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Relax, guys .. Big Neil Warnock got this .. You can give him 5 hobos, three lunch ladies, 4 waterboys and an old dog with one eye, and he will still find a way to reach promotion with that team! I am sure @Blanco agrees 😉

We're 7th and 3 points off 6th, with just under half the season left. Not that I have any expectation of reaching it, but even 2nd is only 7 points away. It could change everything. The only reason not to do it is finances.

This just highlights how bad Spence positional play really is 🤷‍♂️

But we do have great positive fans ...

To be fair if Hall plays after January it’s an upgrade on Ayala 😂

I agree, very rarely do clubs allow decent players to leave in the January window. If a particular "bargain" becomes available then fine but we usually overpay to sign dross that most of us on here know will crash and burn before a ball is kicked, (Guedioura and Gestede come all too readily readily to mind). Whoever comes in needs to be available to play immediately and not waiting until they get fit. It makes more sense to loan players at this stage and then do our shopping in the Summer when 150 contracts will have have expired.

EFL Championship – Middlesbrough vs Rotherham, Wednesday 27th January at 7pm GMT Scene: Ext (Daytime). [An English country garden. Neil Warnock is deadheading laurels with shears when the silence is broken by the old Nokia theme tune. He pulls a 3310 out of his pocket and squints at the screen] WARNOCK: Hello? [There is a pause] WARNOCK: Oh for God’s sake, I’ve not been in a bloody accident… VOICE: Mr Warnock? Is that you? WARNOCK: I wish it wasn’t this week, but yes. Who’s this? VOICE: Before I tell you, please don’t hang up. It’s Dani. WARNOCK: Da

Zinckernagel got around the rules by moving his address to the UK before the new year hence he was already living in England. That supposedly did the trick

The Brentford heirarchy are gunning for promotion this season because it's the last season they can operate with their current recruitment model in its entirety. Many of the players they've signed from Europe wouldn't get Work Permits with the new system post-Brexit. Europe will still provide better value for money, but the reality of it now being harder to get permits for European players means it'll be much harder for British clubs to complete deals. The full spectrum is yet to be seen, but it's clear that recruitment in football, especially outside of the elite level, will be affected

After a pretty shocking weekend let's put a few positives out there. Fry will probably only miss the rotherham game, fletcher is back so gives us something different up top. Roberts needs to grasp this chance with tav out for a few weeks. Was anyone really expecting much from this transfer window so the 2 deals lined up that won't go through heyho. If we sign a winger I'm happy. We're 3 points off the play offs. It's been a fantastic season so far.

The wildcard winger would also have to self isolate for 10 days upon arrival in the UK.

That wildcard winger from abroad will be looking all the more appealing now that the planned transfers have fallen through. I know it’s going to be disappointing if we don’t go up this season but, in all honesty, I don’t think we deserve to get promoted as we just aren’t consistent enough. If Warnock stays for next season then I think we’ll see a far better balanced squad that can perform consistently, so I’ll be confident of our chances of promotion. Even if we don’t get promoted this season, I’ll be comforted by the fact that we’ve made huge progress under him and he’ll surely improve o

Maybe he had Havertz and Giroud lined up but Frank getting the push has scuppered that ☹️

You okay man? You're allowed to be a little positive sometimes you know. We're a fringe playoff quality team, hence why we're 7th half way through the season. A signing or two could make the difference.

I know you're doing your "thing" again but I certainly wouldnt be giving warnock money either now. A couple of loans would be nice but Warnock has never been good at spending money and I'd rather we weren't left with another Hall or Akpom when we hopefully get a new guy in for next season.

Quite simply a must win game with due respect to Rotherham not getting 3 points against them will put a stop to any real hope of progress towards top 6plus we need to stop the home form rot

I am surprised at that @TheJew. Given you seem to predict we will lose most games I assume you would think there are weaknesses across the entire team that need addressing. Therefore might as well start some of that rebuild now if we can so the major overhaul in summer which I assume you believe squad needs is not as demanding.

I'd rather have Roberts.

He came on after 81 minutes. Barely time to make an impact. I don't know the reason why he isn't getting game time, but Warnock used him to good effect at the end of last season. He needs run of at least 3 or 4 games. He hasn't even had two starts in a row this season, and there have been many times when we have needed something different. One thing I do know is that he has started 3 times in the league and we have won them all (Bristol City away, Coventry and Derby at home). Maybe now is the time to give him a run in the team?

I'm really disappointed that the FA haven't looked at Branthwaite's dangerous high kick and given him a ban. If kicking with studs showing at head height - whether intentional or not - isn't dangerous play, then I don't know what is. I feel it sends a really bad message.

We know how to put an end to that.

Get him here, Neil!

He's out of contract in June so they will move him on if he doesn't sign a new deal , and up to now he hasn't . His recent form will boost the interest , would we swap him for Britt ? Yes , will they Swap ? Maybe . I hope we're asking the question .

Looked absolutely downbeat didnt he. We know what hes like though sometimes i feel hes having us on all the time

Batth was getting plenty of game time, he was recalled because Wolves were offered millions for him by Stoke, he'd started 8 of our last 13 games before they recalled him. Van La Parra was injured virtually his entire time here. Morrison clearly has issues that prevent him playing anywhere. Nmecha was rubbish but he played plenty of games under Woodgate, he was frozen out by Warnock.

That’s what I meant. It’s the same rules now for EU and non EU players. The rules for non EU players have been relaxed in line with the rules for EU players

As far as I have read all countries have been put into different tiers and players are awarded points according to league, international games, caps etc. It doesn't matter if you are EU or non-EU. It's easier for some south american players than before Brexit but certainly not easier than a European. https://worldfootballindex.com/2020/12/work-permits-premier-league-post-brexit-english-clubs-efl-libertadores/

Tav's injury has probably heightened the need for some creative flair needing to be added to the squad. Am I the only one that is wondering if it's the boots that Tav is wearing that is causing him to slip? The Ground staff didn't have a normal summer to reseed or relay the pitch or whatever they normally do but lets face it the Riverside pitch is still light years ahead of many if not most at this level. I didn't see Spurs or Man City players slipping any more than their lesser opponents in the cup. Come to think of it I didn't notice Blackburn players slipping much either. He seems to b

That's really sad. I think for the forseeable future we can't really buy top-level proven championship players. So we have to rely on international and young unproven players. I was a little bit worried last season when our new signing like Bola, Dijkstell and Browne did not deliever. I'm much more positive about the future this season, I think we have a solid squad now. If we do some smart transfers next season can be great.

Coulson has been well and truly frozen out since he gave that penalty away and I have a feeling Spence will be getting the stick after not tracking his man for the Blackburn goal.

Yep. He locked on to targets or made decisions and then stuck with them a few times. The earlier drive where he threw it 3 straight times to Adams. Never even looked at another route and on the third down (where Adams comes down OOB) Lazard is wide open on a shallow cross with no one even in the vicinity to walk it in. Also the free play he had on the offsides where he threw it up to Daphney, I know he was getting pressured but over the other side of the field is Adams in an ocean of space with a free run to the end zone and Rodgers doesn't see it. Bit salty but if Allen missed a wide ope

Roberts won’t be getting anymore game time now then he was before. Johnson, Watmore, Spence and probably even Coulson are all more likely to start. Not to mention Fletcher will probably be ahead of him aswell as he can play out wide. The lad can’t get on the pitch when we are losing and have 5 subs.

Josh Allen takes that into the end zone, Rodgers isn't as quick as Allen but he's no slouch either.

Would love to see Roberts starting this one with Tav out, he looked decent when he came on. I mean it's not gonna happen, but it should.

Look at all that space. He could have ran to the 5 yard line easily. That would have made the 4th down so much easier.

@uncle_rico apparently there some elite sportsman exemption if he produced a negative test on arrival. Think Odegaard at Arsenal is doing this.

why do most English clubs not sign more international players? I mean Huddersfield and Norwich showed that it is possible to reach promotion with a bunch of german second league players. It is probably more complicated now after brexit. But signing Kuhlwetter from Heidenheim or Dursun from Darmstadt seems a lot cheaper than buying other CS players. Also we probably can pay them higher wages than what they are currently getting.

But Fry is only 23? 🤨

I dont even think he needs to field 11 players. Probably relishes playing with 8

I'm still expecting bolasie to roll in last minute, never really thought anything else

Think we'll see a lot of deals at all levels collapsing over the next week. The economic factors are a huge part of it for clubs, but some players are wary of upping and uprooting their families at the moment, especially if they're having to do so on lower wages. It's deals further up the chain which will scupper loan moves to the Football League. I predict we may at least see a young lad or two loaned from bigger clubs U23s come ino on low wage contributions just to help ease the strain on the squad.

We will win this. We have too, because we'll lose vs Norwich I think and we need to keep up our recent WLWLWLWLWLWL trend.

I hope the players realise this game isn’t a forgone conclusion. Attitude and application need to be spot on. Stating the obvious I know - but Boro have a habit of switching off in such games. Rotherham are nobody’s fools. We need to be up for it from kick off otherwise we could come a cropper - again.

I was thinking much the same. We struggle to attract decent players at the best of times, even when we have cash to splash (hence why we often seem to pay over the odds for players who are average at best). Right now I just can't see us bringing anyone in who will significantly improve our squad and aid a play-off push. That being the case, if all we're going to do is get a couple of lads in as cover, in the event of injuries, or first team players needing a rest, the most sensible option is short term loan signings.

If, and if anyone comes in they would need to be match fit and bond quickly with the team players to have any immediate impact. If we do sign anyone do you think NW will stop waiting until the 75th min to change strategy?

Bolasie might be match fit - for the last game of the season......

Why? Warnock is obviously not going to use him so might as well get someone else.

Can see it now. Jim White announcing window shut and us fans thinking we’ve submitted some form over the line just in time then waking up and finding nothing. Then we get smashed by Brentford

He can't even go back to Derby now they've given captain caveman the job.

I imagine Patrick Roberts would like one of those, to be fair.