Apparently this was only recently handed over, however I do hope that whoever is in charge of doing the deals has been battering down the doors of the clubs we want to do business with ever since. In appreciating that it is not my money, what we DO know is that this is very much a sellers market so lets hope that we can avoid the schoolboy errors that usually mess up our chances. I think our chances of signing the players we want largely come down to whether or not the manager is still trusted. If he is, then we must NOT under any circumstances make silly offers for players that we really want.. Statements like "the quote for the player did not match our valuation" are completely useless and worse, tantamount to cutting off your nose to spite your face at this time of the year. The chances are that we will have to pay a bit extra in this window so, if we really want the player and it is felt that they will be a long term benefit for the club, then it is time to suck it up and get over it and do whatever is required to get them on board. Of course as we know, having an offer accepted is only half of the battle however to not even make it past the first hurdle when we are fighting for survival is nothing more than sheer folly. We have SIX league games in January, we need players NOW to have an impact in all 6, waiting holding out to the 31st to get a better deal may be too late and this has never worked for us anyway....
No only do we need players now, we need players now who are match fit, talented, hungry, committed, and willing to die for the cause.
I think the upcoming transfer window is highly overrated and costly and we don't have a good record in this event - do we? Reminds me of an over patched quilt that may fit the bill, or turn up going sideways, but usually looks awful and not quite right.
No we don't Mike, but the alternative is relegation. The options are as stark as that I'm afraid. Collectively, over 23 games so far, the current squad have failed time after time to the degree that a blind man could see it. We're simply not good or clever enough and several signings are needed, but there are no guarantees of course, even if we get anyone.
One of our biggest problems right now is the lack of belief and when you combine that with extremely poor performances you have a recipe for disaster. We can all bleat on about whether we should have been aware of the challenge ahead, and the fact that our off season dealings have left us lacking in many areas, but I hope that it has become clear to our leadership that what we have just isn't good enough. According to SL he is not aware of a wish list for new players and if that is true I dare to think what might happen in the near future. The throngs that followed last season to unmentionable destinations deserve better than this and I truly believe that if we do fall yet again in our bid for better level football a large portion of dedicated supporters may leave the ship. Let's hope the upcoming New Year will bring everyone some respite from this perennial malaise.
Mike, a lot of the performances have been far from poor and I don't think there is a lack of belief (although this must be wilting a bit) however at the end of the day, we can't score much in open play and can't defend under pressure. Sadly, these 2 facts are a recipe for relegation.
Today's result has left me gloomy and resigned to the fact that nothing will happen, despite the clear and present danger of relegation staring us in the face, and I am starting to wonder how anybody from the club can face the public when all they can come up with are reasons for our failure. Can you imagine an employee of any company going in the office on a Monday morning and saying that they can't do their job properly because their chair isn't up to the task, or they need a new pen because the old one has given up the ghost and refuses to step up be counted and to compound the problem they are told there's no money to spend on things that will help the organisation move forward? Somewhat like a brand new office without furniture or fittings if you get my drift.
Wish List To Owner Sell up and let's have someone in that actually has a clue and a plan, and not a smug twat who clearly hasn't the first idea of how to get anything done.
Why thank you. I've never taken to the bloke. Rich beyond my and most peoples dreams. But I reckon he's flawed through and through. All I can say is Hargreaves must be the brains behind Hargreves Lansdown...
there is nothing wrong with the have or have no belief "mobs", but we are all entitled as is quoted to death on here to have an opinion. No one has to agree with anyone, but we most not start to attack or pick on anyone in either camp that disagrees with our own thoughts. I think me and nearly all in either camp saw a beating coming today as we did at Derby, so im surprised at peoples shock, but obviously gutted. The thing is as i have said before, many times, UNTIL January window opens, there is not a lot we can do, but grin and bear it, and hope we can get in what we need then, and hope we can turn around the second half of the season. Not easy but still possible. The biggest problem in Jan, is who or most importantly how can we atract the right players to come to us? that's the major problem City have IMHO. I may be in a very small minority i know, but i still think Cotts can IF we get in the right personnel turn this around, come the end of the season i'll admit if i was right or wrong, but IMO a change now would upset things right now for the worse.
The key word in your rebuttal is "right personnel" and it remains to be seen if we can achieve that target, and whether SC will be allowed the freedom to do things his way. Have my doubts because it has never happened under previous managers and I ask who dictates that business decision. Obvious really isn't it?
I'd love SC to turn it around. But I wonder if it's already too late to bring in new players and get them up to speed to get some points on the board before Bolton and Charlton overtake us and leave us rock bottom and adrift. I didn't expect promotion, the play offs or anything but a hard season, but our position is very perilous and we've shown that we have to play our league games like a cup tie against higher ranking opposition. Reading and Fulham gave us a beatings at home and look how they are struggling. That's the gulf between us and the likes of them.
SL has a simple choice; (a) Open his wallet and we MAY be able to 'buy' our way to safety and earn a return on all the investment he has already committed in our shiny new stadium. This of course assumes that we buy wisely (remember Hunt, anyone?) and the new signing(s) can fit straight into a 3-5-2 formation. or (b) Do nothing and hope that we suddenly start scoring and stop conceding with the current squad The risk is the possibility of ending up with the biggest, best and most expensive ground in League 1, where every supporter has 2 seats each whilst watching Burton on a wet Tuesday night in the JPT....... Either way Steve L will be forking out - He just needs to decide whether his money is to be spent on sustaining our Championship presence and keeping the dream alive of maybe one day playing in the Prem, or to be spent on propping up a League 1 team because the 14k gate and TV revenue is nowhere near enough to cover the running costs.
Sounds logical to me bcfcred and trying to put myself in SL's shoes I know which option I would take, however I think he will take the usual route to nowhere. January will be a future building month for us, and who determines what that future will be frightens me a lot.
