Hope so and yes the injuries won't have helped but the other bit ? Nah it doesn't mean a lot really, Hart for example ex Liverpool.

Squaddies, bodies, numbers.

300k is a lot for a club our size and we didn't get him from a Prem club did we he's been around the lower leagues mostly. End of the day 30 thousand is a lot if you don't justify it although i don't envy his job recently.

To me he's the only one who might have made a significant difference. It's all assumption though and I agree all of them fit and we'd have been a few points better off. Still don't think we'd have made it though because at the end of the day we still had a crap keeper and defence that leaked too easy. Cunningham would have given balance to it but the centre was still flawed. We still lost gam s with all those guys in early on. Agree the left back could and should be strengthened. If he doesn't it will bite his ass again.

Hmmm but if the big money signings had done what they were signed for and stepped up it should have balanced out. Not sure we could hang our hat on being in the play offs off the back of Dack alone, fit or not. The main issue for me is when we had chance to just go for it with sod all to lose after lockdown we simply didn't. That's how he works and there is no reason to think this time would be any different so that's why i'd just like to see a fresh approach. We are bustling with youth now and with Dack to come back, a new keeper, possibly the solid centre half we've craved and Brereton another year on there's no reason not to have a go. It's not shit or bust there isn't that kind of pressure but there should be a little bit applied from above now with the backing he's had.

What's the story ? Imo not much problem with the Hart thing although giving him another contract to loan him out again when it was clear he wasn't up to it is a bit odd. However i'm presuming he didn't cost much so if they were giving him every chance and it just didn't work out that can't be that unusual in football. Anyway what was the Jlowe story /

Marginal gains, very welcome after relegation but now is the time to put the foot on the gas a bit more to show significant improvement because as we well know it can go backwards very quickly. We've nothing at all to lose in having the 'just go for it' mentality. At worst it's midtable again baring a serious injury crisis or selling players. No point tip tapping around now.

So it's over a thousand season tickets just to pay him and the middleman.

Quality needed not not quantity we are past that juncture thanks to the youngsters. We've also offloaded a few out of contract well paid squad fillers, some who's sole purpose just seemed to be there to fill the headcount. Resources should go into the best player possible now.

Every fooking window we have this from him even if he has the opportunity he's terrified of pushing it and upsetting the pecking order.

How many STs do we have to shift just to pay him ?

Yep the personal funds bit needs putting to bed it looks clear that VLL sits in a corner of the group portfolio gobbling up other profits.

Along with the several audit firms they employed....

I genuinely think they'd still fund the club if crowds were ruled out altogether as long as there was tv coverage and an income from that. Might even suit them the way they do things they'd just micromanage it from India with the manager and coaches over here. Out would go swaggo and everyone in office here and the agents would sub contract the needed official staff as and when needed. Come to think of it we've already had that model !

I think he was simply using up what was left in the budget at that point whilst it was there. Looking after his mates for sure he's very good at that with someone else's money. Yes he needed to keep a squad together as they didn't know what was happening but to extend contracts for guys you told you were never going to use whatever and others who knew they were on their way doesn't sit well with me at all. As iv'e said several times before going back to last summer all these little things add up when you then down line find yourself a few quid short to sign someone else.

I was in the keep camp but replace him as number 1 with an experienced keeper or someone with similar potential. That way we could see if he developed and he had better standards to train with and fight it out for number one. He never had that here he just wasted time sat behind Steele then straight replaced him to learn on the job. Luckily for him that was in league 1 i think he'd have sank Jake Keane style thrown straight in the Championship then with no real back up. Of course all that is easier said than done but if the clock could be wound right back i think it could have been handled a whole lot better. For now though if we got another million quid on top of the 3 and they've got someone capable finally in the sticks then it's best to draw a line under it.

Difference was Raya would lose you 9 points but literally save you 7. Walton would lose you 9 as well but only save you maybe 5. That's the roulette wheel of these keepers. Pleased to say so far I prefer the new lad to both of those.

The more some rate Raya and the more they pay for him the better so it's not really a point scoring or laughing matter to be honest. 3 million sounds shite but add ons taking it to 4 or 5 sounds right. It seems like Brentford wanted more than 10 million and they rate him highly enough to play hard ball and risk losing the fee. They've been better at wheeling and dealing with big money than us recently so fair play to them. Maybe it's the add ons that caused the problem.

I reckon that might be down to the pitch being we'd like you to come to us and sit on our bench in the natural pecking order and you'll get a chance at some point. If not then fine we understand and wish you well whilst we'll look elsewhere. Everybody seems to come in as back up i suspect when they finally nail a left back it'll be the same. I'm hoping Ayala proves an exception to this but if Williams is playing well then it's all good competition.

Wonder why the Garner deal fell through if a package with utd was agreed ? Not down to money that one....

Any Raya and or King income will just be a welcome contribution to the running costs I expect. That's what usually happens to these add on installments. They just get quickly swallowed up. It'll cover the lack of match tickets.

First choice left back needed, I repeat first choice left back needed. If he really wants to move us forwards it's a must. Loan or otherwise.

Wonder if finally a little bit of pressure is being applied from above and this is his response via the media ? A little plea for a bit more backing maybe although from their point of view and ours the amazing support hes had in the last 2 summers needs to be in payback mode now.