Most clubs would at least spend a chunk of such big sales though. We do need to rebuild, thats the point, its very difficult to do that under these limitations.

We hadnt got our loans in at this point last season either. So if you are doing a like for like comparison, which as I said is flawed as last season we didnt have anywhere near enough so that cant be the benchmark. Weve lost Wharton, are losing Szmodics, (wont be available to play) we dont have Scott Wharton, we dont have Gallagher, but do have Gueye, Ohashi, Weimann, McFadzean and Batth. So im not sure we are better off anyway, discounting loans.

The thing is, people always compare to how many players we have this season to how many we have in the previous season. We didnt have anywhere near enough last season, that was one of our main problems. In the last few years, we have had massive issues with how many competent players we have had.

Being pedantic but to me thats 4 signings. One is just a contract extension and one isnt a first team player.

I get that Sheffield Wednesday have a really talented manager but I do wonder if they are being a bit overhyped. Is their quality of squad anywhere near the teams who are likely to be around the top 6? Theyve lost Ugbo although he might come back and Poveda. Max Lowe is good at this level but injury prone, Jamal Lowe is average, im not sure many of their other signings stand out really. Burnley have 2 or 3 teams that could challenge for promotion. Their only issue is trimming their squad, but you would imagine that a number of their players on the fringes (players like Twine, Obafemi, McNally etc) will easily pick up new teams, they might lose a couple theyd rather not lose but have more than enough quality to cover (Berge and Odobert being the obvious 2) and they have a few that will be picked up by foreign sides.

Hes crap chaddy. It wouldnt surprise him because presumably he can forsee that even a meagre £1.25m fee for De Lange will prove beyond us. So seemingly that deal is becoming less likely. By "not funding us at the current level" you mean they have absolutely no interest in the wellbeing of the football club and are solely focused on getting in as much money as possible. That is the sole issue. FFP is an irrelevance to the current situation because we are so far away from being in danger of breaching those rules. We are about to get close to £40m of fees brought in during the last 12 months and we are seemingly looking elsewhere rather than stretching to £1.25m for a goalkeeper. Its little wonder that we are expected to be right in the thick of a relegation battle because teams cant thrive under such aggressive asset stripping.

Assuming that the £20m losses prior to player sales continue indefinitely. One thing you never factor in is that a proportion of those losses arent eligible for FFP regulations. But one thing is for sure. We are absolutely nowhere near the FFP line, we will be even further away once Szmodics goes. I suspect there wont be a club in the league with a buffer as big as ours. It is as simple as the owners dont have any interest in the club or reinvesting even a reasonable chunk of the considerable sales proceeds in the way of ambition. Their sole focus is clawing back as much as possible. FFP isnt even worth mentioning in the transfer thread in the near future as it is not an issue whatsoever so that excuse is off the table.

Pears doesnt look familiar not only with his team mates but with what a goalkeeper is meant to do. Has a loan for Drommel back onto the radar or was that initially reported?

That is a big concern, whoever we bring in now that its beyond the point where he can start as number 1. My fear is that we sign a veteran and he naturally falls into being backup. If we sign someone like De Lange who clearly has the credentials to be number 1, I would still prefer him to be put in as soon as possible but it would take bravery on Eustace's behalf. Say Pears keeps a clean sheet, he is still proven over a period of time to be sub par.

I think the likely direct replacment for Szmodics is rightly or wrongly going to be Dolan. He talked in the press about being best suited as a number 10, and Eustace seems keen to bring in wide men rather than central players. He also has been playing there in pre season. Weimann also considers himself in the same position so I suspect he will be back up for him. Dolan doesnt have the pace or the ability to really regularly threaten out wide but he will need to be intelligent and offer much more in the way of goals and assists in that position. It feels like an experiment/effort that if it works, is going to benefit another team at the end of the season.

Seems that way. But still seems very scattergun, young keepers on loan, pensioners on frees and bidding for ones in between. I dont have the most confidence but I just hope we get De Lange, well a player that matches that criteria.

And if we do want Rushworth, Sheffield United and his old club Swansea will be far more likely, so that wont happen.

I would want a longer term goalkeeper. Wasnt there a second goalkeeper at PSV who we apparently wanted? Not that £1.25m should be beyond us. Assuming that some of the rumours about goalkeepers this summer have been true, small cash buys, aging freebies, loanees, it doesnt scream of a club with a plan.

So have we moved on from De Lange for the sake of a few hundred grand to try and borrow someone?

Its not about writing off other peoples money, although I suspect people would be less bothered about spending £1 extra if they had won a million on the lottery that week. Nonsense argument. (Do they even sell pasties at the ground?) If as reported Go Ahead Eagles want £1.25m and we wont offer above £800k, if. Then we should be able to get closer to the amount they will consider to accept a bid. Point being, on the back of a club record sale for Wharton, a considerable Raya sell on and having made a small profit this summer. If this goalkeeper is our main target, we should at least have the flexibility to increase our bid by what is a very small amount relative to the aforementioned other fees received, before Szmodics is sold. We know that will happen in the next month so we have also got that to fall back on. We havent made any significant signings financially, we are in a profit for our business this summer, we sold Gallagher and bought Gueye for less. Ohashi was a nominal amount, we also brought in 2 freebies on short term deals, and sold Wahlstedt, Gent and Telalovic. Eustace will be focused on the game, hes not the one doing the negotiating. And why after what we have witnessed would our default position be patience and trust?

Eustace said 3 or 4, so I think even that is not going to happen. As is spending £7m.

Do you genuinely think we will spend £7m and are you suggesting that we buy 5 or 6 plus loans on top? I think everyone would be happy with that and considering our needs and the money we have made in 6 months, it shouldnt be unrealistic. But it is.

We should grab as much as we can. But sandwiched between the amounts received for Raya and Wharton, any surplus that we have received this summer and an inevitable Szmodics sale soon, whether its this week or at any point this month, we should be able to pay an extra £450k now. At most, less than half will be reinvested. Great post. We are probably going to be in a position where 2 years worth of losses are covered by the profit made in the last 6 months. That is well beyond even the requirements of having to be totally self sufficient in the last year.

Even if we bought those 2, off the back of £40m+ brought in, over 2 years worth of losses, and even allowing for the self inflicted financial issues, then its a poor do. I though we had moved on to the strange alternative of a 29 year old Japanese striker. I know thats what Eustace would do. Im saying that I would chuck him in straight away because Pears is rubbish.

My point is, such a small difference fee relative to what we have recouped and in advance of another big fee shouldnt be a problem. Why does every single penny have to go towards the debt? Whats the difference in sticking say £25m and £24.5m towards the debt, with another £10m plus to come? How can anyone justify it? Those fees came from Elliott Jackson. The Belgian(?) journalist who first reported that a fee had been agreed had it as £1.25m, Jackson said £1m. Ohashi was reported as £150k (exchanged from yen) by that Japanese journalist that was reporting it. Jackson said a very small 6 figure fee. If he played immediately after travelling 12 hours on a plane, he couldnt be any worse than Pears, surely. Unless its Wahlstedt.

We wont.

All transfer fees will be paid in installments so its irrelevant. Whether its £18m in the bank to spend £3m, or £18m in the form of £6m in the bank and a debtor of £12m, to spend £1m and have a £2m creditor. Obviously cashflow is a seperate issue, but that extra £450k is perhaps £150k up front. It shouldnt be holding things up. On your last paragraph, my point is the fees we have spent will be more than covered by what we have recouped this summer. Gallagher was reported up to £1.6m, Gent was it £200k, and whatever for Telalovic and Wahlstedt. Gueye was £1m and Ohashi a nominal fee. With the Wharton sale, the Raya money and an inevitable Szmodics sale, there shouldnt be any hold up. Just pay £1.25m and get him in now, straight in for the Derby game instead of the clown we currently have.

Weve brought in more this summer than we have spent. Thats before the Raya and Wharton money, and even with Szmodics, if weve nearly agreed a fee, then theres no logical reason why we cant spend another 400k My criticism is of the owners.

Again, we shouldnt be in that position either. But they can send money over. Not that they need to as money that has come in in the last 6 months (I know we dont receive it all at once, but same with all fees) covers well over a years worth of losses.

We shouldnt be in that position where we cant buy before Szmodics goes, when a player will cost just over a million and we have received nearly 30m.