We've left it to the last minute again to save a couple of hundred grand. Now it's all down to the last day again and our record from the previous two January deadlines is calamitous. We somehow sit in 5th with a threadbare squad and have already wasted several winnable games this month. If Eustace is not backed tomorrow then I think it will be even worse than the previous January debacles. You'd think this would open the eyes to any remaining Venky sympathisers but it probably won't. I just cannot see how they will try to explain their failings when we all know that FFP and incomings are on our side and clubs behind us in the league are far outspending us. Could be a dark day tomorrow (again).

Trying to seal deals on January deadline day…what could possibly go wrong??

We are so lucky to have billionaire owners.

I think they are asset stripping to try to get some of that money back. Surely they’ve made a big loss overall but if they had the clubs interests at heart and not their wealth then they would have sold up already.

The evidence against the owners/waggot/Pasha is more damning this window than previously. Even those who won’t criticise the owners are going to struggle to excuse this. As we tumble down the table whilst other teams below us outspend us comfortably it makes it look even worse for them. If there is no restriction on them spending from the Indian courts or FFP and they never say no to signing a cheque then what’s the issue? We have received £40m in transfer fees so where’s the money gone? If the issue is simply that they don’t want to spend any money then why won’t they sell us? I struggle to see how they can possibly try to dress this up as anything other than gross neglect.

The obvious question is why won’t they cough up the money for O’Brien for a few months? If they had even the slightest interest in the club surely they would do that for Eustace? We could have done it last week and he could have replaced Forshaw yesterday! It must be getting even tricky for the Snake oil salesman Waggot to explain this degree of negligence. They’ve brought in 40million quid in sales and he says they always sign a cheque when asked. Make it make sense!

Even Nixon has given up on us.

Valiant effort given all that’s going on. Deserved a point and got unlucky. We might have had a better chance with a few more players. Another game wasted without reinforcements. Criminal and hardly surprising JE wants out.

My prediction for tomorrow is that we end up rushing Travis back and he gets injured again.

Heaven knows if he has his finger on the pulse or not, but Nixon seems to think Schlupp is off the Coventry as they are offering better terms. Given our injury crisis a utility player like Schlupp would make a huge difference for Saturday and you’d think the injuries sustained last night might encourage them to stump up the extra cash to get him in. We are (albeit not for long) in a better position to challenge than Cov. Nixon suggested he was someone Eustace wanted. It appears that Eustace is also being sent to Coventry by the board (metaphorically speaking). We just don’t function as a club.

Groundhog January

This is evidenced by one year not letting JDT sign anyone over the age of 15 and then signing Forshaw, Fadz, Fleck. I’m sure we were following the Brentford model a couple of years ago and then Broughton and JDT were bringing in lots of Scandinavian talent. The one consistent plan they have is to spend less money and to pull the wool over our eyes.

Im hoping any outgoing deals are put on hold now given the injuries picked up tonight. Fadz is surely needed now. O’Riordon and Garrett might find themselves starting on Saturday if they stick around long enough!

I’m nearly as angry tonight as I was after the O’Brien and Maguire debacles. It’s criminal that our lack of planning and urgency has meant we are coming into these crucial winnable games without a competitive squad. Having owners that don’t care about the club but won’t sell us for some unfathomable reason is like football purgatory. I wonder if JE will hold his counsel in his post match interview?! I know I’d struggle to in his position.

I’m guessing we won’t have signed anyone prior to our match on Saturday. This is simple sabotage. They haven’t a hope in hell out there. If Eustace is as furious as me then he’ll be desperately searching for a new job.

As teams around us hurriedly sign players, what exactly are we doing?? We are sat in a playoff place during a spell of winnable matches and we can barely put out a starting 11.

Same old story. Squad is lacking over the brutal winter period AGAIN. Can’t fault the effort of players and the manager. JE has done brilliantly to have us in contention. Let down by the powers that be once more I’m afraid.

Whilst I’m not blown away by the prospect of BTA, I’m sure he’d represent an improvement and I’d rather spend what little money we have on a championship striker rather than a hopeful gamble from overseas (like Gueye). He might also be a lot better than expected under JE’s tutelage. I think we are unlikely to get anyone better with the funds we are willing to spend. You’d think Asgaard would be a no brainer at the quoted 3m. Huge potential for future sell on profit and only a matter of time before other interested parties take a punt. Alas, It would seem the days of any ambition and sense are well behind us though.

No issue with either signing as squad fillers as we are thin on the ground. Clearly if we don’t also sign some good attacking players then my view on these signing will change.

I guess that would only happen if they win the court case?

I feel the rule that Venky's have to match any transfer fee with a bond in India is a convenient excuse for them. If they invest £5mill in transfer fees then it would cost then £10 mill. This degree of funding would be very useful and might even be enough to make the playoffs with our excellent manager. From what other more knowledgeable posters say FFP should be no impediment to this. The reality is that the bond for this degree of funding would be a comparative pittance for a multi-Billionaire. Maybe this is oversimplified, but failure to stump up the funding is clear evidence of their neglect and makes you wonder why they don't just sell up.

Schlupp would be a cracking signing. Him and a striker would give us an outside chance if they stay fit. I’ll believe it when I see it.

If we sign anyone it will be on deadline day. Ideally we’d have signed a striker who could play today. You’d think the importance of today’s game would have been understood and some forward planning might have enabled us to have a better chance.

If he’s not suitably supported this transfer window then Eustace will leave at the first reasonable opportunity and I wouldn’t blame him. His stock is high and it’s unlikely to drop much even if we plummet down the league as suitors are well aware of his pitiful budget. He and we deserve so much better and every transfer window I have a slither of hope that our owners will take notice and do their duty. For some reason I will no doubt be invested in the window and then be left exasperated. How can they top O’Brien and Dunc-gate? It is ever thus.

Can’t knock the effort and desire. Ultimately not our day but at least we got a good unexpected draw at their place. It is only fair to mention that their squad is worth many times what ours is and they are certainly not that many times better than us. They are very solid but unspectacular and fingers crossed that will only get them so far and we’ll be playing them again next season! We just lack quality in offensive areas and we all know that we are unlikely to be getting the desired quality anytime soon and whilst this remains the case we are always paddling upstream. Eustace and the squad are doing very well to compete with squads like Burnley/Leeds and whilst we are all disappointed, I think this is important to remember. Labore and not enough Arte is preferable to me than the other way round! Maybe next time!