Does this mean our break even policy as gone south?

Out the window for a burton etc? Likely it has, but with relegation a real threat it's a bit of a no-brainer I spose. We realistically only have these players for 6 weeks, maybe a view to signing one or two in January. We need to accumulate some points FAST for it to be a worthwhile investment. At least pull clear of the relegation zone, with a ten point cushion before they leave in January.

 

What do you think happened to the money we "didnt" spend on norwood and greer?

 

The Don blew it on strippers in Wildcats? Pimping it up with Smooth Dog Barry Taylor?

 

Was we really in for them though, it makes you wonder especially the £400,000 was it for Norwood.

 

i'm a bit concerned that Donny did the same thing last year, albeit with free agents, and it didn't end well for them! looking forward to seeing these players though

 

The club's damned if it does bring in players

And damned if it doesn't. There'll be folk sneering that we're now signing players on loan ala Mark Robins, whilst others were complaining a couple of weeks ago we weren't bringing anyone in. I'm hoping that these players are being brought in with a view to making the signings permanent in January.
I wonder whether the manager has decided that he's presented a number of our players with the chance to stake a place in the team and feels they've failed to grasp the opportunity? It's possible he's now looking to move some of our players out of the club.

 

Different story to Donny, these are good quality Championship players not over aged Africans way past their sell by date. Out of Diouf, Piquionne, Fortune, Chimbonda, Beye, Llunga etc Diouf was the youngest and he's past his best.

 

People wondering where the cash is from? Smallest wage bill in the league, managers spent hardly owt in the summer, 7,000 season ticket holders money, Championship income, 9,500 average gates, there's got to be some money coming in from somewhere otherwise l'd be miffed as to where its all gone, we are a Championship club receiving Championship revenue albeit on a smaller scale than most.

 

Just hope that either Greening or Buzacky can be the leader in the middle of the park that we have been missing, for sometime now.

 

. Dunno what happened theer...

 

Re: The club's damned if it does bring in players

I don't think you have to be sneering to question the transfer policy.

We were told when we hired Keith Hill that we would no longer rely on loan signings. It sounded like a good policy to me. I didn't agree with the way we engineered Mark Robins' departure, but I did think his major failing was the way he relied on loan players. If we were dispensing with that policy then at least one good thing would come out of his dismissal.

I don't really like loan signings. I would prefer it if football knocked the loan market on the head altogether. I guess my main reason for this is that loan signings have done us very few favours in the past. There's been a few notable exceptions (Curtis, Chopra, Shotton) but more often than not we appear to sign unmotivated players who don't want to be here, or players that are no better than we have already got, in many cases players that are worse than what we've got. They tend to be unfit, due to recovering from injury or from not getting much first team action at their parent club, while many are old and past it or really young and not ready for first team action. Our history of loan signings is a long list of failures.

For the second year running after announcing we would no longer rely on loan signings it appears that we will. It's a policy I don't believe in and a policy that I do believe needs questioning when the club were so vocal about curtailing such transfers. But I don't feel as if I'm doing it in a contemptuous or mocking manner. I'm questioning it because I believed in the statement we released on Robins' departure, I believed it was the right way to go and I'm disheartened that once again we've made a U-Turn. Signing our own players to develop and sell on at a profit made perfect sense to me. I don't think there was anything wrong with the policy. The fact that it isn't working doesn't necessarily mean it is the wrong policy. Maybe it's because we're signing the wrong players because maybe we've got the wrong manager.

 

Re: The club's damned if it does bring in players

Jay - asking and posing the difficult questions....

As I see it, Hill has seen that take the one top quality laiker out of our side (Davies) and relegation beckons - to get points on the board he's brought this lot in - and in Greening and Sinclair's case I wouldn't be too disappointed if they ebcame permanent deals - Tudgay wants to stop at Forest and not sure of the Buzzy bloke.

What needs to happen (imho) is that lower league/our homegrown yoot need time to develop long term at the side of good quality Championship players in a team that's not fighting to avoid the drop. We can't have a side of League1/2 players and youngsters which the majority of our team has been so far this season.

Well, we can but we'd get relegated.

 

We don't really have a choice, we have to halt the slide. Robins wasted money on unnecessary, ill advised loan deals - this looks far more considered. It appears that this current wave of loans is a means of drawing the transfer window closer, if we are to believe that some are here with a view to a permanent signing. If it was open now I think we'd be making bids on these players. I think for once, we are using the loan system sensibly It gives us a chance to have a good look at them and the experience they will bring can only be good for our youngsters and the less accomplished/developing Aldi contingent. I hope it will also encourage Luke and Craig Davies to stay as the team becomes more competitive. An experienced centre half with leadership skills would complete the set for me. And I'd give Greening the Captain's armband. even if he is a loanee.

 

Buzzy hope he aint lightyears away from being fit.

 

Re: The club's damned if it does bring in players

In the end we all just want us to win more games. If this helps us do that it's a positive.

But I can't help feeling a bit let down. I 100% bought in to the break even/no loan signings/develop our own players philosophy. I really thought it was the way forward. And it's got a certain romance about it, which I'm all for. Makes supporting Barnsley that bit more special. But what I didn't expect is the manager who signed up for all this to be moaning about it every single week. I dunno, I just hoped he'd be better than he is and that we wouldn't have to go down this route.

 

Re: The club's damned if it does bring in players

A long time ago I stopped taking Keith Hill's musings at face value. Hidden meanings all over the shop.

Long term I still think he'll take us down that route, but we need breathing space in teh form of points on the board and mid table security for us to do it.

Stones for example - massive amount of pressure on him, especially in a struggling team - I've just started to hear at games the rumblings of discontent against him - only a few, but it soon spreads so he needs to be in a better performing team with better players around him.

 

I prefer not to bring in loan players

If we do so, I always hope the players are brought in with a view to making the signing permanent in the transfer window. Since the introduction of the transfer windows, it appears only the biggest and wealthiest clubs can operate without the need to delve into the loan market. However, I stand by my view with regards to the sneering by some. If the manager doesn't utilise the loan market they demand why not, then when he does it's proof that he's adopted the same policy judged by the board as one of the reasons for the departure of the previous manager. The club's policy seems to bend with the wind of opinion. There's no doubt that some of the summer signings have yet to make their mark for either through injury and loss/lack of form.
I don't know enough about Sinclair to pass comment on him, but I'm impressed with signings of Tudgay & Greening. I'm aware I'm continually repeating this point, but I'm hoping we'll make the deals permanent in January.

 

Re: The club's damned if it does bring in players

I was sold on this principle too, but I believe it will continue to be a long term strategy but just a little bit elusive in the immediate term. Relegation would leave us flailing financially and would finish any hopes over a suitable takeover, if that is still the plan. Crowds would dwindle further and we'd be in a right sorry state. It does remind me of Patrick's initial statement some years ago, regarding his financial support of the club along the lines of - he wasn't prepared to continually bankroll the club or underwrite debts, that the club would have to strive towards independent stability and from there he would consider further investment for team strengthening when it is called for. This would appear to be one of those occasions, which I always took to mean the event of a play off/promotion contention, or in this case, to ward off a very serious relegation threat.

 

Re: I prefer not to bring in loan players

It doesn't look like Greening thinks he's coming here permanently. This is what he said on Twitter:

Morn all forest fans thanks for all your support you are amazing, yes going to Barnsley for a month to play some games and get some match fitness, gonna try and enjoy myself and come back fighting fit and hopefully play my part in helping us to prem #itswhereclubbelongs thanks

Tudgay said very similar in his interview with Barnsley world.