Premier League teams can't make signings, they're not part of the loan window experiment. They can only punt players out.

If they'll pay 20 million now they will pay it in January when we could at least find a replacement or several. No matter the offer it's senseless to sell now when we have zero chance of getting cover in until January.

Seems an odd figure to come back with when their initial offer was so low, that's in the Peter Risdale/Seth Johnson book of negotiations.

I suppose the argument is that kids gain very little from big sided games, the Cruyff model encourages drills and small sided games/activities where kids have the ball much more and learn how to be comfortable with it and/or learn to manipulate space.

It is, especially when they're being farmed out to league 2.

Richard Dunne's comments are a bit wide of the mark, the kids at City are working on the same drills as City are trying to make an imprint on all their age groups. It's the Cruyff model, he believed that a team should have an identity and playing style that should be replicated at every age group, in that way the kids can see the reasoning behind what they're doing and also make the transition into the first team easier as they should be used to systems of play. I've heard Dunne speak a few times about City and he comes across as being bitter he missed out on the mega money that City now have.

Can't see Dack being risked, Mowbray has been very non committal in his interviews about him featuring. Give him the international break to get fully fit and have him raring to go when we return.

Pulis' comments about Chapman are weird, he says in one breath that they think highly of him yet in the next he talks of needing pace out wide! Bizarre and not exactly complimentary toward Chapman

Hart to Rochdale is odd considering he only played 3 games for them last year.

What has happened to Jack Doyle, I thought he looked an excellent footballer in the doomed Coyle pre-season.

Davenport has a hip flexor issue, TM has mentioned it in press conference just not detailed the severity. The last I read about Gladwin was he was carrying a knock and wasn't fit for the Port Vale friendly, can't remember seeing anything since, admittedly I've not been looking out for information on his progress.

Well, he gave an interview earlier in the year saying it had been a tough year, there were reports of him telling fans he is the most naturally gifted player at Rovers and he seems to suffer from perennial 'knocks' that rule him out of playing. I also seem to remember QPR fans having a fairly dim view of his levels of application and attitude. I may be wrong but he appeared to carry 'knocks' throughout the summer and hasn't been near a matchday squad yet. Either way I'm not too bothered really, he's not going to get anywhere near the starting 11 as it stands and I think he will struggle to get near the bench unless he shows a massive improvement on his previous appearances. I think it would be best for all concerned if he went out on loan.

Not sure anyone will want Gladwin, he appears to have chucked his toys out of the pram. It would be great if Ben Gladwin was as good as Ben Gladwin thinks he is.

As a young lad I thought Graham Fenton would go onto be an all time Rovers great.

Wouldn't surprise me to be honest, there has been a huge increase in Burnley shirts on show over the last few years, similar thing happened when Blackpool got promoted.

A couple of coaches used to run from Morecambe/Lancaster, through the North Lancs Supporters Club, I think they even ran the odd coach that came from Kendal and surrounding areas too.

Could well be, hip flexor isn't it? Can be tricky injuries recovery wise and often take longer than expected. I'd be surprised if we see him before mid October now to be honest, there has been no talk of him 'out on the grass' so he must be at least a month away from being able to manage a game situation, few weeks with the U23's to get some contact under him and we're knocking on for early October. We play Bolton away first week in October and then there is an international break. I wouldn't be surprised if the Leeds game is the first we see him available for.

Davenport is an interesting one, had a really good season by all accounts at Burton so is comfortable at this level so you have to think he is going to feature regularly.

Sharpe said this is an option to buy in name only, in essence a permanent transfer.

Nobody has even mentioned Davenport, he is another who will add to our now embarrassment of riches in the middle of the park.

The crowds weren't that amazing though against United and Liverpool, especially when you consider how many fans they brought. The crowd for United was 23k, take out their fans and it's what, 16k Rovers fans, of which how many are Rovers fans who return regularly and how many are neutrals wanting to see United for 20 quid? Still a good 7 or so thousand home fans away from where we were 10 years ago. The Oxford game was a great crowd however there were a number of factors in that; weather was brilliant, late kick-off, guaranteed promotion and a chance of winning the league. The games prior to that had been fairly poorly attended, I remember the Peterborough game where we could pretty much secure promotion bar the shouting had a crap crowd.

Rovers have always had quite a strong following from the surrounding areas; Chorley, Bamber Bridge, Ribble Valley, Lancaster and I know in Lancaster the amount of fans attending regularly has fallen dramatically over the last 7 years. You will never get all those fans back as their habits will have changed and money committed elsewhere but a flexible commitment may well tempt a number back and in time that could translate to people returning to buy season tickets, etc. Ultimately Rovers have lost around 10k fans a game over the last 7 years, whilst promotion last year and the feel good factor that TM has brought back will have kept hold of some who were wavering and maybe encourage a few to return it will take an awful lot to bring long term absentees back into Ewood on a regular basis. The club needs to be creative in the ways they do this and simply offering early bird discounts isn't enough. People have so many competing priorities these days and attending the match is seen as optional/luxury by the majority of people. I think the club needs to be flexible in it's offer as football/attending the match is no longer something that is ingrained in the wider fanbase. Maybe a flexi pass or something of that nature could be raised at the next fans forum?

Some sort of flexi ticket might be something to look at in the future, Morecambe did one a few years ago where you could buy one for either 10 or 20 games a season, there was a small saving to fans on the 10 game ticket but I suppose it gave the club guaranteed money. If Rovers were to offer some sort of flexi pass, 10, 15 or full season I know I'd definitely take it up. I can't justify a season ticket these days with a young family, work commitments and living 30 miles away but buying x amount of games up front and using them through the season as I wanted would be really attractive.

I said the same last week, loaning Chapman out seems odd unless they've got an option or are confident of getting a development fee that would match their valuation of him, seems a risky game to play.

Jesus, someone is getting paid to write that too. Rovers interested in Chapman, other breaking news as it happens, water is wet.