JHRover

Do you think anyone at Rovers actually gives a stuff? I reckon Umbro could turn up with claret and blue zigzags and Rovers would sit back and allow it. Far easier to just sit back and let events unfold than kick off about it. Was it Preston who recently ditched their new away shirt because it was unpopular (much nicer than this). Wonder what odds on Rovers doing anything like that?

Agree, but even if you don't want to be tied to such a limited range there are many other colours that would be sensible and could look decent. Anything wrong with black, orange, gold, dark green, hell even pink would at least ensure no need for a 3rd kit and this rubbish.

We shouldn't need a 3rd kit. I can't think of a single club in England that has home colours that would clash with blue/white and our traditional away colours of red/yellow/orange. Absolutely dreadful effort and they expect people to pay 50 quid for it! I look forward to the day we have a kit supplier and commercial department with some sense. Look on the bright side! At least they won't have to go through the process of applying new sponsorship stickers to the yellow shirts. It was hard work when they had to stick on Crown Paint badges to the red and black halves because some idiot thought dark blue was a good away shirt. This time round just need to stick the yellows in the wash and good to go!

I doubt even that comes into it. My impression is they're on autopilot mode and just leave it until Umbro turn up and tell them what to do.

Unforgivable if we need a 3rd kit. Could almost understand it if we actually had a 3rd kit that was for sale and promoted in an effort to make money but the last few years we've just turned out in the kit from the season before. Sort of thing a non League outfit would do.

Diabolical. And to think it will almost certainly look worse with a big black sponsor stuck on the front. I'd say embarrassing but just another slap in the face to supporters really.

They're all mates. Not sure if it's a good thing or it's going too far. Bennett and Johnson are best mates from their Norwich days, Mowbray will know all the Middlesbrough lot, even the young lad White who joined last week is best mates with Adam Armstrong. Not suggesting its dodgy in any way, a lot of football operates on those sort of lines, but it would be refreshing to sign someone from somewhere that has actually been scouted and sought out rather than just people who are known to us.

Johnson, Butterfield and Carson. Looks like someone has been visiting Derby a lot recently.

It's set to be worn at Rangers on Sunday so you would expect they would need to have it out before then.

I imagine it's an insurance policy. Sell a midfielder or one gets seriously injured and we'll have a vacancy. Keeping him around the place for a few weeks will be loose change if we quickly need someone to step in and he's already here.

No, I didn't edit the bit about Gallagher. I said we'd used up the Raya money by buying Gallagher. Therefore we have spent but only what has been brought in through sales. Nowhere have I said no money would be spent. Only that we would make sure all or the vast majority was brought back through sales. I don't think we will see any money spent unless we sell someone else. Hence the focus now becoming loans which means we have to wait. Happy to be proven wrong but my sales before buys expectation is spot on so far. Interestingly I heard a name last night about a CB on loan who was playing in the Championship last season. No idea as to his capabilities but fits the loan model.

I commented once on page 436 to say that the outgoing wages of Downing, Reed and Palmer would go some way to offsetting the added wages of Downing and Johnson. I'm afraid you'll have to do better than that. Where have I said that we wouldn't spend any money this summer?

Anyone else bored/unimpressed by Mowbray's talk of 'changing the style' of our play? I'd just like us to get the basics right. Have a solid defence and a settled, well organised team where everyone knows their jobs inside out. This talk of changing things and moving people around fills me with dread when I look at Mowbray's background and this squad. I don't think it is clever or exciting to try and shoehorn players into different positions or to try and 'outwit' the opposition with attempts at various systems. Just a manager and team with a clear defined style of play and organisation will do for me. I think Mowbray sees himself as some sort of innovator. He can certainly overthink things. The success stories in this league are usually built on managers with a clear set way of playing who recruit for that purpose and coach their players to know it like the back of their hands. I don't have much faith in that here. I still think Mowbray has this underlying obsession with playing 5 defenders and last night shows that with Hart and Rankin Costello being groomed for those positions. The problem is every time he's tried it hasn't worked. Yet i still expect we'll get more attempts to the detriment of results. I worry some fans will embrace it because some love to see different formations, players and systems put to use.

On one of the photos, if you look closely, you can see the 'sponsor' stripe is basically a white sticker over the shirt. I think they'll be winding everyone up and a version without the sticker will be released before the season. Fair do's though they've gone to town with it by playing in it tonight and even convinced the FA that it's genuine. Also interesting how Huddersfield were able to complete a game at Rochdale on a pitch that looked absolutely perfect. Makes me wonder what the real reason was that our game was cancelled and moved to behind closed doors.

He was playing at Southend who survived in League One by the narrowest of margins. He'll be 23 later this year. Not really young. If impressing in a few months at a rubbish League One team is enough for us we'd be better going after some players from Accy Stanley.

Not really, it's as expected. Ever since Mowbray came back from India it has been going one way with regards to new defenders. I believe we are waiting for a generous Premier League club to send us a CB on loan for the season on the cheap. Good news for the money men, bad news for getting someone in now to establish at CB and organize around.

If the plan involves Sam Hart being in the team then something has gone wrong somewhere

You're better off taking the risk and time to get the good enough players and allowing them time to 'gel' than persisting with players already shown to not be good enough. One might see a short term bedding in period followed by a longer term improvement. The other will almost certainly result in more dreadful defending and will hold back the team no matter how many forwards are collected. Unless the defence is properly addressed both in personnel and coaching we aren't going upwards and signing a load of midfielders and forwards won't change that. In any event we've lost a month of gelling already by not signing any defenders so far. The better managers can coach and gel numerous new players together quickly.

I was being told the other day that Huddersfield are facing quite serious financial difficulties. Perhaps this is the price to pay for a bit more cash.

That new Huddersfield home shirt is........different. I thought it was a Paddy Power joke/PR trick at first but seems it is real.

Small number of Rangers tickets come available if anyone still looking. Still can't believe we've only taken/been given that number.

Don't recall saying we wouldn't spend this summer. Either way it doesn't look like we have spent this summer given the figures quoted on here with Raya.

After he's laid out 10 million on two centre forwards neither of whom are likely to start games? No, not having that.

Because it isn't sustainable. The manager himself has said in the past that plugging gaps with loans isn't the way he wants to do it. We get to January or next summer and it all starts over again. We wont spend money because we've used it up on Gallagher but it would be nice to treat the defence as seriously as we are treating the attack. Selling academy products under long term contract and replacing them with other clubs loans is not sensible nor sustainable. It's trying to solve problems on the cheap because we've this weird obsession with not paying for anyone in those positions.

And nor were Downing, Reed, Palmer volunteering either. It depends on who the new keeper is and on what terms he is brought in before I hail it as successful business. As it stands with the season 3 weeks away we've weakened what was already a leaky defence, sold off our keeper and not replaced him. Let's wait and see what happens but a short term loan to plus the gaps will not be acceptable.