Shearer was the best player in the country ! Phillips has played a couple of games.

Increasingly you have to wonder if Premier League clubs are actually interested in BBD, or at least for a significant fee. For strikers in the Championship Brentford signed Lewis-Potter from Hull for around £17m, Watford sold Dennis for £20m to Forest and are now reported to have turned down a £20m offer this afternoon from Newcastle for Joao Pedro. These players all seem to be better regarded than BBD.

So panic then.

Any signings have to be right for the long term, not dictated by panic stricken claims about the next game. 4 weeks ago you were telling us that we were throwing away the first few games of the season by not getting enough players in whereas apparently well run clubs like Bristol City and Middlesbrough were showing us how we should be doing it. Have a look at the league table.

There are hardly any 17 year olds who get to play in the Championship but I would point out that Harvey Elliot had already played Premier League football for Fulham when he opted to leave to join the Liverpool academy. As a general point I think posters on here are underestimating just how big a financial package Spurs could offer Phillips plus the lure for players of the big Champions League clubs.

Either "Enter Sandman" or "Seek and Destroy" from Metallica. Alternatively, Nina of Nina and Frederick was Danish but I don't think "Little Donkey" would be appropriate.

At 17 it is very difficult to make your own decisions and not to listen to the people around you. If agent and family want him to cash in now he is probably going to.

Great win again , we are very tough mentally. Hopefully these injuries are just slight strains that will clear up quickly.

Every signing carries risk in the form of a fee and wage costs which might not be reflected in a player's contribution. If you want to eliminate that then never sign a player.

We'll have to wait and see if Forest's approach works. There is an article by Jonathan Wilson in today's Observer querying whether the number of incoming transfers - now 15 and counting - is sensible, citing cases like Fulham in 2018-19 and QPR in 2011-12 who also embarked on spending sprees that did not pay off. The article points out that the promoted teams who have done best, like Brentford, Leeds and Wolves, have had a clearly defined philosophy and a well practised style. That might be difficult to maintain with a large number of new players.

Still nonsense, mate, but you do what you want.

Still a wild exaggeration.

He was excellent for England in the last World Cup, and again in the Euros.

Hardly. But he looks to have made a huge mistake in doing what he has done - I assume he has been listening to the wrong people.

Fred has played 27 times for Brazil so that is obviously not true. I think you are massively exaggerating here.

He did save them from relegation last season.

That's 3 in game substitutions - those made at half time don't count so there is still scope for one more if needed.

Phew !!

I think you created a problem with your original post which I - and it appears other posters - read as saying that if the player agreed to leave, even on higher wages, that the club had a contractual obligation to pay up the outstanding wages on his contract. What I think you meant to do was to explain the commercial reality of the situation whereby, as a player's contract is winding down, they will often only agree to move if they take a cut of the transfer fee in order to compensate them for not receiving a large signing on fee from their new club which the latter will no longer pay as they have had to pay a transfer fee instead. I don't think any of us would disagree with that latter analysis. As far as Brereton is concerned I would imagine that he and his representatives have already decided that it is not in his interests to sign a new contract with us NOW although he might decide differently if he stays and we are promoted. As for the club's response to any transfer offer that might be made the situation is clouded by the strange attitude of our owners who may simply decide as a matter of principle that they will not accept any offers - especially if the player is expecting a cut of the fee. Although one poster has decided a refusal to sell as "criminal" any fault, if that is the right word, if the player then leaves without a fee will lie with the owners not anyone working at ewood park.

That seems to be a rather different situation to the one you were postulating above where you seemed to be saying that on a move by Brereton the club would have a contractual obligation to pay him a large amount of money whereas in the situation you have outlined above it is a matter of negotiation between player and club.

Wonderful win. Wonderful day. Our new management team of Broughton and JDT are impressive. Interesting to see that clubs like Bristol City and Middlesbrough who "got their transfer business done early " have made poor starts. In contrast Broughton took his time refusing to be panicked in to signings for the sake of it and made sure he got them right. Plus bringing JDT in. He looks a big asset for the club. Hedges looks excellent, 3 assists already. Underlines that new players should always be given a fair chance to show what they can do rather than judged on their first few games.

You omit the relevant facts about Luton's relegations. They had very serious financial issues which put them in to administration, one season getting a deduction of 10 points and then the next season a deduction of 30 points. But, heyho, let's blame the guy who was in the Academy.

Reliance on loanees is a fact of life for Championship clubs who are not in receipt of parachute payments if they want to access players of the calibre required to win promotion to the Premier League. In each of the last 4 seasons 2 of the promoted clubs have been in receipt of parachute payments and just one each season were those who were not. Of those 4 clubs Brentford achieved it with their own players but Wolves, Leeds and Forest all made significant use of loanees.

Forest were promoted with 5 loanees.

Great start to the season. The ability to keep clean sheets and win games 1-0 is the hallmark of successful sides.