I'm on the same planet as you thank you very much "pal". Lol. Cover might be what we need for players like Raya, Lenihan and Dack. Up front and out wide we need players who will come straight into and improve the first eleven.

Man.... are you ever grasping at straws now trying to defend this transfer window. I said I wanted two quality strikers to come in leaving Graham as a decent third oprion plus at least one wide man who could go straight into the first eleven as well. How is that wanting "competition for places?" I think deep down you know as well as well as I do we're headed for serious trouble if we go into the season with 33 year old Graham plus Samuel and Nuttall as our striking options plus Conway and Bennett as the wide men. Still seven days plus change left until the permanent deadline so let's hope we can do something about it.

Don't expect him to say it publicly, but would have expected him to bring in 2 quality front men, one at least permanently leaving Graham to provide competition for their spots. Must have missed it. Has anyone come in?

You're the one who's been trolling all summer by labelling anyone who has dared to criticise the transfer activity as a "doom monger". If you had taken out your blue and white ear muffs for a second you'd also have noticed that TM said 4 maybe 5 "by the end" which suggests to me the vast majority if not all of the remaining business will be done on Loan as opposed to permanently before the deadline.

For me we need a substantial injection of real quality in the striking and in the wide positions who would come in and improve the first eleven now not just bodies to provide a bit of competition for places to the existing personnel. However that would cost decent money and it seems fairly obvious we aren't prepared to pay it.

Did you miss the fact that the entire interview was about providing "competition for places" in the squad?

That doesn't sound good at all. Merely sounds like he's hoping to bringin a few more like Rothwell and Davenport to pad out the squad a bit rather than outstanding signings who will go straight into the first team. As has been the case all window it smacks of there being no money available or at least inadequate funding to compete in the current Championship market.

Thanks for your concern as to my welfare. ☺ Don't worry, you won't have to do anything at all if we make a couple of stellar permanent signings before the deadline. Until then, I can only judge the window as it is. There's only so many times you can say: "It'll be a great window if we sign players A, B, C and D".

Not having a go at you but without a name or at the very least a bit of info to give it context that quote is completely worthless. If it's complete rubbish and no-one signs, source can say "nothing must have come of it". If it's a complete stab in the dark, but by pure coincidence someone else does sign (which is a fair probability at this stage) source can say "I told you so".

I couldn't disagree more on that. I wouldn't be at all unhappy if Armstrong came in permanently preferably alongside a bit more of a target man type. On the other hand not only would I not say Gallagher is proven at Championship level, after a relegation season and a six goal season I'd say he is perilously close to being proven NOT good enough for the Championship!

He's changed his tune completely then. A week or two again he was writing online that we'd enquired about Armstrong at some point but the player would have to lower his expectations re wages before the deal would be a goer. If we had that sort of money to spend I'd have expected our targets to be here several weeks ago. It's the easiest thing in the world to claim you had money to spend then say you kept your powder dry because the right players never became available. It was John Williams favourite trick to deflect attention away from the Walker Trust.

Where has he said this?

There is that to it as well. It seems that the guys who have been claiming all window that everything was under control are now trying to make out that loans were the way to go all along as you get more bang for your buck etc etc. The fact remains though that if you'd said at the start of the window we'd spend roughly half as much as we did last year for a campaign in League one on 3 midfielders then be looking at last minute loans to fill the major gaps in the squad I'm sure everyone would have been desperately disappointed. Still time for some decent permanent business to be done of course but time is running very short now.

If you're trying to be funny I wouldn't give up the day job.

Hmmm.....Armstrong apart we Don't have a particular record of success with loan signings, Harper and Hart spring to mind and the likes of Barrow and Chapman who looked as though they should be walking into the side could hardly get a start.

Whoops. The toys have come out of the pram. Let me put them back in for you.

Make the majority of your business quality permanent acquisitions and get them signed and bedded in early so They're ready to hit the ground running on day one. Make loans the finishing touches to the squad, not the core part of your business leaving you running around at the eleventh hour wondering whether anyone is going to be generous enough to loan us one of their players.

Go and see if you can withdraw £400 with it!

This is the problem with scratching about at the last minute relying on the good graces of Premiership Clubs to let you have a player on Loan. If they change their mind you've no say in the matter, you've very little time to sort anything else out, and you're probably reduced to bringing in another player on loan to make up numbers who isn't really what you want.

Well no, hopefully we won't be re-signing Gallagher who helped take us down..........

Pretty darned depressing reading when the so called "D" targets (Armstrong and Chapman) are evidently out of our grasp and TM is trying to dress it up as though we weren't really after them in the first place. Although I could actually believe that in the case of Chapman as nothing TM has ever said would indicate he particularly rates him. The player referred to for £7m would appear to be a clear reference to Gallagher who we were only reportedly in for on loan and I don't think he's as good as Armstrong anyway

Oh do give over. Woodburn wouldn't be better than Bennett, Samuel or Palmer up front?. Rightyho....... If we unexpectedly signed him you'd change your tune instantly and hail it as the coup of the century!

I completely agree jim. I don't understand how the mood on here has completely changed on the back of signing a young lad on loan for the season. For me at the end of last season the positions we needed to address as a matter of urgency were two strikers two wingers and a big nasty centre back. To date, with 5 days to the start of the season we've signed NONE of those and have padded the squad out with three number 10's instead. I guess the operative word is "to date" as many Clubs could be fairly busy between now and the end of the window. Like you I would hope to see some quality permanent business finally being done in the positions we need rather than bringing in random bodies on loan because it's all we can afford. If no-one else came in I'd take 21st now. I think it could be a very long and arduous season. There's enormous pressure on Dack to perform as well as or even exceed what he managed last season in my view. The next best signing might be a few hundred weight of cotton wool to keep him fully fit all season.

Unlike many If we had a choice of one only between Chapman and Armstrong I'd take Chapman every day of the week. Injuries permitting will be a far brighter talent than Armstrong imo. Doubt we'll get either. The Palmer signing leaves us well stocked with number 10's but changes little. We still urgently need as an absolute minimum at least one genuine wide man and two decent strikers imo. From the way TM is talking we aren't going to get them.

It's not my money being spent so It's easy for me to say but as a fan my only concern is that we get the best quality players we can in in the positions in which we need them. I couldn't really care less if we have to pay a slight premium for the privilege, if We're bringing in the right sort of player to begin with they should appreciate in value anyway.