Why do you think they are doing anything other than refusing? I know you are forever keen to deflect criticism away from the owners where possible but surely even now you must realise its not just a case of them not being asked. They have been actively slashing the budget for years. As if its just a case of them not being asked.

Pears Brittain Hyam Batth Beck Tronstad Baker ACD JRC Dolan Weimann Really difficult to select an attack.

I have never said that they dont deserve credit for our position. Obviously they do. The stand outs are all players behind the front 4 of the team. Tronstad, Travis, Beck, Hyam, Batth, Brittain have all stood out. If Ohashi is stand out in our attack considering hes a striker with 1 goal since mid September, it tells you a lot. The fact that we have such difficulty in scoring more than 1 goal highlights the impotency of our attack. Youve dismissed that stat because it shows in black and white what I am trying to say. Eustace is doing brilliantly to leave us so well organised but when we dont keep a clean sheet, and you cant in every game, as we have seen lately as we cant often score more than 1 goal, its hard to get positive results, certainly wins. If he had some attacking quality then that could change. But he doesnt.

Its Venkys that are forcing this on us with their lack of investment.

His header for the Weimann goal was obviously a good contribution. But people are only measuring his output in goal contributions because goals alone (1 in the league, not including a goal against a Stockport youth team where Vale also scored, or a penalty against Blackpool) paint him in a terrible light. Assist is such a flawed stat to judge a striker on. For Gueye they range from a totally fluffed tap in, to a good header but one that only became an assist because someone smashed in a worldie from 30 yards, to a 5 yard pass. A striker who was signed to be the main striker can simply not be deemed a success when he has a solitary league goal at this point of the season. Thats the top and bottom of it. You often resort to "people who understand football" because you seemingly have a particularly high opinion of your own knowledge of the game. You are saying that about knowing after 20 minutes because you yourself said after 45 in a friendly that it was clear. Gueye doesnt miss 2 sitters a game through excellent anticipation, he has missed 2 sitters in his time here. And ones that he had no excuse not to put away. He is a terrible finisher and striker of the ball. His shot against Hull and also one earlier in the season that ended up back in Belgium show that. Hes not a goalscorer who seems on the cusp of going on a goalscoring run. If he does then the whole narrative obviously changes, because he would be scoring goals. Until if and when that happens, its not good enough. If he got close to a usual Gallagher 8 or 9 goal a season, then we would see that as a success. Which says a lot as Gallagher was below average. As it is, the only way to defend him is considering assists which include missed tap ins and headers 30 yard out as on par with goals.

Gallagher got 8 or 9 goals 3 seasons running. Below average but still well above how many Gueye is in line to get IF he continues as we have seen so far. Its this "goal involvements" nonsense where headers 30 yards out from goal and 5 yard passes are being treated on par with actually scoring goals. Gueye has missed only 2 sitters that I can remember, he doesnt regularly get into good positions. Both times, he embarassed himself. You were hyping up Gueye beyond belief (Buckley £10m levels) after 45 goalless minutes in a friendly at Stockport. If Gallagher is the benchmark and people are having to chuck in "assists" including headers miles out and 5 yard passes to put Gueye past Gallagher, and he is our main striker signing from the summer, somethings gone wrong. He is the worst finisher and technical striker of a ball that I can remember.

You can only have 5 loans in a matchday squad. That being said, Stewart is never available anyway so wouldnt be an issue. JRC is the worst footballer since our League squad? No chance. Got plenty of worse footballers in the current squad alone.

This.

If he dramatically improves and has a really good couple of seasons then I will happily praise Gueye for being a good striker who scores goals. So far he hasnt been which is what I am basing my opinions on.

You keep saying that about Gallagher, when I keep saying that he is below average when fit and the fact that he is now turning into a walking injury makes him no use to anyone. And I was happy to see him go. You said your main issue about Gallagher was that he didnt score enough goals which was fair. But your dislike of him clearly grew so strong that you are doing mental gymnastics to avoid the question of why you dont seem to think Gueye is even worse when you consider that he has 1 solitary goal. He never looks like scoring, he has missed 2 chances from a combined total of less than 10 yards. Gallagher might be Gueye without the nuisance factor when Gueye starts scoring 8 or 9 a season which Gallagher did for us in MOST seasons he was here.

We had Gallagher for years and all agreed that he wasnt good enough to be the regular starter for a play off chasing side because he didnt score enough goals. But now have someone who is even worse. We are in January, Gueye has scored one solitary goal. He is a striker and our main one in terms of cost and he cannot kick a ball towards goal properly, his shooting is as bad as I can remember from any striker. Roll a ball 6 yards from goal to him and he misses the ball. Look at his shot against Hull as an example of his technique, its like hes never kicked a ball before. Yet he is being lauded as a massive improvement by some. We are a team clinging onto the coat tails of the top 6 purely through organisation and grit, im spite of our misfiring attack and he is the main signing we made to remedy that and doesnt offer a goal threat. Yes he seems a likeable character so I get that, and he can cause nuisance factor purely by chucking the ball in the air if we need a goal and hoping for scraps. Hardly something to praise. Goal contributions is clearly a symptom of a generation where people are so obsessed with data. Him winning a header 30 yards out or playing a 5 yard pass is not on par with him scoring goals.

I dont doubt the players try their best but all of the real stand out players this season are the ones behind whoever is selected in the front 4. As I said, we have scored more than once only 3 times in 17 games. That shows how little an attacking threat we have. It also adds context whereby if we cant keep a clean sheet, which Eustace is good at getting but as I said its impossible to get one every game and because he is having to make do with such a poor set of attackers, when we concede any goals its really hard to win as we have seen in the last 4. Thats why Eustace is doing such a good job to repeatedly need to try and grind out results without an attack. Yesterday in open play we just didnt offer a threat and the game was essentially played in one half so to keep them to such few chances was even more impressive.

He has scored 1 goal and we are in January. Gallagher when fit scored 8 or 9 a season. His problem is not just that he is "ungainly," he is absolutely terrible in front of goal. He may have a use if you need a goal and chuck him on and pick up the scraps around him like yesterday. He started v Hull and was terrible though.

We have heard this all before. The next one will be our tournament.

We do need cover but whoever comes in would have to wait. No way should Hyam be dropped. Hill isnt happening anyway but even if it did, he should start on the bench. We do need a CB, I think 4 is a normal amount so even allowing for Carter coming back. McFadzean is too old and cant play in a back 4 so doesnt count as genuine cover. With Pickering out long term, we need at least one defender that can play both positions.

It wouldnt be harsh to drop Hyam. It would be crazy, he has been outstanding.

As you touched on too, those loss figures dont include a breakdown of exempt expenses not publically available. So we will be even further away.

We are absolutely nowhere near FFP limits. The Wharton sale will count as pure profit and the Szmodics sale will be predominantly profit.

The tactics were essentially to get a nil nil draw. We had absolutely nothing in attack and that is because of a lack of resources. None of the attackers gave us a threat in attack, no goal threat, no out ball and no pace. Eustace is working with his hands tied behind his back. To go to Elland Road with no attacking threat for reasons beyond him makes it even more difficult to go there and keep them out for a whole game when you arent threatening at the other end. The organisation was so good that not only did we keep them out for 85 minutes but we barely had a shot on our goal, and it took a debatable penalty. We have scored more than 1 goal only 3 times in the last 17 games. That is ridiculously bad and it highlights the job Eustace is doing to have us anywhere near the top 6 purely on the basis of a solid defence. However it clearly means that it is very difficult to win games/get results unless you get a clean sheet. We have got plenty but its impossible to do it in every game, we havent in the last 4 games and because of that lack of ability to score goals we have only got 2 points. ACD would have at least offered us a threat on the counter attack but I suspected that he might be rotated because hes never really played senior football and has tired in his appearances so far, so all 3 games this week felt like a stretch. Eustace needs some money to actually sign some quality in attack. The job he is doing is so impressive but some quality, some pace and some goals would give our team an added dimension and less reliant on the organisation that is so impressive.

Not over the last 4 games which was my point. We went from conceding 0 and winning games narrowly despite a lack of goal threat, to conceding 1 or 2 as we have in the last 4 games and our form turning as a result because we dont have the attacking quality to score more than the odd goal. I think it tells you a lot when a striker has one goal in early January and people are scrambling around talking about "goal contributions" including knock downs for 30 yard half volleys to justify his improvement. As I said before, perhaps a useful sub in terms of if we are chasing a game and need a lump to win a header to pick up the pieces. Was terrible in his last start and offers no goal threat whatsoever. So I am not particularly appeased by this improvement. I definitely havent "defended Gallagher to the hilt." I think when fit he is a below average bottom half standard Championship striker. Hardly a glowing endorsement. I just think Gueye is worse even than Gallagher. You said you predominantly didnt rate Gallagher because of his lack of goals. In the 3 seasons prior to the last one when he spent much of it injured, he got 8 or 9 goals in each. Gueye has 1 so far in early January. I did question you on this the other day but you ignored it. I also am not "worried" that Gueye will be better. It would massively please me.

Ohashi doesnt look like he wil be fit but either way especially at home I would want more attacking quality. We didnt have any today as I expected with the line up but relied on organisation and a late set piece. ACD maybe was deemed not to be able to start so many in quick succession but he actually gives us a threat. Cantwell should come in to if fit enough. Eustace badly needs some money to spend on the attack. It isnt good enough and he is doing remarkably well to have us anywhere near purely on the defence. In the last 4 games as I said, we have been conceding 1 or 2 a game rather than 0 and that has been turning wins into draws and losses. You cant just expect to keep clean sheets every single game.

No, Brittain has developed into a solid defensive right back under Eustace. When he has played further forward in the past he has struggled.

Definitely wouldnt want Buckley to be put in any Championship, let alone this one. If Cantwell misses out I would probably go with JRC there and keep Baker next to Tronstad.

It doesnt, because they have clearly been keen to further slash the budget. But the profit will be in the June 2024 accounts relating to the Wharton sale and it wil be those accounts that likely show a small profit, not the 2025 ones. Even with the Szmodics sale (predominantly all profit considering his amortised value would have been comparatively small) in the 2025 accounts, we will almost certainly make a loss. Either way, if any reasonable % of that was to be made available, it would have been by now.

You do know that Hyam got player of the season in his first season? He has been even better than he was then this season, and the impressive Batth has definitely helped as have a lack of injuries and a more defensive tactical approach. But hes not a bad player looking "decent," he has been excellent. Today probably shows the limitations of judging a striker on "goal contributions" because the assist stat is meaningless on its own. He wont get today's assist despite it being an excellent header. He did get an assist for making slight contact when trying to tap in the ball from 6 yards, for a knockdown for a 30 yard half volley and also for a 5 yard pass when Sigurdsson really made the goal from an excellent turn. Today's contribution was miles more meaningful than all 3. Says a lot that its become such a big conversation topic when it wouldnt have been if he didnt have one solitary goal, less than Batth. But his main use does seem to be to chuck him on when we need a goal to see if he can knock something down as he did again today. He started v Hull and was dreadful.