JHRover

Or both Graham and Chapman live in the Middlesbrough area, Graham has had the day or afternoon off training, as has Chapman after Boro's game last night so went for a catch up.

I'd be astonished if we were paying money for Chapman at this stage. Could see a loan until January then re-assess.

Jonathan Low (Reading journalist) on twitter reckons 2 Championship clubs have activated Maddison's release clause. Reading are the bookies favourites.

Norwood is a dingle, and one who has made anti-Rovers comments in the press, so I'd avoid that one.

Whilst there are ways of dragging this out until 31st August and doing loans to become permanents in January, perhaps it is worth bearing in mind that the season is underway (this afterall is the most important thing here). So rather than allow another 5 or 6 games to go by before the end of August with a small squad devoid of options, I'd rather we got those people in asap ahead of some very important fixtures. The 31st August is the worst case date, we should only be looking to that to put some icing on the cake when some more loans come available, The big permanent signings need to be made asap and if they can't be made by the end of tomorrow then we've been barking up the wrong tree.

Like Armstrong's were? I see Hugill has now joined Middlesbrough.

Assuming we don't get anyone today then I think 1 permanent addition is the best we can hope for from here. We don't seem to be in the business of making multiple signings at once and for us to get close to Mowbray's target before tomorrow's deadline then tomorrow would be chaos with 2-3 permanent additions coming in. We seem to work one by one with significant gaps in between arrivals. Not the sort of manager or club to see 3 or 4 turn up in one day. I think we might get one and potentially another on loan with someone else in a couple of weeks. Not ideal by any stretch

I wasn't referring to Leeds being 'punished', I was referring to Leeds plummeting through the Championship and into League One due to financial chaos , something many felt would never happen because they have a lot of supporters. Some were predicting similar for Villa this summer after the gamble failed to pay off. Correct me if I am wrong on this but I am not aware of a single announcement from The League, Sheffield Wednesday or Birmingham City to say that transfer embargoes are in place for either of those clubs for breaching FFP rules. Birmingham made a statement confirming that they were 'restricted' in what they could do, yet are still allowed to add 5 players and register their £2 million summer signing, so I'm not sure that qualifies as an embargo. Sheffield Wednesday are rumoured to be, heard someone say their Chairman admitted it in a fans meeting this week, but its all Chinese whispers. How come it hasn't been announced on websites etc? Pretty sure Hull can't be under an embargo given their business this summer. They've spent an estimated £2.5 million on Reece Burke and that winger from Genoa.

The Telegraph article today seems to be downplaying the significance of tomorrow's deadline as a major issue, instead referring to the end of the month as the important date by which time to achieve our target of another 4 additions. I've no opposition in principle to taking our time and signing people on loan with agreements to become permanent in due course, so long as we aren't waiting to see which scraps and cast-offs get made available at the 11th hour with which we can fill our squad. Targets like this American lad are the sort that give the impression there is a plan and list in place to work through, however waiting to raid local Premier League academies for teenagers for a few months doesn't give that impression. I would still dearly like two incomings before tomorrow night, preferably a CF and winger, with the CB, GK or CM reinforcements coming later if necessary. Better to get business done asap so that the new players can contribute in important games rather than missing the first 5 or 6 games and not getting settled in until mid-September.

I'm on about Leeds chaos in terms of going bust and ending up in League One which some people seemed to think was about to happen to Villa. We were also told that due to a toxic combination of their owner running out of cash and FFP rules they would be crippled and forced to sell everyone worth anything to raise funds. That hasn't happened, they're now owned by an Egyptian billionaire and are talking about keeping their best players (rejecting large bids for Grealish and Chester) and as expected the spectre of FFP punishment hasn't materialised. True, a lot of Villa's supposed difficulties were because their owner couldn't get any more money together and he's ended up selling them to someone else, but FFP was supposedly another massive problem for them - countless newspaper stories about them needing to raise £30 million+ to achieve compliance etc. Hasn't happened. Looks like they're getting a 3rd crack of the whip of massive spending to try and get up. Eventually they will succeed with that sort of money and I've no confidence at all they will be appropriately sanctioned.

Or the alternative is that FFP is a sham and Villa know it. Their behaviour in the last few weeks has shown the threat of serious sanctions to be a mere myth that they are now going to step around. The worst that will happen is they will miss promotion and get some loose 'embargo' like Birmingham have had where they are restricted on incomings. Likelihood is with that squad and Bruce at the helm they'll be getting promoted this season anyway so won't have anything to worry about, as I predicted in the days following the play-off final defeat when lots of people were predicting Leeds-style misery and chaos.

If you're not a fan of the cringeworthy Sky coverage i'd advise not bothering with the Forest v WBA game. Within 30 seconds of putting the tv on they were telling listeners that these are two sides vying for promotion to the Premier League. Don't know how you can say that at this stage, surely all 24 clubs are doing that? Garbage product from Sky who still think it comes down to how much money you spend as to whether you should be in promotion contention.

The only ones who would go near that job are those who have nothing to lose or are absolutely desperate for a job in management. The likes of Grayson, Nolan, Appleton and Cowley have decent enough reputations to get jobs elsewhere. Especially Grayson and Appleton who have worked for Oyston before and know how he operates. That's where the likes of Coyle come in because he likely knows by now that he isn't going to get anything any better and has no such pride.

£20 million + on Jay Rod and Ben Gibson from the Championship. Quite happy to see another chunk of the Premier League dosh used up on them two.

http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/11464392/blackburn-rovers-tony-mowbray-delighted-with-bargain-signing-of-newcastles-adam-armstrong Another mention of Mowbray wanting another 4 or 5 incomings, though it seems part of that may be loans from the Premier League.

Believe that when I see it. I thought this summer was supposed to be the big one with clubs getting their comeuppance yet as far as I can see the only action we've had has been transfer restrictions at Birmingham, conclusion of the QPR saga for significantly less than it could have been, and rumours of trouble at Sheff Weds and Villa yet they haven't lost any major players. Meanwhile Forest have spent £25 million, Derby have hit £15 million, Leeds must be knocking £20 million. God knows about Stoke and Middlesbrough.

Shouldn't make an ounce of difference who the owners are, as its all to do with the club's accounts and how much is brought in and from where. Doesn't matter who owns the shares, its how much they put in that is the issue.

Yep, both overspent to go up but managed to succeed and then survive so have avoided the trouble that QPR have had. I still can't get my head around introducing rules to supposedly help with sustainability in football and to stop clubs spending beyond their means and then punish them for doing so by fining them millions of pounds. Good question. I think the answer is its one rule for some and different for others. Think it is quite strange how not a single club has officially been announced as under an embargo this summer by the revolting 'EFL'. The closest we've had is an 11th hour announcement last week that Birmingham are under 'restrictions' which still allow them to sign someone for £2-3 million, so not really what I would call an embargo at all.

Leicester, Bournemouth and QPR also succeeded through doing it. QPR have been punished because they came straight back down again, yet strangely despite all the trouble with them they're still rumoured to be close to signing Jackson from Stanley for a few million.

How can Villa sign him? I thought they were a club in crisis and knackered by FFP rules?

Double edged sword. According to Rovers if the away side is having the full Darwen End then a noon kick off is required. That in itself knocks a fair amount off the travelling support. It will look well when they give Villa 7,000 for the Sky 5:30pm game and the lies are exposed.

I think what Mowbray said last week is more relevant than what he said 2 months ago. Where is the link to Mowbray saying yesterday that he only wanted 3 more? The most recent interview I have seen/heard was Mowbrays to Radio Lancashire before the Ipswich game when he said another 4 maybe 5.

I reckon Sharpe is deliberately conservative in his predictions, whether that is because he is told to give that impression by Rovers or because he genuinely has no idea and doesn't want to go out on a limb and predict something that doesn't happen which may come back to bite him. The Armstrong one was a clue as to where Sharpe and the Telegraph are in the food chain as Nixon (credit where due) was the one who broke the Armstrong deal on Thursday and the default Telegraph response was to downplay the subject until word came through from the club that it was happening.

No we're short of the target. On Wednesday or Thursday last week Mowbray (his most recent interview on the subject) said that he expected another 4 or possibly 5 incomings. We've had one which is Armstrong and I think most of us are quite happy and impressed with that piece of business. Nonetheless that leaves at least another 3 to reach Mowbray's target. A CF, CB and winger for me. One more addition from here and I think the jury would still be out on whether we are any stronger than we were last season, depending on the calibre of that particular arrival. 3 or 4 additions of the calibre of Armstrong and Palmer and we would all agree that we were stronger than last season, as we need to be.

Well if we only get Armstrong and one other then we're 2-3 short of Mowbray's announced target. Which would suggest we're delving into the loan market to bring in another couple.