Agreed - if we’re talking 2-3 times the salary, it’s a no brainer. But if it’s marginal salary gains and you are settled, have a good team and general conditions where you are, I’d suggest that you’d be inclined to stay where you are. Certainly been the case for me in recent years, when the agencies and head hunters start throwing things at you.

I don't think it was a black Merc, sure it was silver (couldn't tell make from my rear view mirror). Was mostly tongue-in-cheek, but it did turn left into the STC just behind me on Sat morning, whoever it was!

Ben Davies would be an interesting one. Probably the biggest stretch ever in terms of a rumour, but we were driving by Brockhall yesterday morning (around 10.30am) and a flash car was behind us - couldn't tell you what make, I'm not a car person. But I got my kids to turn and look for the reg plate, to see if I could work it out - it ended in 'BD'. And, for some odd reason, the first player I thought of was Ben Davies. About a 0.5% chance it was him, but to be fair, as a rumour it probably has more basis than most of the stuff you read from the likes of Nixon.

In fairness, this has been what TM has been saying for ages ('I don't really care about formations, it's how the players adapt and perform').

We may have several players on the verge of signing for us, but as we seem to be doing our business in private this summer, the reality is that none of us know. Lets see how the situation pans out in its entirely before we start prematurely talking about being relegation candidates (which, it must be said, some on here were adamant we would be before a ball was kicked last season…)

Older player wants guarantee of first team football - I can't imagine he'd be good enough to warrant that at Rovers, even with the thin squad we currently have. Bit part player at most, in my opinion. No great loss to us, unlike Anel (who would have been better than Lenihan).

+1,000

Not quite, I'd suggested that Garrett was a good replacement for Johnson or Davenport - bit part players who fill in for injuries/etc. I wouldn't shove any of the kids straight into the team at this stage; that would be daft. But, as my point on the last page was, we should be using a handful of them as squad players and to compliment the players we'll be bringing in. The other side of my previous post was suggesting that the likes of Markanday, Hedges and Carter should hopefully be in a position to make an impact this season, all being a step or three ahead of the Academy kids.

Agreed. I have a lot of faith in some of the young lads. As you say, Garrett would offer nothing less than the likes of Johnson. I think Batty would be at least equal to Pickering at LB and we have players Pike, Phillips and Adam Wharton who would more than hold their own in the Championship, in my opinion. Markanday will have a breakout season and Hedges' last couple of games last season offered a lot of promise. And signings will come. It is not all doom and gloom, even at this stage.

Nah, not even close, in my opinion. We'd struggle to break out of the mid table monotony, but considering we were allegedly willing to splurge c£3m on a bit of Anel, I'm confident we'll see some incomings at some point...

Hughes was the perfect example of having the right scouting and coaching staff around him - and look how it paid off. Be interesting to see who the new Chief Scout will be, and what his background is.

This. Desperately scrambling to get 'some bodies' through the door is an absolute recipe for disaster. Be patient, transfers will come and they'll (hopefully) be the right ones.

We can't sell BB unless somebody actually bids for him. Which, according to all reports, hasn't happened yet.

Nope.

If we did get Ahmedhodzic, it would be an incredible first signing for us. He's JPvH level and a big upgrade on Lenihan. Let's keep our fingers crossed that JDT can work a bit of magic...

The Armstrong money (once Newcastle had received their chunk) went a small way towards the gaping black hole that is our operational costs, particularly so after the Covid ‘no crowds’ era. According to TM, some funds were available to him last season and he chose not to use them all.

The Serbian chap looks interesting. Brannigan would be a decent signing, too. Was at Liverpool as a kid, even played a few games for them in the Prem at a very young age. Does score a lot, but he's also Oxford's penalty taker, which helps. Also, let's not panic and trust the process - we don't just need players in, we need the right players in.

Hedges had a couple of good games at the back end of the season - Preston away in particular, he was superb. And on balance, he was pretty ineffective in other fleeting sub appearances. Far, far too early to write him off or deem him a 'woeful' signing, we haven't seen anywhere near enough of him to make that judgement yet. Fortunately, it's JDT's opinion that matters the most and if he sees a player in there, we should be happy to trust his judgment.

I think it was inevitable that all 3 were leaving several months ago, with Lenihan being the one most likely to stay. Nyambe was decent but, in my opinion, has stagnated for a couple of seasons. New scenery and coaching for him should give him a chance to kick on and he’s certainly replaceable from our point of view. Not nice to see Academy lads leave, but let’s reserve judgement until we see who their replacements are…

We didn’t pay £7m, that would have been the final figure had all caveats been fulfilled (eg us being promoted). Actual fee we paid was closer to £3m-£4m, which means any percentage of profit owed to Forest will actually be higher.

To be fair, every player smoked, drank and every match finished 54-34. Not really comparable.

This time last season I said that Brereton was going to become a very good player, score a lot of goals, get international recognition and play in the top flight. Admittedly he's only one good season into his career, but his best days are very much in front of him. If we set up to play to SG's strengths, he'll get a decent wedge of goals for us in this division.

Depends - as a general player, I'd agree. But as a central striker, I'm taking Gallagher all day long. Give Gallagher proper service and he's scoring 15+ goals in this division.

Good point Glen - was going to mention that. When he had the likes of Okocha, Hierro and Djorkaeff at Bolton, they certainly weren't playing long ball. Sam gets a bad rap, but he's a very good and effective manager, certainly at mid to lower Prem level.

I think this is an important point - Sam plays to the strengths of what he has to his disposal. At Rovers, he was able to organise us to be very competitive in the Premier League, with an inferior team to the majority of the top half of the league (at least). With some proper investment, I have no doubt that the 'style' would have improved as better players came in. I didn't care less; we won matches and were a top half Prem club - that was more important to me than the method of how we picked points up. Football is a competitive sport first, entertainment second.