roversfan99

After the QPR game the day after the window closes so presumably too late for any deadline day signings to realistically feature. We will have only 15 games left. Before then we have 3 crucial games, 2 very winnable home games against bottom half sides and an away game at fellow play off chasing Bristol City. It is criticial that we get a decent points haul in those games to keep us right in the pack ahead of the run in. We go into the first of them mainly fearing the worst because our sub par attack continues to misfire and we have gone from having one of the best midfield pairings in the league protecting our defence to most likely a player who hasnt shown decent form in 3 years and couldnt get into a struggling Sheffield Wednesday side and a veteran who couldnt get into Plymouth side. The 2 main arguments that I see defending the inactivity/business so far are firstly that we are "prioritising" the attack. That firstly assumes that we will get what we need there which is a big assumption and also suggests that we can just live with the issues we have in midfield. To go from one of the strongest to the weakest pairings in the league within a few weeks shows that as has been the case for years, the squad is not strong enough. For most clubs, the timing of Tronstads injury would at least come with the bonus of it happening in January where you can do something about it even if it means a bigger budget is needed. The second is that you can only sign quality towards the end of the window. Im not sure that is entirely true either.

Lewis O'Brien has essentially been dismissed in the LT with the usual line of "prioritising the budget for a striker and winger." It cant be either or. A normal club with an ounce of ambition looks at it and the owners release more funds for an extra midfield signing knowing that the landscape has changed with Tronstad now injured and Baker having returned. Not here. It cant be either attackers or midfield. Even if we sign attacking reinforcements, such a strong part of our team has been massively damaged. But just make do with a Plymouth reserve.

Just the same as people saying "stop being negative." Unhelpful rubbish in the absence of anything constructive.

Forest got a lot of criticism for spending so much money and signing so many players.

Says a lot that even spending so much money and the most you can aspire to is being a promotion contender upon inevitable relegation. The whole pyramid is fucked when you consider that most clubs are losing so much money. The wages get higher, the ticket prices get higher, the kick offs become more and more inconvenient and the football becomes less competitive.

With the side we are likely to/likely to be able to select its hard to go in with any confidence. Maybe a typical Thomas Asante winner now he has been linked here and has managed to get back in the Coventry side in the meantime and presumably make that impossible.

They have players out, but he continues to play in the same naive and irresponsible way regardless.

In the one when you mentioned Undav. Why would not signing a striker in January cause our form to dip considering we didnt have one for the first half of the season either. Makes no sense.

Fresh from failing to make the team and sometimes bench of League 1 Bristol Rovers?

Why did our form dip because we didnt sign a striker when we didnt have that striker in the first half of the season? Doesnt explain why results dipped. Im not convinced by him either. But better than Hedges.

Yep, there are no patterns in any of the 3 seasons and it was nothing to do with having a squad lacking sufficient quality and depth not aided by a lack of funds in January. And this season, with squad players like Buckley, Forshaw and Hedges all waiting in the wings and already being needed to play bigger roles, we will be fine.

The concern is that there isnt much scope for a different line up. Id go JRC in midfield, ACD over Hedges, but neither of those convince me.

I dont dislike him as a person. And maybe he will suddenly start performing at a level of a top 6 side. But a player unwanted by the worst team in the league and signed purely because he was cheap doesnt scream "we want to be top 6" to me and his performance yesterday didnt make me think otherwise. Ill judge as we go. Why does it make a difference if I rate him or not? Give him a chance FFS isnt a constructive counter argument.

Youve said this sort of guff about players clearly not capable of playing at a standard to which we require across the last 3 seasons in which our seasons have all tailspinned after christmas and clearly havent learnt the lesson. Blindly expect the likes of Hedges, Dolan, Forshaw and Buckley to be of a sufficient standard.

If Ryan Hedges is the answer, I dont want to know what the question is.

We are, but that team goes from having one of the very best midfields in the league to probably the worst. So no, that team doesnt. And that front 4 has 2 goals, 2 goals, 1 goal, 1 goal to its name.

Id say more than 50% of the fanbase (and Elliott Jackson) justified the signing of Forshaw in terms of budget allocation. Theres no point signing anyone with the mindset of "oh they wont be starting every week" knowing they arent good enough. Weve seen in the last few years that form has fallen off a cliff after christmas due to not having a good enough squad. Yet no one learns. Our midfield has been excellent all season, but as soon as one of them got injured we see the strength of the team become a big weakness.

That team is dreadful. Best bet is a nil nil with it. And its not even necessarily a go at your selection. The options in the wide areas, central midfield and up front are not good enough.

So yes, you think that is good enough for a top 6 chasing side, clearly.

So you are happy with potentially Travis when back, Buckley after one half decent game in 3 years and Forshaw for the forseeable? You think that is sufficient quality for a supposed top 6 push? We need a midfielder AND those positions you mention. O'Brien wont be coming here and even if he did, not sure he compliments Travis that well as neither naturally sit.

We dont need gossip and links. We need players through the door, thats the issue.

It was a joke post about Luca Toni. We certainly are never signing Milik in a month of Sundays.

Nixon is clearly taking the piss with the O'Brien rumour. We signed a midfielder not fit for purpose purely because he is as cheap as possible. To then a week or two sign someone like O'Brien would show why adopting such an approach wasnt wise, and any meagre resources put into that Forshaw deal are wasted ones. At £40k a week with Forest wanting as much as they can, it would be one that we presumably wait until deadline day even if there was interest to go down the route of whatever we can offer is better than nothing. If indeed O'Brien would entertain the idea considering we have ruined his career really. He had an underwhelming spell at Boro on loan between a couple spells in the MLS and seemingly isnt at the levels he was previously. It wont happen.

People have been quite dismissive of the timing of potential transfers. If we sign anyone on deadline day, we have a game the day after which is our 31st of the season. So especially loans, they will be here for 15 games after that.

I wasnt impressed by him midweek but he was certainly better today. That being said, his good play all came within a chunk of the middle of the game and he wasnt that impressive around that. Either way, lets not fool ourselves into thinking that he is a player who should be a potential regular in a side with play off aspirations based on a solitary performance in a loss at Oxford.