Essjayess

Of course they can be caught but no denying they are the two best sides in this division thus far and catching them means either or both need to have a quite lengthy loss of form of course. Writing this purely as a football fan and realist Town were always, at some point, going to have a period where they overtook us but the question remains for how long and what will be the gulf between the two clubs...remembering how long we lauded it over them and that they spent four seasons in L1. The gulf in class between L1 and the Championship is miniscule compared to the chasm between Champs and Premier...just look how Burnley ran away with the Champs title yet they and the other two promoted sides already find themselves in the bottom four of the Premier. So should Town actually get promted to the big league they will have deserved it and brought fast delight to their long suffering fans but with or without their current boss they may finally find out for themselves how tough the Prem is nowadays and its been decades since last they were there.

This in a nutshell. The only hope of top 6 at best was if Josh and Barnes were to stay injury free..but every season in the last few years weve been plagued with injuries and often long term. Be realistic..we are back to where we were the last 10 games of last season...worryingly there are way over 30 more to go...its now a battle to avoid the bottom 6 and claw our way into mid table...form over the past few seasons show when this club starts a bad run its a long one...its now a dog eat dog situation just to finish where we were last season..if you dont believe that you are blinkered.

Whew we needed those 3 points, cant see us getting anything off Leicester who look likely to do a Burnley of last season and be heads above all the rest in this league. Already evident how much we are missing Josh up front, the next few months i feel we will be mid table, just cant see any better than that.

Its laughable anyone trying to compare what Omo may have been sold for back in January compared to now..there are so many unknown factors involved that it simply cannot be compared unless our name is Stuart Webber. What was Omo's transfer fee that never happened anyway compared to?..Ben Godfrey's sale to Everton?..do any of us know Godfreys exact up front fee or the exact amount of any add ons City have received from that fee?..Do any of us know what the transfer fee in January that never happened in January was made up of, for example up front money and add ons? Do any of us know that a transfer fee that never happened for a player will be idenical 8 or 9 months down the line?...i could go on but you get the point

Not really..Hwang has been brought in as a whole season long loan, not just until January...so while Josh has presumably not seen a specialist yet...presumably because his ankle is so bad the swelling still has not receded enough..the early prognosis , as stated by DW, is that its a months long injury...whether its 3 months or 5 or 7 months etc..yes im presuming but wouldnt be surprised if its along these lines.

What were you expecting on deadline day?...for City to spend millions on players with potential calibre?..be realistic..we started the season with a pedigree of mid table Champs and with parachute money ending after this season. The only way to go was for free transfers and to make some decent millions from the likes of Aarons and Omo. Batth has signed for 1 year and option for another if this season goes tail end up and im sure he wont let us down...its early season but have Barnes and Duffy let us down as yet? Its going to be a long tough season and teres nothing better than having good seasoned pros in the side to help the younger ones...lets see how it goes...by some amazing luck we get promoted THEN we can jettison Batth and buy some younger and proven assests.

Nottingham media saying the Omo transfer is 11 million..so if its ever going to get near 20 mill thats a possible 9 mill in add ons....hmmmm.

I agree Branston. We ended last season a mid table Champs side...have started well this season and selling Omo for 15-20 mill is good business. Weve Warner around and young Tomkinson has been loaned to get some experience. Its all about the here and now...if this helps us get promoted against all the odds then next Summer we can worry about another rebuild for Prem reality.

Connor's last sentence a bit worrying...NCFC now racing to find a replacement...i dont like that "to find" part...feels like its far from near to get someone in...deary me...all this past few days worry about finding a striker to cover Josh's injury and now its back to our old and usual achilles heel...CB shortages. Wonderful.

oh cmon CW...60 points potentially at risk coz Josh is injured and we may not be able to replace him?...60 points?...you dont seem to have any confidence in the rest of our squad then by the sounds of that.

Have to agree with you Indy. Also our squad have made a great start, most of them gone thru pre season and started the first bunch of games...Josh is a loss yes, but our squad have totally transformed from last season when we couldnt score, couldnt win, even at home, had no confidence and only backwards momentum...to a free scoring squad oozing confidence and playing entertaining footy...our squad...not just Josh. Bringing in a lump like Lowe would not have tasted this. Most clubs in the Champs will get players injured during this season...most with 1 or 2 long term ones...at varying times..thats football. Lets see how the lads do at Rotherham then we can have a breather and discuss all this nonsense again for another 2 weeks.

How times have changed, one injury to one player, Josh, and we get all this tactictical chit chat amid waiting to see if or not we get cover brought in...when we already have it, albeit no one can do exactly what Josh does. Gone are the days when City had an injury during a match and only had Supersub Trevor Howard to bring on..players were shunted around but all we needed was 11 on the pitch...and to think these days we have a bench of 9 guys. Just from between the lines, thought Bmuff were looking for a fee for Moore and only then if they could bring in another striker first...idk. Anyways, maybe City have other options on rader, away from media spotlights, would'nt be the first time. Oomph, roll on 11pm, with or without any new addition.

Why mention Nunez and Gibbs?...we have Idah and Barnes...if one of those get injured tween now and January then Fassnacht could be put there...or Rowe when Sainz comes in...i dont know...we know none are like Josh..but of course a Moore type guy would be helpful but even if we could not get a loan in by tonight...which is a big possibility..then we go with what we have and i trust DW to be able to switcheroo a few guys around but still keep our momentum going. Im sure the club are doing all they can to bring in temporary cover but sometimes it just does'nt happen.

Seems my brain was already in Friday night when it was Thursday night..my bad...one of those weeks. We still have a bit of time then...but if nothing changes then my thoughts remain the same...plenty to look forward to.

So just under an hour to go then we can put this topic to bed thank goodness. No more additions , but perhaps was to be expected. Good news is Omo is still here, as is Sara, even Josh (ya hes out for a good while but will be back) If, as looking likely, we go with what we have, am still confident for the season, long as we remain playing entertaining stuff, scoring goals etc etc. Guys like Dimi and PP are like new players, weve still got Sainz to play his first game and Rowe has been a revelation. The Summer transfer window overall has felt like a success and the first few games of this season has been gobsmackingly different to the final games of last season. OTBC.

Indeed Indy, but we are talking a striker...when really its a raplacement for Sarge...who is way more than just a striker. We are not in a position so far this season to just need find a guy who will just bang goals in...which are coming from all over the place..we are not hunting a Teemu replacement. Makes us realise that honestly, Josh offers so much that if and whoever we bring in..its just more a case of either Barnes or Idah getting injured weve another guy there.

or neither...could be that Sheff. Wed are in advanced negotiations with Lowe but who knows..and if Leicester and Soton are in for Cannon..i still think we could draw a blank .

they are just joining the 4 or 5 other Champs sides, inc. us, to be rumoured to be after him. Gotta love the final days merry go round when in all is said and done, will prolly end up with a quiet day.

Agree with this, but the club never do say much, they only release the news once a guys actually signed, naturally. We dont have hardly any concrete evidence about City bidding for Cannon other than the usual media outlet rumours. Sam Seaman only descibed it as "interesting" and Goodison News saying a Norwich bid needs to be "imaginative"...make of that what you will. Everton recently splashed 15mill on a youngster from Sporting Lisbon according to the same source, and as a Prem club with no urgency to sell Cannon, plus it being the last few hours of the window, any confirmed deal for this guy, even interest, is, right now just up in the air waffle. Not long to wait, but not holding my breath.

So nuts. He may or may not need surgery, but in anycase even if the ankle heals well within a few weeks he will need a few more weeks in training to strengthen it and so on..its going to be months..but if you are willing to do a random wager for him to complete a remarkably speedy recovery then all i can say is gl with that.

Sadly this was what i was expecting, purely based on to many fans thinking maybe a couple weeks to a month or two..i posted earlier if it should become 3 to 6 months then surely we do need another striker in...but its a hard call maybe for DW as the goals are coming from such a mix of guys..but whatever its decided there is very little time left. But months and months with only 2 recognised strikers feels like a real gamble to me.

Suppose it was only obvious we would be linked to such players in these last days of the window, maybe a few more gossip rumours will surface, but good to see them being rubbished so fast locally. Really do think what Wagner alluded to will happen, that we will go with what he have..especially if Josh is only out for a month or two. If its super serious as Wagmer put it, then maybe...but im figuring that would be if Josh is out say for 3-6 months...all random summising but im sure we will know soon enough.

Josh's work rate and dynamism is really going to be missed, but then Wagner has got our team into such a dynamic force that the same can be said for so many of our players if they suffer an injury...Sara, Rowe...the full backs Dimi and Stacey...heck almost any of them. Whatever the outcome...weeks or months...for Josh's injury, we just have to believe that all clubs in this division will get similar blows and things equal out.

Poor topic header though...no City fan hates Idah..hate in caps to...much to strong a word. Anyways, all the best Adam, also to Josh on his road ro recovery. An international break or two helps with the injured not missing as many games to maybe...its a long old season and hopefully Josh will still have many games ahead to ply his trade.

What a way to get the injury to...never stopped giving up..getting that ball into the net then crashing down badly..Sarge is the man. We all hope its short term but if its serious and months and months of sidelined then it is just so sad for Josh and City, but wish Josh all the best for a speedy recovery. Over to you Adam, now youve the chance to stamp your name.