No left back = taking the piss.

[Ian Royal]

So why do folk.expect.there to be lots of money?

Because they create their own reality in their head based on what they want to happen, and not what actually exists.

[Millsy]

Adkins clearly rates Obita, hence why he gave him his chance ahead of McAnuff on the left last season, and has used him as his go to guy for positions he's struggling to fill. Adkins obviously feels that Obita is someone he can trust to play central midfield during the injury crisis and that Cummings is an able deputy at left back in the meantime. He's also trusting Taylor to stand in on the left.

Now none of those are particularly ideal but on their own none are particularly bad ideas. What we've seen, a little unsurprisingly, is that all three together are not working at all. Cummings at left back is actually working the best, it's the combination of having Taylor ahead of him who tucks into the centre far too much that's the real killer.

That's relatively easy to solve as soon as we've got a couple of central midfielders fit. Switch Obita to left back and he can go outside Taylor effectively. Switch Obita for Taylor and Cummings has an outlet on the flank. Obita has worryingly picked up an injury, but we've no idea how bad. In addition, Mackie is available again and I'd hope he / Blackman is more able to hug the left side and solve the problem Taylor is causing.

Now Akpan was fit for Forest and really should have started. But it's also clear that Adkins doesn't really rate him and that he's not particularly good. There was also Norwood, but he had very little time to train with the team. So really, Adkins has made just the one big mistake and that was against Forest in not starting Akpan over Taylor / Cummings and shifting Obita wide.

Now if he continues to make the same mistake, he's due a lambasting. But we're four games into a very hard start to the season with a major injury crisis. Having only just got to the position where we can sign new players a couple of weeks ago.

The sky is not falling. The end of the world is not nigh. There is no disaster.

Yeah.

But we still have no left back.

[Scarface]

Why the **** do we STILL not have a left back?

We did have one but a) he and the manager didn't want him to play there (madness) and b) he's now joined our first choice injury 11

Obita plays on the Wing & in Midfield. He is a cover left back.

Obita is never a winger, he can't beat a man, but as proved last year he's a quality left back. I'm baffled by the decision to try Cummings at left back again, it was proved to not work last season. The positives of playing him in midfield are far out weighed by the negatives of him not playing left back, in his best position. Football is a simple game, play players in their best positions.

[Scarface]

Adkins clearly rates Obita, hence why he gave him his chance ahead of McAnuff on the left last season, and has used him as his go to guy for positions he's struggling to fill. Adkins obviously feels that Obita is someone he can trust to play central midfield during the injury crisis and that Cummings is an able deputy at left back in the meantime. He's also trusting Taylor to stand in on the left.

Now none of those are particularly ideal but on their own none are particularly bad ideas. What we've seen, a little unsurprisingly, is that all three together are not working at all. Cummings at left back is actually working the best, it's the combination of having Taylor ahead of him who tucks into the centre far too much that's the real killer.

That's relatively easy to solve as soon as we've got a couple of central midfielders fit. Switch Obita to left back and he can go outside Taylor effectively. Switch Obita for Taylor and Cummings has an outlet on the flank. Obita has worryingly picked up an injury, but we've no idea how bad. In addition, Mackie is available again and I'd hope he / Blackman is more able to hug the left side and solve the problem Taylor is causing.

Now Akpan was fit for Forest and really should have started. But it's also clear that Adkins doesn't really rate him and that he's not particularly good. There was also Norwood, but he had very little time to train with the team. So really, Adkins has made just the one big mistake and that was against Forest in not starting Akpan over Taylor / Cummings and shifting Obita wide.

Now if he continues to make the same mistake, he's due a lambasting. But we're four games into a very hard start to the season with a major injury crisis. Having only just got to the position where we can sign new players a couple of weeks ago.

The sky is not falling. The end of the world is not nigh. There is no disaster.

Yeah.

But we still have no left back.

We have the best left back in the league mate, Obita, play him there for gods sake Adkins

[Ian Royal]

Adkins clearly rates Obita, hence why he gave him his chance ahead of McAnuff on the left last season, and has used him as his go to guy for positions he's struggling to fill. Adkins obviously feels that Obita is someone he can trust to play central midfield during the injury crisis and that Cummings is an able deputy at left back in the meantime. He's also trusting Taylor to stand in on the left.

Now none of those are particularly ideal but on their own none are particularly bad ideas. What we've seen, a little unsurprisingly, is that all three together are not working at all. Cummings at left back is actually working the best, it's the combination of having Taylor ahead of him who tucks into the centre far too much that's the real killer.

That's relatively easy to solve as soon as we've got a couple of central midfielders fit. Switch Obita to left back and he can go outside Taylor effectively. Switch Obita for Taylor and Cummings has an outlet on the flank. Obita has worryingly picked up an injury, but we've no idea how bad. In addition, Mackie is available again and I'd hope he / Blackman is more able to hug the left side and solve the problem Taylor is causing.

Now Akpan was fit for Forest and really should have started. But it's also clear that Adkins doesn't really rate him and that he's not particularly good. There was also Norwood, but he had very little time to train with the team. So really, Adkins has made just the one big mistake and that was against Forest in not starting Akpan over Taylor / Cummings and shifting Obita wide.

Now if he continues to make the same mistake, he's due a lambasting. But we're four games into a very hard start to the season with a major injury crisis. Having only just got to the position where we can sign new players a couple of weeks ago.

The sky is not falling. The end of the world is not nigh. There is no disaster.

Yeah.

But we still have no left back.

Apart from Obita and Griffin.

[sandman]

That would be the Griffin who hasn't even been in the matchday squad despite us having a crisis at LB would it?

[Harpers So Solid Crew]

Whats.with all.the full.stops?

Bloody phone

[Ian Royal]

That would be the Griffin who hasn't even been in the matchday squad despite us having a crisis at LB would it?

That's the one.

[SPARTA]

So why do folk.expect.there to be lots of money?

Because they create their own reality in their head based on what they want to happen, and not what actually exists.

Exactly that, Ian. People see new owners and immediately expect lots of money to be spent. They also see players leave for x amount, and then expect all of that money to go straight back into the team. It wont happen. We could well have brought in over £12m in sales this summer after the deadline passes, and barely a third of that reinvested in transfer fees - but what many don't consider is that it will also go towards new contracts, and we have a lot of players out of contract next summer. We're also still managing a hefty wage bill.

[LoyalRoyal22]

So why do folk.expect.there to be lots of money?

Because they create their own reality in their head based on what they want to happen, and not what actually exists.

Exactly that, Ian. People see new owners and immediately expect lots of money to be spent. They also see players leave for x amount, and then expect all of that money to go straight back into the team. It wont happen. We could well have brought in over £12m in sales this summer after the deadline passes, and barely a third of that reinvested in transfer fees - but what many don't consider is that it will also go towards new contracts, and we have a lot of players out of contract next summer. We're also still managing a hefty wage bill.

Yeh and no sign of any of them being renewed

[Ian Royal]

Because they create their own reality in their head based on what they want to happen, and not what actually exists.

Exactly that, Ian. People see new owners and immediately expect lots of money to be spent. They also see players leave for x amount, and then expect all of that money to go straight back into the team. It wont happen. We could well have brought in over £12m in sales this summer after the deadline passes, and barely a third of that reinvested in transfer fees - but what many don't consider is that it will also go towards new contracts, and we have a lot of players out of contract next summer. We're also still managing a hefty wage bill.

Yeh and no sign of any of them being renewed

Bloody hell, your missus must be a very frustrated woman, the way you want everything to happen immediately. Learn a little patience, child.

[Hoop Blah]

Obita is now a left back, IMO, and especially as he just looked too scared or incapable to do anything creative when getting on the ball when playing further up the pitch.

We really should have someone else in the squad on loan or something to see us through this injury crisis though. A recognised young left winger or fullback (such as Luke Garbatt) would surely have been worth the small loan fee to give us sufficient balance.

[Esteban]

Obita is now a left back, IMO, and especially as he just looked too scared or incapable to do anything creative when getting on the ball when playing further up the pitch.

We really should have someone else in the squad on loan or something to see us through this injury crisis though. A recognised young left winger or fullback (such as Luke Garbatt) would surely have been worth the small loan fee to give us sufficient balance.

That's an opinion shared by many, probably Adkins to. However, Obita may consider himself a midfielder.

[Hoop Blah]

If Obita isn't happy becoming a left back then we'll never see the best of him in the position and so even more reason to get another option in through the door.

Like Le Fondre, if Obita isn't keen on his role at the club then he'll ultimately have to leave to find a club willing to meet his own expectations.

[Z175]

The imminent closing of this transfer window reminds me of August 2010 and August 2011.

We sold top scorers Shane Long / Adam Le Fondre.
We sold the best player to come out of academy, Sigurdsson / McCarthy.
We sold our central defender captain, Matt Mills / Sean Morrison

And we were strapped for cash and hunting around for bargains like Harte, Khivinishvilli, Joseph Mills.... to plug obvious gaps. And with those gaps plugged we got to a Wembley Final and won the league!

So lets just in a random cheap left back to cover until Obita's back. If the new player looks ok we can push Jordan forward if we need him there.

[RoyalBlue]

The imminent closing of this transfer window reminds me of August 2010 and August 2011.

We sold top scorers Shane Long / Adam Le Fondre.
We sold the best player to come out of academy, Sigurdsson / McCarthy.
We sold our central defender captain, Matt Mills / Sean Morrison

And we were strapped for cash and hunting around for bargains like Harte, Khivinishvilli, Joseph Mills.... to plug obvious gaps. And with those gaps plugged we got to a Wembley Final and won the league!

So lets just in a random cheap left back to cover until Obita's back. If the new player looks ok we can push Jordan forward if we need him there.

Sorry to expose the flaws in those parallels but how many players did we have out injured in August 2010 and August 2011?

[ScepticalRoyal]

We've taken in about 10M (at least) in players plus a possible Siggy sell on ( ? ).

The issue for me is that the reinvestment never equates to what we received for the players. I've no bother with doing things the way we are doing currently (Free's, Loans and Oldies) if we're not selling our best players at the same time. Surely if we're getting money through then there's some leeway to spend some money. I'm not even asking for silly money; just a sign from the club that we're going to try and give it a real go this year and find decent replacements for our losses.

[3points]

All the time we have Pog, Guthrie, Drenthe and some others on the wage bill then we won't see a great deal of reinvestment. The amount we receive for McCarthy will pay the wages of Pog and Guthrie for this season.

We are back to balancing the books each summer. But at least we will have a football club and not one that is in administration (or under serious threat of it).

But we do need a left back. Is Ian Harte available? Or Nicky Shorey.

[maffff]

Charles Watts seems pretty confident Obita will be back at left back once we have a midfield...

[Ian Royal]

We've taken in about 10M (at least) in players plus a possible Siggy sell on ( ? ).

The issue for me is that the reinvestment never equates to what we received for the players. I've no bother with doing things the way we are doing currently (Free's, Loans and Oldies) if we're not selling our best players at the same time. Surely if we're getting money through then there's some leeway to spend some money. I'm not even asking for silly money; just a sign from the club that we're going to try and give it a real go this year and find decent replacements for our losses.

We've never operated by spending on incoming transfers what we received in outgoing transfers. And for the vast majority of time that's been bloody good news because we've had little success in selling players for much money.

Everything coming out of the club at the moment is that we're working hard to make more signings. Why not hold off on judgement until the window ends, even if you can't keep a sense of perspective.