I'm far from convinced Lampard will be a success at Derby, but to be honest part of me hopes he is, if only because it might help assure other clubs that you can take a chance on inexperienced managers and succeed. Obviously if there's an experienced, recently successful manager available then that should always be the club's first choice, but if Lampard being a success helps break the merry-go-round of failed managers like Coyle taking post after post then I'm all for that.

I remember a few years ago when pretty much any mention of a certain JA in a negative context ran the risk of legal action for the site. Even more galling when we know most of those accusations were probably true. Still, with our current setup and management team I imagine agent preferences are the same as any other club. Most managers probably have agents they prefer to do business with and defer to for advice on availability, etc. It's only when it goes above the manager/DOF's head that it potentially becomes problematic.

My parents called earlier to let me know they were staying in the same hotel as the Rovers team. Unfortunately they didn't recognise any of them except Tony Mowbray my dad said he had a chat with a player who had "wavy black hair" and a Northern accent, I'm guessing Danny Graham, and said he was a top bloke. Sadly by the time they called me they were already back at their room, so I couldn't get them to ask anybody anything useful! A win today would be a huge boost in momentum going into the new season. I really think we have a chance today to put a marker down and show what we're about. Much like in previous seasons Ipswich are nothing to fear, especially now that McCarthy is gone. There will be no better time, imo, to take three points from Portman Road. Fingers crossed.

Very possible Dack will move on if he has another good season. Mulgrew's age and injury proneness will make him less likely to move on, imo. Will be interesting to see how he handles this season. Last time we were in the Championship Mulgrew struggled for fitness, so we'll see whether last season was a one off due to lesser demands or whether he genuinely is holding up better. I'd be surprised if Armstrong has such a good season that he'll be ready to move on by next season. I imagine he'll be here for a couple of years at least, he still has a lot to prove at this level, let alone any higher.

I think we have enough players who provide the same kind of qualities as Gallagher. I'd much rather we look at backup to Graham (a hold up type striker), a wide man and a centre back. Hell, I'd prioritise both right and left back over bringing in Sam Gallagher. Still think we're a bit weak in both areas should Nyambe or Williams/Bell pick up an injury. That's not to say I'd be disappointed if Gallagher was brought in, I just think we should be looking at other areas first.

Yep, would be pretty hilarious though if Joe Hart ended up being third choice goalkeeper at Burnley once they other two are fit again.

If it does go through then I believe Armstrong will be our highest paid (in terms of transfer fee) signing since Jordan Rhodes. Just a reminder of how utterly starved of funds we've been under Venky's (and yet still somehow making insane losses year after year).

I wish we'd made the same decision in 16/17 tbh. Lowe being named as Captain made an already shit situation even worse.

An article from the Ipswich Star asking reporters from all 24 clubs who is going up & down: http://www.ipswichstar.co.uk/sport/championship-season-preview-201819-1-5634413 Only one vote for Rovers out of the 24 from the Sheff Weds reporter.

To be honest, if I was a Town fan I'd be absolutely delighted with finishing mid table. All of your signings (except the lad from Chelsea U23's) have come from League One/Two, and your manager is also from League One. You can only fill the club up with so much lower league talent before you end up there. Best of luck for the season, Saturday and the return fixture excluded, but Ipswich have a real fight on their hands this season imo.

Worth noting that all of our defeats to Ipswich in the past few years were when they were under Mick McCarthy's management. Hurst will be desperate to get off to a good start, especially considering what happened last season, but I think he'll struggle there. First day of the season is always difficult to call. Would take a draw from this one and happily move on. We can definitely win here, though, if we're set up to do so.

He definitely had something, and if I remember correctly even had a few decent games in the PL with Swansea. Not sure what's happened since then. At 25 he isn't a youngster any more, so you have to think if he doesn't push on in the next year or two Championship/lower-PL will be his highest level. Still not a bad level to be at in fairness.

That was a good read, thanks. I didn't realise Forest had spent so much.

He could have been here for 56 games and it wouldn't have mattered, as I'm sure Josh King would attest. Just noticed Barrow is at Reading now. Thought he'd go on to do more.

Tbf Mo Barrow's lack of starts was mostly down to Bowyer's chronic fear of putting pace into the team.

I'm not sure. He's not the player he was. Honestly his career went into a downward spiral as soon as he left Rovers. Not so much money wise, he made a lot of money from a lot of stupid people, but in terms of talent he seemed to leave most of it here in 2012. With him I think it was very much a case of right place, right time with the right team. Much like Bentley's return, I don't think the magic would be there a second time around.

One of the handful of consolations we have about the club present day is that it's very unlikely it'll ever be as bad as those first two years or so. Has to be one of the most toxic eras that any club has seen. If only we could get rid of Venky's and completely drain the poison. Still, as long as they keep quiet and back Mowbray that will do for now.

The pub JH is referring to is fittingly called "The Station Hotel/Pub" and literally directly opposite the train station. Impossible to miss, although you might have to wait a while to cross as this area is also home to one of Ipswich's many horrendous junctions. You can see Portman Road from there so it's very close. I think the pub Oldgregg is referring to is McGuinty's, which is a bit further away although still not that far. There's a ton of bars/pubs around that general area but nowadays I'm not sure which ones admit away fans. I imagine most of them do, though, as the pub trade isn't exactly booming around here.

Fortunately we haven't seen that level of incompetence since we sold Samba outside of the transfer window in 2012 (unless I'm forgetting someone in between).

I sincerely hope you're right. Fingers crossed we start the season with Armstrong, Chapman and a few other players of genuine quality to really give this squad competition for places and a bit of much needed depth.

Agreed. I'd be happy to have Armstrong and Chapman here as I think the pair of them would bolster the squad nicely, but I'm not sure there needs to be any suggestion we're aiming higher. Obviously if we are then that's great, but there's just no need to say it publicly. We just need to do as we usually do under Mowbray and get our business done under the radar. Should we make a couple of even better signings then that's fantastic, if we do end up with Armstrong and Chapman then most of us would be perfectly happy with that. The only frustration would be if we ended up with nobody, or more loaned youngsters as in the 16/17 season who either aren't able or aren't willing to contribute enough. As it stands I trust Mowbray to ultimately get it right. I'll be anxious until the end of the window, though, as the owners have screwed us and other managers over so many times in the recent past.

The problem is that if Mowbray was referring to Chapman and Armstrong as "D" signings, then it's going to make it a bit underwhelming if we do end up signing them as the thought will now be that we could have gotten better but for whatever reason didn't. It might also make it harder to sign either Chapman or Armstrong if they don't think Mowbray rates them and know they'd be coming in as "last resort" signings. Not sure it's necessary to put stuff like this out in public, unless Mowbray is very confident we will get better.

As far as free transfers go they aren't bad, but I imagine Bolton will be fighting at the wrong end of the division this year no matter what - even with the midfield dynamo that is Jason Lowe marshaling the midfield.

Free transfers are generally free for a reason, especially if they're 30 or under, so chances are only a couple of Bolton's signings are likely to make much of an impact.

Mulgrew got caught out more than once last season defensively, so not baseless at all. If Mulgrew and Lenihan can strike up a good partnership then they should be able to make up for each other's weaknesses, but if one of them suffers a long term injury I would fear for us. Downing isn't Championship quality imo.