Agreed, surprising or underwhelming does not necessarily mean failure. Of the 5 you mention 4 were free so the risk was minimised. Cunningham was surprising as he was bought for a decent fee in a position on the left where we had a good player and everybody thought we needed an upgrade at right back. I don’t think anyone saw the Bacuna move coming. He was also signed for a decent fee which the Reading fans seemed to be delighted about as being extremely good business. This season will tell if he was a good buy or not. Perhaps I should have added “mystifying” as a category for NW’s signings.