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I think that Grimes getting a >2 week break between games will do him the world of good, especially given his track record of longevity. I just don’t have the same level of concern, nothing more dramatic than that.

So you’re predicting no promotion if we don’t sign any more players?

So you think we’re signing a Grimes replacement this month? I just don’t see it. The bookies have us at 1/4 for promotion and Opta puts our chances at 90%. Are they wrong?

I think we’ve had a rough few weeks both in terms of performances and absences, but we have key players soon to return, two strong new signings in a position of need, and over the totality of the season we’ve been anything but shite.

I think the knock-on effect of adding two wingers means we won’t have to switch formations or shunt players out of position to give people like EMC and Tats a rest. That on its own gives us a lot more flexibility and backup options in CM.

Would refer you to my post from 2:06 All I’ll add is that I clearly think the risk of us not getting promoted is much much smaller than most people apparently think.

Which is lovely for them - I believe they were working under a slightly different financial reality to us, but no doubt a £1 million comfort blanket is lovely. I think the point remains that it’s not unreasonable to think that spending seven figure sums on largely superfluous backup players...

I’m not even saying don’t spend - I’ve said many times that new signings that are in a position of urgent need and/or can help us out next season in the Premier League are worthwhile. What I don’t want to do is tie ourselves down with long-term signings we know won’t be good enough in 20 games...

So no then?

Because of those 41 minutes?

I personally feel like the midfield has been consistently very good (if not great) all season, even with key injuries throughout the year. We’ve had three rough games no doubt - I’m not sure that means we’re “running on empty” to the extent that we need to break up the midfield that’s currently...

Sounds to me like there’s a good case to be made that it was an unnecessary signing then?

Who was that?

Well that’s what you’re suggesting! I think Austin has earned our trust but it’s far from impossible - how much are we about to write off on Bassette?

I agree with you - I just think it’s pretty clear that the Dan Neils of this world don’t fit either of those categories. Taking a £5 million hit for the sake of <20 Championship games seems like dodgy business to me. Is our midfield THAT bad?

2.0 is (almost certainly) a Premier League team. History shows that promoted teams who stack their squad with top Championship players rather than genuine PL-calibre talent don’t fare well, hence why talk of Dan Neil etc gives me pause

Various people over the past few weeks have talked about a backup. I’m all for splashing the cash on CCFC 2.0 but unless they’re going to make an impact from the jump then I think there’s limited benefit to doing it now rather than in the summer.

If we’re going to sign a permanent CM it needs to be someone who is a guaranteed PL starter and can hit the ground running - with 20 games left we don’t have the luxury of waiting five or six games for them to get up to speed. I don’t see the point of a permanent backup who will be obsolete in...

I can see why it makes sense for O’Nein from a playing time perspective, I just don’t see why it makes sense for us.

I still don’t see how he starts 10 games for us this season, even if he signed tomorrow.