[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

I recall someone on old 606 in January 2009 (honestly can't remember who) having a proper wobbler at the end of the transfer window, declaring that after decades of loyal support they'd finally had enough, and wouldn't put up with any more shit off this club because we'd reached an all-time low signing some player off a YouTube video who hadn't even been watched by our manager, and it just wasn't good enough.

As it happens, the player in question was Youssouf Mulumbu.

So yes, I'm inclined to take fan meltdowns with a pinch of salt. No doubt six years ago we'd have been overjoyed to have "only" signed a 31-year-old Champions League winner and a 23-year-old FA Cup winner in the transfer window, and I really do hope that the additions of Fletcher and McManaman, combined with the flair of Sessegnon, will give Berahino, Big Vic and even Ideye fresh ammunition to work with.

However, that's a best case scenario. Failure to buy another winger and a decent support striker (let alone an actual goalscorer to take the pressure off Saido!) has made the next three and a half months so much more of an uphill struggle than they needed to be. We SHOULD have enough to stay up, but if we get hit by injuries, that relegation zone will be yawning wide behind us.

I'll be behind the boys every step of the way, same as always (Dorrans and Ideye will particularly need support and encouragement having been shown the door and then yanked back in), but we really can't ignore the fact that the club have been their own worst enemy again in this transfer window. They haven't given Pulis the necessary tools, just as they didn't give Mel the necessary tools, or even Clarke when we were on such a high. I do hope we can survive and have that proper rebuild in the summer, but at the moment I can't shake the feeling that we're back to the old "semper te fallant" days again.