Chris Lakey hits the nail on the head

"...Norwich desperately needed the money; that the coffers are so devoid of serious cash that £400,000 simply couldn't be turned down, no matter how valuable the asset."

At the time Lewis was sold we stood one point off relegation. Roeder had to finance further transfer dealings somehow. As far as I can see the only saleable assets he had outside the first team were Brown and Lewis: so off they went.

Of course cash crises in January are nothing new: the next time Doncaster bangs on about how WE are disadvantaged against the clubs with parachute payments ponder this: just 8 months after WE exited the Premier League WE didn't have enough money to pay the £50,000 transfer fee for Robinson, or his wages. How did that happen? Who takes responsibility for that (answer: no-one, but let's blame Worthington, or ITV Digital).

But once again the real story gets hidden: it's not that Roeder let an England goalie go for £400,000 - it's that despite the Earnshaw and Etuhu transfers he still had to sell. Similarly the Adams story is manna from heaven: everyone is distracted by the idea that Roder is seeking vengeance on a club employee who pissed him off - when the important thing is that the club has embarked on the biggest round of redundancies since 1996 as part of which Adams's role has been abolished.

The trouble is that the club spin works: Doncaster hints that Derby made an illegal approach for Earnie, and Rob becomes the villain. The club say that Ashton wanted out and we all hate Deano. The simple truth is both players HAD to be sold.

We have, today, our weakest squad in 40 years (perhaps longer): Roeder again has to bring in at least half a dozen players, pray that money can be found somewhere - otherwise last season's reprieve will have been temporary.

Posted By: Mr Creosote, May 27, 11:12:36