Our situation is no different to at least half the clubs in the Championship. It seems like there's a handful of clubs splashing money around, and the rest, of which we are one, are struggling to get deals over the line.
That said, I'm still not concerned. I've long thought that we should give our youngsters a chance, and that may well be the plan. They'll never develop into great players unless they get some first team action, so we have to bite the bullet at some point and take that gamble.
Also, it seems like the players we've actually going to bring in are under the radar. I heard nothing of Marshall until the deal was all but done, and McLeod only popped up yesterday when things are supposedly pretty well advanced. A lot of those we're supposedly linked to are just paper talk, so not getting them isn't really a concern.
Main targets (that we're talking abbot paying fees for) have their own reasons for not being done yet: Pompey are clinging on to Lowe for a better fee (can't blame them), but he's wanting to leave so history tells us it's only a matter of time, and Robinson's status was in the air to a point so we're waiting for Everton to make a decision. Not ideal but they're legit reasons not to do with the way Latics are handling things... Unless we want to simply cave and overpay for players.
Between our youngsters coming through who I hope will get some action, the squad we already have which isn't as bad as a lot of people make out, and a handful of decent signings: Marshall is an excellent one that will make a big difference not only in goal but his effect on organising the defence, as well as any still to come, I think we'll be fine. We won't be champions but we're good enough to be mid table. A year of experience at this level for Cook and the players will also help a lot.
As a club we've got a lot of form for not announcing targets and approaches until we know they're happening (for good reason given our budget and not wanting to highlight good players to other clubs). I'm not worried. I may be if we get no-one else, but we've still got plenty time to get deals away. Start of the season is the deadline, and I'm confident the club is working hard behind the scenes to get players who can make a real difference. I don't want to sign players for the sake of padding the squad. Every player we sign needs to bring something meaningful to the squad.
