I've read about 20 posts on here from the last 24hrs debating whether the squad is slightly weaker or slightly stronger than this time last year and it seems to be pretty much a dead heat, very little to choose between, people making arguments either way. How the squad is only marginally stronger (at best) when we have brought in tens of millions over the last couple of seasons is criminal. Where on earth has that money gone?

The early miss was criminal. No panic though. Spain have been good but not great, this is within grasp

Yep, very sad one this. Was lucky enough to see them on their The End tour back in February 2017, though of course that was without Bill Ward, and I have done the pilgrimage to Mapledurham Water Mill near Reading for no reason other than that is the artwork that launched a music genre I adore. Probably the only helpful thing to have come out of the 2022 Commonwealth Games was the renewal in public awareness it seemed to give Sabbath after Ozzy and Tony performed at the closing ceremony, which embodied itself when the bull mascot was saved from scrap, renamed Ozzy by public vote and now resides as an utterly huge monument to him on the concourse of New Street station. After that came the Black Sabbath bench on the freshly-named Black Sabbath bridge on Broad Street, and, in the weeks leading up to the Villa Park gig, a mural right by New Street station, which was bedecked in flowers, photos and even a headstone when I dropped by after work last week. A particularly touching element was all the handwritten notes, some from countries thousands of miles away, paying tribute not only to his character, but the impact Sabbath, and the community of the genre they created, had had on them. It is very easy and indeed fun just to think of Ozzy and all his quotes and capers, but we should never forget the unfathomable influence particularly those first four albums had on music. I am happy at least that he survived to see the manifestation of that at Villa Park only a few weeks ago.

They price theirs well, sell 16k in league 1 and also still offer a flexi ticket once the full ST sales have maxed out. Here meanwhile they hike most prices, sell a measly 8k despite finishing just outside the top 6 in the Championship then hike the prices again once sales have maxed out. Idiots doesn't begin to describe it.

What hope. We all expected a load of underwhelming foreign cheapies that nobody wanted. That’s predominantly what we’ve got. I still expect 2 of the 3 contract expires to depart.

Quite probable they will cash in on Travis before the window shuts but I think Tronstad will be here for next season. Ismael said that Tronstad doesn't want to leave this summer and he ran his contract down at his previous club so I think he will give us one more season and then look at his options

the club is devoid of any ambition or will to succeed,it illustrates what a complete shambles it is when they let good players just run their contracts down and leave

Was always going to happen when we keep missing chances

It's hard to compare era to era, due to the quality of the opposition. Better coaching, diets, lack of smoking & drinking, etc. Either way, we certainly haven't seen anyone close to Shearer's levels in my lifetime, in that position. A one-off and we were lucky to have seen the best of him at Ewood.

That is true, but we have positions were our current first choice isnt very strong. It would make more sense if we then sold say Travis, or we then spent more on the attack as well. As it is, this conversation becomes hypothetical as I suspect he wont sign.

The White Stripes - Blue Orchid

I am as critical as most about the running of the club. But the conspiracy theory that you are proposing makes no sense. Why would they agree a fee and fly a player over only to essentially fabricate an injury? And for no one on the player or selling clubs side to seemingly contest it? I believe the reports that an issue was brought up with the medical. No reason to doubt it. Dont have a clue what that could have been exactly from a medical standpoint, but I dont think its as straightforward as well hes played 3 weeks later, it must be fake. Maybe hes playing with some sort of painkilling treatment, maybe the issue is a high risk of recurring injury. And where did you get 6 weeks from?

Fair play for travelling

LIV Golf can get in the bin for me, but always nice to have an obscure fan!

'Gilly' was a strange one. Think he had a 1 in 2 record for Huddersfield but seemed to struggle with his back but strangely, went on to play over 200 league games when he left Rovers! Read somewhere he's now one of football's dementia sufferers which is no surprise given he was an 'old fashioned' centre forward. West Ham certainly sold us a pup in Britt - think it was a training injury after a coming together with Bobby Moore. When we signed him, remember my dad saying to me during his first match 'we've signed a dud here' - to the experienced eye, it was clear he couldn't jump off his injured leg which was a bit limiting for a centre forward!

What a poor summer of recruitment it has been to date . So much for Rudy's talk of a rebuild. Very underwhelming signings and I can't say I'm confident we will see much better between here and the close of the window. It's the hope that kills you. Until we see an end to Venkys reign I can't see any hope for us poor suffering supporters. I made three trips to Ewood from the south east of Ireland last year and I'll probably do it again this year but my God it isn't easy with these owners.

Perhaps it was felt teams were ‘abusing’ the rule? Apparently runners haven’t been allowed in International cricket since 2011! edited to add - just found this ( ‘hitters’ 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️):

Cheers rigger and Merce.

Bobby Bell, to Palace.

Mate I'm sorry I just can't believe any of it. How can you have a stress fracture which could allegedly have long term problems and as we are made to believe desperate to join the club. But playing today? You genuinely believe he has a stress fracture, as reported in the media.

Bobby Bell! Came from Ipswich as part of the Allan Hunter deal and was then transferred to Crystal Palace after just 2 or 3 games for Rovers.

Yeah my thoughts as well would be that it might have been thought Travis and Tronstad were leaving at one point. Wrexham are now allegedly interested in one of the guys the guy we were interested in ( whose name escapes me) for £4m and ( Tin hat on) there never seems to be much interest in Tronstad so we might be safe for a bit.

3rd and 4th choice as things stand right now, but will be 1st and 2nd choice before too long.

Where have you seen that he was supposed to be out for 6 weeks? I am not going jump into conspiracy theories and suggest that there is no injury. If there was a medical question mark, a medical is more like a risk assessment as players sometimes sign for clubs with an injury. Not saying there is not some gamesmanship but it would make no sense to even bother flying him over for a medical if it was all some sort of masterplan to make it appear like we had more money than we do. Maybe the issue was that any injury concerns could come back in the future. My question marks around this deal still surrounding why it may be rumbling on, if it is, and whether trying to spend a decent chunk of our limited budget on what would be 3rd and 4th choice central midfielders was a wise plan.

Before my time but Britt was the one that rang a bell on this for me having read about it. Who was the player we bought and sold on immediately for a profit?