I agree somewhat with what you're saying, however there are other factors. Premier League money dwarfs gate receipts, so that would be part of any new owners investment plans. Then the other clubs you mention (without me doing much research), look to have been spending a bit in recent times. FFP is the anchor that weighs so many Championship clubs down. I can only assume with the financial restrictions and cut backs of the last couple of years that we are beginning to create a bit of a cushion which would allow any potential new owner the flex to invest. We also do have our academy set up, which is an asset in itself and is producing some players who are assets. If Venkys chose to sell without the debt, then I don't think we'd be totally unattractive to potential buyers. Highly unlikely given they've never shown any indication of doing so, but I do think if they are ever going to release us, then it's most likely within the next 12-24 months.

On Pears, I don't think he's a great keeper but I do think we'll look a lot more solid with him between the sticks simply because Wahlstedt has be so, so abysmal. Talk of keepers struggling to command their area is common, but I've never in my life seen a keeper as bad at it as him. Pears to me is a lower Championship quality goalkeeper. He's got a mistake in him, but he also pulls off a few good saves and though his positioning can be questionable at times, his command of the box will be significantly better than Wahlstedt. He'll be a major improvement, not because he's great, but because the bar is so unbelievably low right now.

I think Qpr identified this an issue recently. They'd been training on some specialist pitch and all of a sudden half their squad went down with hamstring injuries. Makes far more sense to me to have a series of differently conditioned pitches. One for general training which is softer and reduces wear and tear on the body. A pre-match pitch so players adapt to the surface conditions ready for game day. Then maybe some other fancy one, just for fun.

Southampton away, there were no bright Sparks. It was awful. The only thing nearly resembling one was the tenacity of Travis when he came on. Even if he's not been playing lately, he would have been needed this season. When the club is aiming to save the odd hundred thousand here and there, it really is dire times. We're effectively operating as though we're in administration. I think we'll survive this season, but if this complete lack of funding continues into the summer, we're as good as down next year.

On Telalovic, I think he's beginning to show some promising signs. Just needs to hit the back of the net now. It'll come in time. Hopefully in the cup against Cambridge which will get the monkey off his back a bit. It really is depressing under Venkys though. 3rd lowest wage budget in the league. Its no surprise we are where we are. When a few players are fit again I think we'll pick up some more points when the fixture list is a bit lighter and finish lower midtable. JDT won't stay forever though. The managed downgrade of the club will continue to bite and unfortunately I think it will hit a critical point around the time he moves on. Unless there is fresh investment the only way is down under their tenure. For the first time in a long time we have wiggle room under Ffp. It's just come at a time when there is no wiggle room regarding Venkys funding of the club.

The really depressing thing about Wahlstedt is that the bulk of our money spent in the summer was on him. If we were forced into selling Kaminski to keep the lights on, then surely there was a cheaper option and any money available could have been spent elsewhere. Others have said it but the major thing which worked in Wahlstedt's favor when we were looking atoptions was his age. Rough diamonds, creating assets etc. But put simply, he's not ready. I think he has some potential but we needed somebody for now, not a couple of years down the line. He looks terrible. Usually when a goal goes in his reaction is to yell at those on front of him. There was no reaction to Rotherhams first. He knows he is culpable and his confidence is shot. It says everything that Pears will be a major upgrade when he's fit again.

Striker is clearly top of our shopping list but if we have the ability to bring one in, we need to be specific. We already have four strikers who are all injured or underperforming. I'd be very keen on us going back in for Rak-Sakyi. Olise is back from injury so he's unlikely to see any more game time at Palace. After an ok start Moran clearly needs some help. He looks tired and woefully short. Problem being is that I doubt we even have a couple of magic beans to rub together. Ffp wise we should have some wiggle room after the summer and you'd hope we could use the guarantee of the David Raya future income to structure any deals. In reality the lack of clarity around future funding from Venkys will probably mean all money is saved for the inevitable rainy day which is looming.

Just noticed Burnleys only wins this season are against Luton and Sheffield United. Really says everything about how badly Kompany is doing there that they're yet to win against any established Premier League side.

Thought we were very poor yesterday. Where the instructions were to keep things tight we seemed to be confused as to when to press Southampton. We simply gave them way to much respect. That being said, after the first 15 minutes Southampton were creating very little of note. Only for us to give a very soft goal away on the stroke of half time. Second half and the ref began woefully. He'd been giving Southampton free kicks for sweet fuck all throughout the first half and then waved play on for some of the clearest fouls you'll ever see against us. One of them being an incident which was far worse than what Brittain was booked for in the 1st half. It clearly wound him up, but there's no excuses for leathering the ball away. Brainless. It's frustrating on so many levels. You pay money to go and see the game ruined by a Brainless player, an incompetent Ref and stupid rules. In no way am I saying he shouldn't been shown a second yellow, but it was one of the most sterile games I've seen in a long, long time and a player still ended up seeing red. The rule makers and refs in general really are making football a bore. All in all we were poor before and after the red card. Moran was a passenger again. Poor on the ball and poor defensively. Brittain looked lost higher up the pitch and every other player was below par. The frustration is that we tend to play in patches. We may well have come back into the game, but Brittain ruined that for us. On Southampton they don't look like promotion contenders for me. For all their tippy- tap football, it took a poorly defended corner to break us open before having it easy against 10 tired men. Only positive is Travis looked as though he was chomping at the bit when he came on. Think we'll need his energy over the congested upcoming fixtures. He gets pelters sometimes, but when he's fresh, he's a good player.

First game of the season today. I've a good record watching Rovers in recent years. Choosing to be an optimist today with a 1-2 Rovers away win. S.Wharton and Szmodics to see us to 2 up with Arma getting a goal back and an unbelievably nervy finish. Think Saints can be got at on the counter attack so long as we stay tight in defence.

I've been sporadically checking their progress as the season has gone on. I don't belive he's even made the bench once this season. Exclusively being used in their B team. It'd be interesting if we could host a friendly with them next season as well. Strengthen the ties between the clubs. With our style of football a loan or two could be appealing.

I think Siggy would be a good signing. I don't think we've seen the best of him yet but he's still made significant contributions, even if he's blown hot and cold. We're also crying out for a bit of consistency in the attacking areas. Season upon season, we're relying on loans at the top end of the pitch with our star players leaving on frees or loans expiring.

All you have to do is look at Qpr. Ainsworth was a car crash. Prior to last season Qpr had very similar league finishes to us and were playing similar football. I agree with you that we're one bad appointment away from a similar fate.

He's only scored in one game since March. There's bad form then there's that.

Gallagher will be on about £1m per year. We can't afford to keep him given the limited return. If the finances were different I'd be happy for him to stay since he does offer some value on the pitch, even if he can be frustrating. It's a big if, but if we can reinvest the freed up wages elsewhere then it's a no brainer.

All you have to do is look at Leicester's title winning side. Each player knew their role and they did it well with no fuss. Danny Simpson, Wes Morgan, Robert Huth and Cristian Fuchs. Their job was to defend with their lives. Morgan and Huth did it superbly. Kante and Drinkwater in midfield just had to bring energy and be competitive. Albrighton, being one the only truly traditional wingers I can remember from the last decade. Vardy a quick, proper striker who could put the ball in the net. And Mahrez adding creativity and magic. If teams attacked Leicester, they could defend and hit on the counter. If teams sat back, they had Mahrez to unlock them. Dead simple, nothing fancy and not playing by the 'Pep rulebook'. Yes the stars aligned for that title win, but it amazes me more teams and managers aren't trying to do similar. Another example being West Ham winning the conference league last year. They knew what they were and they played to their strengths, rather than the perception of what a modern football team should be. With all the data involved in football their are so many 'diamonds in the rough' if you're one of the few clubs looking for specific skill sets, rather than all rounders.

I've high hopes for Harry Leonard. He's got a great first touch so links the play up well and he's also getting better and better at using his body to shield the ball. He's snatched at a few chances this season but he does seem an intelligent player which helps with both his link up play and being in the right place at the right time, so the chances keep coming. I can see him gradually getting better throughout the season and competing to be first choice next year. Very refreshing to see an attacking player coming from our academy after scores of defenders and central midfielders. A few have said it already, but it's crazy that Gallagher could learn a thing or two from him given their respective ages.

100% Decision making when it comes to shot stopping seems to have gone out the window in the modern game. Every keeper is trained to parry and punch. You rarely see a goalkeeper holding onto the ball and this applies for crosses too. One of my strongest memories of Friedel is when we were under pressure and he'd hold onto a save or a cross. He'd then stand there with the ball and motion to the team / crowd to calm down. It surprises me that with all the data in football these days, that getting the ball into your keepers hands isn't seen as a key tactic. It's as though the data only goes as far as it being statistically safer for keepers to punch the ball away from danger, without any consideration of the next phase of play. It's no wonder teams struggle to break a stranglehold of pressure. I'm sure the likes of City would hate the opposition doing this. It'd limit their efforts to suffocate the opposition. Outside of that, I can only assume there is so much pressure on keepers footwork these days, that they spend less time training their shotstopping and crosses.

Good move by the club. I'd imagine it's more to keep him settled by placing his salary in line with the top earners at the club. A happy, performing Szmodics is key to everything we do. Without him this season, we'd be scuppered. At the end of the season he'd only have 2 years remaining on his deal so we'd be needing to negotiate at that point anyway, so getting it done now is wise and well deserved.

The lad is made of glass. Given he showed up unfit and also looks slightly on the heavier side I'm beginning to question how much commitment he has to maximising his potential. Putting in the extra yards, diet, playing through the pain on occasions. Of course it could be that he's just been horrendously unlucky with injuries thus far, but for a player I had high hopes for he's been very underwhelming. I've a feeling this might be an 'Ayala two weeks' and we'll be lucky to see him this side of Christmas.

They're still going. Sitting top of La Liga after 11 games. They've played a game more, but even if Real Madrid win El Classico, it will only knock Girona off top spot on goal difference.

For me it's very simple. He's not a wide player. He doesn't have the pace to beat a man. When played centrally, even given his stature the ball actually sticks to him very well. He's got a low centre of gravity so can twist and turn which helps him hold it up. His ability to press well has never been in doubt. As an analogy look at Illias Chair. Has consistently been one of the Championships better players for a few years now. This season his form has dropped off a cliff because Ainsworth is incompetent and has switched him from playing centrally to playing wide left. Dolan isn't in Chairs league but they do have similar qualities.

Qpr have no right backs. Young lad making his debut today. Sigurðsson could have a good day. Colback was meant to be injured too. Think Ainsworth is under pressure and playing him when he's not fully fit. Hoping Dolan can do a job as a false 9. I still have faith in him as a player but think he's an abysmal left winger. Big day for him. I fancy our chances today. Ainsworth is a bit tactically inept and relies on motivation. He'll have identified this as a huge game for them, so a lot will depend on whether the players are still behind him.

Don't we need money first? Considering we couldn't scrape the pennies together for a cheap loan on deadline day even whilst loaning out Buckley, I'd say this thread is pretty redundant.

Honestly it's no surprise and shows why there needs to be a much fairer distribution of money throughout the pyramid. Most Championship clubs are just like us. Completely skint. Even the clubs we cast jealous looks at have miniscule budgets in comparison. The problem is the Premier League will never vote to distribute the cash evenly. It means less for them. The only time it does happen is after long hard negotiations when external pressures attempt to force the hands of Prem Clubs. And even then its a paltry amount.