 1st team football so I think these are solid, if unimaginative, January signings. These aren't the names that'll make or break our window.

I've genuinely woken up with a tingle in my tummy for this one, like a kid on Christmas morning. It's bloody crazy what a footy match can do to an otherwise regular, unexciteable, down to earth middle aged bloke!! COYB, don't let me regret this anticipation!!!

Travis will clearly be a big loss today, Pickering on a smaller scale in terms of what we lose on the wing with Beck dropping back. I foresee Baker in for Travis as that's most like for like, and Hedges for Pickering. Could be Weimann but I'd prefer Hedges' athleticism over Weimann's. I'd go with ACD again, Gueye up top, Cantwell in behind to pull strings. Good to have some options for bringing on busyness fromthe likes of Ohashi and Dolan to trouble them when tiring. Sunderland are no great shakes I don't think, especially away from home, & we shouldn't be too downbeat about the Millwall defeat given the circumstances. I'm going for a 2-0 home win. It will be interesting to see what the reception will be like from the away fans re Danny Baath. I expect it will be a good one and hopefully he can repay it with a solid performance against them.

Merry Christmas everyone, hope you've all had a special day. I was expecting to have to miss tmw due to family events; however I have the bonus present of a pass from the missus - a very rare Boxing Day treat which I intend to make the most of! COYB!!!!

As I said below (and no-one had commented otherwise), he played key roles in our last 2 away goals, both of which were winners & therefore worth an extra 2 points each. He's a different type of player to what else we have in that area of the pitch, and he fits the mould that Eustace likes. At this level he's easily good enough for a championship squad.

I'm happy with the Hedges extension. If you're going to have a squad of 25 players, not all of them are going to be nailed on first 11 quality, especially at this level. He's a great squad option; he's a grafter, committed, a team player. He's inconsistent yes & has had injuries, but he fits in perfectly with Eustace’s ethos & we're less reliant on him now than when we signed him so hopefully this helps his fitness. His won't be an expensive extension. And for those querying his end product, he was heavily involved in both of our last 2 away goals (at Sheff Weds & Hull), providing the assist for the assist with some decent approach play; both goals have been worth an extra 4 points for us, the difference between playoffs or not at this moment in time.

The clean sheet & winning runs that we're on ought to be irrelevant to the outcome of any match, other than the confidence they bring to the squad. I think that Eustace, perhaps more than any manager we've had since Hughes, is great at keeping folk calm, their feet on the ground, and implementing the "one game at a time" mantra. He'll be looking at this like he always does; as a tough game against a team who, despite their current disharmony, haven't conceded many & have played some decent teams of late. I'm confident of a win here to set us up nicely for S'land then Hull. 11 games in 40 days is a tough ask, regardless of opposition. Sensible rotation will be key. Eustace has many more options open to him than I can remember in recent years, and I trust him to know how to use them. The easy change for Saturday imo is to bring in Cantwell for Pickering or Beck; I would also swap Dolan for Ohashi to give the latter a rest. Keep Gueye & Amario in, & no need to rush Brittain back in for JRC given the congestion ahead. Everything else stays the same for me.

I wouldn't say no faith. I think Ohashi is on 5 & Gueye 2 for the season; which isn't great but they're chipping in well elsewhere & creating goals for others (sometimes even without meaning to!!). I think I prefer that overall, instead of putting all our scoring eggs in one basket a la Szmodics, BBD or AA. But more support up front is needed, not least because Ohashi is close to having played 12 months of solid league football, with added internationals thrown in recently too. Leonard's re-emergence may help, but I'd rather we brought someone else in to supplement Ohashi's inevitable drop in energy levels / increased risk of injury arising therefrom.

Hendry enjoyed showing us his own massive hole before each match too! (Dundee1962, you might need that one explaining to you; we had a chant for him that went: "Colin Colin, show us your arse, Colin, show us your arse!" And he did, like any self-respecting legend would do!)