RiseAgainst

They signed Frankie Runham from Chelsea. McKenna was then asked in a press conference about signing anyone else and said he wasn't planning on it. He even reiterated yesterday it was "not likely" Ipswich would do any more business in this window, though obviously he didn't categorically rule it out. 'One and done' seemed logical considering how proactive they were in the summer and how stacked their squad is. Hence my comment. It wasn't a lie. See above. Two things can be true at the same time. Yes, we're second, but we've plodded through some pretty dismal halves of football lately. Yes, Burgzorg scored (and I've defended him on here many times) but you only have to read the MDTs to gauge how infuriating his performances tend to be. Yes, Silvera scored twice recently, but on Wednesday he was playing on the right, not his customary left, and got subbed at half time. And so forth. Honestly? No.

I completely accept the wheels grind slowly, waiting for dominoes to fall, better to wait for the right deal than rush the wrong one, etc. And I do recognise Castledine has the potential to be a good signing in the fullness of time. Yet I can't help thinking that given how badly affected by injuries our first-choice XI is, getting to the evening of the 22nd of January with so little transfer activity (in either direction) is an increasingly major failing on MFC's part. Coventry and Ipswich have been far more proactive than us in this window, which has given their new signings invaluable extra weeks to bed into their respective squads. Even if Boro unveiled someone tomorrow morning, they'd only have 18 games left to influence this critical season. And let's face it, we need more than one person - plus it's unlikely there'll be new faces in the squad by Saturday now. And nobody has left, and the one player we seemed able and willing to sell to free up a squad place has now been told he's staying. In the meantime, we plod on, bringing on the ineffectual Nypan and the infuriating Burgzorg, playing Silvera out of position and not even giving Sene or Hansen a few minutes on the pitch, while McGree and Strelec remain absent without updates. I try very hard not to over-react to inertia or be overly expectant as a supporter - I'm sure conversations are going on behind the scenes that we don't know about. But with more than two thirds of the transfer window already gone, I'm finding it increasingly difficult to be phlegmatic about our lack of activity, given the many holes we knew we needed to fill before the window opened, and the surplus-to-requirements players we should be sending out on loan or selling.

Top GIFplay, sir.

We certainly can do better than Burgzorg, and we really should. Formation changes notwithstanding, though, his physicality does give us something Conway and Strelec don't, and it did last night. Even Robins singled him out for praise. I agree that Burgzorg brings more to the side than Gilbert, Hamilton and Nypan, though as you say, that's less of a compliment to Burgzorg than a criticism of the others. I'd disagree on Silvera. He can play in lots of positions and I admire his disposition and teamwork. I'd keep him over Burgzorg simply because he's covered so many positions - he's a jack of all trades and master of none, but his versatility alone makes him worth retaining IMO.

Re Burgzorg - I'm not a big fan, and I think we need better. His 'shot' last night rather typifies his final contribution to any move he's a part of. However... it's notable that when he came on, Whittaker started making more of his trademark runs, getting up the pitch and looking to cut in. Also, Browne's pinpoint cross came from the right, where we'd been dying on our *** in the first half with Silvera getting bullied off the ball. Burgzorg basically does what people have been defending Conway for - running around a lot and pulling opposition players out of position. That's a fringe benefit, but it does have value. It's not going to get us promoted in isolation (again, I think a team challenging for automatic promotion needs far better bench options), but it's more than Nypan, Kante or Hamilton have brought to the team.

In fairness, we have our first choice LB, first choice RB and two CBs out injured, while nursing a third CB back to fitness with short substitute appearances. A lack of clean sheets is hardly a surprise in those circumstances.

I'm not ITK, but I think Sarmiento will be a Boro player by Friday. Hellberg said he's wanted to sign the guy for years, and given past reticence re signings, he wouldn't be so complimentary if the deal was in any doubt. Sarmiento plus a proven striker and I'm pretty confident we're going up automatically, especially now Conway has got the scoring-from-open-play monkey off his back.

The last time we were recording stats like that was the promotion season under Karanka. I remember a Friday night game around March where Sky showed a load of Championship team stats and we were top for all of them. This is starting to feel like that Burnley and Brighton season. Three very good teams but only two automatics.

Burg and Castledine coming on by the looks of it.

I'd sub half the team off at HT. Struggling to mount a case for anyone coming back out. They've stunk the stadium out. Stoke look far better than us, infinitely more dangerous, and they've got five strikers out injured. Time for Hellberg to read the riot act.

That's a low bar!

Trouble is, we haven't started at all and it's nearly half time.

Rookie keeper, awful conditions, so what do we do? Fanny around in midfield. Shoot! Just shoot!

We pass the ball sideways for five minutes and then give it away unnecessarily. Stoke immediately hare down the pitch and have a shot. Rinse. Repeat. Wake the *** up, Boro.

Pretty awful start all round. Haven't done anything in an attacking sense so far, and then Brynn drops the soap. Could be a long evening if we don't get a grip on the game.