Quality?

You dont know that he wants to keep them or not. No one does. He isnt going to come out and say about any player that he wants them to go. McFadzean is going and he has waxed lyrical about him despite allowing him to play a minute all season. He didnt play Sigurdsson earlier in the season when we had very limited attackers, he has only played Buckley since he had no other option, he clearly doesnt rate every player. In the media hes obviously going to big everyone up to keep everyone happy, basic man management. I dont get why you think that if you want the manager to have the final say, it means you have to agree with every single decision he makes.

How do you know that Eustace wants all of the players to stay? You have just made that up. But even so, you clearly cant fathom that yes, Eustace should have final say. But that doesnt mean that people have to agree with and justify every decision he makes. I reckon if he was told he could have a couple of extra signings but he would have to sacrifice some of the squad players, he would snap your hand off.

But on Dembele, he was not chosen despite Eustace's wishes. Therefore to have total faith in the club getting what we need purely on the basis of having a good head coach even though he clearly doesnt have total say (nor does he set the budget, in fact he seems totally in the dark based on his press conferences) seems a bit misplaced/deluded. We dont need the whole "stop writing players off" narrative. He obviously wont be left out and I will judge him as he plays, as I did on Saturday when he was crap. My point was that this 25 man squad isnt an excuse not to sign players. The most likely and obvious solution is to shed players who arent good enough. We are lumbered with Forshaw now. But the likes of Sigurdsson, Dolan, Hedges could maybe be shunted out. Failing that, a couple of non contributors could be simply not registered. You clearly think that Travis returning from injury, Buckley and Forshaw is a trio of midfielders capable of sustaining a play off push.

You arent going for the problem if you target anyone but the owners. Just unpleasant symptoms.

Do you still have faith in us signing the quality and quantity we need, factoring in that Eustace does not always decide on who we sign? And have you now given up on a left back? How have I tied myself in knots? Ive said what I would do. Not register players that are not good enough. Say we sign 4, tell Sigurdsson now if he stays he wont be registered. Players like Hedges, Forshaw, Hilton, any of them can be left out. But ideally shed one or two before the window closes. Dolan could be one to be let go.

Point being, you have faith in the club strengthening adequately. You said thats because of Eustace. You have an example from the summer of him NOT getting what he wants yet still have faith anyway. You are tieing yourself in knots to kid yourself into thinking that everything is ok. We shouldnt avoid strengthening important areas like midfield and left back (you said left back too) out of obligation to register crap like Sigurdsson who offer nothing. It could force their hand to seek a new club.

Eustace sounds deflated and totally in the dark. So weve made a bid presumably for a player that wont be available anymore. So no closer.

A new excuse. Dont register Wharton. Tell Sigurdsson if he stays he wont be registered. Youve always insisted that theres no possibility that the manager and the director of football will agree on everything and theres no risk of disagreement and the manager not getting what he wants.

"Saving the budget" to bring in loans in other positions.

After the QPR game the day after the window closes so presumably too late for any deadline day signings to realistically feature. We will have only 15 games left. Before then we have 3 crucial games, 2 very winnable home games against bottom half sides and an away game at fellow play off chasing Bristol City. It is criticial that we get a decent points haul in those games to keep us right in the pack ahead of the run in. We go into the first of them mainly fearing the worst because our sub par attack continues to misfire and we have gone from having one of the best midfield pairings in the league protecting our defence to most likely a player who hasnt shown decent form in 3 years and couldnt get into a struggling Sheffield Wednesday side and a veteran who couldnt get into Plymouth side. The 2 main arguments that I see defending the inactivity/business so far are firstly that we are "prioritising" the attack. That firstly assumes that we will get what we need there which is a big assumption and also suggests that we can just live with the issues we have in midfield. To go from one of the strongest to the weakest pairings in the league within a few weeks shows that as has been the case for years, the squad is not strong enough. For most clubs, the timing of Tronstads injury would at least come with the bonus of it happening in January where you can do something about it even if it means a bigger budget is needed. The second is that you can only sign quality towards the end of the window. Im not sure that is entirely true either.

Lewis O'Brien has essentially been dismissed in the LT with the usual line of "prioritising the budget for a striker and winger." It cant be either or. A normal club with an ounce of ambition looks at it and the owners release more funds for an extra midfield signing knowing that the landscape has changed with Tronstad now injured and Baker having returned. Not here. It cant be either attackers or midfield. Even if we sign attacking reinforcements, such a strong part of our team has been massively damaged. But just make do with a Plymouth reserve.

Just the same as people saying "stop being negative." Unhelpful rubbish in the absence of anything constructive.

Forest got a lot of criticism for spending so much money and signing so many players.

Says a lot that even spending so much money and the most you can aspire to is being a promotion contender upon inevitable relegation. The whole pyramid is fucked when you consider that most clubs are losing so much money. The wages get higher, the ticket prices get higher, the kick offs become more and more inconvenient and the football becomes less competitive.

With the side we are likely to/likely to be able to select its hard to go in with any confidence. Maybe a typical Thomas Asante winner now he has been linked here and has managed to get back in the Coventry side in the meantime and presumably make that impossible.

They have players out, but he continues to play in the same naive and irresponsible way regardless.

In the one when you mentioned Undav. Why would not signing a striker in January cause our form to dip considering we didnt have one for the first half of the season either. Makes no sense.

Fresh from failing to make the team and sometimes bench of League 1 Bristol Rovers?

Why did our form dip because we didnt sign a striker when we didnt have that striker in the first half of the season? Doesnt explain why results dipped. Im not convinced by him either. But better than Hedges.

Yep, there are no patterns in any of the 3 seasons and it was nothing to do with having a squad lacking sufficient quality and depth not aided by a lack of funds in January. And this season, with squad players like Buckley, Forshaw and Hedges all waiting in the wings and already being needed to play bigger roles, we will be fine.

The concern is that there isnt much scope for a different line up. Id go JRC in midfield, ACD over Hedges, but neither of those convince me.

I dont dislike him as a person. And maybe he will suddenly start performing at a level of a top 6 side. But a player unwanted by the worst team in the league and signed purely because he was cheap doesnt scream "we want to be top 6" to me and his performance yesterday didnt make me think otherwise. Ill judge as we go. Why does it make a difference if I rate him or not? Give him a chance FFS isnt a constructive counter argument.

Youve said this sort of guff about players clearly not capable of playing at a standard to which we require across the last 3 seasons in which our seasons have all tailspinned after christmas and clearly havent learnt the lesson. Blindly expect the likes of Hedges, Dolan, Forshaw and Buckley to be of a sufficient standard.

If Ryan Hedges is the answer, I dont want to know what the question is.