No, but I'm willing to bet nobody on this mb thought he'd be signed this week.

SHOULD be making. 'Should' does not mean 'yes'. Sorry, had to get a ThickOfIt quote out my system today.

Well bugger me with a spade and call me Fiona, where the hell did that one come from?! I like this no leaks style of business! On the face of it, a terrific first signing.

One of my favourite Rovers. Nice avatar!

In fairness I agree with this bit.

JAL, how do you get through the day? Everything seems very dark in your world.

Yes, how sad that a pulverised management is finally getting some recruitment...

Oh just do one, will you?

It's also how Sparky did business while here.

Because, as the business is in Blackburn, it makes sense that at least SOME board meetings happen locally. It's not that difficult mate.

One of my faves from that era. Scrappy little shit but on his day as skilful as any in the league.

Sounds good to me! More of a golden yellow than the mustard affair we had under the Keant.

Morocco giving it a go in all fairness.

I thought people in the UK liked Russ Abbott?

How the hell was that not another penalty?

So far a fantastic World Cup, loads of upsets!

Personally think this group of players will stand a better chance of getting to the semis than our golden generation did. Mostly because: 1- Many been managed by Gareth Southgate lower down the England setup. They know what he expects and what to expect from him. 2- Many of them are (or have been) teammates at club level, and not necessarily in teams full of egos and prima donnas. I think a dose of humility will do us good in this competition, especially as it has already lowered the pressure from our fans and media.

I read it as a halfway house between the traditional scouting model and moneyball.

I don't see where this so called pressure comes from. The context of the 'I would like signings in ready for pre-season' is just common sense. The tone in which it was delivered was along the lines of 'if not, then as soon as possible'. Only people inviting pressure are on this mb.

Hmmm, that does make sense. But it feels much more like cheating than taking advantage of the rules. I thought the moving ball rule applied to a ball in play, not a ball being dropped. As you say though, the rules (as far as I'm aware) have been fully applied so it's hard for me to objectively argue.

That documentary was a bit of an eye-opener for me. I didn't realise just how AWFULLY successive managers had been treated by the Press in the 90s. Nor did I realise what a @#/? Hoddle was.

Very disappointed in Mickelson and i hope he has the courage to admit wrongdoing and apologise.

He should be crucified for that!

Macheda at Utd. Now it's Macheda who?

By the end of June last year (in a year of rebuilding a squad) we signed a total of 4 players: Whitt, Smallwood, Dack, Gladwin. Whitt and Smallwood were easy as unwanted/out-of-contract. Gladwin was (I suspect) intended as Dack's back-up. So as we are now spending money (allegedly) I'd rather we took our time. I'd personally like to see at least 2 guys in by pre-season. Let's also not forget that the lack noise before transfers tends to correlate with better transfers for us.