It would be nice to get a bit of honesty from the club about transfers I don't think anyone still believes the 'funds available for the right player' line.......
In response to your query on Tabb, Westy, I think I read somewhere in the news comments on twtd that he is an appearance or two away from triggering a clause in his current contract. Not sure if there's any truth in it though but it may explain his lack of league minutes.
According to westy Milne said we made bids for players in the January window and yet we finished with no one and had to scrap around for emergency loans this month . MM says he doesn't need any players and Milne says we tried to sign some but didn't bid enough money, somebody's not being straight with us. The last few games have shown a glaring lack of quality, the goals have dried up and we've started conceding regularly but still no one is signed, no quality = no promotion or even play offs depressing isn't it.
It might be overly pessimistic of me here, but I wouldn't be surprised if those 'bids for players in January' were nothing but cynical gestures intended for the eyes of supporters so the board could point and claim 'hey, look, we're trying to buy players'. One of these instances was the highly-publicised transfer deadline day bid for Gillingham's Bradley Dack. By all accounts a promising player, and an in-form attacking midfielder that would've added something to the team. Now I'm only going by media reports here, but our initial bid of £2m was turned down and Gillingham countered with £2.5m. We refused to go any higher and the deal predictably fizzled out. So, why not pay the extra £500k, if we were prepared to open with £2m? In an ideal world, we'd be near the top of the table, a progressive manager in the dugout, playing an attractive style of football with attacking players (ideally some from our academy). To me, this requires investment. We'll need a squad that can play attractive football and remain composed on the ball, we need a squad with quality in-depth, we need money to sack McCarthy and pay off his contract, we'll need money for the new manager's contract/compensation if applicable, and we'd also need money to upgrade our youth academy to Category One status and attract/keep our best young players, which Milne and the board do not seem to value right now. Looking at this bluntly, it seems Evans is quite content to keep endorsing McCarthy's dour style of football if it means scraping another play-off place without spending any money. Regardless of what you think of McCarthy, and whether he should stay or be sacked, he's our best option for doing this on a budget. If we want a new man in, Evans will have to spend money, if only for McCarthy's compensation and, unfortunately for us, I cannot see him spending anything anytime soon. Evans didn't learn last year, when he failed to invest and strengthen the squad when we were in the middle of a promotion run that gradually fell away and we only just about sneaked sixth place. The same looks likely to happen again. Two wins in 2016. A desperate attempt to plug the gaps with loan signings. This is not acceptable for a club that is seemingly well-run and apparently has promotion aspirations.
I think that's right Nuggets all this bidding for players is just to keep the supporters happy with no real prospect or intention to sign anyone. I've just been watching Leeds v Boro on Sky and Boro have signed Rhodes and Ramirez, and have de Laet and Kalas on loan from Leicester and Chelsea respectively, what a statement regarding a push for promotion, its a bit different to the non events at Portman Rd.
So the problem is clearly the clubs lack of investment and ultimately lack of ambition compared to the likes of Middlesbrough etc. Realistically what manager could we bring in and achieve better under the same set of circumstances? Is Mick really the problem or are his hands just tied therefore all he can do is show faith in players he does have/ is able to attain, and praise them for their work rate? Its true we have no strength in depth, but again not really Mick's fault. He's been unlucky with the injury list. I honestly believe with the right players his style of football would be less dour as we've already seen at times this season. Believe me if Mick was given decent investment in players and we played the way we do mostly I would definitely want him gone.
Oh it's Micks fault, nobody asks him to play players out of position or pick wrong formations or tell the defence to hoof the ball aimlessly up field. How anyone can defend that dinosaur is beyond me.
I didn't realise at first what a fantastic save Bialkowski made from Smith's strike - not until I watched it again. That drive took a wicked deflection and Bialkowski still managed to get down to it and lift it away from an impossible angle. Frustrating though it was for us (and Smith), it was a sublime piece of goalkeeping - nice gesture from Aiden Flint too - very sporting and gracious congratulating him. http://www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/football/competitions/championship/10166163/bristol-city-2-1-Ipswich Why do we always bring out the best in opposition keepers?!!!
Yes but Spanish Mick has got quite good results his time whilst being here - clearly he's not been backed properly at all bar loanees / giving decent wages and signing on fees to frees. If he goes, which judging by what Milne was saying whether we come top 6 or not the policy from the club clearly isn't going to change any time soon - so we'd have to completely overhaul our squad without spending sod all on fees and get probably another bucket load of players in to suit the new manager. So really we either carry on with this operation, rely on the academy producing diamonds and wait for every other club to get financially buggered ( Milne approach ) under Mick, or do exactly the same under the new manager. We're a club to my mind going absolutely nowhere any time fast. Milne also laughed at clubs like Derby / others spending and said " we've tried to go that way we've learned the hard way ". Soooo it appears, whether people like Mick or not, whether we come top 6 or not, he's in the job for quite some time yet! Nuggets TWTD was suggesting Gillingham wanted £5 mill and we " bid " £ 2 mill - so we were worlds apart. We're envious of Boro's spending - well sure they have of late but 3/15 is sure good form..... £££ doesn't guarantee anything in life. Be quite funny if them + Derby don't go up - they should both then fall apart...
