Are we making exactly the same mistakes again ?

[Riversider]

Is it happening again ?
We spent the entire summer window fixated on Matt Targett , it took up so much of our time that we seemingly took our eye of other areas and other players which led to a chaotic final day and a mad trolley dash,
Fast forward to the January window, and now it seems as though we are doing the same with Gary Cahill, Chelsea have said he can go and we want to sign him, but it would appear that his heart isn't in a move to Fulham and he is holding out to see whether or not a better offer comes along, which means that were stuffed if that better offer comes along on the final day,
Give him until Friday and if he hasn't made a decision by then , move on before it's too late,

In the meantime,  Danny Simpson (Leicester) and a triple swoop on Brentford for Chris Mepham, Rico Henry and Ollie Watkins, all better than what we've already got.

[The Swan]

I agree with you Riversider.

[Matt10]

Speculation at best, we have zero idea what is actually happening behind the scenes. This seems like another opportunity to take a jab at our recruiting, before they've even done anything wrong this window.

[Baszab]

The fact that Babel is the best option so far implies to me that we are exactly where we were in the 2018 Summer close season - no plan

No identified targets/ or if there were, the players are not interested
Means we are left to scrabbling around looking at the "for Sale/
Loan" lists circulated by the agents - and then TK and his "advisors" selecting based on stats at the last minute in a panic - eg Anguissa (fail) Mitro (success ... as he was never a target but a last minute rescue)

[twang]

We needed bodies in before the Burnley match to have a realistic chance of avoiding relegation. Sure, it can still be achieved but the difference between 3 and 0 points against Burnley is enormous. We'll need to get points against the big teams at home and against decent teams away and I just can't see that happen.

Therefore I wouldn't bother with short term solutions in order to try to make something happen but instead go for promising players that can be a part of a promotion push if things don't work out. Josh Maja and Jarrod Bowen are two names we've been linked with that would fit the bill perfectly.

[Riversider]

Speculation at best, we have zero idea what is actually happening behind the scenes. This seems like another opportunity to take a jab at our recruiting, before they've even done anything wrong this window.

Were half way through January with no signings, can you name me one single centre half that we have been linked with other than Cahill ?
Centre half was a priority this month then Mawson got injured, and centre half became an absolute priority, to do nothing before the Burnley game is a massive error and could well cost us our place in The Premier League.

[bill taylors apprentice]

Speculation at best, we have zero idea what is actually happening behind the scenes. This seems like another opportunity to take a jab at our recruiting, before they've even done anything wrong this window.

Your reasonableness is becoming as tiresome as the clubs lack of action!
In the current circumstances the fact the have signed no one is exactly the problem!

[Matt10]

Speculation at best, we have zero idea what is actually happening behind the scenes. This seems like another opportunity to take a jab at our recruiting, before they've even done anything wrong this window.

Were half way through January with no signings, can you name me one single centre half that we have been linked with other than Cahill ?
Centre half was a priority this month then Mawson got injured, and centre half became an absolute priority, to do nothing before the Burnley game is a massive error and could well cost us our place in The Premier League.

No, because I don't work for the club.

Did you know Jarrod Bowen was linked to all these clubs, yet he's like "I've got agents that represent me that take care of that and they didn't say anything to me,". So, what does that tell you?

It should say that we literally have no idea what is actually happening, until it actually happens.

Thus, speculation.

[Matt10]

Speculation at best, we have zero idea what is actually happening behind the scenes. This seems like another opportunity to take a jab at our recruiting, before they've even done anything wrong this window.

Your reasonableness is becoming as tiresome as the clubs lack of action!
In the current circumstances the fact the have signed no one is exactly the problem!

I never said it wasn't a problem.

I'm just not in that privileged position to say what is wrong or right, and then base my factual statements off of what is clearly rumours and speculation. That is completely different.

As soon as we sign someone, then I'll have my thoughts. Till then, I'm not a fly on a wall, so I'm not going to assume this, that, or the other.

[bill taylors apprentice]

Speculation at best, we have zero idea what is actually happening behind the scenes. This seems like another opportunity to take a jab at our recruiting, before they've even done anything wrong this window.

Your reasonableness is becoming as tiresome as the clubs lack of action!
In the current circumstances the fact the have signed no one is exactly the problem!

I never said it wasn't a problem.

I'm just not in that privileged position to say what is wrong or right, and then base my factual statements off of what is clearly rumours and speculation. That is completely different.

As soon as we sign someone, then I'll have my thoughts. Till then, I'm not a fly on a wall, so I'm not going to assume this, that, or the other.

I assume you are a relatively intelligent human being so using the previous history of our recruitment people as a case in point, is it not reasonable to make a calculated assumption that the same mistakes are being made again?

Waiting for the ink to dry on the contracts of another bunch of inadequate's before commenting on the quality of the business is fine if that's what you want to do.
Along with many others on here I prefer to use my common sense and previous experience to see how we are heading for a fall.

[Statto]

When a striker misses a good chance to score, it's possible that he had a good excuse for the miss. Maybe someone shot a laser in his eye, he had a muscle spasm, the ball wasn't perfectly spherical, he had a bit of mud on the contact point of his boot, the ball bobbled, the wind caught it, etc etc

But after enough misses there comes a point where it's not at all reasonable to draw any conclusion other than, he's just crap.

Nonetheless if his mother is watching she will probably keep making excuses for him, and since no one can say for sure that every one of his many wasted chances wasn't affected by some unlucky external factor, technically she could be right. No matter how many chances he misses, her argument can never be completely disproved.

Some people on here act as if they're Brian Talbot's, Alastair Mackintosh's or Tony Khan's mum. 

[Woolly Mammoth]

Speculation at best, we have zero idea what is actually happening behind the scenes. This seems like another opportunity to take a jab at our recruiting, before they've even done anything wrong this window.

Your reasonableness is becoming as tiresome as the clubs lack of action!
In the current circumstances the fact the have signed no one is exactly the problem!

I never said it wasn't a problem.

I'm just not in that privileged position to say what is wrong or right, and then base my factual statements off of what is clearly rumours and speculation. That is completely different.

As soon as we sign someone, then I'll have my thoughts. Till then, I'm not a fly on a wall, so I'm not going to assume this, that, or the other.

I assume you are a relatively intelligent human being so using the previous history of our recruitment people as a case in point, is it not reasonable to make a calculated assumption that the same mistakes are being made again?

Waiting for the ink to dry on the contracts of another bunch of inadequate's before commenting on the quality of the business is fine if that's what you want to do.
Along with many others on here I prefer to use my common sense and previous experience to see how we are heading for a fall.

BTA
You took the words right out of my North and South.

[Woolly Mammoth]

Is it happening again ?
We spent the entire summer window fixated on Matt Targett , it took up so much of our time that we seemingly took our eye of other areas and other players which led to a chaotic final day and a mad trolley dash,
Fast forward to the January window, and now it seems as though we are doing the same with Gary Cahill, Chelsea have said he can go and we want to sign him, but it would appear that his heart isn't in a move to Fulham and he is holding out to see whether or not a better offer comes along, which means that were stuffed if that better offer comes along on the final day,
Give him until Friday and if he hasn't made a decision by then , move on before it's too late,

In the meantime,  Danny Simpson (Leicester) and a triple swoop on Brentford for Chris Mepham, Rico Henry and Ollie Watkins, all better than what we've already got.

It's like watching a repeat of a horror movie.

[alfie]

Is it happening again ?
We spent the entire summer window fixated on Matt Targett , it took up so much of our time that we seemingly took our eye of other areas and other players which led to a chaotic final day and a mad trolley dash,
Fast forward to the January window, and now it seems as though we are doing the same with Gary Cahill, Chelsea have said he can go and we want to sign him, but it would appear that his heart isn't in a move to Fulham and he is holding out to see whether or not a better offer comes along, which means that were stuffed if that better offer comes along on the final day,
Give him until Friday and if he hasn't made a decision by then , move on before it's too late,

In the meantime,  Danny Simpson (Leicester) and a triple swoop on Brentford for Chris Mepham, Rico Henry and Ollie Watkins, all better than what we've already got.

I agree, Simpson fine, but with other three, you know we are going to get a fuss on here about  no Premiership experience.

[Matt10]

When a striker misses a good chance to score, it's possible that he had a good excuse for the miss. Maybe someone shot a laser in his eye, he had a muscle spasm, the ball wasn't perfectly spherical, he had a bit of mud on the contact point of his boot, the ball bobbled, the wind caught it, etc etc

But after enough misses there comes a point where it's not at all reasonable to draw any conclusion other than, he's just crap.

Nonetheless if his mother is watching she will probably keep making excuses for him, and since no one can say for sure that every one of his many wasted chances wasn't affected by some unlucky external factor, technically she could be right. No matter how many chances he misses, her argument can never be completely disproved.

Some people on here act as if they're Brian Talbot's, Alastair Mackintosh's or Tony Khan's mum.

Hm, that's a good way of putting it.

I'm not trying to be Khan's mum by any means. I'm just not placing blame because the blame game is getting old, and now it's placing blame before anything has happened yet. I'm just against this constant, un-ending, position of segregating our club. If it's not the players, it's the manager, if it's not the manager, it's the owners. Round and round we go.

But, I did say on Saturday that it was going to be a long week. So if threads like these help speed the week along, so be it. 

[Steven Ageroad]

Twang, Jarred Bowen going nowhere according to the Hull Chairman plus Spurs and Liverpool are interested in him, we've got no chance.

[nose returns]

Regardig the original post
100% we are repeating the same errors, that is my entire frustration and what causes my outbursts.
The repetition of making totally avoidable mistakes borders on negligent.
I really do not know why a handful of posters still defend anything the management does not matter how bizarre the decisions, i can nly guess at their motivation.

[BedsFFC]

Speculation at best, we have zero idea what is actually happening behind the scenes. This seems like another opportunity to take a jab at our recruiting, before they've even done anything wrong this window.

Your reasonableness is becoming as tiresome as the clubs lack of action!
In the current circumstances the fact the have signed no one is exactly the problem!

I never said it wasn't a problem.

I'm just not in that privileged position to say what is wrong or right, and then base my factual statements off of what is clearly rumours and speculation. That is completely different.

As soon as we sign someone, then I'll have my thoughts. Till then, I'm not a fly on a wall, so I'm not going to assume this, that, or the other.

Waiting for the ink to dry on the contracts of another bunch of inadequate's before commenting on the quality of the business is fine if that's what you want to do.
Along with many others on here I prefer to use my common sense and previous experience to see how we are heading for a fall.

I'm really glad you phrased your last sentence like that, and I see others have agreed with these sentiments.

What I'm really keen to find out is....well, what is really your aim of posting? As I think this is the crux of why some of us are a little bit edgy towards each other.

You talk about "Waiting for the ink to dry on the contracts"  "the quality of the business is fine if that's what you want to do" implying that some of us on here are somehow negligent.

I'm a pretty sensible chap, fairly wordly involved in a few businesses run a family home etc. Rest assured, if most of us on here were anything to do with the board that was involved in transfers, we'd have been planning for this window last summer. Negotiations would have started well before the window opened and would now be in full swing. No doubt a few offers made in December.

Thing is. We're not on the board. We're not involved in any way with the transfers. We're just a few fans on a forum. We have zero influence on who/what/where we buy.

So, yes, the club made mistakes before in transfers. Christ, every club makes mistakes every window.

I see a few posters will come on every day and the complaints about the past have turned into complaints about the wholly unknown in the future. These posts pile in, day in day out.

I see a name on some posts and I know its going to be a moan about a certain player, Tony Khan or the club in general. They literally post the same sentiment 100's of times in a writing style thats akin to complaining about Brexit.

I assume it is somehow carthatic, which I completely understand.

Anyway, your comment that implied that Matt was being negligent triggered my response.

I wish you all the best

[Jimpav]

Short answer = Yes

Slightly longer answer = Yes, we're two weeks into a 4 week window and haven't signed anyone. If we do get anyone in, we will have wasted two weeks in which they could be practicing with the sqaud, chance for a run out at Oldham.


I find it hard to conceive that we are an such an unattractive proposition. We are a London club, with decent facilities, a wealthy owner, and one of the 8 managers to win the premier league.

We may be down the bottom of the league, but had we not bottled it at Burnley, we would have only been 3 points off safety.

There is still plenty of time for a hero to come in and make a name for themselves. Even if we go down, any half decent player will know that they will be snapped up by another premier league club in the summer fire sales.

[Bassey the warrior]

I really hope not.