Notice please that I said 5 and a half years which takes us back to January 2013. What came before that was Kean and Shebby using up all the parachute money which left the cupboard bare unless Venkys dip into their own pockets.

If 'slagging the club off' is criticising the owners then so be it. I've already made it clear that I like Mowbray, trust him and hope he remains our manager for a long time to come. I don't recall ever accusing him of deliberately lying or misleading anyone. If I have or have given that impression I apologise. I don't think I've accused Mowbray of lying, that doesn't mean I have to believe some of the stuff that's been going round in the last few days. I'm not sure which 'conspiracy theories' you are referring to. Doubting that these owners would spend £5 million on a single player just because some random bloke linked to Sky Sports put it on twitter? I deal in facts and the facts are we've spent little over £5 million in close to 6 years, so yes i'm dubious about them spending that on one player and don't believe the hysteria and rumours on twitter. If you're happy with Venkys then great. It will take more than talking of bids to win me round.

Sharpe gets his information from the club. I don't doubt the club have been telling him that funds are there to make big signings. They aren't going to tell him to write that there's very little/no money left are they?

Yes. I don't believe we had or have £5 million to spend on one player, and whilst we may have been after Brereton or Freeman I don't believe we were bidding that amount of money for them. It massively contradicts everything done under these owners for the last 5 and a half years.

Summer 18 - approx. £2.5 million on Armstrong, Davenport and Rothwell January 18 - approx. £200-300k on Bell Summer 17 - approx. £1 million on Dack and Samuel January 17 - approx. £0 with Joao on loan Summer 16 - approx. £200-300k on Williams January 16 - approx. £0 with a few loans and a couple of frees Summer 15 - approx. £0 January 15 - approx. £0 Summer 14 - approx. £1 million at most on Duffy and Steele January 14 - approx. £500k or so on Gestede and Cairney Summer 13 - approx. £1 million or so on Evans and Marshall That's why I find it hard to believe they were ready to spend £5 million on one player yesterday.

Where did I say anything about Mowbray? I don't doubt his integrity and I've no doubt Brereton and Freeman were on his list of targets as people he would like to have brought in. They fit his mould. Unless I'm mistaken Mowbray hasn't confirmed we were in for either nor was it him who came up with the talk of £5 million bids, it was people at Sky Sports.

The biggest surprise for me is seeing how many people actually believe that we were bidding £5 million and £4 million for players and have that sort of money to spend. NOTHING that has happened since 2012 suggests that level of finance is or ever has been available for recruitment.

'Net' spending distorts things though. Whilst you're probably right that on a net basis we've done ok, the fact remains that we are one of the lowest spenders in the division on transfer fees yet again. For all the talk about a good budget and support from the owners I have seen little evidence of that. Likewise no evidence of us being tested in terms of keeping our existing players. As I say the Armstrong one took me by surprise as I didn't expect them to go past £1 million on one player, but I imagine that one was Tony's biggie that he persuaded Madame to cough up for on his India trip, on the basis that they cannot lose on that deal. If Armstrong is even remotely successful in the next couple of seasons he will increase in value, and if Mowbray can get him to make the step up then he'll be worth 5 or 10x what we paid down the line. The likes of Villa, Middlesbrough and Derby may have made a profit on their trading, but at the same time they have also invested massively the other way on squads that were already top end Championship quality to begin with. We haven't got that luxury to begin with, we're going up a level into a tougher, better and more demanding division, so there was clearly a more urgent need for us to add. Did you see that list of players that Derby have who don't even get into their squad. Absolutely frightening the depth and quality they have, whereas if we get one or two injuries I'm struggling to see what the options are. If Graham, Evans, Dack, Lenihan or Mulgrew pick up injuries in our next few games (lets be honest all have a record of doing so) then we're exposed right the way through the team.

Well as you say Mulgrew is likely to depart as he's out of contract, as will Graham, Conway and Evans. Palmer off on loan expiry. Downing, Caddis, Gladwin, Hart, Nuttall, Whittingham all out of contract also. So another massive overhaul coming up when really we should have been adding key players in each position on long term deals.

Course it isn't the answer, the club however will play it as such with their acolytes at the Telegraph, and some supporters will cling to it as a comfort blanket as they will the January window but anyone who thinks it through will realise that if we were struggling to get business done in the permanent window it is likely to be much more difficult in the loan window. We'll probably get a couple of Premier League loans until January once they've got their new signings settled in which i suspect has been our preferred option all along but I can't see much incentive at all for Championship or League One clubs to let decent players out on loan at this stage when they could have sold them today or wait until January to sell them. Someone like Gallagher on loan may be an option but that's only 1 of 4 or 5 Mowbray wanted.

So you're happy with business then?

So essentially: OUT - Antonsson, Payne, Chapman IN - Rothwell, Davenport, Palmer Underwhelming is the least of it. Probably hinges on whether Palmer turns out to be as good as people say he is.

Means there's always been talk about cash being available and can be spent, always getting put off to a later date and never actually gets spent.

How many loan signings can we add? Can we get the 4 or 5 Mowbray wanted or are we now further restricted by a loan quota? Expect the 31/8 to come and go with a couple of short term loans without buy options and then it will be wait until January when we've money left to strengthen. Always on the never never with this lot.

5/10 maximum. Points awarded for retaining Lenihan, Dack, Graham and bringing back Armstrong. To be honest my expectations were eclipsed when we paid a 7 figure sum for Armstrong, that's more than I expected them to ever pay. Critically short in several areas and very little depth. 2 or even 3 of our signings unproven in the Championship.

But that's what we did, so its not a conspiracy. Sky Sports reported two significant cash bids when it was ultimately too late to get either done. No point talking about what we tried to do when it was too late to actually do it.

The story of Venky's time at the club. Could have, would have, should have, but didn't. Absolutely irrelevant what the budget was, what the targets were, what we tried to do. All that matters really is what gets done. By the manager's own admission we are significantly short of what he envisaged us being. There's a lot of talk at this club, but not actually much evidence of action to back it up. Lots of talk of big budgets, exciting targets and ambitious plans, the result being its debatable whether we've as much depth as we had last season. Those clubs that mean business get it done and do the talking afterwards when the players are in the building. The comfort blanket of the loan window is unlikely to be easy to negotiate. At this point I am predicting a long, hard, tough season. Yes survival is the target following promotion as it should be for anyone, but that doesn't mean you go into the season short and run the risk when we've had a real opportunity to do more.

As I pointed out on twitter, its very easy to 'bid' for a player at 4:30pm when it is impossible to actually conclude a deal. We could bid £200 million for Lionel Messi at 4:59pm. Means nothing if you don't get the deal done.

What's new?

Well they were donated a 55,000 seat stadium by the taxpayer and pay peppercorn rent on it so that helps.

We ain't buying him. At least these fanciful stories will convince the more gullible elements of our support that there was money there and we tried to get exciting stuff done but just ran out of time.

If you're Spurs then say the fax machine is broken and you get all night to make additions.

Apart from a tweet from a 'Sky Source' made last night where is the evidence or indeed remote suggestion that we have that sort of money left, let alone to spend on one player? I thought it was odd when I heard it last night and nothing since then has changed. I doubt we'll spend £4 million on one player ever again under these owners.

Think that might be the catch. I'd be astonished if there was that amount to spend.

How many Championship or decent League One sides are going to loan their decent players out to Rovers until January? If we want one of their players why wouldn't they wait until January when we can make a cash buy? What incentive is there for these clubs to send people out on loan in August with agreement to buy them in a few months? The Premier League loans are likely to be short term arrangements which we either cannot afford on permanent deals or their parent clubs will not be ready to allow them out on permanent deals.