Indigo

While I agree with the general sentiment re: our blooding through of young players, some of the examples given are without context and a bit disingenuous. We were a Premier League team when we let the likes of Lichaj, Johnson, Bannan etc go. Just because they'd possibly get into our team several years later now that we're a middling Championship team doesn't suddenly make it an enormous oversight that they were let go at the time, especially considering that they themselves play for middling Championship teams. That said, I'm all for giving a couple of our current youngsters a go ahead of some of the senior players that are offering absolutely nothing at the moment. Personally I don't think O'Hare or JDH are ready yet, but the only way of finding out is trying them, and if it's at the expense of Whelan and/or Bjarnason then the beauty of it is that it truly can't get any worse so the risk is minimal.

Kodjia going is no loss but apparently Alan Hutton is fine for this level and Scott Hogan should be given endless opportunities to get it right. No wonder we're as shite as we are.

I'm in the same boat. People are so fixated with his wages that it's clouding any objective judgement on his performances. Obviously they are excessive, but he's a player that went for £30 million in the Premier League so it comes with the territory. Wingers are inconsistent at the best of times, never mind ones that are playing at Championship level. I think we've much greater problems than how inconsistent or otherwise Bolasie has been.

Another reminder that some people actually wanted him dropped earlier this season. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Never thought I'd see a worse full back than Alan Hutton but my word Lowe at left back for Derby has been dreadful here. Passes being played to him on the ground yet his first touch somehow brings the ball up to head height. It's almost impressively shite.

He has been very unfortunate to be fair to him. As was said Portsmouth also signed Ronan Curtis off Derry in the meantime who has started like a house on fire and been one of the best players in the league in that position, so even now that Green has returned to fitness it'd be illogical for them to put him straight into the starting eleven.

We can't persevere with giving him chances, he's absolutely a lost cause at this stage and now that Davis is fit again should be 4th choice at best in his position. The old cliché about strikers low on confidence is that chances don't come to them, or they can't find a bit of luck where a ball drops or an opportunity presents itself to them, but he's actually had those over the past few weeks and has just failed miserably at taking them. We're not going to make back anything near what we paid for him so might as well just cut our losses as soon as possible.

I'm still hesitant to fully allow myself to believe anything until the window is closed as we've been burned before and regardless of what Abraham may have decided, there'll always be agents at work looking to do what's best for them. That said, this looks pretty good and is a massive boost to us considering how much of a lost cause it looked. I think those that have said he wouldn't be much of a loss are way, way off the mark. The goals (and the ratio of them) speak for themselves, you can point to missed chances but the fact is we're a Championship side and strikers that doesn't miss chances don't play in the Championship. Abraham scores more than he misses and he scores a lot, the goals he has - and will - scored and the amount of them have been invaluable and I suspect irreplaceable at this level. We've got to make the most of this while we have the chance now and get in the quality where we need it. The goals scored should be sorted, it's just the other end that needs fixing. Get in a good left back and a proper DM (a right back would also be nice but I doubt we'd go for one seeing as we've three already in the squad), and by the time Jack gets back we might actually be fit to challenge for promotion. Then obviously we go up, sign Tammy permanently and he scores a couple of hat tricks against Wolves next season as we saunter up the table *wipes claret and blue spectacles*

Why must my emotions be toyed with like this.

I understand the general frustration with our over-reliance on loans but I think in this case a loan to buy makes the most sense. The guy has barely played at all in recent seasons and I get the impression that he's only being brought in for depth anyway. We need another centre back because we're so short in the position numbers-wise as opposed to quality, which is more of a pressing issue at full back (both sides) and defensive midfield. I'm all for saving some money on loaning Hause in for cover (plus the option to buy dictates that we'll be signing him anyway should he be good enough), while left back/DM take priority in terms of permanent signings (...and possibly a striker but I'm trying not to tempt fate ).

I think to play McGinn in the deep role loses so much of what makes him effective for us. You're limiting what makes him so influential if you make him the sitting player, he should always be used in that energetic box-to-box role. But the whole discussion on who should play in that position just highlights how badly we need to sign a specialist player for that role. I think Whelan gets some harsh stick sometimes and that he'd be fine for many teams in this league, but he really sticks out like a sore thumb in the midfield of a team that tries to play with Smith's preferred style. He's too slow on the ball and needs 3-4 touches when we need to be moving it quickly, and holds us back when we're supposed to be playing it out from defence by not being nearly proactive enough when looking for possession - you'll often see him marking the opposition's number 10 even when we have the ball. The balance of our midfield looks all over the place but it only really hinges on getting a proper DM to fix it. We then suddenly have good options elsewhere once Jack is fit again where players can play in their proper roles, rather than wondering who would be best to shoehorn into being the sitter. I presume we'll have to bring one in from abroad, as I can't really think of anyone in England we could realistically sign (from the PL/Championship, anyway) that fits the brief of being defensively competent and mobile, while also comfortable on the ball and able to pick it up off the defenders and dictate the game.

Surely it's a no-brainer to play Kalinic here? Relatively low stakes game, but a competitive one nonetheless, perfect way to bed him in. Other than that I'm not too fussed. McGinn and Chester the obvious players that need resting, and assuming they're all fit and able O'Hare, JDH and Lansbury should all be getting a look in. Davis over Hogan also. I wouldn't be surprised if they both got minutes but if it's one over the other Davis is a decent young player that has been ravaged by injuries while Hogan is an absolute lost cause at this stage.

I know the silver lining to this is that if it actually happens now it gives us time to attempt to replace him (which is a thankless task in itself), but outside of that the timing of this whole circus is especially unhelpful. Even if he stays we're now going to have a month of unnecessary speculation and distraction. Despite being routinely shit for so many seasons we rarely seem to have a transfer window where the media don't instill a sense of absolute chaos in us. Piss off like.

This would be an absolute sickener.

I'd like to think whether or not he can play left back will be made largely irrelevant because we'll also be signing an actual left back. For the love of McGrath please sign a shitting left back.

Can't say I'm too familiar with Hause, the reports from Wolves fans are encouraging but at the same time I'd be a little bit quizzical as to just how good of a signing he is when he's barely had a sniff of first team football for the best part of two seasons now. He only played seven minutes of Championship football last season. That aside it makes sense though. We desperately need numbers at CB and being left footed he'll offer more of a balance in that regard.

This guy is absolute garbage. Teams target him week after week, it pays off, and for some reason he's routinely given a pass for "giving 100%". Cannot believe he's still playing for us.

To be honest Brentford have always struck me as a side that are greater than the sum of their parts, whose overall structure and playing style have got them where they are rather than individual talent. They have some good players but the fact is that they're 18th in the league and I think that we can do better than aim for whoever they have playing in whatever position it is we need to fill. I'm sure they have certain players that could definitely improve us, but I swear a player from Brentford has been suggested as a signing for every possible position at some point on here. Can only echo what has been said repeatedly above that a new CB/LB/DCM are required to bring us to the next level in this window. Could also desperately do with a better right back but I think the fact we actually have numbers there might put the breaks on that, and because of how threadbare we are in the other positions they should take priority anyway. However hopefully the silver lining might be that Bree can make that position his own after having this run in the side he's on at the moment.

Remember when people were wanting him dropped? That clearly would've gone well... Bit worrying there doesn't really seem to be any official diagnosis on his injury, hopefully that means that it is just a case of him having to rest up for a bit rather than something more nefarious. Seems like the Hull game might be the aim for his return?

It's been mentioned already but think it really does need putting in perspective how well Smith has done since he's come in, and how promising it looks if we can get a little bit of luck for the remainder of the season. The teams in red are who we played when Bruce was manager, the green being since Smith has taken over. Automatics are very ambitious I think, as regardless of how well we do, it's more the amount of teams we'd have to overtake and Leeds, Norwich and WBA are all very strong, while if through nothing else but sheer pragmatism Boro will be up there. However at this point I'd be very surprised not to see us looking strong for the play-offs come the end of the season. Hopefully a bit of fortune with injuries, a couple of necessary additions, and more time for Smith & co to further implement their methods are all to come. Villa have thought me more than enough times down the years to never be too confident, but it speaks to the job Smith has done thus far that I'm - perhaps naively - ignoring it all over again.

Another thing this highlights is how much of a loss Tuanzebe is. His ability to carry the ball out from the back and start attacks could make up for the likes of Whelan not being able to piece things together but instead we've been even more turgid than we otherwise would have been. Honestly a bit surprised Bree hasn't offered more in that sense considering in theory he should be more comfortable on the ball.

Played our way back into this, El Ghazi and Bolasie have found a bit of rhythm finally so it's not just Tammy trying to do everything by himself. Everything behind them is still a problem though, outside of McGinn's energy the movement is so lethargic.

If Jack was playing we'd have someone in midfield willing to/capable of offering an outlet and running the midfield. We don't have another player like him that can offer what he does and dictate the way we play.

I think the truth lies somewhere in the middle with Hourihane so it's easy to see why he splits opinion. You can't really argue with his numbers, and with him in the team it's just a fact that we're far more likely to score than if he weren't, but at the same time the game really can pass him by for long periods and because of the quite pivotal position he plays in that can be conversely detrimental. Yesterday was a perfect example - starts the game on fire with an assist and a goal, but then disappeared into his shell a bit, when you're at the game it becomes especially noticeable that it's been about half an hour and you can't remember the last time he touched the ball. Not just because it involves Grealish being in the team also, but I think we and him are better when he plays in that deeper role, it forces him to get on the ball more and I think even if we sacrifice a bit of his goal threat further up the pitch we tick along much better as a team in possession.