Question - if this was exactly what had happened, ie our time with Venkys was the price for that glorious 94/95 season and triumph - was it worth it? So if you could make it so Venkys never took us over, but also we only finished 2nd or 3rd in 1995 (and every subsequent season before Venkys still turned out exactly the same as it did in reality), would you prefer that, or leave things how they were?

What seems like sarcasm in the early posts aside, they seem very very happy with him. If we can get him a League One team who will play him regularly and aren't struggling every week, I'd certainly try to move him up there. His contract situation means we will probably look to sell him this summer and we won't get much of our investment back if he has only shone in League Two. I don't think he is anywhere near as bad as some do. Personally don't mind him as a squad player, but we have enough of those in his area at the mo, better quality is what's needed. Unless someone gets injured he probably won't be brought back for the first team squad, now or in the summer (well, maybe in the summer if Dolan leaves).

Birmingham have spent quite frankly obscene amounts in League One, so thought I'd check this. 4.1 million euros for Christoph Klarer from the 2. Bundesliga. Played a lot, 21 times in 23 games. A loan of Ben Davies from Rangers. Probably not a cheap loan given his CV and Rangers having paid about 4 mill for him. Although has only played in 15 league matches out of Brum's 23 this season (20 since he signed), so 8 games he wasn't in the way. The left back they signed for 1.2 mill Euros (just over half what they paid for Sanderson a year earlier) from Hearts managed 2 full 90 minutes at CB, more than Sanderson. So someone who plays a diff position and cost half as much has had more game time in his position. As far as I can see that's all they've signed that can play there. It does mean he'd be knocked down the pecking order, but they've signed 2 CBs and he seems to be, at best, 5th (behind the 2 new CBs, the new LB, and whoever got ahead of him in in the pecking order of a side who were relegated, in most of the 8 games none of those players played). So, he played the opening league game of the season, full match. Was suspended for the next one (due to being sent off in the intervening cup match) and since then has only had 2 minutes against Northampton, off the bench. Apart from the aforementioned cup game he got sent off, and one FA Cup game against Blackpool which ever so helpfully cup ties him for us, that's all his game time. Well, that and 3 EFL Trophy games, which I doubt Brum are taking too seriously given their spending and ambition to get back up. He has sat the league bench 7 times, coming off it that once. I'm not seeing that he has been injured. Without looking further into it all, I'd say their signing 2 CBs and a LB seems to have made him about 5th choice. Behind those 3, whoever has played more of the 8 games those 3 didn't play, which I assume is also whoever has kept him off the bench so often. If they normally name 2 CBs (they probably don't, League One has a 7 man bench not 9) he's even further behind. This also suggests he was only the second best CB in a team that shipped 65 goals and got relegated. Which in the interests of fairness, is still 9 less goals than we conceded. They saw him and his partner as enough of an issue against League One attackers to sign two CBs, one of them their second priciest buy in a summer of insane spending. Honestly, the signs here aren't good, if we end up having to call on him in our promotion tilt. We can only hope either we don't have to, or Eustace knows how you get a tune out of him. It's frustrating he's not even available in the FA Cup to give Hyam or Batth a rest and get minutes in his legs. Obviously this may not matter much if we get knocked out, and I'm not sure he'd have played anyway, but if we end up on a run and playing weaker sides than Boro it would have been one way for him to be useful.

Jesus fucking christ, how are we an even lower number than last time? There isn't a cat in hell's chance that case gets seen that low down the pecking order. Venkys are absolute charlatans, but separate to that, the Indian court system is a total joke (including if Venkys have paid someone to put us that low and delay the case again, as that's of course corruption).

It's nearly 15 years since Basturk, and you remember him...

In the sense of being a cheap skate CM signing, sure. But he doesn't seem to have as bad an injury record and given he has played 16 Championship games this season is unlikely to be injured in his first game and out for the season. The bigger problem is it sounds like he is past it and too shit for a relegation side.

We are literally discussing a very strong rumour that Adam Forshaw is imminent, so, whilst I'm not going to play the tedious page guessing game, I'm going to predict it will be a lot sooner than page 234. The first good signing, that's a different story and may not happen at all.

I thought you didn't really trust Nixon and certainly don't take his stories as gospel?

But was there outrage, as the poster suggested for players of this age? No. And some people were enthusiastic due to his CV. I wasn't one of them and doubted the signing due to his age, but for one season he was a solid freebie. Agree the second deal was unwise, especially since, if memory serves, it wasn't signed until he had missed preseason. I think it was after the transfer deadline even?

The best example to use to see whether this is true is Stewart Downing. Came in 2019 just turning 35 and played at times in CM and at times out wide (where pace is more important). No uproar. Some questions asked about whether he still had it (which I'm pretty sure were also asked when we signed Hughes), but I certainly wouldn't say uproar. People had different views on him as with all players, but overall he was deemed to do a pretty good job in that first season by most, when he was an almost ever present playing 41 league games. I think it's clear, it depends on the player not just their age. There'll always be question marks over players of more advanced ages, but no uproar unless they've also been shit in recent years or have abysmal injury records, and some will work out, some won't.

Armstrong is only 5 ft 8.

Leonard to a Championship side on loan would be very stupid, even if we sign another striker. Not only does it reduce our depth in a position we are light, but it would likely go the way of Buckley to Sheff W - at best. Truthfully he'd probably play a lot less than that. If he does go out on loan (after we sign someone else) it has to be League One for regular football. Anywhere else would be a waste of time. Unless the Championship club are buying of course, in which case you'd have to consider fair offers.

I'm not sure we'd even notice that tbh.

What won't? The flexi ticket? It's literally happening.

That gives us a total 42.9% chance of finishing in the top 6. Which would probably be a fair shout based purely on the data from the season so far. What Opta of course can't factor in is Venkys fucking us in this window whilst other teams strengthen.

??

Probably had what, two good games for us?

Some of JDT's failings with the team came down to tactical obstinacy. He was shafted in the market, we all know that, but the team was still capable of more than it was delivering in his later matches. Lost his way or got pissed off and behaved as unprofessionally as the ownership, whatever way you slice it things weren't working out anymore and I couldn't fail to acknowledge that in making my point. I liked JDT. Some fans have a far less positive image of him than I'm presenting.

I very much fear if we lost Eustace. The last two appointments have been good tbf, even though JDT eventually lost his way. But we know from experience we usually recruit cheap plodders and that can't work out too often. This squad, IMO, is equally as capable of entering a relegation dogfight under the wrong manager as it is of competing for the playoffs under the right one.

Reading between the lines, the LT article suggested there was something in the Schlupp one. But I'd imagine too much (any) competition will rule us out.

Might be a relief to have one less competition tbh, given how many we're in and with half the squad off on loan...

74 minutes in, 1-1. Our goal from Harrison Wood (17th minute), theirs from veteran 36 year old Ched Evans (59th minute). I see they've also got Patrick Bauer playing, but the rest of their starters are all 19 or younger.

Total side note, but this weird non league structure made me curious about how AFC Darwen were doing these days, so I took a look at their league and got momentarily confused...there's an Ashton Athletic there, so I thought I was looking at the 7th tier again...but there's also an Ashton Town there. And of course the 7th tier has Ashton United. It seems Ashton really excels at producing crap football clubs...or so I thought. The 7th tier sides are in Ashton-in-Makerfield, Ashton United are in Ashton-under-Lyne. Both come under Greater Manchester apparently but they're 28 miles apart. Not a lot of originality in naming going on between the Ashtons and the numerous Premier Leagues, maybe the same people named them all!

I'm pretty sure that's what it is. Well, more along the lines of the leagues taking branding decisions to sound as impressive as they can. Which seems a vain pursuit, somebody isn't going to move to a lower league because it has a shinier name (especially when all the leagues have shiny names!).

Tbh, I'd thought he was already playing in the 6th tier due to the confusing names, but clearly it's the 7th (not sure how Macclesfield managed to fall so low, I'm sure that's a whole story). So I think he could definitely do to move up at least a level.