January was a very strange transfer window, mainly bcos the official statements from the club did not match their actions - clearly wages have got a bit out of control and they spent big when Sam kept us up and needed to rein spending in - if they'd explained that big emergency spending was not viable given that the squad would improve enough once injured players returned, fine. But all the noises were that we were going to get front line players in while we had that mammoth injury crisis. Two of the three who came in were clearly not Roy's choice (Rakip and Jach) and if you include Sorloth that was three players brought in ready-made for a season in the Championship. It doesn't look like they're all singing from the same hymn sheet, the unstable nature of the market makes it difficult to predict and prepare so a bit of leeway needs to be allowed, and Roy's said money's tight - hopefully we can get a half decent midfielder in along with the return of Loftus Cheek and we'll be OK - add Antonio to that and we'd be positively thriving. Freedman showed what a good football brain he has when he was our rookie manager, but I get the feeling that he doesn't work that well with Roy - something does not quite add up, probably money's a bit tighter than the board like to admit and we're just trying to stay in the prem for three or four seasons before the new stand is up and paid for and then we can talk of mid-table seasons instead of constant surival battles, which for us would be that dangerous concept: 'the next level'.

There needs to be a steward's enquiry on what on earth we were doing signing this player. Can we not loan this guy out in case our scouts are actually worth their salt (and he actually can play).

He has looked awful. Why did we sign this guy?

Rakip, Sorloth and Jach. What a window.

Trump lost. Badly. Hahahahahahaha.

While in the Premier League, the only successful signing we've made from outside England is Luka (and Cabaye, though of course he had already played in the Premier League).* Our whole scouting department seems almost entirely useless if we struggle this badly to find anyone who hasn't already clearly established themselves in the Premier League.

*And the only other player who might arguably be called a success is Souare, who has never convinced me of his ability to be a first-choice PL left-back.

As I recently posted on another thread - 6 consecutive seasons in the Premier League and yet nothing seems to have improved in the scouting of players.

Add to that the consistent difficulty in doing transfer business in a timely fashion.

DF claimed that Sorloth was Roy's original target on the day the window opened in January, but even that deal was only done at the very last minute.

Old, Ungifted and White

I'm pleased to see this thread as in common with all CPFC employees there has to be transparency, accountability and a performance measure. The Director's salary is most probably 300k+ pa and while Roy and SP give account to the fans/media on a regular basis, this is not the case with DF. Has anyone seen or heard a statement from him regarding our transfer aspirations?? I have no doubt he regularly appears before and gives account to the Board but for someone in such an influential and important position, surely there must be some form of public-facing accountability?

"Deviance is a freedom enjoyed in a city of lightly engaged strangers"

I don't disagree there mate but the PL is a different beast due to the quality of players required. Couple that with the fact some of us still think he's a bit of a weasel means he's going to be properly scrutinized ... and rightly so based on the signings in January!