I Cant Believe What I Have Heard

[Pezo]

Ok I get what your saying, and I'm not saying bust the bank and sign them all, but there is going to have to come a time when, if we want to seriously contend for the Premier League....we are going to have to invest in real quality. I really don't think these players are out of our budget anyway.....

As for your bottom paragraph, I agree with you about the drive and ambition...but are you saying that, were the only club who has players with driver and ambition in our league? I put a lot of our players drive and ambition down to the motivational skills of our manager and back room staff......now bring in REAL quality, its down to the manager and staff to do their jobs and get the best out of them. Hard work and graft will only get you so far

As I said, I really cant imagine players like Ambrose and Smith etc being that far out of our wage structure...if at all.

Your correct - hard work and graft will take you so far, what I was trying to get across was without hard work and graft you might as well give up in this league, where as it might work in the league below.

I find that quality is a bit of a vague term, what one person see's as quality others might just be dismissive about for example I think Bradley is a quality right back hardly anyone ever beats him, others point of view is that he isn't even a good right back as his distribution is woeful. I would like to know what specifics you see in those 3 players that you think are quality and better then what we have (just simply because I'm curious and don't know, not trying to be an ass).

[westred1]

Stop being so silly. Do you think that SL wouldnt replace him with another gifted manager.

As much as i rate GJ, there are other managers out there who are equal or better in ability.

Okay, I was obvious exaggerating but we still have a long way to go with Johnson and getting rid of him would be the wrong thing to do.

Yes, you are correct in saying there are managers with equal or better ability that GJ but I can't name you one that would even consider coming to City.

[bully]

Well logically he cant be the only reason were in this league simply because he isn't kicking the ball around. But arguably he was the galvanizing factor in our promotion where others had failed before him, some with more and some with less finances but had failed.

Maybe he has taken us as far as he can with the resources available but we will never know if we appoint another manager the same we don't know at the moment if he has taken us as far as he can.

As for improving in his transfer dealings I'm not to sure what you expect (can you clarify?). He has bought in experienced pros with flair when they were required to ensure if we were in a relegation fight they would know what to do (as it happens we were the best team not to go up), this season he bought in young talent so we don't have to keep spending big every year and we can hopefully sometime in the future get a decent return on our investment, Add this to the fact he wouldn't let the club get bent over and shafted like a pedo in a prison by 2 players even though the pressure was on him to make a signing. I do conceded that this summer our midfield needs strengthening and I'm sure as Gary is a very good manager that he is looking at this but nothing comes as easily as just saying it. As for "and sod how that upsets some of the dressing room favorites" this seems to promote a negative dressing atmosphere where everyone is looking over there shoulders thinking will it be me this week - completely the opposite attitude that has taken us this far, do you really think this works in pro football(do you see any top manager doing this)?

I had faith in him throughout the 12 game losing streak, I have faith in him now. Some people need to hold there nerve a little better. We haven't taken knee jerk reactions in the last 3 years and I think some people have forgotten what happens when we do take them.

Just to reiterate, I don't want GJ to go anywhere, but to answer some of your queries:

What I expect in transfer dealings is for GJ to spend big cash (for us) and getting value for money - Trundle is regretably a failure and a lot of people were pessimistic at the time of signing, Styvar was bought in January so why not expect some impact? and for all the positive words about Nicky Maynard, I did expect a bit more for £2m to be honest.

You could actually say that having not signed the two knobs (Meteb & Mifsud) after having wasted the best part of the summer on them, the pressure was then on to pay over the odds for Nicky - hope he comes good next year but we should not expect to spend that sort of money as a long term investment .

I would like GJ to use the loan market more, and I repeat that I don't care if that upsets the established order - I see plenty of managers more succesful that GJ using it, and players should be looking over their shoulder because competition is what brings the best out of players. The fact that in some positions the people holding down those spots know that they will not be dropped is unhealthy, and if we can't afford to buy, then take some quality on loan - not Webster, not Iriekepen.

I expected mid table this season with this squad, and that's what we will get I think .

[garlicbread]

Okay, I was obvious exaggerating but we still have a long way to go with Johnson and getting rid of him would be the wrong thing to do.

Yes, you are correct in saying there are managers with equal or better ability that GJ but I can't name you one that would even consider coming to City.

Neil Warnock

[B-Rizzle]

I feel the squad may of gone as far as it can, (unless strenghtened)

I think that's the key sentence. people think GJ has taken us as far as he can which i believe is incorrect. this statement could well be the case though that it's this squa that has taken us as far as it can. maybe 3-4 fresh faces who have quality would be good to see come in this summer.

I'm looking forward to see what will happen...

[BigP]

Neil Warnock

Do you think! Haha, he might consider it to try and catch the bloke who twated him last year!

[Pezo]

Just to reiterate, I don't want GJ to go anywhere, but to answer some of your queries:

What I expect in transfer dealings is for GJ to spend big cash (for us) and getting value for money - Trundle is regretably a failure and a lot of people were pessimistic at the time of signing, Styvar was bought in January so why not expect some impact? and for all the positive words about Nicky Maynard, I did expect a bit more for £2m to be honest.

You could actually say that having not signed the two knobs (Meteb & Mifsud) after having wasted the best part of the summer on them, the pressure was then on to pay over the odds for Nicky - hope he comes good next year but we should not expect to spend that sort of money as a long term investment .

I would like GJ to use the loan market more, and I repeat that I don't care if that upsets the established order - I see plenty of managers more succesful that GJ using it, and players should be looking over their shoulder because competition is what brings the best out of players. The fact that in some positions the people holding down those spots know that they will not be dropped is unhealthy, and if we can't afford to buy, then take some quality on loan - not Webster, not Iriekepen.

I expected mid table this season with this squad, and that's what we will get I think .

Thanks for clearing some of that up.

IMO spending big rarely gets you value for money (I know you didn't ask but I would prefer he spent little and got value for money, hopefully my season ticket wouldn't go up to much in the future then) - I don't think Trundle is a failure, he was part of a squad that got as close as you can get to the prem without being in it. Styvar was always going to take some time to get used to English football - it took Nicky 6 months to adjust to Championship football, how about giving Styvar at least the same chance. I for one am hoping for big things from these 2 next year but I know that chances are 1 of the 2 will make it and the other will be squad player.

You have a fair point about the "2 knobs" applying more pressure but surly you would only want to spend that kind of money on a long term investment not 31 year old one season wonder?

I understand your point about keeping players on there toes but I disagree with it, (I don't wish to sound demeaning but I cant think of another way of putting this) that view seems to be a bit 80s park footballish. Players now are more professional and should always be doing there best weather someone is pushing for there position or not we just need to make sure we are covered in case of injury, it is a proven fact that people perform better when they are not under pressure but how you achieve this in a team based sport I am unsure. I don't think will agree on this though, despite our goals being the same our methods are worlds apart, I know who I would rather work for though.

I think you prediction of mid table is a bit harsh I think we will finish 7th or 8th.

[Godzilla]

This squad of players (or at least most of them) reached the playoff final last season and will probably only just fall short of the playoffs this season. There are bigger and more expensive squads in our division which would LOVE to be where we are.

I agree there is always a need to strengthen (I'm assuming thats what you meant, because a wholesale clearout would be crazy) and I'm confident that GJ will do that.

Failure to improve on last seasons performance shouldn't be translated as failure to progress - last season was an exceptional one and it was always going to be difficult to repeat that.

The people who are saying GJ has taken us as far as he can must have very short memories or ridiculously high expectations.

Thank goodness the people running our football club have more sense.

You're absolutely right and the lack of patience is really typical of the 'short-termism' attitude displayed by football fans and chairmen up and down the country (and arguably in society more widely) - this attitude far more often than not ends in failure.

The reality is you won't have it all your own way all of the time, and you need to build step by step. Sometimes you need to take a couple of steps backwards in order to take steps forwards (for instance, the 9-game losing run and impending clear-out when Johnson first took over was necessary in the long run, as much as it hurt at the time).

Taking one look at Gary's record there's not one reason to believe that he has taken us as far as he can.

There is no greater attribute in football than patience. Yet there is also no other attribute that fans and chairmen alike, generally speaking, find more difficult to grasp. Those that do are usually rewarded.

As a football club I believe we're really going places.

[Andy082005]

Your correct - hard work and graft will take you so far, what I was trying to get across was without hard work and graft you might as well give up in this league, where as it might work in the league below.

I find that quality is a bit of a vague term, what one person see's as quality others might just be dismissive about for example I think Bradley is a quality right back hardly anyone ever beats him, others point of view is that he isn't even a good right back as his distribution is woeful. I would like to know what specifics you see in those 3 players that you think are quality and better then what we have (just simply because I'm curious and don't know, not trying to be an ass).

I just think players like Ambrose, Smith and Surman would bring more to the table. Now, I'm not saying that our lads arnt talented.....I just think that their talents are limited. OUr midfield, i feel, has been our biggest cause for concern for 2 years now. Lack of goals, and lack of creativity.

Darren Ambrose....IF you get the best out of him, is a Premier League class player. You don't play for England U-21s and Newcastle if your crap (well, forget the Newcastle bit haha). Tommy Smith, I would put money that this lad would score more goals in one season, then all of our midfielders have this season! Surman....more then likely out of our reach, he will end up in the prem at someone like Stoke

You look at players like Chopra at Cardiff.....and they just have so much more about them then our players. They are just literally BETTER players.....

I agree with what your saying though, I feel Bradley is a perfectly competent player at this level, if his distribution was as good as his defedning, he wouldnt be with us

[bully]

Thanks for clearing some of that up.

IMO spending big rarely gets you value for money (I know you didn't ask but I would prefer he spent little and got value for money, hopefully my season ticket wouldn't go up to much in the future then) - I don't think Trundle is a failure, he was part of a squad that got as close as you can get to the prem without being in it. Styvar was always going to take some time to get used to English football - it took Nicky 6 months to adjust to Championship football, how about giving Styvar at least the same chance. I for one am hoping for big things from these 2 next year but I know that chances are 1 of the 2 will make it and the other will be squad player.

You have a fair point about the "2 knobs" applying more pressure but surly you would only want to spend that kind of money on a long term investment not 31 year old one season wonder?

I understand your point about keeping players on there toes but I disagree with it, (I don't wish to sound demeaning but I cant think of another way of putting this) that view seems to be a bit 80s park footballish. Players now are more professional and should always be doing there best weather someone is pushing for there position or not we just need to make sure we are covered in case of injury, it is a proven fact that people perform better when they are not under pressure but how you achieve this in a team based sport I am unsure. I don't think will agree on this though, despite our goals being the same our methods are worlds apart, I know who I would rather work for though.

I think you prediction of mid table is a bit harsh I think we will finish 7th or 8th.

So if spending big rarely gets value for money why did we spend £2m on Nicky Maynard? - I don't agree with you as it happens, because some clubs pay big and get results. GJ's best work has been on picking up relative unknowns but if he's given good money to spend then I believe he needs to do better.

My point on Nicky is that we paid over the odds just like we did for LT, and i'd prefer we didn't do that whether its for a 31 year old or a prospect.

Ref LT of course he was part of the squad, but so was Darren Byfield, and he was more succesful. By the end of next season LT will have cost City about £2.5m so I deem him a failure which is a shame because he seems to have tried very hard.

I wonder how many people agree that footballers perform better when theres no competition for their places? - if that's 80's park football then I think most clubs are in that timewarp.

Lastly - 8th - 16th is mid table I think.

[Mr Mosquito]

Ref LT of course he was part of the squad, but so was Darren Byfield, and he was more succesful.

It's a bit of a mystery to me as to why we let Darren Byfield go. Wasn't he our top scorer last season and he didn't even play a whole season's worth of games?

[internetjef]

If tommy smith becomes available theres no chance he will sign for us. He is a class act and much bigger teams would come in well ahead of us.

Ambrose is def a better shout, and also has the potential to be that 'value for money' signing that people are looking for. Prob wouldnt even cost that much so if he did flop it wouldnt be the end of the world.

[havanatopia]

I reckon the coin was aimed at a Swansea player rather like when we played Cardiff last season and they were aiming stuff at Lee Trundle because he's ex Swansea. I reckon they could get a points deduction regardless of the FAW simply because a Referee was hit. Anyway, we could have been in a play-off position ourselves now if we'd won more and not drawn so many home games.

is there a precedent for this type of sanction? what a story that would be if such a thing happens.

[Chappers]

I think GJ has taken us as far as he can, and I doubt that any Manager could take us much further. We are not a particularly big team at Championship level, and will always struggle to genuinely compete with the parachute teams, and next season, even teams like Leicester and (If they go up) Leeds. To invest big money in 'quality' would be stupid, and be the best way to ensure relegation in a few years, and financial problems. In any case, SL has indicated that he wants to cut the wage bill.

As the recession bites, a number of Clubs may be looking for a manager who can achieve success on a limited budget, and has done as much as he can with his existing Club.....

Enjoy the good times, you never know what is just around the corner. Expect to be relegated, that way City will always meet or exceed your expectations.

[Andy082005]

I think GJ has taken us as far as he can, and I doubt that any Manager could take us much further. We are not a particularly big team at Championship level, and will always struggle to genuinely compete with the parachute teams, and next season, even teams like Leicester and (If they go up) Leeds. To invest big money in 'quality' would be stupid, and be the best way to ensure relegation in a few years, and financial problems. In any case, SL has indicated that he wants to cut the wage bill.

As the recession bites, a number of Clubs may be looking for a manager who can achieve success on a limited budget, and has done as much as he can with his existing Club.....

Enjoy the good times, you never know what is just around the corner. Expect to be relegated, that way City will always meet or exceed your expectations.

I wish you were our chairman :noexpression:

[BCFC_Dan]

I would like GJ to use the loan market more, and I repeat that I don't care if that upsets the established order - I see plenty of managers more succesful that GJ using it...

I'm not denying it, but could you name some examples because I'm really struggling to think of any.

The highest profile one I can think of is David Moyes loaning Jo at Everton but that really was out of desperation. Beyond that I'm not too sure I can think of any top managers using short term loans other than in emergencies. You certainly don't see any of the big clubs doing it.

[Spike]

I think the loan thing is a bad idea. I mean if we loaned in 2 men next season and got promoted and then the clubs we loaned from decided not to sell thats 2 players who helped gain promotion gone that need to be replaced aswell as strengthening we would need to do in preperation for the premier League etc

Loans imo should only be used when injuries are rife and the situation is desperate. e.g say Styvar and maynard were both out for atleast a month bringing in a loan striker would make sence just to cover that month or so with a low number of strikers. Other than that loans just give you a good player who won't nessisarily be there when you need them the most.

[Andy082005]

I'm not denying it, but could you name some examples because I'm really struggling to think of any.

The highest profile one I can think of is David Moyes loaning Jo at Everton but that really was out of desperation. Beyond that I'm not too sure I can think of any top managers using short term loans other than in emergencies. You certainly don't see any of the big clubs doing it.

Lee Bowyer at Brum, Campbell and countless others at Hull last year, Kitson on loan at Reading, Craig Beattie and o'Toole on loan at Sheffield Utd, Chopra at Cardiff, Routledge at QPR and Cardiff before Christmas, lets not forget some of, now establish Premier League players, who down the years have helped teams in the Championship suceed....the Arsenal lad who helped Birmingham promoted last time round, Bendtner was it?

The loan system CAN work, its down to the scouts to do their jobs and find the players that could come in and do a job

[Andy082005]

I think the loan thing is a bad idea. I mean if we loaned in 2 men next season and got promoted and then the clubs we loaned from decided not to sell thats 2 players who helped gain promotion gone that need to be replaced aswell as strengthening we would need to do in preperation for the premier League etc

Loans imo should only be used when injuries are rife and the situation is desperate. e.g say Styvar and maynard were both out for atleast a month bringing in a loan striker would make sence just to cover that month or so with a low number of strikers. Other than that loans just give you a good player who won't nessisarily be there when you need them the most.

try telling that to a Hull City fan

[BCFC_Dan]

Lee Bowyer at Brum, Campbell and countless others at Hull last year, Kitson on loan at Reading, Craig Beattie and o'Toole on loan at Sheffield Utd, Chopra at Cardiff, Routledge at QPR and Cardiff before Christmas, lets not forget some of, now establish Premier League players, who down the years have helped teams in the Championship suceed....the Arsenal lad who helped Birmingham promoted last time round, Bendtner was it?

The loan system CAN work, its down to the scouts to do their jobs and find the players that could come in and do a job

I suspect a number of those are either season-long loans (which Gary has no real aversion to and let's not forget he did try to get Campbell last season), or they are loans with a view to a signing. This may be something we've failed to do, but it's not something that Gary refuses to do.

[bully]

Lee Bowyer at Brum, Campbell and countless others at Hull last year, Kitson on loan at Reading, Craig Beattie and o'Toole on loan at Sheffield Utd, Chopra at Cardiff, Routledge at QPR and Cardiff before Christmas, lets not forget some of, now establish Premier League players, who down the years have helped teams in the Championship suceed....the Arsenal lad who helped Birmingham promoted last time round, Bendtner was it?

The loan system CAN work, its down to the scouts to do their jobs and find the players that could come in and do a job

Thanks mate!

[Pezo]

try telling that to a Hull City fan

The problem is for every Hull that it works for there is Charlton that it completely screwed up there chances.

[Andy082005]

The problem is for every Hull that it works for there is Charlton that it completely screwed up there chances.

Again this is where it comes down to Gary Johnson and his scouts to do their homework

It also all comes down to man management skills. Lita for example, did nothing at Charlton last year....yet went on loan to Norwich, and did very well.

Garys biggest attribute is getting the best out of players.

Simple fact of the matter is his philosophy of not trying to exploit the loan market has come back to bite him on the ass twice now, last season and now this

[Markman]

that is bang on robbored

+ to the original poster people are allowed their views and in fairness I don't blame as GJ has opened himself up for criticism with poor decisions - i don't want him to go but for example subbing 2 players on 91:30 just made us look stupid

Amen to that - awful decision

[Mr Mosquito]

that is bang on robbored

+ to the original poster people are allowed their views and in fairness I don't blame as GJ has opened himself up for criticism with poor decisions - i don't want him to go but for example subbing 2 players on 91:30 just made us look stupid

I've been thinking about that Preston game and its importance to our pray-off hopes all this week. A must win game and we brought on two players who are quite capable of winning games with literally just a couple of minutes remaining. Our current midfield just isn't good enough at supplying quality ball to our forwards - a fact that was obvious when we were able to compare and contrast ourselves with Birmingham at Ashton Gate way back in September.

We should also be scoring far more from corners and free kicks but our corners often don't even beat the first defender and the free kicks are often dinked and easy meat for opposition defenders. We've certainly suffered this season compared to last without Marvin Elliott powering our midfield.

[Spike]

Again this is where it comes down to Gary Johnson and his scouts to do their homework

It also all comes down to man management skills. Lita for example, did nothing at Charlton last year....yet went on loan to Norwich, and did very well.

Garys biggest attribute is getting the best out of players.

Simple fact of the matter is his philosophy of not trying to exploit the loan market has come back to bite him on the ass twice now, last season and now this

The problem is the time he and his scouts spend looking for a loan could be spent looking for a permanent addition to the squad. We already saw what happened when GJ spent all his time looking for a forward only to miss out on him and in the end sign Maynard. GJ doesnt have time to look for both loans and signings in my opinion because he is very thorough in picking his players.

I still don't get the advantage of bringing in a loan if you think the player is going to be a good loan. It would surely be better to look for a permanent signing?

[bully]

The problem is the time he and his scouts spend looking for a loan could be spent looking for a permanent addition to the squad. We already saw what happened when GJ spent all his time looking for a forward only to miss out on him and in the end sign Maynard. GJ doesnt have time to look for both loans and signings in my opinion because he is very thorough in picking his players.

I still don't get the advantage of bringing in a loan if you think the player is going to be a good loan. It would surely be better to look for a permanent signing?

Very simplistically, a loan could get you where you aspire to be, and when you get there, you can attract better players.

If for example you could sign say three young loanees from a Prem club for 9 months at 10k per week each it would cost you £1.1m.

We sign anyone of any merit from the CCC or League 1 they would presumably cost about 10k per week in wages plus the transfer fees which will be £1m plus for anyone decent.

If it doesn't work then the damage in terms of cost on a loanee is limited - as much as I like LT, he will have cost us £2.5m by the end of his contract and I suspect GJ regretted signing him about 30 games into last season.

Jury is still out on Nicky Maynard at a £2m transfer fee and Styvar at whatever we believe he cost.

I think its good to sign quality players, but think the club isn't using the loan system as much as it should.

Regarding looking at players - thats what scouts are for, and Prem reserves will play midweek - other clubs manage to look at permanent and loan signings so why not us?

[Pezo]

Very simplistically, a loan could get you where you aspire to be, and when you get there, you can attract better players.

If for example you could sign say three young loanees from a Prem club for 9 months at 10k per week each it would cost you £1.1m.

We sign anyone of any merit from the CCC or League 1 they would presumably cost about 10k per week in wages plus the transfer fees which will be £1m plus for anyone decent.

If it doesn't work then the damage in terms of cost on a loanee is limited - as much as I like LT, he will have cost us £2.5m by the end of his contract and I suspect GJ regretted signing him about 30 games into last season.

Jury is still out on Nicky Maynard at a £2m transfer fee and Styvar at whatever we believe he cost.

I think its good to sign quality players, but think the club isn't using the loan system as much as it should.

Regarding looking at players - thats what scouts are for, and Prem reserves will play midweek - other clubs manage to look at permanent and loan signings so why not us?

Have I got the wrong end of the stick or are you saying that you would have preferred us to loan Lee, Nicky and Styvar to ensure the risk to our club was minimized? I don't think any of those players previous teams would have allowed that and I'm pretty sure Nicky would be joining one of any number of Championship teams this summer if he was only on loan at the moment after (IMO) proving that he can play at this level over the last 6 months.

My biggest concern about a loan is the loan player can be part of your plans 1 day and recalled by there parent club the next day, its hardly a stable situation for the squad.

Gary has bought in loans this year to backup the squad its obvious you would prefer he bought in players that were better then what we have but its not like there is one on every corner waiting to be picked up, there are probably only 3 to 5 players good enough to replace 1st teamers loaned from the prem every year and there are 24 clubs that are trying to get them so its inevitable that we will miss out on these players because these players go to clubs that are closest to them and/or are willing to pay the most, since we are not close to many prem clubs and haven't got the finances to match the bigger clubs in this league I think realistically were only ever going to get the backup type player unless Gary can do an outstanding job of persuasion.

[Slave to the rhythm]

Have I got the wrong end of the stick or are you saying that you would have preferred us to loan Lee, Nicky and Styvar to ensure the risk to our club was minimized? I don't think any of those players previous teams would have allowed that and I'm pretty sure Nicky would be joining one of any number of Championship teams this summer if he was only on loan at the moment after (IMO) proving that he can play at this level over the last 6 months.

My biggest concern about a loan is the loan player can be part of your plans 1 day and recalled by there parent club the next day, its hardly a stable situation for the squad.

Gary has bought in loans this year to backup the squad its obvious you would prefer he bought in players that were better then what we have but its not like there is one on every corner waiting to be picked up, there are probably only 3 to 5 players good enough to replace 1st teamers loaned from the prem every year and there are 24 clubs that are trying to get them so its inevitable that we will miss out on these players because these players go to clubs that are closest to them and/or are willing to pay the most, since we are not close to many prem clubs and haven't got the finances to match the bigger clubs in this league I think realistically were only ever going to get the backup type player unless Gary can do an outstanding job of persuasion.

Finances will always dictate who we can bring in, that's obvious, but surely we can do better than the likes of Andy Webster & Stern John (our only loan signings of note this season).

[bully]

Have I got the wrong end of the stick or are you saying that you would have preferred us to loan Lee, Nicky and Styvar to ensure the risk to our club was minimized? I don't think any of those players previous teams would have allowed that and I'm pretty sure Nicky would be joining one of any number of Championship teams this summer if he was only on loan at the moment after (IMO) proving that he can play at this level over the last 6 months.

My biggest concern about a loan is the loan player can be part of your plans 1 day and recalled by there parent club the next day, its hardly a stable situation for the squad.

Gary has bought in loans this year to backup the squad its obvious you would prefer he bought in players that were better then what we have but its not like there is one on every corner waiting to be picked up, there are probably only 3 to 5 players good enough to replace 1st teamers loaned from the prem every year and there are 24 clubs that are trying to get them so its inevitable that we will miss out on these players because these players go to clubs that are closest to them and/or are willing to pay the most, since we are not close to many prem clubs and haven't got the finances to match the bigger clubs in this league I think realistically were only ever going to get the backup type player unless Gary can do an outstanding job of persuasion.

You have the wrong end of the stick.

I don't believe any of the players you mention were available on loan.

I equally don't believe any of them were of the quality we should be seeking on loan deals to really make a difference.

I am pretty sure that loan deals can be structured however each club wishes ie no callback provisions - otherwise I agree its pointless unless you are at the sharp end of the season and are prepared to take the risk.

I find your use of numbers of available players interesting - what do you base that on?

Equally, your comment about players choosing to stay close to home is equally without foundation - I wish Webster had stayed in Scotland but it clearly didn't bother him, and I was unaware of Chopra or Routledge living close to Cardiff for example.

If we aren't prepared to pay the going rate (whatever that is) then perhaps the club could let us know - it may well be down to finance why we don't go for players who can add value to the squad.

Be nice to know.