RevidgeBlue

Whilst Gallagher per se isn't the answer imo, a top quality striker to replace Graham is an absolute must for me. Our transfer policy really does appear to be a joke. We know what the price for Gallagher is, if we have the money and we really want him we should pay it or alternatively move onto someone else we are happy to pay the fee for. If we don't have the money then similarly we should move on and stop wasting the window hoping Southampton will sell him to us at a price that isn't the price. If I want a Ferrari that's £200k I'm not going to get it by offering £120 k , six months down the line I'm still going to be stood there with my nose pressed to the window. I'm not going to suddenly get the item on the cheap just because they feel sorry for me no matter how many times I walk round looking at it amusingly. Not that Gallagher is "a Ferrari" of a player, more like a Ford Mondeo but the principle still applies.

Given the shambles that was our transfer window last summer it's not hard to think we might be thinking along those lines again but I'd say it's a fairly suicidal strategy as a) You don't really know which players PL clubs will allow to go out on loan until the last minute and b) If there's no-one suitable then there's only a week to go until the end of the window to sort something out leading to the potential for silly money being waved at anyone still available who you don't necessarily want or need as happened last year.

Completely disagree. Had Bauer stayed at Charlton he'd have been a first choice CB for them in the Championship which is exactly the same level as both ourselves and Preston are at. I think he's entitled to assume that if anyone at the same level come in for him and want him badly enough to sign him, he'll be going istraight nto the first X1 initially until he proves otherwise by not performing. It's insulting to expect him to agree to a move whereby he will move from being an automatic first choice to a squad player. On the other hand if someone at a much higher level say Liverpool or Citeh were in for him then of course he should expect to have to work his way up and fight for his place. It would be completely unrealistic to expect to walk straight into the first team. As for your comment about Mowbray taking us up; I'll have a pint of whatever you're on!

Fair enough, as long as he pays some attention to the gaping holes in the first eleven as well.

Not sure what the point you're making is other than to have a gratuitous dig at me. We HAVE signed Downing. We HAVE got Adam and Butterfield on trial the former getting a run out in the side only a few days after ringing up to see if he could train with us to keep fit. They wouldn't be on trial unless TM wasn't at least considering signing them. All extremely desperate stuff. I didn't mention Johnson because he might be ok. But as a 32 year old free agent who won't be getting any better I'd say it's only a "might'. When or if Mowbray does something positive I'll say so don't you worry.

Typical Mowbray signing. It's a "signing" which makes it look like we're doing something but at the same time he's not going to be challenging for the starting X1 in the forseeable future therefore his pals in the first team squad won't have their noses put out of joint.

I don't want Gallagher myself but from the Club's point of view this is turning into an absolute farce, just like the extended and ultimately unsuccessful courtship of Bauer. If he's the man you really want, get the money paid and bring him in. If he isn't, move on and bring someone in you are comfortable paying that sort of fee for. Seems like our scouting network is so desperately poor if Plan A stalls we have no idea what to do next.

Dear God, that's an absolutely desperate looking line up. Keeper could be anything, no CB or main striker which are absolute priorities, and apart from Dack zero creativity. Have to hope we get busy and there is a massive influx of quality between now and the end of the window.

So does selling your keeper without lining up and agreeing a fee for a replacement first! As regards the window as a whole, all we really have to go on is who's actually come in. On that basis it's been extremely disappointing thus far imo. And yes there's currently about 3 and a half weeks of the window left but before long the amount of time left in the window is going to be another distinct negative rather than a positive.

Definitely not. Might about be on a par with John Butcher and Alan Fettis as the worst keepers I've seen imo.

After the sale of Raya and the acquisition of the likes of Downing Adam and Butterfield, Hart' would be one final kick in the knackers for the fans. Quite possibly the worst keeper I've ever seen . You just have to look at him and everything he does is wrong. How he has even carved out at a career at professional level, let alone play for England is completely beyond me. Plus, aside from the fact he's garbage, he'd be extremely expensive in terms of wages. I'm sure Dingles fans would think there was a certain symmetry to it though if their Club was paying Hart part of his wage to throw the ball in the back of the net for us.

I don't doubt Raya and the manager fell out after Mowbray (unfairly imo) singled him out for criticism and dropped him. You just know what's going to happen though. Nothing will happen for a while then Mowbray will suddenly pop up in the Press moaning about how hard it is to sign a keeper because they're such a specialist position Clubs don't want to let them go in the first place and if they do they charge a fortune for a decent one etc. Unless it's us obviously.

It all seems identical to last season to be honest, waiting until the last minute hoping some scraps fall off the Premier League loan table at the last minute then no doubt panicking like mad at the 11th hour when they don't. The Raya sale is very confusing. Indicative of a miniscule budget. However if the budget is comparable to last summer's very respectable 11m in fees plus wages and I were the owners I'd have Waggott and Mowbray back on the plane to India sharpish to read them the riot act and ask why we've signed a 32 year old, a 35 year old, have a 33 year old and a guy who just got relegated to League 2 with Bradford on trial, and have sold our first choice keeper.

Long way to go before that happens. Only 2 out of the seven you mention have actually come in and only 2 out of the 5 you mention have gone out. Might as well say 'Would people be happy if De Gea, Maguire, Kante and Assombalonga came in and Raya Mulgrew Evans and Graham left?" If what you're suggesting actually happenes though I'd say none of the 5 outgoings apart from Raya would be missed. However I'd also say that none of the potential incomings would be any particular improvement either so no it wouldn't be a particularly good window.

Also, it would be totally contrary to everything Mowbray has done before if Buckley were suddenly under consideration for a first team slot bearing in mind the likes of Brereton Rothwell and Chapman who he actually went out and signed couldn't get much game time.

Well, we might have had if said players had come in at least 5 years ago.

Judging by Mowbray's comments it seems we can dismiss the prospects of a better keeper than Raya coming in. It sounds like we got an offer in we weren't particularly expecting and decided we needed the money to spend in other areas hoping we can get another keeper in a loan or a free. Two problems with that, anyone permanent will be older and/or not as good and if it's a loan who does well then we're left with exactly the same problem of having to replace him in twelve months time. It seems a crazier decision by the hour. At least if there was a conscious decision to sell Raya and replace him with someone better we'd already lined up, whilst I don't agree with the assessment of Raya at least there'd be an elenent of foresight and planning to it. The other point is that if we need whatever's left out of 3m after bringing another keeper in to spend elsewhere, how bad must the budget be?

My thoughts exactly. Not exactly up to Duff, Dunn, Jansen standards but on the basis we had 4 or 5 "crown jewels" in Raya Nyambe Travis Lenihan and Dack you have to wonder if it's one down with another one to go with Travis to follow due to him being unhappy about being on peanuts and then to top it off various midfield dross being brought in at ages 32 upwards to potentially push him down the pecking order. Or could it be Nyambe frustrated at being behind the dreadful Bennett in the pecking order? Either way I wouldn't be at all surprised to see at least one of them leave whilst you can just see the likes of Mulgrew, Graham, Bennett and Evans sailing merrily on until the end of their contracts.

Or in Hanley's case regurgitates what I told everyone on here a week ago!

It would actually be a rare bit of good news if Gallagher chose Wigan then we could concentrate on getting someone better in.

Where does he play? Out and out forward?

Yep. How often have we heard TM complain that it's difficult to sign players because other Clubs won't let them go until they have replacements lined up.

So anyone who doesn't agree with you is automatically on the wind up? No "winding up" whatsoever intended on my part. My impression of last season was that the momentum from winning promotion got us off to a solid start which just about got us over the line as we were well and truly found out in the last two thirds or so of the season. I've just checked back to see if the stats co-included with my impression and it appears that in the second half of last season we got 23 points from 19 games so imo with Mulgrew and Graham in particular well on the decline and not getting any younger we're in desperate trouble unless we improve very substantially. For me the business conducted and names linked so far are absolutely desperate and that was even before the loss of Raya which I am gutted about as I think he's a good keeper now and will go onto be a top class one. So apologies if I'm posting frequently but it's a reflection of how serious the trouble I think we are in is. If for the sake of argument we'd not sold Raya, and signed Hanley, Reed and Assombalonga permanently I'd never be off here crowing what great business we'd done! If it keeps everyone happier I'll limit the "we're doomed" stuff to a posting or two a day. As things stand it won't change my view though and what are you supposed to do if you think we're in very serious trouble? Sit back and say nothing or keep repeating your thoughts in the hope eventually the penny drops and someone somewhere takes some notice? If I didn't care, it wouldn't bother me.

Bet we replace him with someone "experienced" who also doesn't have enough presence and isn't a brilliant shot stopper either though Bob.

What can't you believe you're reading?