The calibre of player coming in

[FiNeRaIn]

You have to be happy.

Bertrand - Highly rated Chelsea left back, seen as the future replacement for Ashley Cole.
Mills - Again, very highly rated, but a shakey start. Goes for the team as a whole though. Confidence will come.
McAnuff - Quality winger on his day. Guilty of not having enough of those days, but under Rodgers he flourished last season.
Rasiak - 6'3" and has as good as goalscoring record as Doyle - as pointed out earlier somewhere. Cracking record at this level.

How can you not be pleased with those four signings so far?

Agree with you on this occasion actually, can't knock any of the signings.

[Terminal Boardom]

At risk of getting dogs of abuse from certain knobs, sorry nobbers, would we have signed these players - if available last season or the season before? I don't think so. I fact, I think we areon a slippery slope heading due south. I hope I am wrong but this smacks too much like a bit of pancic management.

[Thou Voice]

Do you think a deal like this could have been done in < 24 hours from Smithy going to a bigger club?

Would it not have been possible these players were always on the radar and were going to be backup?

[Wimb]

At risk of getting dogs of abuse from certain knobs, sorry nobbers, would we have signed these players - if available last season or the season before? I don't think so. I fact, I think we areon a slippery slope heading due south. I hope I am wrong but this smacks too much like a bit of pancic management.

You mean would we have signed McAnuff off the back of 2006/2007? Didn't he sign for 1.8 million that year?

Or Rasiak who went to Spurs in the PL?

I really don't know what the point is of posts like the above. All that matters is BR has signed 2 players he thinks can do well in a system he's used too. Nuff said

[Terminal Boardom]

Typical reaction. Talk about shallow. We sign two run of the mill players and we are going to win the world cup. Sorry but I am not convinced. Like Rasiak set the world alight at Spurs! Hadenuf is a lazy little begger. But SJM has spunked up some cash. woopeydoo!

[Vision]

At risk of getting dogs of abuse from certain knobs, sorry nobbers, would we have signed these players - if available last season or the season before? I don't think so. I fact, I think we areon a slippery slope heading due south. I hope I am wrong but this smacks too much like a bit of pancic management.

Its the inevitable result of relegation and the failure to bounce straight back. Comparing our situation with 2 seasons ago is utterly pointless. We're at the beginning of a new era with a brand new team and having to manage our finances accordingly. Given the lack of experience of the squad and the weaknesses already shown in the final 3rd of the pitch then these 2 attacking players who are proven at this level are precisely what we would be looking for. Personally if we'd got Smith then I'm not convinced we'd have been in for McAnuff but we didn't get Smith so we moved on to the next best thing. A player Rodgers knows and trusts.

[Wimb]

Typical reaction. Talk about shallow. We sign two run of the mill players and we are going to win the world cup. Sorry but I am not convinced. Like Rasiak set the world alight at Spurs! Hadenuf is a lazy little begger. But SJM has spunked up some cash. woopeydoo!

lolzzzzzzz

Do you actually read what you write? Spurs didn't sign him on the assumption he'd be rubbish. Hindsight is a wonderfull thing isn't it?
As I've said elsewhere, did Sonko, Doyle, Shunt, Shorey, Little etc come with big reputations and massive transfer fees? No but they didn't half turn out well.

Then again I don't know why I'm bothering replying to a WUM

[rob the royal]

At risk of getting dogs of abuse from certain knobs, sorry nobbers, would we have signed these players - if available last season or the season before? I don't think so. I fact, I think we areon a slippery slope heading due south. I hope I am wrong but this smacks too much like a bit of pancic management.

You mean would we have signed McAnuff off the back of 2006/2007? Didn't he sign for 1.8 million that year?

Or Rasiak who went to Spurs in the PL?

I really don't know what the point is of posts like the above. All that matters is BR has signed 2 players he thinks can do well in a system he's used too. Nuff said

I think you mean McAnuff said.

[Deathy]

Smith was the winger come link man that we were after, and Rasiak would have been the apparent second of the two more Rodgers wanted to still bring in. So, no, this isn't a panic buy. Hammond was quoted as missing the team photo because he was away on business, and that would have most likely been Rasiak. The rumours were certainly doing the rounds about him for as long as that.

McAnuff isn't a panic buy either, but I imagine he was always the backup second choice to Smith of it went tits up. But again, not a panic buy. There is always a list of players that a manager wants, and Hammond would have been working around the clock to ensure in the event that the Smith deal went south (pardon the pun), choice b was already in place ready to take to the final stage.

[Vision]

Typical reaction. Talk about shallow. We sign two run of the mill players and we are going to win the world cup. Sorry but I am not convinced. Like Rasiak set the world alight at Spurs! Hadenuf is a lazy little begger. But SJM has spunked up some cash. woopeydoo!

No-ones said anything of the sort. They are 2 players of a type this squad is lacking. As such they make sense. No-one is claiming they are world beaters. Exactly who do you think we're going to be in for given our financial constraints?

[shoey]

agreed they are solid signings at this level.
look i think people like wimb need to realise, we have new expectations!
with the team, the same team as last year, we would struggle to go up this season due to the clubs who come down.
Mid table is where we are going to be for a few years, building again, which is fine by me.
I do not want to go down, I am happy with mid table with this squad and I hope to see development.
I aint happy with the manager, but I will back him and the team.
We are not promotion candidates, and I dont really care if we stay mid table here for a while, its been worse, its been better.
I will voice my view when we are shit. Same as when we are flying.
It is a new era, and the only time it will be proven right or wrong is with time.
I will not have any direct impact, nor will any other fan, apart from leanding my support to the club as I will.

I think we will get a few more championship level players before the window shuts.

[RobRoyal]

It's truly staggering that on a day we sign two established name players with bags of Championship and even Premiership experience, the main theme on HNA is still overwhelmingly complaint.

Agreed. They're both thoroughly proven at this level, and should help push us towards mid-table. It will help our younger players to have a couple of seasoned pros around. They might not give us what we need to reach the premiership, but we're all fairly accepting of that being a long-term goal anyway.

[Wimb]

agreed they are solid signings at this level.
look i think people like wimb need to realise, we have new expectations!
with the team, the same team as last year, we would struggle to go up this season due to the clubs who come down.
Mid table is where we are going to be for a few years, building again, which is fine by me.
I do not want to go down, I am happy with mid table with this squad and I hope to see development.
I aint happy with the manager, but I will back him and the team.
We are not promotion candidates, and I dont really care if we stay mid table here for a while, its been worse, its been better.
I will voice my view when we are shit. Same as when we are flying.
It is a new era, and the only time it will be proven right or wrong is with time.
I will not have any direct impact, nor will any other fan, apart from leanding my support to the club as I will.

I think we will get a few more championship level players before the window shuts.

New expectations are valid, I don't expect us to be content with battling relegation However, I don't see how these players won't help us get back to challenging for promotion. They aren't the answer in isolation but they are better then what we have without much of a spend.
I don't know how you can be unhappy with the manager though he's had four league games and not even a full transfer window, by all means express dissapointment with the start, but personally I tend to wait with critisism until some time has past.

[Vision]

It's truly staggering that on a day we sign two established name players with bags of Championship and even Premiership experience, the main theme on HNA is still overwhelmingly complaint.

Agreed. They're both thoroughly proven at this level, and should help push us towards mid-table. It will help our younger players to have a couple of seasoned pros around. They might not give us what we need to reach the premiership, but we're all fairly accepting of that being a long-term goal anyway.

Exactly. I really don't see how anyone can see it as a bad thing unless they think there's a queue of Premiership attackers looking to join a championship side paying middling championship wages at best.

[winchester_royal]

Typical reaction. Talk about shallow. We sign two run of the mill players and we are going to win the world cup. Sorry but I am not convinced. Like Rasiak set the world alight at Spurs! Hadenuf is a lazy little begger. But SJM has spunked up some cash. woopeydoo!

FFS

If Rasiak had set the world alight at Spurs do you think he'd be joining us?

[seahawk10]

At risk of getting dogs of abuse from certain knobs, sorry nobbers, would we have signed these players - if available last season or the season before? I don't think so. I fact, I think we areon a slippery slope heading due south. I hope I am wrong but this smacks too much like a bit of pancic management.

You mean would we have signed McAnuff off the back of 2006/2007? Didn't he sign for 1.8 million that year?

Or Rasiak who went to Spurs in the PL?

I really don't know what the point is of posts like the above. All that matters is BR has signed 2 players he thinks can do well in a system he's used too. Nuff said

'greed! And especially encouraging is that there is still more to come. Let Brendan cook up his style of stew with his style of players. My RTG's are starting to clear up a bit.

[Millsy]

But you're ALWAYS changing your mind!!

Right, and? If someone is shit today, he isn't necessarilly shit tomorrow!

I've been vocal about my frustrations towards Madejski this past 2-3 seasons, and righly so! But you can't fault him this summer. That said, just 3-4 weeks ago I was!! Again, rightly so. But we can see why we've sold who we've sold, and you can't knock the lads we're bringing in.

It's the people that hold an opinion and aren't prepared to admit they're wrong, or be prepared to see when something changes that are the problem.

Couldn't agree more.

[Barry the bird boggler]

https://twitter.com/JonnyFordham/status/3586083743

Mifsud?

Clodagh has ruled out any move for Michael Mifsud.

[(.)Boobies(.)]

But you're ALWAYS changing your mind!!

Right, and? If someone is shit today, he isn't necessarilly shit tomorrow!

I've been vocal about my frustrations towards Madejski this past 2-3 seasons, and righly so! But you can't fault him this summer. That said, just 3-4 weeks ago I was!! Again, rightly so. But we can see why we've sold who we've sold, and you can't knock the lads we're bringing in.

It's the people that hold an opinion and aren't prepared to admit they're wrong, or be prepared to see when something changes that are the problem.

Couldn't agree more.

Fair comment. Over to you Royal Lady?

[Ryn]

I'm more excited about Rasiak than McAnuff. A big man up front is exactly what we need to get the best out of Long/Hunt.