Dalek2003

You get what you DON'T pay for.

Top 10 in January, even 10th, would be a very good achievement for a newly promoted club. A comfortable mid table finish would be more than satisfactory based on our modest summer investment.

Every time we win you think we are going to storm the league and knock the opposition to the far corners of the universe. The season finishes in May and your prediction of 1st looks just as ludicrous IMO !

I would like some big name good quality players into the club, preferably on realistc wages, but I am not sure that will happen. If Saints have a policy on this then fine. It could be we are looking for younger players that we can develop. However, in this case the fans need to understand this, be patient and allow the club to build slowly. In other words we are not doing a West Ham.

A risky move !

A fair comment. I think he is still learning at a much bigger club than S****horpe. He has done a brilliant job on a tight budget we cannot expect too much from him this season and should stick with him and support him.

Agree with this and I have been consistent in sticking to this unpopular scenario since the summer. I have been pleasantly surprised by our tremendous start and we need to be heartened by this. The players have worked their guts out and deserve our support as does NA. The simple matter of the fact is that our key players are exhausted and are now picking up inevitable injuries. We didn't show enough intent in the summer transfer market, this was obvious by July, and will cost us promotion. Having said that, this season was always about consolidation and building for the future while sticking to a reasonable budget. We have not done a WHAM or Leicester and I think our way will be better in the long term even if it does bring short term disappointment.

Shurlock's post is a good one. He mentions that we need to be more 'aggressive' in the transfer market. I said it back in June, July and August. I prefer the words decisive and committed. I maintain my view that we set out this season to consolidate on a budget. I am sure that is what we will achieve. The nice thing is that we have got the points up front so we should finish mid table (17th which is lower mid table), with a fair degree of comfort. This will allow NA to experiment with the team and look for some bargains in the transfer market thus fitting our 'sustainable plan. It was obvious to me in the summer, we aint going to get any big names on big wages.

NA thinks he s a pilot but he cannot fly a plane

Agreed. We are top of the league and should have no problems achieving 17th.

We screwed up over the summer, I told you so and recieved a load of abuse for speaking the truth. Like the Hoddle debacle, people can bury thier heads in the sand but it wont do them much good.

What makes me laugh is all those now pressing the panic button were the ones who told me I was wrong when I asserted the need to act decisively in the summer transfer window !

I am certain that the main objective was consolidation. the good start took everyone by surprise. Had we in any way envisaged our tremendous start we would have invested a bit more. I'm afraid my assumptions were pretty close to the truth despite the abuse i have been getting 17th or mid table would be about right in terms of our ambitions this season.

Face up to reality, this is not a wind up !

Excellent well balanced post. t was obvious over the summer that we were not prepared to invest in a few extra quid for the sake of promotion to the Premiership. I think this principle is well worth standing up for and will send a clear message to the football world, that we are not prepared to put ambition before prudence.

Been saying it since August, glad you agee. Can I persuade you that Hoddle should have been appointed in 2004 and can we agree that the failure to do so set of the events leading to our relegation ?

Must be wind up calls, NA is clearly well ahead of his target of 17th (probably ?)

You get what you DON'T pay for !

This is a 'learning season' for NA ffs. Remember we only got promoted last season and we have a 5 year plan !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Agreed. We have had a blistering start to the season and we should celebrate this. I remain consistent in my view that we will finish mid table comfortably (17th), and that our rookie manager will learn from the season and put us in good shape for a play off place next season !

Reading this post, many are saying the same things that were said in the summer, the need for another quality striker and pace. It's a shame that we have waited for the evidence of something that most people were pretty sure about. The hardest thing for many people to come to terms with is how our good start will probably come to nothing by the end of the season...all for the wont of a little investment and a manager prepared to be a little more decisive in his choice of experience. On a plus note, NA is a youngish manager and he will learn which will help us next season.

This is precisely what I predicted back in early September and is beginning to happen. However, I am sure that we set out the season to simply secure our status in this league, which we should achieve. In this case should be happy !

Only the second home win for Doncaster. Congratulations due and to be fair BBC 5 live say it was deserved. Look forward to the comments of NA and those at the match.

Could be a bit of a tight game. I think the team are exhausted.

Lot of miserable gits here. We should be celebrating our fantastic start to the season and our magnificient run. We have more than enough points to comfortably slide down the league and settle mid table. Rather do it this way round than having a poor start nad having to rely on a late rally. Time now to support the team and hope NA is able to build the squad. Certainly a good test for him.