swfcGibbo

I would understand that rationale but there's no pace in the side. Reach is a strong runner with the ball but apart from that, there's absolutely zero pace.

I understand where you are coming from but his logic doesn't always hold true. Why is Westwood not playing in the Under 23's games to improve fitness? The same can be said for Hutch, Boyd, Jones etc. These players have been in and around the first team historically and should be at least involved to some capacity. It seems he has rules for some but not others. Kieran Lee in the past year has had the worst injury record yet he was allowed to come back into an Under 23's game. Marco Matias has played a handful of games since been at the football club. He's played far less games than Boyd & Jones throughout his career yet he seems to get a pass. Same can be said for Winnall recently. He's got injured again so do we now cast him onto the scrap heap? His logic and rationale would make sense if it was applied to the entire playing squad. I just cannot get my head around why you wouldn't have players who are now fit in and around the first team. I completely agree that the likes of Westwood, Boyd and Jones aren't the future of this football club. I'm on board with this and actually align with this belief. The bit I'm struggling with is the now. They would certainly improve us right now; even if it means a place on the bench. It's hard not to point to a fallout with certain players or disagreements as his philosophy hasn't been implemented across the entire playing squad.

Really? Nothing to do with the chance to become an assistant manager at a club he had played for in his career with one of his best pals as the manager?

To be fair he was pretty quick to react having missed the header and get up and put the ball in the net.

The type of signing we should have been looking at last season. Young, has pace and is very highly rated. If it works out...great. If it doesn't he'll go back.

SIGNED

The only experience this lad has as a scout was when he was a kid. Absolute tosh twitter account.

I'm not sure why it's so surprising for people he didn't go elsewhere. He's had a bitty career before coming here. He's had stability here and has really enjoyed his football (judging by interviews and how he plays). It's no surprise to me he's stayed. He's the main man at Wednesday. Moving would not be the best thing for him. Fantastic news!

The type of signings we should have been making over the past two years. I cannot comment specifically on these two players as I haven't seen enough of them, however, the experience and age and the fact they are on long-term loans as opposed to lengthy contracts just makes complete sense. You run the risk of them having a great season and then going elsewhere however you've benefited considerably from their talent without the initial outlay. Our approach was too one dimensional where we were signing players on meaty contracts and not using the system which has worked for so many teams over the years. Sure pick up the no-brainer purchases like Winnall (500k) but when there are Premiership teams full of genuine talent they are willing to loan out you need to use it as an option. We should be maxing out the loan options every single season.

They also sold the leagues top scorer from last season and instead used the money to balance the squad. It's a gamble but they seem to have a more rounded team now which is bold and ballsy. Our issue is that we've for some reason never sold one of our top players. Even the elite clubs have to sell.

People worry when you don't sign players as it's the exciting thing to do. Granted Preseason is disappointing when nobody signs but by last seasons statistics Bamford scored 13 goals in 44 games (all competitions) whereas Atdhe Nuhiu scored 14 in 38 games. Waghorn had a very good season and scored 16 in 47. By that reckoning, Nuhiu had a better goal scoring to game ratio. Just adding a little perspective to the flapping that the market is well and truly f*cked and we fell victim to this with Rhodes. It's actually worse than ever now. I really do hope we stay out of this for the long-term and build progressively.

Pound for pound made the best signing of the window so far. That's an absolute stunning signing for the money.

Baker is 22 this year so IMO needs to be playing regular first-team football whether that's here or elsewhere. As things stand Jos clearly thinks he is good enough to make the step up to the first team. He cannot be deemed as a 'prospect' any longer as he's nearly 22. He needs games for us to see whether he's good enough to be a regular starter. You don't tend to find this out without starting games It wouldn't make sense for us to loan a 19-year-old from a Premiership team if our manager believes someone in our squad (who happens to be much older) is good enough. This forum can sometimes be awash with contradictions. In one breath we feel the age of the squad was far too high and we should be utilising youth however when it comes to playing youth we worry that we have a lack of experience. We need a happy medium and balance and I believe it's a position where you can bring youth through without impacting the core spine of the team. Let's see how he progresses in the friendlies.