Is the team really THAT bad..... ?

[standard issue]

The manager and the chairman are both responsible for this. They have a big squad of players and do not have their hands tied like AI.

What restraints?

Financial restraints in the summer, yes - For this reason Irvine assembles a team of Raggydolls - He then had full financial backing at January, the money didn't really help him did it?

Megson has the money (well MM does, and we hope he'll spend some) but he's bound by friggin FA Rules ie. only allowed to name 5 loan players in a match day squad, with one of those having to sit on the bench (Nichols) that limits us to 4 loan players in the outfield, realistically we need to bring in pace, vision and ideally a little skill, but unfortunately there's no room at the inn!

Interestingly I recall discussing the new squad Irvine built over the summer with my old man, I was very optimistic (as I am at the beginning of every season) where as the old man simply said "hmph...you get what you pay for" (true yorkshire style) - Which seems to be a rather prominent point at this stage in the season - The team built in the summer, on a shoestring budget are simply not good enough, as I've said in other threads, due to FA regulations all we can do is cross everything we can, pray, sacrifice a goat/chicken, close your eyes and hope for the best, whatever works for you, but what we can't do is sack another manager, and make any squad changes. Just try and keep some faith.