RevidgeBlue

and last summer?

Even if it's not what they would have done by choice you might argue their hand is being forced by FFP. To me the choice seems to be to do nothing for 2 seasons and allow our annual operating losses to tip us over into embargo at the end of that period. Or we could invest judiciously in some quality players which would give us an outside chance of reaching the promised land but if we didn't make it we might be able to sell at a profit which would prevent an embargo from coming into effect. Seems a no brainer to me, but then again It's not my money nor have I lost c£150m already!

Amen to that.

Weren't we linked with Johnson years ago when he was in his prime? Have to admit I don't know too much about him these days but having signed 35 year old Downing the prospect of, signing another player whose best days are probably behind him would make me nervous. Why can't we sign any players in their prime in the 25-29 year old age bracket? There must be plenty about within our means if we were to cast the net wide enough.

Depends entirely on signings yet to come which may or may not be made. New CB /CM/ main striker and no sale of Dack/Raya/Lenihan and TM uses the youngsters then top 10 might be a possibility. If we went with the current squad and TM persists with the likes of Williams/Mulgrew/Bennett/Evans/Smallwood/Graham etc I'd expect us to be relegated or to be involved in a relegation dogfight and narrowly escape at best.

If this is indeed what is currently happening, then much as people hate to admit it then surely Venky's are 100 % correct. If things progress in the same vein as last summer's window and We ger to the last day or two of the window without having signed anyone of any significance, selling Clubs will recognise your desperation and make you pay through the nose for players who are left who won't necessarily be the ones you really needed or wanted in the first place.

I agree Hanley would have been a good signing but apparently that one is dead in the water. Top quality centre back, central midfielder and main striker the bare minimum for me. All would cost decent money. Oh and a new contract for Travis.

Shows how bad everyone else was last time round when a guy who can't last 90 mins or play 3 games in a week was our player of the season.

Graham isn't that good these days and that's probably an understatement. Hypothetically Assombalonga would be a cracking replacement but you're right to say a top quality Championship striker doesn't come cheap these days. Nevertheless it has to be done regardless of cost and unless Brereton suddenly astounds us all, our prospects this season will depend largely on whether Graham is replaced and if so, how good that replacement is imo.

You're right - It wouldn't be if the manager spent it on players who were integral to the side and didn't squander it on players he barely used.

No, ridiculous comment. The only way we will ever improve is if decent money is spent judiciously on quality players. The thought of doing nothing and dropping back into League 1 or even lower is what fills me with dread. Does it not you?

I'm basing my opinion on Mowbray's on the record comments about having to rein the owners in, more recent on the record comments about "the most important thing being to work with the players you've got", the fact that no players have been brought in to go straight into the starting eleven since we were promoted and the fact I was told there was substantial funding available to the manager in January. What are you basing your opinion on?

Call it what you like. It's an opinion just as yours is and nothing has actually happened in the last two and a half transfer windows to contradict that point of view. if you have any actual evidence to the contrary please share.

It doesn't sound that far fetched to me. Weren't we told at about this time last summer by unsall who seems to have good inside knowledge that Venky's had offered Mowbray a decent budget and he'd turned it down saying he didn't want that much. Then when we got towards the end of the window and nothing much had happened, there seemed to be a complete sea change and proceedings descended into chaos and panic as huge amounts were offered for Freeman and Brereton. I was also told by a source I respect that there was £20m available for Mowbray in January if he wanted it (which seemingly he didn't). Mowbray does seem to be extremely unusual as far as managers go in that he seems far more interested In not upsetting his existing players than in bringing in new players who might replace them. Any other manager would probably chop their arms and legs off to bring in players better than the ones they already have.

As far as I know he was in talks with the Club last Monday but like Bauer, it's another signing that hasn't happened.

Sorry to sound like nicko setting up a random deal out of the blue as a near certainty then making more mileage on it when "Shock horror" it doesn't happen but according to my friend who knows Hanley, he isn't coming back. I know not why but I'd be surprised if we were in the same ball park as him re: potential wages. Yet another dead end and more time wasted.

The fact he's crap might have something to do with it as well!

See that Man Ure are being linked in the Sunday Press with a £50 move for Mcginn who we were linked with 12 months ago before TM no doubt told him (like Bauer) that he wouldn't be a guaranteed starter and he'd have to dislodge the mighty Corry and Richie. You couldn't make it up. As far as the rumours concerning us go I'd be gutted if Raya was sold, think he'll turn out to be a top keeper and if he goes he'll no doubt be replaced by an "experienced" keeper like Steele who let's every shot the opposition take in. I'll also be disappointed if Gallagher comes in. He'll never be better than average imo and I can't for the life of me understand why we want to reunite the strike force that took us down, especially seeing as Graham is now three years older and has one foot planted firmly in the knackers yard. I'd rather stick with Brereton (in the correct position) than Gallagher. I think Brereton has raw potential, for me Gallagher doesn't have much about him at all. What you see is what you get with him. Lots of endeavour but not much quality. What's happened to all the bold talk about scouring Europe for players? Seems we can't sign anyone unless they've played for us before (Hanley, Gallagher) or played for Boro (Downing) plus all the others we've been linked with.

There was an article in the LT a week or two ago stating the aim was no major sales of the likes of Lenihan or Dack and 5 in. Downing has come in since then so that's 4 to go according to the stated objective. I don't necessarily believe the owners are the problem in terms of landing players, Mowbray wasn't wanting for support when he lashed out 7m on a player he then barely used last summer, nor when he bid 4m for Freeman, nor in January when I was told there was a very substantial fund available if the manager wanted it. TM has also said in the past that far from having to beg for money he's had to try and keep the owners in check, so is the reason we seem to have difficulty in landing players more down to the fact the manager doesn't really want to bring in anyone new and upset the core group as per his comment in the article Stuart posted that "the most important thing is to work hard with the players you've got". Of course, if we're no nearer promotion after 3 seasons in the Championship, then FFP will probably dictate that players have to be sold to avoid going into embargo but in the meantime for the next 2 seasons you'd like to think we'd have a bit of a go and not just sleepwalk into FFP whilst rambling on about long term plans and gradual improvement etc etc.

All this talk about starting elevens for next season and trying players in different positions out of the existing personnel reminds me of shuffling deckchairs around on the Titanic. We need quality injecting into our starting eleven, not 35 year old squad fillers or "ones for the future" who are then subsequently never given a chance on account of their age. Bare minimum of a centre half, central midfielder and main striker for me otherwise we will be relegation fodder. Shuffling players about in the hope that they'll perform better in an unaccustomed role than in their normal positions where they've been under performing won't hack it nor will the manager bemoaning how difficult it is to sign players which we had to put up with all last summer. I think the talk that the criticism the manager is getting is unfair is unfair in itself. No-one is saying he's a bad person but his job is to improve and move the team forward which he has patently failed to do over the last 12 months imo. We're not significantly better than two seasons ago when we were due to start the League 1 campaign imo. That's what he's being judged on.

Just waiting for Hanley to be unable to agree terms now then those who were saying how he would bes so much a better option than Bauer will then no doubt be saying "he's rubbish" "didn't want him anyway" "liability off the pitch" and "we've dodged a bullet there" etc etc. Last summer we seemingly drew a complete blank with all our main targets then started chucking telephone numbers about right at the end of the window at anyone who might still be available. Let's hope this window doesn't go the same way.

There's absolutely no evidence he can't either but as a free agent he represents a relatively cheap gamble. I'd be pleased with Hanley coming in if it happens but Bauer on a permanent deal sounds better than Hanley on loan to me. Even if his return were to be a success we'd be back to square one in 12 months time. If Hanley was being lined up permanently I'd be far happier.

What is mad is chasing a player for 12 months but not having the courage of your convictions to clinch the deal. If you're after a player, make sure it's someone you really want and have confidence in your judgement and be prepared to pay what is necessary to get the deal over the line. Don't fanny about half heartedly for 12 months fluttering your eyelashes at a player you don't really want simply because there's a slight chance you might land him on the cheap.

In actual transfer news, Hanley could be next in, a mate who knows him says he was in talks yesterday with the Club. Guess it will depend on whether they can agree on wages. Think he would be a good signing IF he was being brought in to go straight into the starting eleven. Not sure I'd want him on largish wages sat on the sidelines.

This is absolute madness. How are we ever going to persuade anyone half decent to join us if the deal is they're only going to be a squad player? And if the players any new targets apparently are going to be behind are so bloody good, how come we only finished 15th in the Championship last season? The more I hear from Mowbray, the less I like what I hear and the less I respect his point of view. His only concern appears to be protecting the interests of the players already here and he appears to have zero interest in actually trying to improve the starting eleven.