bozman

According to Robbo on LP, Dunne not fit yet and Klok and Erwin have only been back in training 1 day so unlikely to feature.

Just heard Robinson's interview on Latics Player. He said it's a registration embargo, not just a transfer embargo, so there was no option to extend Ladapo and Burgess as their original loan periods had ended. He did say though that Ladapo would not have been retained anyway and Burgess was 'a difficult one'. He said he's been told the embargo will be lifted early next week and he will look to bring people in then. Also hinted that a season long loanee may be returning to his parent club once the embargo is lifted.

Yes, it does seem familiar. Gives the impression there might be a stand off going on.Robbo is quoted in the press saying he's not quitting and if he goes that will be someone else's decision, whilst Corney does his best to make his job impossible, trying to encourage him to walk. Obviously there is no direct evidence that Corney is doing that, I'm just trying to read between the lines.

Agreed, they do both look like Corney signings. In which case he probably wouldn't want them to sign until the day before the next game to save himself a few extra quid. I seem to remember the first anybody knew about Gerrard signing last year was when he boarded the coach to Shrewsbury.

I spoke briefly yesterday to someone connected with another League 1 club. He said he believed that the club's embargo has been lifted but the club hasn't lifted the embargo on Robinson. I didn't get a chance to ask exactly what he meant by that e.g. Has Corney decided he will sign players himself or is Robinson on his way out so not being allowed to sign players ?

Just heard his interview . Says we'd have won if Billy Sharp was on our side. It's all about the strikers he said. Fair enough, ours aren't the best but I think he's overlooking the fact we don't create many chances for our strikers. Also seemed to suggest 2 of the loanees would be going back and 2 more coming in to replace them.

The clue that it is primarily a cost cutting measure is that it was Corney's decision. I think that player punishment for performance rather than disciplinary reasons is normally a matter for the management team.

Don't get too excited about anyone who might be coming in, in the transfer window on the basis of Robinson's comment in today's Chron: "we don't offer an attractive position at the moment at the bottom of the table." "You won't get someone who has played 25 games in League One, without a shadow of a doubt. But everyone you take in is a risk." "The players we brought in here, there wasn't a queue of clubs after them three weeks into the transfer window and we got the best of what was left."

I'm sure the holiday season is playing a part in the perceived apathy. I'll be on holiday on the 2nd so couldn't have attended but will go to any meeting on the 14th if there is one.

2016 - the year Corney gambled his last dollar on staying in League 1 and won, but suffered a terrible hangover afterwards. 2017 - the year the lower league 1 stagnation finally ends. Whether that is in a good way or a bad way, who knows. It looks like Corney won't /can't pull another rabbit out of the hat to stave off relegation by himself this season. He's never shown any ambition to get promoted since taking over on his own but has always said that survival in League 1 is crucial and has even said he' walk away if we go down.I think he understands things are different this time. The hardcore fans are finally starting to lose faith, we are bottom of the table playing the most unattractive football in living memory, under a tansfer embargo and with a stand he can't afford to finish building. Something is going to change this time. So will he find a new Chinese investor with more money than sense to take us to new heights or will he persuade Blitz to take a hit on his investment and sell to a local investor at a sensible price ? Or will those efforts fail and make him accept the inevitability of relegation to League 2 ? Either way, for once, I think a 15th - 20th place finish in league 1 and another groundhog season in 17/18 is now the least likely scenario.

Winchester did. Didn't see anyone else try.

No it doesn't. See my first sentence. That's my point really. Everyone else can see it so why can't Robinson? Actually, I'm sure he must see it, so the question is really, why isn't he doing anything about it? Several recent managers have shown that it's a tough job at our place. Where this guy stands out is that he is managing to combine poor results with the dullest, most insipid and negative style of football I can ever remember seeing at BP. It's quite some feat to knock 25% off the average crowd in half a season but he's managed it. Who can blame the stay aways? People go to games wanting to be entertained but these days a home game at BP comes with a rock solid guarantee that no excitement will be on offer. The price reduction has had no positive impact on gates at all for the simple reason that it still doesn't represent value for money for the product on offer.

I wouldn't want him as manager but he can clearly see what Robinson can't. Today he pointed out, quite rightly, that you can't put too much blame on the strikers when we don't create any chances for them. Other things he mentioned were our inability to create anything from the left side, that we never win the midfield battle and our vast collection of right backs. He also said our poor start was understandable due to the huge influx of new players but it's not a valid excuse anymore.

I found out last week that he is my friend's cousin. Apparently he works in the family business when he's not playing or training which is very successful. He is happy doing that and doesn't feel that move to a club lower than the Championship would make financial sense to him. I'm told there has been no shortage of interest from league 1 and 2 clubs.

How are you and Monty getting on?

Just seen the post match interviews. Apparenty Clarke asked to be interviewed to say that it wasn't the manager's fault. He said they were made fully aware of how Lincoln would play and they did exactly as expected but the players failed to do their jobs. Robinson said a couple of times that several of the players had proved they were not good enough for this level. Not sure if he meant League 1 or the National League.

Is changing the manager even an option? If we can't afford to pay the away ticket money, how could we afford to pay him and his staff off ? And even if we did, would a manager with any decent pedigree want to take the club on at the moment ? A few weeks ago, he sounded worried about his job in interviews. I don't get that vibe from him any more, almost like he knows we've no option but to stick with him. Having said that, I haven't heard last night's inteview yet.

OK. So please do share the benefit of your wisdom and explain how what he told NNN confirms that he wants £20 million for the whole thing? All he says is that he'll sell 75% of the club for 2.5 million and write off the clubs debts to Blitz in doing so. We know the club doesn't own the ground or land so has limited assets and that he'd want a substantial amount extra for that but how do we know it's £20 million?

The way I read it,what he's offering is effectively a settlement on the clubs debts to Blitz etc of £2.5m, so roughly circa 25%. But Blitz would retain ownership of the ground, surrounding land and physical assets. As these are not included in such a sale we have no real idea what they're looking for, for the whole package. It neither confirms or denies the £24m figure.

Although Mike Keegan was fairly forthright in his opinions he was also chosing his words carefully. I could be wrong, but it sounds to me like he knows more about the situation than he was prepared to reveal on the radio. It was intruiging that he mentioned that potential buyers had met resistance when attempting to carry out due dilligence. Some strange views from one of the callers, suggesting the best way forward would be to 'do a Chester' and disolve the club and form a new one. I know things are bad but they're not that bad yet!

Radio Manchester reporting that we owe Doncaster money too. Presumably their share of the FA Cup gate receipts.

He did say that he was dissapointed by how tame the questions were when he did this in the North Stand for the corporate guests, so may be he would be open to doing one of these with open access for all fans?

After recent developments, one way to sell more corporate hosiptality in the North Stand would be to put Corney on as the guest speaker again, with the format being an open question and answer session. I reckon it would be a sell out now.

Wouldn't it be ironic if Bury applied for a winding up order against us ? (assuming they are one of the clubs owed money). The withheld gate receipts are something that probably will be resolved by the FA Cup/Edmondson money. My bigger concern at the moment is the unspecified 'other issues' that Jack Dearden has refered to. We've no idea how significant these might be at this stage.

Aren't we due another quarterly update from the Trust ? It would be nice to hear their views on these issues.