The problem that doesn't seem to have been factored into all the talk about improving recruitment and in particular this European scouting stuff is that everyone else does it. The way some people talk you'd think we're breaking new ground here by investing in recruitment and sending scouts to the continent. Every other club in the top two divisions and probably plenty below send people on scouting trips all over the world and invest heavily in it and have been doing for years. So whilst better value for money can arguably be found in Europe, the reality is everyone is on the lookout and competing for the gems. You have to be armed with big money/helpful agents (Wolves, Forest) or be really good at it (Huddersfield, Norwich). We're neither. The fact it's taken 2 years of Mowbray's management to get to a stage where we're getting excited because someone, maybe Mowbray, went to watch a game in Holland a couple of months ago shows how far behind we are. The club has been neglected for years in an attempt to save a few quid but the short-termism of that approach means we're now having to re-invest over a sustained period to even contemplate catching up to other Championship sides who all have this sort of thing in place and have done for years. It was never needed/used from Bowyer onwards. Firstly because Bowyer's focus, rightly or wrongly, was on those players he had come across previously or were recommended by his dad/friends, and ever since then there has been no serious intention to utilise the European market for the benefit of the club. What needs to happen, of course, is that we should have had a competent and empowered Director of Football who would oversee such a scouting operation and be tasked with ensuring we were delivering on that over a sustained period of time regardless of the man in the dugout on matchday. It seems Mowbray has taken that responsibility on himself but of course he should be focusing on coaching and matchday not overall recruitment. Recruitment is a never ending process that should exist partly in tandem with the manager but also be independent and continue when the manager leaves or gets sacked, which like it or not could happen at a moment's notice. All in all we're about 5-10 years behind the times when it comes to the operation of things. We can get away with it so long as Mowbray continues to deliver good enough results to keep us going. After that i dread to imagine.

No mention of replacement u23 managers. With Dunn and now Johnson gone we will surely need to recruit an external coach to drive the u23s on in the tough competitions next season.

Looks very similar there to the relegation shirts of 2011-12 and 2016-17. Hopefully there's more to it than just a repeat of those.

This is the crux of it. The argument from those that refuse to criticise the club will be that other clubs haven't done a lot of business. Well that's alright then. Nothing to be concerned about and everything is great because some other clubs haven't signed many players yet either. We had a 2 month window between March and May to get everything sorted in time to hit the ground running yet here we are in July with 1 free agent in the building and a weaker squad than last season. Mowbray's talk of better players, European scouting, new defenders and getting them in ready for pre season all haven't happened. Is that because of 'the market' or because of our owners? The Davenport one is just to remind people he's here to try and deflect from a lack of incomings this summer. Either way there's no evidence he's good enough for what we need. I hope he is but a dozen games at relegated Burton more than a year ago doesn't prove anything.

Think I'd believe Nixon over that dingle.

The Bristol City comparison ignores the fact that the majority of their business has been low cost and sensible spending, often funded by selling their players and sensibly reinvesting the proceeds. Example being Bobby Reid to Cardiff. To suggest they are financially in another league to us isn't really right. As Waggott has confirmed our wage bill is competitive in this league and we had a net spend of £10 million last summer without selling anyone. If we went down their route and sold players for big money then we could spend similar amounts, but we all know deep down that when the sales come here the cash will disappear as it has in the past and we won't use the cash to strengthen.

Someone mentioned Tomas Kalas the other day. He joined Bristol City today.

Did they? I remember someone saying that they had authority to reallocate funds between wages and transfer fees. Last summer they stumped up quite a bit for fees but with the possible exception of Armstrong I don't think the wages were much to commit to. So this time round if we want better players who will of course expect more money then the inference is that it can be done but at the expense of transfer fees. Hey presto Stewart Downing on a free. I still stick by my belief that the Brereton money wasnt there all summer and only materialised in the latter stages of the summer window hence Mowbray panicking.

No, I don't believe we'll have 10 million to spend and don't believe we'll get 3 million for Raya. If we did it would be: Up to 2 million for a new GK, up to 3 million for a new CB, then the remaining 8 million divided between a new CF and a CM. Ain't going to happen though.

Personally I won't lose any sleep either way. I'm not particularly comfortable with selling an academy product to an outfit like Brentford but at the same time he's replaceable. I just find it strange. Can we do better? Yes. But for the money Brentford will pay I'm sure dumping Leutwiler and having Raya competing with a decent keeper would be more sensible from a footballing perspective. But it seems what we want is a cast iron keeper who will be in the team every week then a backup who isn't serious competition but is cheap.

Ask yourself what is cheaper and easier. Selling Raya for a couple of million and bringing in a more experienced goalkeeper for free or on loan. Signing proven defenders better than what we have whilst telling Mulgrew and William's to go and sit on the bench as they enter the 2nd year of their new contracts.

Anybody heard anything about Bury? Last time I checked we were their only pre season fixture and their staff were being told to stay away from Gigg Lane. Could that one be in doubt?

Well we will find out this season. If the defence continues to leak like a sieve then I'll be blaming the manager and coaching staff rather than the multitude of players through the doors. Mowbray's had plenty of time and cash to do what he needs to do to improve the goals against column, let's see if he does. It was our Achilles heel all last season. Lets just say I'm not particularly optimistic given his record elsewhere of this happening. My view is that Mowbray thinks getting a couple of million in for Raya who can be replaced by a free agent or loan will impress his bosses, bring in a bit of cash and potentially add to his budget to sign players elsewhere. As before the developing players to sell for profits concept is fine if selling for good money to higher clubs but selling for little to rival Championship sides does concern me.

Not a chance will Brentford be committing themselves to that sort of money for a goalkeeper IMO. There could well be a hefty sell on percentage coming our way but initial guaranteed payment I reckon 2 million at the very most. Suspect Rovers will attempt to head off any unrest from supporters by announcing it as undisclosed and putting stuff out in the Telegraph to make people believe we're getting a bigger amount than we actually are.

He won't be going to Brentford for 4 or 5 million. I'd be surprised if they would go to 2 million.

Leutwiler was brought to the club to make up the numbers and sit on the bench every week, and given his previous clubs i suspect he's on peanuts compared to most goalkeepers these days. Happy days all around then. Happy to sit on the bench without causing any aggro and happy to take his salary which will still be a considerable increase on what Shrewsbury were paying him. I'm not criticizing Leutwiler for that, nor am i questioning his professionalism. No surprises that we're happy to hand him another season. Boxes off the worry of a back-up keeper being needed without upsetting any apple carts or adding more to the wage bill. Of course if we really want to get anywhere we need to be doing better but it seems the focus here is more on financial concerns and avoiding bringing in anyone who 'might' upset the camaraderie.

Gallagher in and Nuttall out would be a positive step in my opinion. It would be an improvement. I'll be on the whole pleased if we get him in on a permanent quickly. Get him up to speed and ready for regular games. The crux then from an attacking point of view is going to be keeping Dack and protecting Graham. Then focus our energies on defence and midfield where more serious work needs to be done.

Not seen many Villa fans in uproar about 'selling' their historic ground to their owners to circumvent the rules and win promotion. Nothing stopping their owners from selling it back for a pound now they've got where they want to be. Some just want to hide behind the rules, others find ways around them.

Apparently his girlfriend didn't like being Up North so on that basis his career will be restricted to clubs in England south of Birmingham. Will be a shame for the lad if Everton or Man Utd offered him a deal but he had to turn it down. As with 99% of professionals if we make the right offer he's available. Think we can safely say that's the issue.

When your manager is describing Middlesbrough and Stoke as huge clubs to try and compete against and presumably relaying that attitude back to the Indian idiots and we are keeping Leutwiler and Gladwin whilst selling Raya to Brentford it's hard not to have low expectations. We'll do well to survive without significant improvements.

Anyone expecting a 'big fee' by selling Raya to Brentford is mistaken. Brentford don't pay big money or wages for players so I have to say I'm perplexed by this one. I'm not too fussed about losing him but fail to see where there's any serious benefit from our point of view. If we want to strengthen the GK position surely we get rid of Leutwiler and have Raya competing with a new arrival. And yes, Brentford tend to be very good at picking up players and making them much better so it wouldn't surprise me to see him thrive under better coaching. Presumably Mowbray's solution to our pitiful defensive record is to sell Raya, bring in someone on a free or loan, make a small profit whilst leaving the defence largely intact. Easier and cheaper than upsetting more experienced players who won't attract serious interest from elsewhere.

I suppose it depends with Gallagher. There's clearly something to work with there and he ticks a lot of boxes. He did quite well in our relegation season, knows the club, should be entering the best years of his career. If we are buying him outright he could be an asset for us and we might be able to build around him moving forward. However, if it's just on loan again it just feels to me like we're just kicking the can down the road. All this talk about scouting and there's no evidence anything has actually happened. All our rumoured targets are either Mowbray's mates or ex players. If he's arriving imminently at least he should get pre season under his belt and be ready to play from the word go rather than last minute.com as in previous years. Fully expect Mowbray to decide he should be playing in midfield and spend the season converting him mind.

I see Newcastle have gone with a new strip with their Crest on the middle of the shirt. Never really understood why we haven't done that before. Would be a nice change, make the shirt more symmetrical, drum up a bit of interest.

No pre season games, no season tickets, hardly any players and coaching staff don't know if they'll be there. Still no news on a punishment for not playing Brentford when the fixture was set or then rearranging it. More points deducted surely.

I was surprised when O'Neill got the Forest job given their owners reputation and past. It seems the owner felt getting a club legend in would galvanise them and win over the supporters but it hasn't really happened. He's probably finished in management now. Suspect there was a bust up of sorts with Keane leaving last week or he knew the axe was coming. All good for us IMO. Another club unstable and chaotic to go with Birmingham, Hull, Charlton, soon to be Derby. Inexperienced managers at Fulham, Huddersfield, Middlesbrough, Swansea could go any way. Great opportunity for a stable well run club to come through this season and challenge. Will that be us? Doubt it unless there's a radical change in approach.