Reading will be a tough nut to crack. They'll be desperate to get their season up and running after 3 narrow defeats. By the sounds of things they haven't been particularly bad - lost in the last minute v Derby, went down 1-0 at Forest and then were apparently unfortunate to lose 1-0 to Notlob. Paul Clement sets his sides up to be hard to break down so the first goal in this one will be crucial. Nonetheless we need to build on the momentum and positive result at the weekend. Reading at home the sort we need to be winning for survival. A win here makes it a very decent start which we needed given our history of poor starts and decent fixture list.

I'm surprised that Mowbray is so frustrated about deals being 'leaked'. All summer long I can think of perhaps 4 names that have obviously been strong targets of ours - Brereton, Freeman, Bauer and Armstrong. Bauer has effectively been confirmed by Charlton and Armstrong was an obvious target that nobody was surprised by and yet wasn't public knowledge until the deal was done. Palmer, Davenport and Rothwell were kept well under wraps. The rest is complete guesswork. No evidence we've been interested in others like Maddison or Chapman. In this day and age that's pretty good going in terms of keeping targets quiet. Mowbray also referred to a small group of people who know our transfer targets so if the leaks are coming from our end then it should be quick to work out who it is doing the leaking. To be honest I'm bored now by all the talk. This summer has been a bizarre transfer window and as it stands we've had plenty of positives - like not losing anyone important and bringing Armstrong back - yet also I remain concerned about our failure after all this time to properly address obvious lack of numbers in key positions and the manager keeps on referring to wanting as many as 4 more additions yet we never seem to be close to doing it.

When we've signed him and the window is shut we'll know whether it's all we've got or not. Mowbray said 4 or 5 and then 3 targets so I doubt he's blowing the lot on one.

As I say it won't be 8 million in one go it will be spread over several years. Funny how the mere prospect of us spending a few quid and people are getting worried about Ffp whilst most of our rivals have been spending way more for a number of years and have got away with it. Even only yesterday Sheffield Wednesday were released from their sanctions in time to strengthen should they wish and they haven't sold anyone or suffered some major hardship as a result. All a con.

Lambert led us to a 15th placed finish after only taking over mid way through the season and didn't spend a penny on transfer fees. Let's see if Mowbray betters that this season with his own squad and a bit of money.

It won't be £8 million, just like Rhodes wasn't £8 million. It might be half of that up front with the same again in installments, bonuses, add ons etc. Much of that will probably hinge on us surviving in the Championship, getting to the Premier League or him scoring X amount of goals or playing for England. If any of those happen his value will increase with it and Rovers will benefit by more than £8 million be that through his value increasing or by increased revenues as a club through being at a higher level. In some ways it is a no brainer. At the age of 19 barring a horrendous injury his value is likely to at the very least stand still and probably increase further over the next 3-4 years by which time he will still only be 22-23 with a lot of Championship experience behind him. Don't know much about him but I certainly won't be grumbling if the owners finally see sense and invest a substantial amount for a new forward. Seems a bit odd that people are so concerned by the prospect of spending such a sum of money when the motive here from the owners is investing now in a talent that ought to be worth more in a few years who they can sell then if they fancy, just like with Dack, Lenihan, Cairney, Duffy etc. They've made plenty out of sales without reinvesting so I think it is well overdue that they spend on a new player or two.

Interesting how uncomfortable people seem to be about the prospect of spending money. Even when the person proposing to spend it is our much trusted and respected Tony Mowbray and the owners spending it have spent next to nothing for years. Don't think many Forest fans were complaining whilst spending 25 million this summer. We're completely at the behest of Venkys. If they want to spend it that's up to them and if they don't that's up to them. The clubs existence is currently on their whim so a bit of money on some decent players who are likely to grow in value won't change that. Oh, and we haven't committed to a penny yet.

Easy to say the money might be better spent elsewhere. Trouble is with Venkys if it isn't spent when available it may well not be available again. It's down to Mowbray and he'll be judged accordingly. IF the owners are putting that money out there then Mowbray deserves the chance to spend it. We know that they have previously tried to make a statement with an out of the blue big bid with Rhodes. I doubt that it's as simple as spending smaller amounts on a number of targets.

If English football was the same today as it was in the 90s or 00s then Dyche would have been long gone from Burnley as there would have been a host of bigger clubs interested in his services. Sadly things have changed so much in the last 10 years or so that appointing young British managers from Burnley etc. just isn't the done thing any more. Clubs like West Ham, Everton, Leicester, even Spurs, Villa etc. would have been the sort who would have taken a punt on Dyche yet these days its all about the Silvas, Pochettinos and Pellegrinis of the world coming in from Europe with their 'new ideas'. Had West Ham replaced Moyes with Dyche this summer there would have been uproar there. You can probably say the same for Howe at Bournemouth and he has a far more impressive reputation for playing attractive football and yet he's still at Bournemouth after 5-6 years of immense success.

Very good if both come off. I don't buy this stuff that we don't need them. Both will increase in value IMO and with Graham in the later stages of his career we need to forward plan. I'd expect one to be a permanent arrangement and the other to be a loan, I'd be very pleasantly surprised if we were going out on the best part of £10 million for the pair of them, not to mention this other 3rd signing.

As soon as the dust has settled on his latest catastrophic spell running/ruining a club he comes out of the woodwork looking for another opportunity. Lo and behold Sky Sports are more than happy to put him on their programmes to offer his 'expert' advice whilst putting him in the shop window. Of course scratch beneath the surface and you find the Arsenal-SEM-Anderson chain and then you wonder why those guys at Sky are so keen to look after him.

So long as next week we haven't gone down another notch to 'hopeful of a couple of additions'. Remember we started last week wanting 4 or 5 and we're now down to hoping for 3.

Sorry yes, I'm aware clubs do it, just usually with players they are desperate to get shut of and not the likes of Brereton. Also in this strange window I doubt there will be many deals on those lines.

I might be wrong but I don't see why any club would agree to loan us a player now with an option to buy without a commitment to buy. We could probably persuade Forest to part with Brereton on the basis that they will be guaranteed a tidy sum in a few months as that will enable them to budget with that money secure. Likewise I'm sure Forest would be willing to let him come here on loan without an option to buy to get him off the wage bill and playing games in the Championship and they can see how he gets on and make a decision later. Not sure what's in it for them to agree to an option to buy. They're letting a player go which could be permanent but if something goes wrong won't be - so if he gets injured or bombs the fall out comes back to them.

Hard to believe that he could still be alive today had he not died at quite a relatively young age. Wonder what things would be like had he lived another 15-20 years as he could have done.

I suspect we're gambling at present knowing we've got up to 2 weeks remaining to get some signings in so we're prepared to drag it out and wait in the hope that selling clubs reduce their demands and sanction loans with permanents for lower prices. That's great if that's what ultimately happens but we might be left in a mess should it not come off and we're scurrying around in the last few days desperately trying to find reinforcements.

I wonder what the reaction would be if Chorley council had sent a letter to any other group of people telling them they are not welcome in their town. Say a religious group, or other such gathering of people. Because to all intents and purposes the result is the same - a large group of people gathering with a common identity/interest. Don't see why this is any different to a mass gathering of religious people or other 'group' in society. Once again football fans are targeted by the 'authorities' who are quite happy to reap the benefits of football and football fans but think they can dictate to them what happens. Believe it or not it is a free country and unless there is some sort of curfew in place I don't see who can stop football fans turning up for a drink in Chorley. I don't understand what the Council think they can do about it. They have no power at all to turn football fans away. Nobody does until someone breaks the law.

Yesterday was the big day for progress. The players had time off after Carlisle so Mowbray could focus his efforts on getting deals done. The players will be back in today and tomorrow so there will be lots of focus on the Hull game.

We can debate whether the money is well spent when we actually spend some and the player(s) have chance to prove their worth on the pitch. Until then its all ifs, buts and maybes because there's been lots of talk of signings but none actually have arrived. I still expect whatever incomings we get will be loans without a commitment to buy which will be dressed up as good deals because we aren't committing to a substantial fee in advance. Unfortunately if you approach football with that attitude you'll never get anywhere as sooner or later you have to take risks and put money on the line rather than look to avoid spending at every turn. Seems the party line is changing as last week the Telegraph were telling people that there was a big pot of money sat there waiting to be spent, Mowbray then said over the weekend that he'd be looking at loans and hoping the money was still there in future, now the Telegraph are setting it up for a Brereton loan with no option to buy which really doesn't do us any favours in the medium to long term and no doubt Forest would be absolutely delighted to send one of their bright prospects here for some experience and to get back to fitness after his exploits in Finland over the summer.

Got to trust Mowbray on this, if he indeed is being given such a budget then he deserves the chance to spend it. Brereton another one that even for £5-7 million will likely be worth a lot more than that in 2-3 years if does well in the Championship. That's what it is all about with Venkys and no doubt that's how Mowbray is selling things to the owners - back me with some cash and worst case scenario these players will retain their value, more likely increase in value whilst performing for the club. No problem whatsoever with that approach provided the priority is on winning games and collecting points not on individual development and sell-on. Sell for a big profit if a Premier League club comes a knocking yes. Sell to a Championship rival no. I very much doubt we'll be hitting that level. More likely to be a loan and then re-assess down the line or a few million up front with the same again in add-ons over several years.

2 defeats in our last 38 competitive fixtures. 6 defeats in our last 49. 9 defeats in 64 since he became manager in February 2017. Long may that continue.

Hurst has really got his work cut out at Ipswich. I think people underestimate what a brilliant job McCarthy did there to have them mid-table and play-off pushing for 5 years. Sadly some people prefer to focus on the negatives and label McCarthy as negative, dour, boring etc. Don't think anyone can really blame Hurst for taking the Ipswich job as its a decent club in the Championship but I think anyone finishing below Ipswich this season is going to be in serious relegation trouble.

Karanka and the media-fuelled Forest love in has already reached nauseating levels this season and we're only 2 games in. Only Leeds and the Lampard obsession at Derby can compete with it. I wouldn't trust Karanka in the slightest after his conduct during the Rhodes pursuit when he was at Middlesbrough. Whatever dealings we have to have with him I'd sooner were all done and dusted as quickly and smoothly as possible. They seem to think they're something special and no doubt believe that other clubs should gratefully accept their fringe players for a few months of game time but I don't. They are a rival so having to borrow one of their players who isn't in their immediate plans and then see him go back to them in a few months to his and their advantage is not what I want to see.

At 7 million I'd much sooner go and get someone like Gallagher who I'm certain Southampton would let go for less than £5 million plus someone like Maddison for a couple of million.

Yes, but if they are demanding 3 or 4 million more than what we have offered then a permanent deal will not be on the cards. If they are asking for at least 9 million then we would be silly bidding 5 million on deadline day for him, unless we expected them to agree to let him go for half their valuation. You said it would be exciting, would you be as excited if we were borrowing him to give him game time until January before he disappeared again and we had to replace him? A Forest fan reckoned that he isn't up to match fitness yet and that is why he wasn't in their squad last night, he played in the U19 Championships in Finland over the summer so hasn't had the same pre-season as the others.