Owls winger Antonio out for season

Terrible stroke of luck. Bad for the player, bad for the squad, and potentially harmful to our chances of survival. I'd always prefer to think that some good could come from adversity and that one man's misfortune is another's opportunity. But if that were the case I'd have expected DJ to offer some public support for those players who may well benefit over the coming weeks, the likes of JJ, Maguire, Madine and even Pecnik (remember him?). But something tells me Antonio's absence might well be used as a convenient excuse should our season suddenly go t*ts up. I mean, it wasn't DJ's fault, was it? He's already outlined the problems of further panic loan signings by referring to those players available as either 'unwanted by their parent clubs' or else 'young, inexperienced and prone to make mistakes'. Seems to me like the excuses are already stacking up, just in case. It's times like this when a squad ought to close ranks and fight together towards a common goal. Hardly likely to happen when players such as CO'G & Lines are no longer available, not because of injury though, but because our esteemed manager clearly believes they aren't good enough. Like so many others, it seems. So instead we'll probably 'rent' one or two who're probably short of match fitness and hope something gels. Is this the 'building process' in action then? Or storm repairs? It goes without saying that I hope whatever happens proves to be a success and we start next season in this division, but when you build something using borrowed materials the structure is likely to collapse once those bits and pieces are reclaimed. Then you're left with a pile of rubble and the need to start again from scratch. But apparently that's what you get when you employ Dave 'I'm A Builder' Jones. I mean, he's said it often enough so when are we allowed to judge progress?

At times we play the midfield three (Lee, Prutton & Pugh) too close to our back four, isolating Lita and relying entirely on Antonio & Helan's pace to offer anything close to creativity. A kind of 7-2-0-1! Did anyone else catch Rob Jones on TV the other night? (check out BBC iPlayer) Some names were synonymous with GM's team: Rob, Semedo, CO'G, Batth amongst them, while he also brought the best out of Madine. Rob says he left because he was being told he wasn't good enough. Hmm, am I the only one to see a pattern?

The only player who has played in absolutely every match in every competition this season. And hands down Player of the year for us. Bad news, but we knew it's going to be like that right after the Cardiff match.

Don't forget last season's top scorer, Radon. He'll occasionally get 10-12mins to prove he's still got it! I read a good point on another forum the other day, it said: How would Villa fans react if Lambert loaned either Benteke or Agbonlahor out to Wigan or Reading? The easiest answer is to say 'Don't be daft, it would never happen' but our manager obviously thinks such a move is a brilliant idea. So good in fact that we could dispense with a recall option altogether and should any of our own key players get injured then we'll simply dive back into the loan market and patch it up somehow. Now as much as I'd prefer CO'G to be a part of our squad for the run-in, I personally think we have enough strikers as it is without rent-a-misfit. We know Lita is capable, so if the goals keep drying up then perhaps supply is more of a problem than finishing. Let's see, who was top of the assists chart last season? Chris Lines? Oh. Please tell me we have a recall option on him. Like when Prutton picks up his next yellow card and then misses three games through suspension? Just a thought...