[BaggieSteve]

I'll be the first to state that I feel we paid way over the odds for Oli Burke; £15 million for a player with little track record seemed ridiculously high. Having said that, I will be very disappointed if we sell him in January, as reported. I just feel we have seen nothing of him and he's been given precious little opportunity to impress or even play. He clearly has a good level of potential that clubs have felt worth the investment, I'd just like to see whether that potential can be turned into actual performance. If he gets the chance and doesn't perform, then fair enough and we should not keep him. But let's give him a chance, he's a young guy with a big price tag around his neck.
Part of my issue with the Burke situation is my concern that we are not giving our younger players more of a chance, bar the usual run out in the Carabao Cup. We have concerns about the lack of pace in central midfield but continue with two out of a Brunt/Livermore/Barry partnership when we could introduce Field or Harper; we have all expressed concerns about both Heghazi and Bartley in defence but BD won't consider Adarabioyo as an alternative. When we go out into the loan market, we go for Sako aged 30, Hoolahan aged 36 and Mears aged about 106. Thank goodness for Barnes in keeping the average age down. We complained when Pulis regularly turned out the oldest team in the league, I was hoping that this would change under BD but that does not seem to be the case.
If this team gets us promotion, then fantastic and I'll take my hat off to BD but it won't change my view that I feel we are missing an opportunity to play the younger talent.

Great post Steve,  you make a lot of very valid points.

I think we're all frustrated with BD not using our youngsters more, especially when they seem to 'have it' on the occasions when they ARE seen. I guess the coaches see them every day though, and are therefore obviously in a much better position to make the right call.
Also with BD being a real newby still, he's nearly always going to go for the safer option rather than take any sort of a risk with the younger ones. Not trying to defend it, just understand it!
I just hope that in a few months we're not still saying the same thing!

You're right Drewks, I'm making these comments without the benefit of what the coaches see, and I would not dream of arguing with their observations, so i'd back their judgement completely. I just would like us to be a bit more adventurous in our use of young players

[Blue Baggie]

Dave must get us promoted, Sadly the only player he has acquired who could be around for the next 5 years is Johnstone.
DM is doing well today, but his long term vision is seriously lacking at the moment. If Gayle and Barnes return from loan at the end of this season, we will need 9 additional signings. (Mears, Hoolahan, Mozza, Brunt, Sako, Barry, Nyom) All will need replacing and unless Lai finds some change down the back of the sofa, we won't have any money to fund these new signings. If we get promoted we could afford to sign 3 or 4 more quality players.
Enjoy the ride today though.

[Worldclassalbion]

I too am a bit mystified that Burke doesn’t get a look in. BD made his intentions clear when Phillips got injured again. No Burke anywhere. I thought well this’ll be it, step up Oli but nothing.

He has pace to burn. Maybe if we defended better and have Burke and Barnes to play in behind we’d slaughter teams but although I love BD, sometimes his decisions baffle me BUT we can’t argue with the league table.

Ron Atkinson always gave players 4 or 5 games to prove themselves and for those of us old enough to remember he created the best team we have ever had up here. I know the game has moved on so much (mostly for the worst imo) but don’t drop someone after one game,especially a kid as it destroys them.

[Salopbaggie]

An interesting interview with Luke Dowling which in the main looks very positive, with the one exception of already stating " are we going to spend £15 or £20 million on a player, No". No intention of a bid for Barnes then, not that I expected one and he would probably cost more than £20 million now anyway. The rest of the interview is very positive though.
https://www.expressandstar.com/sport/foo...e-baggies/

[Blue Baggie]

An interesting interview with Luke Dowling which in the main looks very positive, with the one exception of already stating " are we going to spend £15 or £20 million on a player, No".  No intention of a bid for Barnes then, not that I expected one and he would probably cost more than £20 million now anyway.  The rest of the interview is very positive though.
https://www.expressandstar.com/sport/foo...e-baggies/

He didn't do anything to make me think anything will change. Gave an open invitation for clubs to buy any of our players. Obviously everybody has a price, but unlike WBA to advertise it. 
No Dack, No Barnes, No Gayle, our ambition is set low very low.

I still remember "Jenkins" bigging it up - We don't have to sell anyone, we have money to spend, we will get our business done early, we need to hit the ground running.
All proved to be empty useless words. He can never be trusted and anyone joining his regime should be viewed accordingly.

WHERE IS OUR OWNER ???

[SpenB]

Speaking to a group of NCFC season ticket holders last night in Berwick at a Pool comp and...

They said Rondon is out injured. Opinon was split over if he can actually score or not. Non could fault his work ethic, but that didnt win you matches. Apparently the fans are loosing faith in Rafa and full expect Ashley to pull out and buy Rangers. Either way fans on the whole would be sending Rondon back.

Now, back on to the transfer subject of this post - non want Gayle back - again they cant fault him or his commitment but all stated the championship is his level and no higher - therefore if the offer is right and there is unrest over ownership and money available they might just bit our hands off.

[Blue Baggie]

Dowling :-The actual interview is like a history lesson - was - used to be - in the past, thanks I'm not really interested in his star player finds. As he has never had any. Let's keep an open mind and see who he brings in, starting in January. If he gets us a Barnes, Dack, Gayle, RB, RWB and a CH for free, he gets my vote. If he gets no one? He can jog on with Jenkins and Lia.

[WBA-Josh]

All I hope is that we broaden our horizons in January now that we have a DoF in place. Having a predominantly British squad is great but we need some more foreign blood in the team to give us something different. We can look into Germany, France, Belgium, Netherlands etc where we can sign talent for less and with better value for money. Jan Gyamerah for right back and Kingsley Schindler to replace Burke would be two of my choices.

I can’t see it happening though.

[Blue Baggie]

All I hope is that we broaden our horizons in January now that we have a DoF in place. Having a predominantly British squad is great but we need some more foreign blood in the team to give us something different. We can look into Germany, France, Belgium, Netherlands etc where we can sign talent for less and with better value for money. Jan Gyamerah for right back and Kingsley Schindler to replace Burke would be two of my choices.

I can’t see it happening though.

We are in a good position, but tricky times lie ahead. We're not going to be buying proven quality players as the price will be prohibitive. Our youngsters will be looking for other opportunities as DM simply is not going to give them a chance. Where as our players who have a value will be deciding if a move offers them better prospects then staying. If we stay in the top 2 our value players may well decide it's better to stay? Whatever at the seasons end our older players will be pensioned off. 
But we are playing attacking football and it's working, so its all systems go ATM. 

[Blue Baggie]

All I hope is that we broaden our horizons in January now that we have a DoF in place. Having a predominantly British squad is great but we need some more foreign blood in the team to give us something different. We can look into Germany, France, Belgium, Netherlands etc where we can sign talent for less and with better value for money. Jan Gyamerah for right back and Kingsley Schindler to replace Burke would be two of my choices.

I can’t see it happening though.

We are in a good position, but tricky times lie ahead. We're not going to be buying proven quality players as the price will be prohibitive. Our youngsters will be looking for other opportunities as DM simply is not going to give them a chance. Where as our players who have a value will be deciding if a move offers them better prospects then staying. If we stay in the top 2 our value players may well decide it's better to stay? Whatever at the seasons end our older players will be pensioned off. 
But we are playing attacking football and it's working, so its all systems go ATM. 

How quickly things can change, we're dropping points AOTS the players in defence are making silly errors, the midfield have forgotten how to play the ball forward, the forwards have forgotten where the goals are. They have all forgotten how to enjoy the game. Points are being given away. The blame jumps from one player to the next each week. I'm looking at Darren and Jones as the culprits, closely followed by Jenkins and Lai. I'm not scared to say it like many others are - Darren is not a manager and needs replacing ASAP - his repeated errors and inability to change and tactical stupidity are the major factors in our demise.
I'm going to have to wait for us to drop down the table before the rest see the light.