Correct. I haven't adjusted properly to the fact the season didn't start with the opening League game.

I know if he isn't a Rovers fan but if I was previously happy with the overall package of moving to Blackburn Rovers it would have to be a very lucrative counter offer indeed that blew my existing offer completely out of the water to make me change my mind at that late stage. We ihave no idea f that's actually the case or not It's not like he's got a late offer from The Premier League or La Liga or anything so like I say it doesn't exactly scream commitment on his part. I still can't see it happening. If I was the Club and we were contemplating off ering a player that age a deal which stretched or possibly broke our wage structure I'd now be looking at it with a degree of caution as well if he came back to us simply because his other deal had broken down. You never know but I can't see it happening.

? Over to you caddy......... ?

He can't have been very interested in coming in the first place then. Will still be very surprised indeed if that one happens.

Can't see much for us here. They'll be on a high after tonking West Ham and we'll probably be starting the season off with 2 straight defeats. I'd go: Kaminski Nyambe Wharton Lenihan Bell Travis Davenport or Buckley Holtby Dolan Brereton Chapman

Ooooo............ Suppose it'd be too much to hope it's a Mike Newell/ Don Mackay/Kenny Dalglish type scenario.

He ain't going to come to us having already snubbed us once though, surely.

We commented on this whilst we were watching the match. Mowbray can do no wrong in my mate's son's eyes, but his Dad joked that maybe TM has to sit down at his age. I said he was sat there twiddling his thumbs looking like he was wondering what to have for tea. When their third went in, his expression never changed, there was no flicker of emotion and he barely budged an inch, let alone get up out of his seat. "Ah yes, I think l'll have pork chops!" Now if we were winning games and were top of the League I don't suppose anyone would care if he was sitting with his back to the pitch or doing cartwheels down the line. If however results aren't going too well I think it is a criticism that will legitimately be levelled at him. Other managers don't sit there for 90 mins with their hands in their pockets looking like they wish they could be anywhere else and the least you can expect is for him to look enthusiastic and be up there offering advice encouragement or a bit of a gee up at various points. We're only one game in so spirits should be baturally high. Long term though what must it be like for morale if things aren't going that well and the players glance over to the touchline for a bit of encouragement or guidance and see him slumped in his chair like that?

Difficult to know whether to draw anything either positive or negative out of today's game, decent performance overall but you aren't going to come away with even a point very often if you concede three. Their first goal was due to the fact we didn't close the ball down on the edge of our own area which is something we've been guilty of for years. Their second I thought was down to Johnson making a really poor attempt at a challenge and I thought the third was one of those things a bit of excellent play from their player you can't do a lot about. It would be ludicrous to suggest Dolan was at fault for losing the ball in the attacking third imo. Individually I thought the two subs Dolan and Rothwell transformed us when they came on at a time when it looked like the game was slipping away. Dolan in particular looks a cut above the rest of the players for me. I would actually have hooked Armstrong rather than Brereton, other than subsequentlyrics score I thought Armstrong was terrible and he doesn't look himself at all for some reason. I don't get the Johnson love in, I'm not having him at all and thought he was culpable for the second. And I must be the only person who can't see anything at all in JRC. So on we go not much wiser after today. The only thing we do know is that if we concede three every week we'll be in big trouble. I'm going to upset everyone now. Wycombe at home next week is a "must win"!

He's bloody talking about bringing "one or two to help the group" again though I.e. squadfillers as opposed to a couple of stand out performers in the defence. He'll never change. Either no-one will come in or a couple of peripheral signings will come in who aren't what we need.

He isn't. I still don't think Bell is quite as bad as people make out but he wasn't particularly good today. I think it's a common theme though that you can look at the defence after the game and individually no-one has had a stinker, (except when Bennett is back there) yet we've conceded 2, 3 or more goals. We just don't defend well as a defensive unit or when the ball breaks free on the edge of our box.

Brooks not starting for them is a surprise, I think he's a great player. The team is pretty much what we expected I suppose, no surprise to see the likes of Wharton, Dolan and Buckley not starting despite impressing.

? Good to hear from you, hope all is well.

As another poster said the Raya deal could well turn out to be the worst bit of business we've ever done. Regarding sell ons in general, didn't Philipl allege at one point Shelfy sold off all our sell on clauses to get some cash in. Had Shelfy gone by the time King was sold, or was that simply not the case?

Spot on.

Maybe but if (and I'm not saying we will) we lose the first 3 or 4 games due to the fact we didn't get our ducks in a row in time for the start of the season that's a huge obstacle to overcome. And it seemingly happens every year, not just this one.

In terms of winning it outright Betfair appear to have us about 17th in the pecking order at 45/1 if MP is so confident Swag is right. Fill your boots!

Exactly this. Some posters seem to be judging our activity on players we allegedly narrowly missed out on. You can only judge us on players who come in not one's who don't. It doesn't matter if we were after Messi and Bale or Kipre and Ayala if they don't come in, a failure to land them is still a failure. On the question of our finances, if funds are limited you have to cut your cloth accordingly and hopefully be a bit smarter with your recruitment than anyone else and unearth hidden gems. Twas ever thus. You're not telling me there aren't up and coming youngsters in the lower leagues or across large parts of Europe who wouldn't be happy with the £10-£15 k p.w. we can offer or others who might be relative bargains due to their contractual situation and who would improve us.

I note this morning that having failed miserably in the transfer market Waggott is claiming in the LT "stability could be our key asset". You've got to give the bloke 10/10 for having a brass neck I'll give him that.

He's probably learned not to trust the usual opening day feeling of hope over experiences! Which usually tends to have evaporated by about 3.30 p.m.!

? Nice one!

You talking to me or Paul? Or both! ?

Apologies. As the father of two girls who are now grown up I can sympathise with your pain!. ? I do try usually not to drag a thread off topic. Hope you enjoy the result today.

Eh? We're obviously NOT going into the game with said players so strange comment. I agree with you about the possible potential of the youngsters, the question is, will this manager play them? If he does I'll be delighted. Don't usually go with the easy start / hard start analysis as you have to play everyone sometime but this could actually be a good time to catch Bournemouth. I can see us nicking a 1-1 or 2-2 draw.

Thanks for the response, I didn't accuse you of being a plant, I respect the contributions of both yourself and unleaded who both seem to have some genuine insight as to what is going on at the Club but who again seem to have very differing opinions about the same situation. As a minor aside I would say we have actually had pots of money" to chuck around in recent years but this manager in particular has largely wasted it and I also appreciate the urgency of our financial situation and the unfortunate fact that we are completely at the mercy of our often unpredictable owners. To my mind that makes success on the pitch a far more pressing necessity than if we were debt free and arguably stagnating or worse.