Depends entirely on his attitude I suppose. That needs a Fergie looking him squarely in the eye and assessing whether he has the hunger and desire for the move. Not reams of data analysis.

Obviously, if you do end up with a striker, any striker , (which we haven't currently btw) it depends on who the striker you end up with is. If you end up with George Hirst you can say with a fair degree of confidence that a team of 15 have wasted yours and their time all summer and the Club's money. If the signing turns out to be successful they've done their job but they certainly haven't done their job either if they fail to unearth anyone the Club can actually bring in.

In that particular instance it would appear we've put the majority of our eggs in the basket of a player who doesn't particularly want to come here and a Club who aren't particularly keen to let him go either. We should have been able to sniff out any ambivalence at an early stage and either moved on or at the very least had other options ready to go which it appears we haven't.

We're not securing them though are we? I've made this point in numerous previous windows. if we don't land them we might as well be going for De Bruyne and Haaland. No prizes for wasting time and resources missing out on a player/players.

Thank goodness someone else has pointed out the ludicrous nature of what is being claimed by an insider in the recruitment game. I thought my head was going to explode.

I've read it all now. So according to you, the job of this army of 15 is to identify players who theoretically might possess the qualities we require but who we can't afford? What's the point in that? Surely they need to be identifying players who would be of benefit who we can afford?

Wasn't aware of this, can you elaborate and provide a little more detail? Thanks in advance.

Isn't Paul Feilder Commercial Director? At least that was my understanding. Don't disagree with your post as a whole.

It's now almost a week since we were fed that crap about simply "waiting for the green light" from Brighton to close the Undav deal. I called BS on it at the time. How can you agree a financial package when the parent club haven't even decided if they want the deal to go ahead in the first place? Also is it not extremely worrying that one of our main targets this window has rocked up at errrr......the Club managed by our former manager? It would tend to suggest that the pool of talent from which we are drawing in terms of agents and agencies is still the same foul smelling cess pit it always was? Say this every transfer window and been saying it for years now, working in our recruitment department must be the cushiest number in the world. I used to put the inactivity down to Venus being in charge of getting the deals over the line and Mowbray's "You'll have to wait your turn and learn how Corry and Richie play" pep talk. But things don't appear to have improved recruitment wise with the change in structure and the acquisition of a new DOF. In fact if anything they seem to be even worse.

Was about to say the above. Waggott is apparently all about the data and we have an army of analysts at the Club.

The general gist of what you say is correct but we (the Club) obviously cared about Porteus, according to the LT, JDT confirmed to them that we submitted "a six figure bid" for him so he has to go down as yet another missed target. Personally in this particular instance I'm actually pleased we didnt sign him as I'd rather see Scott Wharton play and (Greg speak on) would not want to see Ash Phillips' pathway into the first team blocked any further.

Waggott and Mowbray

For me we're already in the midst of it. Started when we played Burnley imo. Barring something unexpected happening in the last few days of the transfer window I'd be surprised if we finish much better than about 14th.

Just forced myself to sit through that. 43 minutes of my life I'll never get back listening to the interviewer blow smoke up GB's backside. I'll give the bloke credit for something. If there were prizes handed out for corporate waffle and bullshit GB would be a world cup winner. Couple of things struck me about the interview as it was going along. Firstly when he was talking about Scott Wharton's injury and Ash Phillip's possible inclusion, it sounded like he had some input into first team selection. I would have hoped he had nothing whatsoever to do with that area and that that was the sole remit of JDT and his assistant. Secondly, having a first team squad of 22 with 6 Academy players waiting in the wings doesn't REALLY sound like a Club fully invested in youth. It sounds more like a Club that would like to rely on its youngsters but one that doesn't really trust them. Finally, at the end of the interview, the mask slipped and the charade was unveiled. The thing he had learnt from his career was: "Never be in too much of a hurry to get to where you want to go". He might as well have added "and don't forget to milk it for every penny you can, every step of the way". Having listened to that pile of nonsense I'm more convinced than ever that sustitute GB's "project" for Mowbray's "journey" and all we have in reality is another confidence trickster trying to take the Club for a ride and that as with Mowbray we'll wake up to the fact four years down the line to find that we're absolutely no better off than when we started except, financially, the Club will be in debt to the owners to the tune of another £100m quid or so.

Shouldn't bite but....... Perhaps if we filled a position we actually needed to fill, certain people like myself might be a bit more enthusiastic!

Fair comment.

The comforting and expert words of Greg "George was our main target all summer" Broughton. I find it fairly interesting that he's referring to the player in terms as though he might be seen as a potential impact sub rather than a guaranteed starter.

Wouldn't be averse to a Hotel in combination with a modern and aesthetically pleasing new stand. Think there's two chances of that and slim left town a long time ago.

Not directed at you specifically Mike but I'm amazed at how easily placated most of the fan base seems to be. After 25 days the m/b was (rightly imo) in meltdown over the lack of new faces. Now, borrow someone in in a position in which we don't particularly need any further cover and relatively speaking everyone seems happy as a pig in shit. For me this is a bit of a nothing signing that merely blocks our own players from getting game time. If it ends up being in addition to the players we REALLY need like a goalscorer and a midfielder who'll add a bit of guile and steel, fair enough.

You actually think he's going to make the difference?

He's clearly investing fully in the move as well, referring to us as "the Club". Still nothing we can do about it now, have to hope he does well but I'd far rather our own players got the chance.

Hirst scored 15 for Portsmouth didn't he.

Boom Boom.

Hang on, is that not the exact opposite of the stance you have taken over the last 12 months and the last two January windows of the Club in your eyes lacking ambition?

Don't know much about Nisbet granted, but we wasted that amount on Szmodics in the summer.