It sure is loan-ly being Gerrard right now.

Do pardon the pun but some may remember our article earlier this month regarding claims of NSWE’s nervousness around placing too much transfer backing on Gerrard with such uncertainty swirling around the future of the manager.

Now the reports have a bit more meat on the bone:

* Short term has become medium term - unsurprisingly the day to day operational side of the club, perhaps focused on one individual, has lobbied for a stay of execution - but with Gerrard said to be under real scrutiny each game.

* Extreme unlikeliness of any permanent signings unless it is a universally positive player for the ‘project’ regardless of manager.

* Only loan deals to be executed - hence links with some relatively underwhelming players.

* Up to three months for Gerrard to improve, but at the latest an eve of World Cup backstop to have delivered clear progress.

The thinking is said to be that nine months is extended to twelve to provide a full year of opportunity for Gerrard whilst crucially ruling out a third transfer window under Gerrard should the worst happen and the current travails continue.

The idea presumably being to give the new boss at least some opportunity to reshape for the run to the end of the season.

Now we say that, in normal circumstances, it would be a hugely risky strategy as January is never a great time to buy but this year, given the mid-season World Cup, things could be somewhat more fluid - not least that new talent always gains profile at the WC.

That said a huge swathe of the fan base are highly sceptical of the manager already, something the owners are said to be well aware of, and so things could change far more quickly.

Certainly the language being used by media outlets is beginning to harden.

With such a critical game coming up on Sunday everything could look very different after the Bank Holiday but what isn’t going to change much is new faces rolling up at VP in the next seven days.