ben_the_beast

I actually think Aasgaard and Cantwell being similar types of players could easily benefit the both of them. Class players want others on their wave length. At the same time, it's easy for the opposition to nullify Cantwell. It's not as though they need to worry about Ryan Hedges doing a pirouette past a couple of players. Cantwell needs help badly.

Still remember the stories which were pushed in the media when Mowbray was in charge and we were second in January. Back then it was that Venkys had committed to £10million worth of bonuses to the players if we went up. Yet they coughed up sod all to actually help us get there. Their promises are always for tomorrow, but tomorrow never comes.

To be honest, I'd take 0-0 draws in any of our upcoming matches. Feels as though we just need to hobble on until a few players return from injury.

We're decimated by injuries. I've put decimated in italics since most squads would be able to cope with the absences we've got, but with £40m sales and close to zero reinvestment over the last 2 years, our Venky overlords created a streamline (wafer thin, inadequate) squad. Bristol should be confident. We've got this far through organisation and graft. Eustice has performed miracles. Now we're in a position whereby the players who aren't injured look utterly knackered after being flogged death. Get a goal and you'll win. We're still hard to break down. Would snap your hand off for a 0-0 draw right now.

There's no need to be so condescending. I quite clearly wasn't stating their purchase of the club has been a profitable acquisition. I was simply pointing out that they are not currently pumping in £20 odd million a year in our current situation and haven't done for some time. This is what your original post alluded. Your final paragraph is exactly why I and the majority of others are making the counter argument. Modest reinvestment of funds spent wisely creates assets, meaning the levels of investment required, even just to tread water are lower. It's not rocket science mate!

Not for what is going on two years they've not. We're running at a profit. The argument people have is that sensible investment both keeps the team strong but also creates assets we can develop, sell in the future and reinvest. I'm not sure why you would include this line in here. Sure, that's been the case in the past, but in our current situation it is absolutely untrue.

Big, big game today. The win against Pompey stopped the slump, but this can help to rebuild some momentum, especially given the winnable fixtures we have in January. I do feel every win we get this month adds internal pressure to bring in some proper reinforcements. The odds are it won't matter one bit, but we've seen over the years how fickle our owners are. A bit of momentum could help to sway opinions that the playoffs are a genuine possibility this year. Whether that be at board level or ownership. (Put the sentence in bold to pre-empt the multiple responses saying there's not a snowball in halls chance that this'll happen.)

For me, the issue with Buckley is in his head. He needs to play at a quicker pace, mix it up and get stuck in. Do that and he would be a good player at this level. Do the basics! It appears to me that he sees himself as a Pirlo type, wanting to get his head up and constantly thinking he has more time on the ball than he does. Add in that his version of mixing it up is being petulant and showing zero discipline, and he's been a bit crap. Ability wise I do think he's one of the better technical players in our squad. Given he's now in his mid 20's I'm not sure we'll ever see him doing the basics and putting in consistent performances. The only other thing I'd say is, he was very good in Mowbrays final season. He didn't initially get minutes under JDT, but what he did get was a cushy 5 year contract. Is he on easy street or is it just a coincidence?

Yep. Don't dispute Eustice would probably be interested. More pointing out they are probably having trouble selling the club to their first, second, third choice etc, whilst also being limited by not wanting to pay a lot of compensation. My biggest fear RE Eustice is Waggott scared them off when rubbing his grubby hands together at a big fat compo fee, and now he knows they won't pay that amount, would accept something lower.

Apparently West Brom are utterly skint with more players needing to be sold to balance the books. I'm not sure it's the appealing job it seems at face value, with a big difference between expectations and reality. The hope is that paying any kind of compensation fee is not an option.

Waggott and Co's lies are what makes this all the more infuriating. How he can continue to say the court proceedings have no impact on the running of the club?!?! Even more infuriating is sections of the fanbase eating it up, and saying we can't compete because of FFP.

It's been going on so long I can't actually remember when it started. Surely going on 2 years now, right?

Well that's unsurprising. Another promotion opportunity will drift away. The summer is when this is really going to begin to bite though. We're becoming asset poor. A generational talent is the only reason we've stumbled on this long. There is no way we can continue long term with zero funding.

I'm sure our idiot owners look at things incredibly short term. Such as, we've made all this money and are in 7th, therefore there's little correlation between investment and success. As well as we've done under Eustice, we really aren't far away from the abyss. In typical Venky fashion though, I'm sure the only time we'll see any investment is when the shit has already well and truly hit the fan. The last time they coughed up any kind of money way our relegation to League 1.

Prior to Danny Baath I wouldn't have been opposed to Hanley. I think Baath is a much better player and with finances limited we have other areas which are a priority. We won't do any deals until the end of the month anyway, by which point Carter won't be far off returning. Wharton will then be back at the end of the season and we are pretty well stocked providing we extend Baath's deal. We're so blunt in attack, that's where any limited money needs to be spent. Only centre half's I'd like to see are ones we can develop, such as Bindon.

I've a feeling the court case mid Jan will be a lovely excuse. We all know it will be delayed once again, however it provides a narrative that we couldn't bring in x, y or z because of factors outside our control. You begin to see signs over time. No contract renewals for over 12 months indicates there are certain self imposed restrictions in place. So frustrating considering it was widely acknowledged that when JDT came in we were resetting due to assets leaving for free and the only thing GB received credit for was being proactive with renewals. They/Waggott never learn their lessons. It's always make it through 1 season at a time. Survival, not ambition. Personally I'm amazed we're at the level we are after the shambolic way we've been run for years and years.

I'm pretty sure Peterborough have form for wildly stretching the truth when it comes to transfers. I don't doubt they'll receive a decent wedge at a tribunal, but I'd be very surprised if it stretches to over £2m, probably far less. All they are doing with those statements is stretching the truth, to either stop clubs lowballing them, or beginning a narrative in preparation for a tribunal. I'd be pleased if we went in for both Poku and Godo, meaning Poku can slowly work his way back from injury.

Another really big game this, before a more difficult run of fixtures. 3 points will really remove any pressure and keep the momentum going into the festive period.

Especially when his club play him for months with painkilling injections whilst delaying necessary surgery. Madness to treat a 20 year old and one of their biggest assets in such a way.

Brilliant article. For me the beauty of football is there are so many ways to play the game. I've always hated it when managers and the like look down their noses at styles which differ from their own, like Wenger did with us in the 00's. Martin strikes me as selfish. Someone more determined that he as an individual is associated with a style of play in the hope it'll be good for his career, rather than being adaptable and pragmatic for the good of the club.

I'd say a lot of it is similar to what we experienced when Greg the egg was here. There was a big push around maximising players value, by playing a style of football which showcases flair; a style which tends to sacrifice pragmatism. You see a lot of clubs these days signing players on potential, but aren't quite ready, especially in the lower reaches of the Premier league. Southamptons statement after sacking Martin, weirdly mentioned their pride in their academy and younger players. They would say differently, but their actions scream that they don't care about staying up, but more about a few big sales. It's a feeder club model and that requires a manager who plays with a similar philosophy to the top clubs.

After the last date was deferred I'm sure I saw in the LT a line saying the club don't expect a resolution any time soon. It was mixed in with the usual, has no effect on the running of the club, but it's the first time I've seen any sort of admittance that this is going to keep on rolling for some time. I think we'll all be utterly shocked if this just goes away. We've somehow stumbled on whilst being successful on the pitch, but come the end of the season the chickens are really going to come home to roost. We simply can't continue to exist in our current form with zero funding.

Spot on. Which is what leaves us in this perpetual cycle, going nowhere. With the lack of backing it'd take a small miracle and a phenomenal manager to get us promoted. It then takes another huge slice of luck for said manager not to be poached as soon as things start looking rosy. This January is huge. Eustice has earnt the backing. I'm still highly doubtful we'll see it materialise. We've been here so many times before and unfortunately, that's what the club becomes known for and we become less and less attractive to any manager with ambition.

There were a couple of articles linking him to Southampton earlier in the season, but they seemed more like gossip for clicks. They're the only club I could realistically see him going to this season, but they were burnt by Nathan Jones a couple of years back, so I'm not sure we'd see them appointing someone with no prem experience, unless it was a foreign manager.

Depends what Villa are looking for. If its the biggest loan fee, then a club like Boro will take him. But, if it's where would be best for his development, I think we could make a strong case as he'd definitely get plenty of minutes here.