I wonder if Moyes, Rodgers and in particular Lampard will be employed by next weekend.

Maybe they should warn the fans that the season is a "free hit" before they want us to fork out for an above average priced season ticket. It is unfounded anyway. If the first season is seen as the foundation setting of a new project, they would have sold Brereton. As it is, the reset button will need to be pressed again in the summer. The sort of lowering of expectations that is the legacy of being owned by these cunts. This nonsense about putting in every available money is unfounded. But even if we are to a penny on the limit of FFP, it is there interfering with player sales that is hindering any ability to further improve the squad. Brentford were competitive at the top end of league for years before promotion by repeatedly needing to sell key assets and immediately replacing by reinvesting much of those fees. Had they missed out again, Toney would have been sold, theyd have bought someone else for a decent chunk and continued. No nonsense about free hits and no summers of austerity. Why dont some people see that it is the total opposite to what happens here. We bought 3 youngish forwards and 2 were developed well by Mowbray. We then kept hold of them (with a season or two of treading water) before selling one and reinvesting zilch. We then had more assets that we could have sold, the owners blocked that, allowed them to run their deals down and provided a small amount of reinvestment but on players that wont make us any money. Its a random mess and it stops in India. All this shite about adding value makes no sense with how we continue to be run. I will judge based on what happens, what happens in private is irrelevant to those judgements. So far, one at best average window, so the jury is still out.

As others have said, there has been talk of plans before. I get that we all hope that things will be different and something good will happen, thats what we do as football fans. But for me the jury is still out, dont think the first window of the plan was impressive, so will just judge from here on in. I also appreciate that some decisions seemingly are taken away from people below Venkys ie player sales when I judge Broughton but ultimately for a plan to work it has to work from the top. I judge on what is done rather than what is said but some peoples optimism seems to come from those words which I get. But talk about not signing players due to a fear of blocking pathways combined with measuring the manager based on academy graduate minutes does not IMO suggest that promotion is the primary focus.

I get the fact that he shouldnt be written off, one at best average but difficult transfer window in. But on the flip side, why do you (and others) have seemingly ultimate faith? For me, I am still in the middle.

Vale?!

Do we press from the front?

Struggled at Conference level last season.

I certainly haven't seen attractive football nor any genuine attempt to get to, never mind sustain ourselves as a Premier League club.

It should never have been allowed to get to this stage, sadly we are owned by idiots.

The main problem was the stupid tactics employed by the manager. When have we won games convincingly this season or even at all by playing it out from the back? Rarely at best. Our good runs of form in the last 2 and a half years under either manager have been built on organisation and posing a threat on the counter attack. Trying to pass it out with incapable players has led to boring, slow and ineffective shite as we saw again yesterday.

Sell on clauses I think are usually on profit so if we sold for £8m it would be a nominal amount. We would then be able to improve the attack with 2 players and get a midfielder too potentially. Could we sign someone of equal goal threat to Brereton individually? Maybe not, but you'd find a much better player with the best part of £8m compared to nothing. The owners wont because they are idiots and as you say, maybe he would rather wait anyway, but its a joke of a situation. Every time I have seen him, he isn't an out and out number 9, talented player but likes to drop off and possibly better suited off a main striker. We should have a bit of money but the owners are disinterested in any promotion push. Failing that, we could sell Brereton and bring in a few permanent signings.

Regardless of if they are ready too. Vale probably will never make it at Championship level.

Plus it is one of them, the early goal made Rotherham even more content to sit in and let us slowly piss around passing it side to side. To only create 3 reasonable chances (one of which we didn't get a shot in) 90 minutes against such a poor side is unacceptable, not something to take as a positive.

Markanday has to start at Bristol City. Hedges has some ability and works hard but he doesn't do enough.

After this month, we have 18 league games. I will use a fairly low ballpark figure of £8m as what I reckon we could get for Brereton, less than the summer but still there surely will be teams willing to take a small risk at that price. If we choose to keep him and expect an unrealistic amount, we will be paying over £400k per game, not factoring in potential injuries which would increase that further. It is horrendous business, surely we have to sell and sign a striker and a winger.

Seemingly just loans, but we can surely loan a striker rather than a winger. Tomasson specifically said that it won't necessarily be a striker: “An attacking player for me could be a No.9, on the sides, and it’s about what’s possible and what’s not." When Mowbray didn't want to loan a young striker, he got lynched so surely Tomasson will likewise if he doesn't sign a proper striker. Our current options are not up to scratch. Obviously the bigger issue is having to only sign kids on loan amidst a supposed promotion push.

The three chances line is straight from Tomasson's press conference. But of course he would have said that anyway and is not just echoing what he says.

I need reminding of these games that we have convincingly won by passing it our from the back and dominating possession.

Are you genuinely trying to defend the tactical approach that led to an absolute pasting by Rotherham?! We never play with a quick tempo, it is always slow and it seldom leads to positive results, many of our wins have been when the other team has dominated the ball. Stop trying to deflect blame away from the manager, the team were clearly instructed to play out from the back hence why we had nearly 80% possession. As ever, when we win its down to the manager, when we lose the players are at fault. Gallagher is poor, you have repeatedly made out over the last couple of years that he just needs to play as a number 9 and he would score loads of goals. Mind you, you still were unsure the other day whether we should get some back up for him, rather than an improvement! Vale and Garrett don't get close to any other starting 11 in the top half. Get a striker and a central midfielder and let them go and play 20 games in League 1.

It's already been rubbished as a target for us thankfully, but still:

The thing is that he looks physically as fit as ever did. Surrounded by poor players though.

It is all underpinned by the same problem, Venkys are the common denominator behind a club not geared or seemingly aiming to get promoted. We seem to be just fishing in the loan market, a second successive winter window where we lie in a high position and the owners don't seem arsed.

He is terrible. Any time he appears at left back/left wing back, his positioning is shocking. Not a Championship player.

https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/23251482.tomasson-transfer-search-amid-blackburn-rovers-joe-gelhardt-link/ What is this obsession with flexibility in attack? We need an out and out striker, whoever has played in that position this season for us has struggled to score goals due to a lack of quality. Gallagher is average, Vale nowhere near ready, we need a proper striker. Gelhardt in terms of talent is probably as good as we will get now we seemingly are working in the loan market whilst we allow our best player to run his deal down, but he isn't really a proper number 9. If it has to be a loan we are almost certainly going to struggle to get a proven goalscorer, but even the likes of Archer, Delap and potentially Muniz would be more suited to being the focal point? On Porteous, I just hope it isn't due to Hyam having a bad injury. It makes sense to pick up bargains whenever they appear although made redundant if we just allow him to run his deal down anyway.

He fits the bill of Hedges style signings ie players with 6 months left on their deals. But a centre back is right down the list of priorities.