Most informative. Thanks.

I can't read most LT articles online due to the firewall but having just seen an article on FLW it appears Eustace said something like: "Of course we WANT to bring quality in but if we don't, the lads have been great this season andwe won't let anyone down". IF that's an accurate representation of what he said, it's not looking very promising. Time to ramp up the pressure on Waggott inside the ground. He didn't like it last time it happened.

OK- so lack of availability of squad places isn't an excuse then.

This was discussed a week or so ago but as you now seem to be latching onto it as a belated excuse, according to Mark BRFC you resubmit your 25 man squad at the end of the January window. I have no idea if that is correct or not but if it is then it's no excuse - you can sign who you want and leave out whoever you want.

Ah yes - the phantom "bid" reported by 1 Sky journalist which seemingly neither manager was aware of', which our local press couldn't get confirmation of after the event, which seemingly hasn't prompted either an acceptance or a rejection from the parent Club and following which the target was recalled to Coventry's side by the new manager and scored. Makes it look like we're doing something I suppose. We can't use any of the usual "the EFL are being pedantic with us/we forgot to press send/it was all Sylvester's fault" type excuses.

Exactly this. If the incumbent manager isn't supported for a third time when we're in a promising position, you have to question what the point of it all is. I thought the whole point was to win football matches and try and achieve as much success as possible. To me that applies to every competition we play in. Even on here there are posters who want to make eleven changes in the FA Cup and so on an so forth. Whereas on the LT site there are posters who are happy we're not going to get relegated this season and think we should stick the kids in for developmental purposes. Others don't want us spending money and someone posted today that they're happy being a middling Championship Club and didn't want to be like Burnley yo-yoing up and down and being an "embarrasment" to the Premier League. Whether these accounts are real or plants such comments must be music to Waggott's ears but not to most of us who haven't forgotten that whilst the game is now undoubtedly a business, at heart it is still essentially a sport and if you're not trying to be successful and win things you're left with nothing. Plus, it's not even good business to either not invest in the playing side or to look a gift horse in the mouth every time a £100m + carrot is dangled in front of us for winning the play offs.

Has no-one told these Clubs doing business now that all the decent players only ever move on the last day of the window?

He's not going to sit next to Steve in the Executive areas. Ever again. That'll show him.

I think the penny is starting to drop with Eustace - from sounding very bullish originally about being confident we'd get the extra "quality" in to help the squad etc he's now been reduced to saying in 2 separate interviews he hopes the current squad step up to the plate in the second half of the season and is now merely "hopeful" that we'll get the reinforcements we need. If things play out in the usual fashion for the rest of the window it'll be a particular kick in the teeth for supporters given we were told there was some money to spend and the fact the two signings so far were specifically paraded as cheap additions so as to leave more money available for the priority positions. Plus of course, it will be the third time in four seasons the same thing has happened.

That doesn't make it sound like there'll be another CM coming in. Much like him saying the other day that someone had to step up in the scoring stakes didn't make it sound certain that any more firepower would be arriving either.

It's Travis we've been missing. That's why our form has fallen off a cliff. You've missed the point I was trying to make anyway. I wouldn't have bought in a player (Forshaw) who isn't good enough as cover. No point. Just money down the pan.

By the same token Forshaw couldn't get in the side that was bottom of the table. At the time Forshaw was signed Tronstad wasn't injured so at that pont it looked like we needed cover for 2-3 weeks until Travis was fit. Not that much in it. Not denying we ideally needed DECENT cover after Baker went back but Forshaw was never that.

Bringing in a bad player is just a waste of money even if he's relatively cheap. Would have been better going with Garrett then we'd have had "even more" money for the forward positions.

Spuds 2-0 down at Everton. Wonder how much more Postecoglu can survive?

We've not been playing well with him in (only 5 points from 6 games in Travis's absence) so Tronstad's absence shouldnt make any further difference per se. What a waste of a signing and money Forshaw looks.

For all the feeble excuses being made on here about most transfer business being done at the end of the window, we needed reinforcements and improvement in certain areas at the start of it and it came home to roost yesterday.

Much better starting line up than against Portsmouth. Let's go!

(Chaddy changes the subject seamlessly) I don't know how good or bad the signings other Clubs have made are.You almost without exception. always deem players who are signed by other Clubs to be shit. All I know is that those other Clubs have identified their targets, got themselves organised and made their move early. For once, just once I wish we'd done the same. Have you EVER heard a manager say - "Yeah, well, I hope we don't sign anyone until right at the end of the window, when we can be involved in a mad scrum with a whole load of other Clubs to try and bring a few players in at the last minute by which time the selling Clubs will know full well we're desperate". No. They all say. "I'd like us to get our business sorted early and that will also help the rest of the team during that period as well" Just because it's often done the other way in practice doesn't make it right.

*Cough* Adam Armstrong 9th of Jan 2018.

So you think the owners ( who according to most are that disinterested they don't even know when we're playing) would be that interested or invested that they'd intervene in a potential transfer on the basis they thought he should have a one year deal instead of two?

Weird, I thought it was a clear foul by Trafford. Ref was right on top of it, gave himself a couple of seconds to think about it, then pointed to the spot.

OK. FFS.

Eh? Who was on the second one then? Trafford picked up a yellow card for his sins.

We haven't signed anyone. (in the priority positions)

1st one definitely was, I thought the Sunderland player conned the ref, kicked his own foot. 2nd one was nailed on I thought. Trafford wiped the player out and didn't even get a touch on the ball.