Been a lot of pissing around in the recruitment department over the last few years with staff coming and going so hard to see this as a new dawn until the actual recruitment improves. This season its not improved or changed (borrowing kids including a token one from Liverpool, players on Mowbray's list and players already known to staff ie Thomas and windows that were as much about what we didnt get and paperwork embarassments) and with seemingly a closed wallet in the summer, time for Kimberley and Broughton to show what they can offer.

In those first 2 seasons, it wouldn't be sparing anyones blushes who said that he couldnt do the basics. He couldnt. But he didnt go from that player instantly to a Chilean international and regular goalscorer. He had a full season inbetween where he really improved, he scored 7 or 8 goals and was part of a very threatening front 3. He would have certainly justified a pay rise and I don't see why he wouldn't have accepted it, he wouldn't have generated too much interest at that stage but was settling into life as a competent Championship attacker. But even then, assume the nonsensical argument that there would have been uproar had we signed him up. Or put it down to Covid. Or assume he wouldnt have accepted it. We had a chance this summer to make a profit on him despite that inability to tie him down to a new deal. We compounded our mistake (the owners did) by turning that down based on an unrealistic asking price. And yes, maybe he would have turned moves down to Nice, a top French side with plenty of well known, English speakers and playing in European competition. Or Everton and Fulham, both Premier League sides. If he rejected them all, then whilst you can criticise the inability to give him a new deal 2 years ago, they have some leeway at least on preventing this mess we have.

Some cretinous comments underneath here would make you think the fans are creating an impossible environment to play football in. Why a section of our fanbase seem desperate to put our supporters down so much is bizarre.

If you need to be a clairvoyant to be proactive in protecting assets, then most football clubs employ clairvoyants and we need to get looking for some.

Onana would get them some good money, Belgian international midfielder linked with Chelsea mid-season. Calvert-Lewin may even allowing for his injuries.

It is a different conversation altogether had he rejected a new deal AND any potential move elsewhere. As it is, Venkys batted bids out of hand, therefore the blame lies there. That second line keeps getting trotted out but it is in no way a justification. It is an equally nonsensical defence as random people potentially moaning. Gallagher got a new deal without being as an important an asset (no signs of improvement and nowhere near as young) and although it wasn't met with universal acclaim, that gets blown away instantly. An asset was protected, forget the outside noise. The thing I am asking for is not to allow players to run their deals down, but to sell if necessary and reinvest a %. Not even all of it, just a decent chunk of it. We didn't NEED that money for sustainability purposes otherwise we would have sold Brereton regardless of inaccurate perceptions about what we perceived his worth to be. We would have taken what we could get and swallowed it up. He should have been given a new deal after his season of noticeable improvement to protect the asset, prior to last season. Having failed to do so, we HAD to take what we could get.

I said that at the latest, 12 months before. Obviously Brereton wouldn't have attracted bids at that point. But he could and indeed did generate £8.4m in an offer. The only reason we needed to do that again down to the lack of planning from the owners down. Piss poor running of the club pissing money away. With the Brereton sale, there WOULD 100% have been scope to reinvest some. There had to be, because it was money we now dont have, so it would have been an additional sale to what has happened. So even if we sold for £8.4m and then reinvested £5-6m, we would be in a financially better position now.

There is just no joined up thinking. I am saying that there SHOULD always be part of any sale to reinvest, that is the whole model we should be following yet because we keep letting players leave for free, we end up not reinvesting when we do sell a player. There needs to be a total change in thinking. It is best to sell in summers to ensure we can replace players every time and to avoid de-railing seasons by selling players in the middle. Start discussions with longer than 2 years left, and sell either in the summer with 2 seasons left or with no exceptions at the latest with 1 season to go. Then ALWAYS reinvest a chunk of that, and you can keep a small percentage for sustainability purposes. If you want £15m and you can only get £10m, take the £10m and reinvest £7m for example, NEVER let them get into that final year. I am wasting my breath, Venkys wont change 12 years in. Rich Sharpe said that the player pictured was on behalf of a sponsor. That Coco doesn't seem like he will help with our lack of goals.

We failed to bring one in this January due to incompetence.

You don't want to be selling players mid season with 18 months left on their deal. Surely you would wait until the following summer. You would want to be opening discussions before they have 2 years left. Better than our current policy with players who are not easy to tie down. Let their contracts run down, reject any bid that isn't really high, and being left scrounging for frees and loans.

18 months would be a strange limit because then you get into the habit of selling players mid season. 12 months should be the baseline, but if it is clear even 2 years before, or a player is really attracting serious interest at high prices, then you sell and reinvest.

I can't fathom how it would be anything but totally beneficial to go up. We would be up against it to stay up, but it would be a huge boost to get promotion both on and off the pitch. It could potentially increase our match going fan base, it would massively improve our finances and would give us an opportunity to sign some players that even if we did come back down, they would be huge improvements on what we currently have. It would break this psychological feeling that we will never return to the Premier League, or even get close. And of course, it wouldn't be impossible to stay up, there are some poor teams at the bottom of the Premier League. Big if, but manage the summer right and maybe we can have a right good go at staying in the league. If not, we should have a top Championship squad ready to bounce back. We go from Championship also rans to a team expecting to get back into the Premier League. The idea of kicking on next season doesn't really tally up IMO. Our only goalscorer will be leaving for free and we will be scrounging around for freebies and loanees, this slow build idea doesn't really work.

Making losses doesn't automatically mean that the squad has been adequately funded. Losses are to be expected at this level because Championship wages are not in line with income across the board. This is made worse for us because we are run negligently, not maximising our income fully and with our owners preventing us from being able to sell players to be able to reinvest. Our squad is probably over reliant on our academy. It is a good job that a lot are talented enough but some perhaps arent ready, and it also means that we lack experience.

I wouldnt want Gallagher to sign one. The other 2 I think have 2 years with their option but they shouldn't be allowed to enter their final year.

Not every player will be willing to sign a new deal though.

Bizarre judgement. He was rubbish.

The new DOF makes no difference, it is the owners that turn down bids allowing them to run their deals down. Something you have strongly supported.

Kaminski Rankin Costello Carter Hyam Pickering Travis A Wharton Thomas Szmodics Hedges Brereton Subs: Pears, Brittain, Wharton, Morton, Dolan, Leonard, Dack

Shocking display and Tomasson got plenty wrong. Wrong team selection, Gallagher on the wing and Dolan up front again didnt work and why Wharton was dropped I do not know. Subs made too late and we wouldn't have scored if we were still playing now. Brereton was crap but Gallagher and Dolan were just as bad, although they dont have moves lined up.

Tomasson said the other day that its loans and frees.

He barely plays for us anyway but again, who are we to say what he should be doing. He might get a considerable payrise.

They wont v us but theyve made loads of changes today. Even changed their keeper to presumably get him a medal.

Would be harsh to drop Szmodics I think. Also in a front 3 with a midfield with minimal goal threat, I feel like Thomas doesn't offer much goal threat himself. More suited to getting up and down in a 4231 with someone playing off the front man.

Kaminski is a better keeper and ultimately it is not about sending messages but sending out our best team. If he goes in the summer then it is a huge loss of even more of the remaining limited experience and no money forthcoming from the owners who are "better than 90% in the EFL" to replace him. Goalkeeper is not the same as any other position. Our academy hopefuls suddenly becoming a bundle of nerves due to potential lack of opportunity based on if Kaminski comes back in when considering the general age of the team would be bizarre.

You have been spending lots of time with Waggott.