It was fairly obvious that we were trying to sign a striker that fell through at the last minute so our failure to provide cover for Benteke was not down to budgetary reasons but was due to planning etc

Sakho is more than just another CB he is someone who clearly lifted spirits and confidence when he was here before and I almost wonder whether he may have influenced our improved performance yesterday. The big question is, once Sakho is fit, who does he replace? TFM looks a quality player and is very quick, but Dann is returning to form and has experience and goals in him. My choice would be to push TFM wide and Sakho replace Ward

The fact that Palace apparently went in for the Turkish lad (Tosun) at the last minute as well as Niassie makes me wonder whether another deal fell through, or whether Parish was juggling. Without Parish coming out and explaining his masterplan we can't possibly know whether it is his/the boards fault that we only have one fit striker (barring Ladapo).

I think SP tweet is just an attempt to appease fans who are increasingly seeing him as a problem rather than an asset. of course Sakho was needed at the back as we have one of the weakest and far to many aged defenders who are very slow and make to many mistakes. The fact is yes we looked better yesterday but we still lost against a team that were expected by most to be in the relegation fight come next May, we have now lost three games to our future potential relegation rivals. Yesterday we had many chances yet could not convert one. From the current team I cannot see where goals are going to come from and it interesting that although CB looked to be running around a bit more than usual he still only rated 4 for his match performance in the press as did Dann and the rest were not rated much better?

Several people said just that. It was too much money and it would be better to look elsewhere and strengthen the team more broadly.

If you come to a fork in the road, take it.

Don't forget we renewed Delaney, Mutch (last year bizarrely), Williams, Speroni. It's no wonder money is tight, if you blow a bunch on people who wont actually play.

If you come to a fork in the road, take it.

He signed him because 1) he was brilliant for us last season b) we are in desperate need of a quality CB c) everyone at the club wanted him, and d) he knew FDB was going to be released from his duties in a matter of days / weeks ... makes total sense to me!