benali-shorts

Very good

I never really trusted his leprechaun beard. But did enjoy his unexpectedly clinical strike at Wembley. my third favourite Armstrong after David and Stuey (apologies to Ken).

What’s the end result in our net spend? AA, Edwards, AB-K: must be around £14m plus wages of AA, Aribo, Bazunu, Downs - must be combined >£100k/week x 1/2 a years - another couple of million. Peretz and Larin - maybe £40k/week so £1m for 1/2 year. We’ll have made c£15m. Runaway champions again. Cov and Boro fans will be green with envy.

That led me to look at Mara's stats this season. 16 games, 0 goals. Plus ca change....

Archer, Aribo, Armstrong, Bazunu, Downs, Edwards, Fraser. Is he working through the squad departures alphabetically this window? It's as good a system as any when they're all really expendable, I suppose. Must save £5m in wages over 6 months, I wonder what sort of a cut of that saving Johannes gets. I fully expect the Canadian to be rubbish, but at least it should mean we play 2 wingers and Azaz at AM. Small mercies.

He must have strangely preferred Udinese's project in Serie A to Rasmus's project in Never Never Land.

How the hell has Solak ever made any money? He seems to be a gullible moron whose executives walk all over him.

The bootroom pathway alive and well.

More fool Dragan for letting them waste and disrespect his money. He needs to get a grip.

I for one am Les Reed-relaxed at the prospect of SR recruiting replacements for our leading scorer.

I wonder what they have actually been doing in training (other than temazepam seemingly).

Couldn't agree more. And I'd add to that the lack of strategy and competent management from the top down (different directors of football, different coaches, different styles, no clear plan) leading to an average stay of, what, 4 months per manager / 'head coach'? This squad should easily be top 6, and certainly capable of competing with Coventry and Boro for automatic promotion. The coaching is feebly formulaic and lacks identity, and the team follows suit.

I wonder if Solak ever thinks that he's being taken for a ride by a narcissistic dreamer with no substance? If not, why not?

Probable. Rennes reasonably astute at u21 signings so would make sense. A sneak preview of our imminent everything-must-go summer sale.

SR have cleverly established a version of the Anfield Boot Room process, whereby our U21 coach is groomed to take over the first team. It's a rapid-fire version - they get the u21 gig with assurances that they'll be in charge of first team by the next quarter. Lallana will get the first team for Feb-April, and then Andrew Surman will have completed his apprenticeship in the U21s and gets the last month (with a two month pay-off for Jun-Jul whilst they recruit someone with no experience of League One but with a very accommodating yes-man attitude). The fact that they're both club legends will keep the punters happy - much better to have one of our own in charge than to win football matches. Jay Robinson will be in charge by Feb27.

6 points now. Feeling ever more possible. This window needs players who can help us stay up.

Definitely plausible. Nothing from House.

I wonder if the timeline was that Baz turned down a new contract pre Xmas so we told him we’d be seeking a new keeper in January window to force him out / recoup some of his fee?

I'd guess that Bazunu wouldn't extend his contract and made it clear he wanted to leave, and given his performance levels and keeper being our weakest position (subject to debate, of course), a replacement loan keeper (at presumably no additional cost and in a all likelihood a cost-saving) for 6 months and which enabled Spors to maintain his contact network in his native Germany would have been no-brainer for him? I don't particularly see it as a signing of any ambition or strategy, only an indication that they couldn't persuade Bazunu to extend (remarkably from all angles) and so didn't want to persevere further with him.

I'm intrigued to see how we use the loan market that we've cleverly kept up our sleeve for the second half of our unstoppable march towards the lower end of the Championship. After the unearthing of buried treasures Maxwell Cornet and Albert Gronbaek in the last couple of windows, we're due another exciting loan signing surely - can he help tip us towards the holy grail of SR's third relegation in four seasons?

At least he’s not Bazunu

When his eyes twitch, I think Rasmus is controlling his thoughts

Goodbye. Thank God.

I can think of at least two CBs I'd have liked to have sold before him. But understandable for all parties given his lack of playing time.

The downside of American ownership of football; overestimating the competence of football business management people