Forester

Long journey to watch that first half performance particularly after similar at West Brom. A few thoughts: - we need an extra forward in January without question. I know money isn’t unlimited and we may need to make a sale which is unpalatable in another department to bring someone in of quality. Jander? Scienza? Fellows? - thought Abbot did well but it’s a shame it moves Stephens (who is having a good season on right side) over to left where he is more unreliable - can’t wait to watch it but was adamant it was handball in stoppage time in front of our fans - bigger picture there is no team currently on track for two points per game which is typical too 2. Our defensive record is fine averaging one goal per game, and even this week should have been enough for seven points. But the gap between Larin and the rest is too big

You don’t think KS was a good replacement for THB? Really?

You do know we didn’t buy Dobbin from Preston?

While factually correct, the “time” point skips past the fact that an inappropriate timetable was rammed through by EFL

Delighted with the outcome. However….….…. ……it is impossible to read the 40 pages and not conclude that we were subjected to an unfair process back in May, and that our defence was inadequate. I would love to read the legal advice we were given back then, specifically was a high court injunction to stop the clock possible? Some of the EFL statements at the time appear to have been proven to be factually inaccurate, specifically the coercion allegations and orchestration of Ipswich spying. And the point has been by FA made that a “deterrent” is inappropriate. I wonder whether the club will consider legal action against EFL now…

Only relates to spying charges, report was explicit on this point

Brought in by George Burley from memory when trying to steady the ship after Redknapp departure. Very sad news.

Just got back and feel a lot less positive about that point than driving back from Brum. Fair play to Lincoln for making it to championship but thank god it didn’t piss it down located in uncovered temporary stand. I don’t buy the overreaction about bringing Wood on, which was logical given their long ball assault, late on. Thought JWP and Downes were decent, and a wonder goal from Welington. I think there are two major problems to worry about, one of which I think will change but other am less certain. 1. We have several of our match winners out of form. Azaz and Scienza are not anywhere near the levels they hit last season, and we are yet to see Jander feature at all. You have to hope and believe this won’t continue for too long. Neither Bree nor Manning are at their best yet either. 2. As was painfully evident today, there is too big a drop in quality between starting lineup and subs bench. It reminded me of the horror 12 points season where we competed for an hour and then looked awful when changes were made. We are really missing not adequately replacing Stewart, as it was crying out for someone to be able to hold the ball up and give us time to get out in that last period of the game. Am worried Larin will break down at some point and we will really struggle.

For me, this analysis fails in the first sentence. As Fulham a few years back and Sunderland last season showed, there is a gulf between “getting into” and “staying in” the Premier League. We need every minute of focus on the first of these challenges, particularly given a four points deficit. We love to look back lovingly on the promotion under Adkins where Fonte, Schneiderlin, Lambert and Lallana were effective in both divisions. The reality is we had to bring in lots of quality that summer in Boruc, Clyde, Yoshida, Davis, Ramirez, Rodrigues etc. Then last time we went up the major problem was that our team looked too similar to the promoted version. Baz, Bree, both centre backs, Manning, Downes, Armstrong all couldn’t cope with the new division. So focus on getting up. If JWP can help us do that, next season is another thing

I remember either a 5-4 or 4-3 win for us a few years back

Matsuki (spell it correctly) was a key component of a team that was unbeaten over twenty plus matches, and Dobbin has played one game. Are you aged 12?

I don’t know if you noticed but we have bought three players already in Larin, Perez and Dobbin? So if you need to make up £70 million and you are spending fees on bringing players in, where do you imagine that comes from? Let’s assume you are right that we could take in £20 million for Archer, Baz, BBD, Edozie and Sugawara. That is £50 million including Charles, plus £10 million for Fernandes. Then take off the fees we have spent on bringing three in. Where do you find the gap? I go home and away and don’t want to see our best players leave, but it is importantly to be able to count!

A hopefully balanced view: - I believe we have been targeting bringing in £70 million this summer based on loss of revenue. We already have over half that bagged through Charles and Fernandes sell-on. It is going to be hard to generate the other half of that without selling one of THB, Jander or Scienza. Ramsdale value has fallen, Sugawara, BBD and others like Edozie will not touch the sides. And many on here still want a replacement for Charles brought in. - If we sell THB I don’t want to sell him to West Ham or any other direct rival. Benicia are a massive club in their country, managed by Silva, and it gives the player Champions League football. So it’s perfectly possible he hasn’t been “pushing for a move” but then this arrives, what would you do? - I thought Wood was excellent in the final months of the season including cup games against top class opposition. I am fine with him and Stephens starting, Quarshie improved and clearly we will bring in a replacement. So I’d rather keep THB but anyone shouting needs to come up with the extra £30 million solution.

I also thought he was poor when QPR played us

Do you have next week’s lottery winning numbers?