JRC

At least one striker will be on loan you would expect. Uche is ours to sell and Crosby said he's at the club today, so doubtful he's in the final stages of reaching an agreement. I can't imagine they'll let him move unless we get a replacement at the same time.

Charlton have played 4 3 3 with two very wide forwards with pace for quite a while. Unless they change that he'll be a disaster for them. Wycombe normally had 2 inside forwards tucked in just behind Akinfenwe. Uche has looked good with Wilson and Chislett just behind him, making runs off and ahead of him. They either need a forward who is good a heading crosses or quick feet with low crosses, neither Uche's strength.

The rules are you name your side after 2pm to the media but to the ref at 1345. He was on the bench on the team sheet we gave the referee. He must have been on the team sheet given to the ref, as that includes substitutes. If a player does get injured in the warm up referees can allow a change. However there is a EFL investigation to ensue it is a "Bona Fide" medical situation. If not then the player is classed as an ineligible player, with all the sanctions. However that's not relevant as we added Uche which isn't allowed. He missed the Wycombe game because he was sick. It was talked about in the commentary. I suspect there was an error made when the team was released to the local media (they do it on fancy paper) and they announced the team they anticipated playing and had prepared in advance. The team sheet given to Barnsley is a duplicate of the one for the referee and handed over at the same time, 1345.

TBF he go on the bench because he unexpectedly passed a late fitness test.

If home is Gosford, New South Wales!

Only really works if Forrest have decided to sell him. Reasonable fee for Uche and a deal with a resale percentage for Taylor. That assumes Forest have decided he is some way off Championship or higher level. If it's just a loan he could just stay where he is.

I think that's the problem Rob; not a lot out there. Will Goodwin is valued at 400k after scoring 6 league goals. He's basically had one run of scoring in 4 consecutive games. He might carry that on, or never score in consecutive matches again in his career. You look at some of the valuations getting quoted right now and there is little value. Sky transfer rumours are also often just that. We, as a club, seem pretty tight with rumours until very close to an actual signing. Any rumours are either just that, from an agent, or from the other club, or just made up. I could imagine us selling if they have a replacement lined up but I can't see and obvious name for less than 400k. I'd be confident we don't have to sell, so I can't see us letting him go for 50k. Selling without a replacement and we'd be risking a relegation battle.

I'm pretty sure we wouldn't sell for 50k. Every player does have a price. I'd imagine our price is a credible replacement, which would probably be Jake Young; if we are genuinely interested in him.

I guess it all depends on a fee. If we could sign the Jake Young from Bradford with the money it might make business sense. Would Charlton pay 400 or 500k for Uche; I doubt it but it's possible. Uche is pretty unique in terms of his strengths. We certainly won't get a like for like replacement.

Once someone is playing for a club they come under the club's insurance. The medical is a requirement of the insurance company.

Let's hope if he does come he does better then Tommy did, Tommy only ever played well at the Vale when playing for another club. Always played well against us; particularly at Bury.

Is he a grandson of Tommy Gore?

Have we, or will we? No we haven't and yes we might. I believe we have some funds for the right player at the right price. We may pick up a player close to deadline day a club hasn't moved on they don't want to keep. I suspect we will be up to our loan quota of 5, so almost certainly 3 more loans. For me with the outgoings in order of importance a LWB, centre forward, centrehalf and a midfield player. I'd expect 4 more as a minimum (Conlon, Arblaster, Thomas, Balmer (probably), Cass (quite probable) as we'll probably lose 5. Ideally I'd like a couple more as our squad is a little short on depth. They may look at offering short-term contracts until the summer to free agents to make up the numbers. Someone like Olamide Shodipo who is a bit inconsistent but dangerous when playing well could be a player who would give a bit of depth until the summer.

Balmer to leave seems odds on as he wasn't on the bench Saturday. Liverpool likely to want Williams playing games somewhere. Initially I thought Balmer looked promising but he never kicked on. Certainly nowhere near ready for The Premiership.

Up until Ojo got injured our defensive record wasn't too bad. Either Sang needs to be effective in that role, or we need to bring someone in who can clean up infront of the back 3.

Don't ever remember him being linked back to us. He was from Cambridge. I think he's ended up back at Gateshead, where he played while at University.

I thought he was OK. We played him on the left wing mainly. He was right footed but the closet thing to a two footed player we've had for quite a long time. He was better at Cambridge, who let him come inside more. Really was a bit silly leaving them, as it didn't work out at Colchester. He would have been a better player in our current system than a 4 4 2.

Lowe has played in The Premiership and Championship. Uche and Ojo have both played a fair amount. In general I think you're right about the money. Also the game is much faster now and many players at all levels struggle with ligament and muscle injuries by their early 30s.

He's already played for Peterborough and Fleetwood this season. He's not able to sign elsewhere. He's also not done very well this season.

Interesting quote from Swindon that they have enquired after Jake Young and that realistically only a Championship Club or the top League 1 teams could afford the fee. I suspect we were interested but I suspect beyond our budget. Don't know much about Young but I did watch highlights of Hartlepool games when Askey was manager. I must be honest I think Kemp is more of the type of player we need this window. He broadly brings what Wilson does to a team, although significantly shorter. Both he and Young have 16 goals but Kemp has a load of assists. Young seems more of a target man. I suspect he's more affordable as he can leave for free in the summer. He looked a class act for Hartlepool, although flopped in league 1 for MK Dons.

Being realistic Garrity is 27 in a few weeks. If we are going to get a fee for him it's January, or more probably the summer. He's out of contract summer 25, so a free and if he signs another contract he'd be 29 the following summer (the next opportunity to sell him) with a much lower value. As a fan I hope he stays. As a realist I'd be very surprised if he stays.

I do agree with much of that. I think, as someone else has posted, we have relatively few over 21 outfield players compared to many clubs. We do need a little more depth. If we had 8 injuries we would have no experience on the bench. Last season Accrington and Morecambe were a good league 1 side when all players were fit. Both went down because they had periods with 6 or 7 injuries.

"And the early signs were promising, with the 23-year-old showing his prowess moving forward from his left-wing-back berth and proving an obvious step-up from Lee Brown’s honest efforts down the same flank." From the article you posted.

The interesting one was that she spent time with Paul Barber yesterday. Maybe Carol had quite a lot of input and influence in the Jensen Weir transfer.

He's been fit for the last 2 seasons. I believe his biggest problem at Portsmouth is he's a winger come left wingback, rather than a leftback come left wingback. When they changed to a flat back 4 he's never really fitted in. His weekly wage is so high he's out of the price range for most league 1 clubs. There aren't many footballers today who haven't had a prolonged absence by their mid 20s. Grant and Wilson have historically had problems season after season. Very few players haven't had a single injury disrupted season by 24 or 25. Really it's then down to the medical to determine if it's a chronic problem which will keep recurring. In modern football Smith is a freak in terms of fitness. Realistically you want players to be over 30 games a season. I think Ray Walker was around 32 league games a season, Robbie Earle 33 on average for us. Both had pretty much full seasons for us and some pretty long periods out. Grant has averaged 25 games in his career (the same as James Wilson). Grant actually had a strange career at Plymouth, two injury disrupted, followed by 2 where he was almost ever present, then last season. The big problem is if they have a chronic injury which keeps repeating. If we discounted every player whose missed 3 or 4 months of the season at some point we'll be recruiting from a pool which is really a puddle. Whether Hume has a chronic issue only medical staff can make a judgement.