Mr Chairman

[Trotty]

Only a week left of the transfer deadline. If you want a team that can challenge for promotion you need to give Sammo the means to sign a decent goalscorer.

It's not just a wish, its a requirement.

[Deepcut Cobbler]

He may have already but there the players that Sammo wants are either not available or are unwilling to come?

[RussNTFC]

Dig deep! 

[Peles Big Toe]

Think we've missed the boat for top signings really. At this level to get a big name in it's usually through a fat wage on a free, transfer fee's are extortionate, especially when you see Non-League players now going for 6 figure sums.

[GrangeParkCobbler]

As I put in the Reading thread, my wish now is that we get a plum away draw in the CC 3rd round.....a guaranteed 200k (a game at Liverpool, Man Utd, Arsenal etc) and that the chairman splashes out in the 3 remaining days before the window closes.

[Dr Feelgood]

This is when Sammo needs to earn his corn. A good Manager will make do with what he's got and make it successful..

[Positively Mad Mark]

We'll probably earn a couple of quid for reaching round three of the CC too.  Probably not enough to buy a striker though., maybe only a Constantine.

[bayescobbler]

i think sammo knows he hasnt got a massive budget and with gue some of the players he has bought he clearly knows the lower leagues very well i am sure he knows what he has doing i mean he can sign any players as bad as gray can he?

[The 12th Marquis of Sixfields]

Yeah, I don't want any more **** like Daniel Jones darkening the hallways of Sixfields again

[HertsCobbler]

Pretty much, Gray's loan record was superb even during the relegation season e.g. Kyle Walker and to an extent Andy Todd.  It was at the end he lost it with Vernon, Prijovic and the bizarre use of Billy Clarke.

[RussNTFC]

Billy Clarke? Ipswich use him as a midfielder!

[Power Football]

"Ian Sampson continues to impress me immensely, he's just an honest straight talking guy, he knows we have had to work within a tight budget this season but he doesn't moan he just gets on with it and with Malcolm Crosby who is a fantastic coach backing him up I think we have got a great management team." D. Cardoza

No wonder Gray lasted 6 months longer than he should have done if our Chairman is that easily pleased.....

[New Dawn Fades]

With a budget as tight as we have,with some players still on league one wages and some of our squad clearly not interested in playing for sammo is it any suprise that we have had a difficult start to the season?
We dont have any money to replace them,wages or otherwise.
We never have.
The big money signings of the past were more than likely made with money that we simply borrowed.
When we sign players that wouldnt look out of place at Kingsthorpe rec we know how tight cash is at the moment.
We have to make do.simple

[GrangeParkCobbler]

Yep, making do will bring success on the pitch, and making do will bring the fans flooding back through the turnstiles!

The bigger question is where is the club going under the present regime? Where will we be in two, three, five years time??

[DustCobb]

The problem is nobody will buy Cardoza out....

[Power Football]

The bigger question is where is the club going under the present regime? Where will we be in two, three, five years time??

Absolutely.

[irishman7_uk]

With a budget as tight as we have,with some players still on league one wages and some of our squad clearly not interested in playing for sammo is it any suprise that we have had a difficult start to the season?
We dont have any money to replace them,wages or otherwise.
We never have.
The big money signings of the past were more than likely made with money that we simply borrowed.
When we sign players that wouldnt look out of place at Kingsthorpe rec we know how tight cash is at the moment.
We have to make do.simple

I don't think we have players who clearly are not interested in playing for Sammo.  In the past maybe but not now.  Guinan for example is simply not good enough but puts the effort in as I think they all do.  Hinton is someone who would be gad to put ona  shirt but clearly his body is also giving up.

The budget is tight but its hardly the end of the world for a league two team.  How many League Two teams have a right back as good as Johnson?  A midfield which includes a player as talented as Thornton?  Liam Davies although a frustrating arse clearly a top player, Wedderburn from a premiership team, even Osman who is better than League Two.

The team is underperforming again and needs to improve quickly.  The big error Sammo has made is not bringing in anotherr striker and the one he did he doesnt seem to rate.  He has gone on about how important it was but then missed out on 101 strikers.  Sammo's decision to put the budget elsewhere.  Looking like the wrong move at the moment.

[dazza]

 The big error Sammo has made is not bringing in anotherr striker and the one he did he doesnt seem to rate.  He has gone on about how important it was but then missed out on 101 strikers.  Sammo's decision to put the budget elsewhere.  Looking like the wrong move at the moment.

Its not a big error its a massive error. If we cant score goals what chance have we got. I know its still early days but it is so obvious for everybody to see.

[The South Side]

I think the thing that irritates me are these comments about players being at the club by Tuesday - then they aren't. Unless it's a nailed-on certainty that we have signings "in the bag", then it's better to say nothing.

There's nothing worse than raising people's hopes only to dash them - not for the first time. The more you do that, the more your credibility dips.

The bottom line is that we are still a striker short: we don't know whether Purcell is any good or not yet because we haven't seen enough of him, but the little I have seen, there hasn't been anything much there that has impressed me. And if Sampson is picking Guinan ahead of him, that speaks volumes.

The central defence is also a nightmare. I'd like to see Harris given a couple of games to see whether he can cut it. Holt is decent in the air but not so good on the floor; and Beckwith, who when he first played for us at the start of last season I thought looked ok, seems to have become slower and slower. I actually thought Hinton improved as last season progressed: what didn't help him in his first few games was that he was being played out of position. But it appears that he is out of favour with the manager, whether he should command a starting slot or not. Bottom line here is we need someone with a bit of speed to slot in the middle of that back four.

Now that we have waved goodbye to Tuesday with nothing happening (as usual) all we have to "look forward" to are a couple of loan signings. If we're lucky.

[GrangeParkCobbler]

More loanees?? You know, I'm sure I heard a certain someone say we wouldn't go down that route again!!