It was the Mail on Sunday. LT reported it around half an hour and with no quotes from anybody at Rovers just regurgitated things from when the deal was signed.

He knows that but he (or his newspaper) didn't even break the story. Poor form again from a local newspaper.

I haven't a clue what this will cost in lost revenue but I'd be amazed if it that money hadn't been budgeted for. Finding a major sponsor with less than four weeks to go until kick off will be extremely difficult. Hopefully there was a cancellation clause in the contract and we can recoup some of what has been lost.

We did eventually. It was the season after our PL relegation and we played for some time with no sponsor, probably because the club had become toxic.

Good spot Mark.

I like stories like this. https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/mans-revenge-flytipper-who-dumped-22524100

I see your point now. I understand that transfer fees are structured over the duration of a contract with annual payments which means that the Gallagher (and maybe Brereton) installments are due. To give some balance we should get a payment for Raya. That is all on the assumption payments are due on the anniversary of signing.

I don't see the point of that when you are obligated to buy the player anyway. The reason it happened with Brereton was that there wasn't enough time to do a permanent deal on deadline day.

Barcelona just couldn't match the intensity with which Bayern played. The high press was excellent and several Barcelona players just gave up. One of the reasons I ignore possession stats was perfectly highlighted in this game. According to the BBC Barcelona had 51% possession...........but lost 8-2 and were abject. Whenever I hear losing managers mention possession in some form of justification I know they are hiding behind them.

I'm not aware of any exemptions to the quarantine rules. If there was a loophole by being tested surely many people would exploit this.

I understood the reason Eastham (not Irwin - sorry!) was on the bench at Luton was because Fisher and Hilton were furloughed. I really don't know if any trialists will be tested on arrival. Schapps had to quarantine so I'd be surprised if exceptions were made for footballers having a trial. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-53557510

Training will be interesting on Monday. If Hilton and Fisher are still furloughed then Irwin will potentially be the only keeper there. I expect a plethora of trialists arriving from various places for Mowbray to sift through trying to find a Samba but more likely to get a Songo'o. Any signings/trialists from Spain, Holland or France won't be able to train for two weeks after arriving. Four weeks tomorrow the season starts - we are in a mess.

Will be not be needing to model a women's kit after that picture with his manboob on display (I don't know how to post pictures but I'm sure you've all seen it). ???

Thanks for posting Perth. Having a refresh on the whole sorry escapade reinforces my intense dislike of our owners. But nevermind, they are paying the bills eh.............. ???

Tosin made his debut at Fulham in the second game alongside Williams as both Lenihan and Mulgrew didn't play. He then got injured and missed a few games. For a few games we were down to two centre halves as Mulgrew fell massively out of favour.

He is probably our quickest player running with the ball but sometimes it appears that his feet are quicker than his brain. I find it infuriating when he runs inside into traffic instead of running forward down the line or into the channels. After two seasons I would have thought this could have been coached our of him but alas not. I wouldn't ditch him yet but he needs to improve aspects of his game to put him into the regular first team category.

https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11787/12046794/celtics-boli-bolingoli-breaks-quarantine-rules-scottish-government-threatens-premiership-pause A Celtic player who didn't self quarantine could cause the league to be suspended by the government. I still think there will be plenty of Championship players who will miss a chunk of pre season to self isolate after returning from holiday.

If the pattern of recent windows follow then on September 12th we will kick off with essentially the same players with a cheap addition or two. We will struggle for a few games and as we get towards the end of the window the panic sets in and if we make any signings they are ad hoc and making up the numbers. I get frustrated by this approach particularly when Mowbray, by his own admission likes to integrate players slowly or build up their fitness. If he knows his budget and there are targets go and get them and have them ready to hit the ground running.

And any fans using direct debit to pay have had the payments suspended. I have a friend who has two tickets for their 100 club and he received several hundred pounds back from the club in lieu of the missed games. Burnley gave existing season ticket holders a choice of a refund or donating the money to their youth foundation.

A lower league Scottish manager (Jim Lambie I think) had a reputation for quick wit. One of his players had gone down with a head injury and was brought off for treatment near the technical area. The manager asked the physio how he was and was told he didn't really know who he was. Quick as a flash he shouted "tell him he's Pele then and throw him back on".

Strachan was a real sharp wit as you say Andy. I was fourth official at Birmingham when he was at Southampton and he kept referring to the referee as 'jellyfish'. I was bemused by this and at the end of the game I asked him why and without breaking stride he said "because he has no f***ing backbone" That made me laugh.

Clough on Trevor Brooking. He floats like a butterfly and stings like one. Clough on Franz Carr. He runs like Linford Christie and crosses like him.

I think that those three just feed off each other. Typically after the Portsmouth paper ran the Mulgrew story today Sharpe has run a version of it. The truth is nobody knows but because they are hacks there seems to be credence added by some of their readers.

The grey haired bloke looking sheepish is David Jones.

I agree. We are just plugging gaps by signing loan players as first team regulars. Mowbray once again is talking about building but it simply cannot be done with loans.