It takes the Dembele deal off the table I reckon.

I bet Nicko's source told him to add that line "Here's your exclusive, Alan, but please add a line that he'll be expensive so the fans get off our backs about not spending money. Talk to you tomorrow".

Or Cantwell, or Cantwell's agent - or anyone in that room, really.

Good song tho.

They seem to go through cycles of selling big and then reinvesting it all. They have an owner that wants to win (and were bought from an owner that wanted to win).

I don't think Dembele is ever going to happen.

We've quickly progressed to the stage of the transfer window where we try to pad the squad out with PL loanees.

Rule of 3. Probably just thrown our hat in the ring having heard he wants a loan - have no chance of getting him.

It's a fairer shout than asking Sigurdsson to play as a LWB.

It's the fact we've repeatedly slashed the wage bill and banked £41m in transfers yet we're getting out bid for a loanee GK by another Championship side. Realistically once Carl Rushworth was linked we should have inked that deal immediately. A proven, young GK - get that deal over the line and give him the #1 shirt from day 1. Instead we're scratching around the bargain bin in the hopes of finding a solution, again.

Pears plays in goal, doesn't make him a GK. Sigurdsson is far too slow to play out wide. He has all the attributes of a #10.

He's a #10.

A good enough shot stopper for who? Everything goes through Pears. This lad reminds me of Wahlstedt - he doesn't like crosses either.

Or he really is radioactive right now and we're his only option.

The only thing about Cantwell is, on his day, he'd be the best player in our XI by quite a distance - he just doesn't have many days and he doesn't solve the pace / positional problems we have.

Sigurdsson is blatantly a #10 too - so we're back to the problem of having 3 #10s all vying for the same spot and the loser being shunted out wide to disappear. I'm not against Cantwell, if the deal is right, but it has to be a bonus signing in addition to a Winger and a GK.

We're quickly heading to the point where Drommel stays in Holland, Travers and Rushworth go on loan elsewhere in the Championship and de Lange goes to Marseille. That's relegation signed, sealed and delivered right there. You cannot go into the season without a GK - we have 4 non-league Senior GKs on our books right now.

At least our backup fullbacks are quick. 🤷‍♂️

We'd need another LB if we were going to play 3 at the back - Pickering can't play as a LWB.

A few injuries and absolutely. One of the big differences today was Hedges and Dolan coming off the bench to save us - they're just not good enough at this level. Their end product is crap.

That's the first goal we've conceded this season due to playing that way (and realistically JRC should have seen it coming a mile away). I know Pears has flirted with gifting the opposition a goal in the last few games because he's useless with his feet / decision making, but I don't think the style of play is the problem. I think the second Gueye goes off you've got nobody to aim those long balls to.

Fantastic is a stretch, but he didn't look out of place. If we were properly run he could easily secure a L1 loan on the back of that performance. As it is we're relying on him to be the backup RB this season. There's definitely something there to work with.

He doesn't look like a Target Man though.

He looked gutted in the introductory interviews - he was pushed out of the door at Coventry to pay the bills.

I'd love to ship him out. You could tell when we signed him that he didn't want to be here. He's been crap for over 6 months now.