Ralph Fastenbüttl

Like others have said, a really pleasing performance, especially from the new lads. On another day we get something from that game. And hopefully our shyness in front of goal adds to the pressure to sign a CF this week. On the flip side, we were so solid defensively I wonder if we just played ourselves out of any further defensive recruitment...

Will hold my hands up and admit that y'all were right - ABK looks the absolute business today.

"Keep up to date" 😆 Do one, ya gobby twat! Anyone would think I'd called for the culling of baby seals, what with the outcry to my statement. All I'm saying is I'm tired of our shite defense over the last few seasons. I'm glad y'all have decided after mere moments on the pitch that ABK is the man. And I hope he is - that would be awesome. He certainly looks good thus far. But regardless, I'm not certain that his signing alone has cured all our defensive ills, and I'd love someone to come in and boss our back line. An old head would be great, as someone said. And yes, I'd like him to be a bruiser. Honestly I'd be happy for us to offload Stephens, Lyanco and Bednarek if we're able to get upgrades in. And before anyone says it, yes obviously I'd also love to see a new striker, wide midfielder and full back cover come in, too. Is that all OK now? Does that statement get the green light or have I committed some other cardinal sin of which I'm unaware?

As fantastic as it would be for us to sign a striker (and I do wonder if a late Broja move could be on the cards), I still think a massive, brutish and authoritative CB would be top of my shopping list at the moment.

It's probably safe to assume that the club understands the logistics of buying a footballer, seeing as we've bought many this very window. I'd guess you're interpreting this a little too literally. My guess would be that submitting a bid essentially locks in that money, so they don't want to do that unless they're confident it will be accepted and the deal will progress.

Forest must have set a volume of signings record by now, right?

I wonder how many of these Forest acquisitions are going to end up leaving for very little over the next few windows having played next to no football?

You mean big teams like Liverpool, Spurs, Arsenal and Man U, all of whom have raided our locker room to fill out their squads?

I hope you're right and it is just hiding/sulking, because the alternative is that the fella's genuinely upset about the whole forum piling onto him. Yeah, of course he brings it on himself, but at the same time not everyone's emotionally equipped to deal with being called out and mocked by strangers. As much as the guy drives me spare, I'd hate for something awful to happen. No doubt the forum's been a more pleasant place, however!

That is a fucking blinder, Che!

Yeah, there's a strong argument for this, but I wholeheartedly agree with @Saint86 that Jacob's output has been considerably better than Dan's. As a former journalist myself (tho not sports) I honestly always felt Dan was quite limited. I've worked with journos like him before - they certainly get the job done, but they really have to be pushed to go that extra mile. Whereas Jacob's the sort of journalist I could only have aspired to be. Thoughtful, thorough, clearly puts in the footwork and a very sound writer to boot. He's worth the price of entry to The Athletic alone imo.

35 years old but if he's still get his legs, you'd think Verthongen offers exactly the sort of experience and command we need in our back line? Still the vice cap for the Belgium national team I think?

Great post, Francis - I hope we hear more from you in the weeks, months and years ahead! Honestly, while failing to sign a striker this window would obviously be a massive pain, I think the signing of a central defender is more crucial. With the likes of Aribo and Mara looking so bright from the little we've seen, I would hope that they, along with what we've already got, might just be enough to see us through to January, when our recruitment team can have another crack. Still, there's two weeks left in this window - plenty of time to get something done. And you'd hope the board will have planned for this outcome, right...

Big call. Fair play.

Oh. And there I was expecting us to be all happiness and rainbows. Damn.

One would suspect that guarantees we're 4-2-2-2 from hereon in. Thank fuck.

Ralph turned it around and saved the day today! Right? RIGHT?

Dude, why do you this? Just fucking let it be, man, jesus.

Dude, c'mon. That their background filler blurb isn't completely 100% anally retentive and correct in its every detail means says nothing about the source or the info they're claiming to know.

I think this is probably the fairest and most reasonable assessment of the situation I've seen on here. 100% agree.

I honestly think Tella has a bit of something about him, so some regular game time seems like a sensible idea.

I'd take Benrahma for sure - feels like exactly what we need? Oh, as well as a striker and two CBs, of course...

Yeah, it's mental. Folk actually pondering if Ralph is "deliberating choosing crazy lineups to get sacked", 'cos that's that's totally what a normal person in the real world would actually do. Especially when they work in one of the most globally popular sporting leagues in the entire world and their every move is publicly scrutinised. Definitely checks out.