[Astle1968]

Usually find myself agreeing with you Jacko, even when many find you controversial.

Not on this occasion though. I think if the window closed today we would be at real risk of going down. By the time the window does close we will have played 3 games and really need to have 5 points or more given the opposition. If we don't and we haven't strengthened significantly then we will be looking at a long hard season. The mood and atmosphere will be detrimental too.

We will always be at risk of going down but we don't have one of the 3 worst starting 11's, or one of the 3 worst squads or one of the the worst managers (based on results anyway)

By no means does that guarantee us safety as there's probably 2 or 3 teams comfortably worse than us on paper and then another 10 who are all pretty similar to us. A couple of good/lucky/scrappy wins is the difference between 16th and 8th and possibly relegation and safety but just as a numbers game there's probably 12 teams right now at risk of relegation and 3 going down gives us a 75% chance of staying up

[paulosull]

Being this paper thin at the start of the season has to be a concern to all Albion fans. In the last few seasons I can only recall Ben and Chris being injured for a substantial amount of time, we have been lucky on that front but our look could change with injuries to key players

[VANDERLEI]

Being this paper thin at the start of the season has to be a concern to all Albion fans. In the last few seasons I can only recall Ben and Chris being injured for a substantial amount of time, we have been lucky on that front but our look could change with injuries to key players

Mozza was also out for a long time also.

[kanu]

We won't go down even if the window closed at midday today.


We have strengthened the 1st XI as things stand. That's not to say I don't want a couple more in but the hand wringing as per is well over the top.

It's amazing how fans see things differently. Personally I'd say it's a good job you don't work for the club. On the other hand your comment that we'd be ok if the window shut yesterday suggests that maybe you do.
Even Pulis says we desperately need 4 or 5 more. He knows that this current squad could well be a fire fighting job too far for him. Thank god he's actually admitting we're desperately short on numbers and quality, unlike some happy clappers on here.

[WBArgo]

It's amazing how fans see things differently. Personally I'd say it's a good job you don't work for the club. On the other hand your comment that we'd be ok if the window shut yesterday suggests that maybe you do.
Even Pulis says we desperately need 4 or 5 more. He knows that this current squad could well be a fire fighting job too far for him. Thank god he's actually admitting we're desperately short on numbers and quality, unlike some happy clappers on here.

Apart from the poster that you quoted, is anyone actually saying this? I think the entire fanbase is in unison that we need more players and are far too thin - I don't think I've seen anyone suggest otherwise.

Funnily enough, an article yesterday said Lai knows we need more players, hopefully we get some in then.

[lewisant]

It is true that we HAVE improved the starting 11; Rodriguez offers one thing we needed and Hegazi looks like he may be an improvement on McAuley based on the end of the season when he was injured a lot and he had his run of poor form. Add to that, Fletcher left and his performances left a lot to be desired.

I'm not saying i don't think we need to improve it further but from a totally pragmatic point of view; a top 10 premier league starting 11 has been improved.

The way it's going i would expect Pulis to run his contract down. I have knocked him but it's looking like we haven't learned from last year. If it's the recruitment team butting heads with Pulis regarding targets then that needs to be addressed and we need a long term plan where everybody is working harmoniously.

[Chipperfan]

We are a shambles.

[kie the baggie]

It is true that we HAVE improved the starting 11; Rodriguez offers one thing we needed and Hegazi looks like he may be an improvement on McAuley based on the end of the season when he was injured a lot and he had his run of poor form. Add to that, Fletcher left and his performances left a lot to be desired.

I'm not saying i don't think we need to improve it further but from a totally pragmatic point of view; a top 10 premier league starting 11 has been improved.

The way it's going i would expect Pulis to run his contract down. I have knocked him but it's looking like we haven't learned from last year. If it's the recruitment team butting heads with Pulis regarding targets then that needs to be addressed and we need a long term plan where everybody is working harmoniously.

Problem is teams around us have better improved in my opinion, what was the points difference between us and 14/15, not many

[graka]

I think Jeremy has sold us down the Yangtze

[TheJacko2000]

Problem is teams around us have better improved in my opinion, what was the points difference between us and 14/15, not many

Everyone said the same last summer. Everyone else has improved we've stood still... finished 10th.

[sing on our own]

Everyone said the same last summer. Everyone else has improved we've stood still... finished 10th.

Finishing 10th like when we finished 8th with Clarke papered over the cracks you need to look at the bigger picture and momentum is massive in football, it's often the way teams who tail off start slowly and how many points off relegation were we last season? I'm not being negative just realistic. I had my first ST in the late 80's so I've seen lots of disasters and can see when one is on the way unless things change in some way quickly.

[Hull Baggie]

Finishing 10th like when we finished 8th with Clarke papered over the cracks you need to look at the bigger picture and momentum is massive in football, it's often the way teams who tail off start slowly and how many points off relegation were we last season? I'm not being negative just realistic. I had my first ST in the late 80's so I've seen lots of disasters and can see when one is on the way unless things change in some way quickly.

last season we finished 11 points above Hull, the season before we finished 6 points above Newcastle.

[Standaman]

I'm not sure what anybody was expecting from the new ownership but the moment they walked in they were clear  they valued continuity and the business model that Peace had in place. Okay so that means that we haven't had a splurge in the transfer market with lot's of marque signings that often tend to be showy additions rather than a sound investment but nor have we had to put up with any nonsense about changing the club's name badge or any of our other cherished traditions.

Unfortunately what the ownership also inherited was a outmoded dinosaur of a head coach and a very traditional football man in Williams all well and good but when those two things meet a responsible budget it's pretty uninspiring If signing players is the only way we can raise the bar well frankly we're up the creek without a paddle anyway.

[tuamigos]

Everyone said the same last summer. Everyone else has improved we've stood still... finished 10th.

and should have finished 6th

[TheJacko2000]

and should have finished 6th

In what dream world?

[Ross]

The issue is that we have no ambition. 40 points and go on holiday. That's a mentality fed down by the manager and players of yo-yo era I.e Brunt. Hopefully Lai hasn't bought into this. Once we got to 40 points we were lazy. That mentality has got to exit our club. We're always glass half empty.

[Tony Goddens Gloves]

Last 14 games. 1 win 2 draws. 11 defeats. Says it all. Aging, tired and threadbare squad. Even more threadbare now

[tuamigos]

In what dream world?

In the real world mate.
No team worth their salt should take 5 points from their last 14 games.

[caravanc58]

6th spot on 69 points was out of our reach, but 7th on 61 was a possibility if we had averaged close to our points per game ratio up to the last 14 games.
what we did was shocking.

[TheJacko2000]

In the real world mate.
No team worth their salt should take 5 points from their last 14 games.

You're not in the real world if you think we should have finished 6th or even 7th with that squad. Our good and bad spells can in big chunks instead of win 3 lose 3 type runs. We probably finished about 1 under par on the season.

[Adder]

Ageing, tired, threadbare squad with best attacking player of the season injured for that entire period.

[skyclad99]

6th spot on 69 points was out of our reach, but 7th on 61 was a possibility if we had averaged close to our points per game ratio up to the last 14 games.
what we did was shocking.

Nailed it.....

[caravanc58]

would we be so forgiving if we get 5 points from our opening 14 matches, because we still have this aging squad and the player with the most threat who missed the last 14 matches has still got injury problems.

[tuamigos]

would we be so forgiving if we get 5 points from our opening 14 matches, because we still have this aging squad and the player with the most threat who missed the last 14 matches has still got injury problems.

No we wouldn't, neither would the board.
The manager would be gone

[baggiejohn]

Getting back to Guochuan Lai.

I'm not an expert in Chinese affairs, but I understand that the President has scaled down the amount of cash that is allowed to leave China.

When TP & JW visited China Lai had allegedly allocated £40 million for transfer funds. I assume that this is £40 million in addition to the cash generated by WBAFC.

Just wondering if the £40 million is now no longer available.

Can any "Chinese" specialists help?