I'm not sure the general consensus is that it was directly the Vs who intervened in these not going through? McGuire - someone didn't press send on the forms. That wouldn't be a Venky. O'Brien - paperwork not submitted in time, partly due to the FA asking for details of a wage reduction should we end up in League 2, which wouldn't have been possible based on the contract length proposed. But ultimately this would also not be something the Vs directly do.

Or had a sell on clause for a player who went to Real Madrid.

I would say about half of these were a flop. Taking a punt can be on any player irrespective of the transfer fee. Some of our best players of this century were punts nobody had heard of - Nelsen, Samba. As for Cantwell being a low price as nobody else will sign him due to his attitude - see number 8 on the list.

Step up - as in not quite as bad, one level better off. Shame, he's not really got going this season.

JRC has had a shocker tonight, it's been about a step up from Hyam's at Bristol last season

If you've read the article it specifically means more depth in the attacking areas, having people capable of scoring from the bench.. Suppose we are down Gally and Szmods but up ohashi, mak, Weimann and siggy compared to the last few months of the season (Siggy having been injured)

An account with 10k followers? Doubt it. And that's before you consider we only have 3 maybe 4 players for those positions

By definition it means he'd have been playing reasonably well or at least wasn't the reason we didn't win/draw a game?

Apologies if I'm misunderstanding your point but what does his heritage have to do with whether or not we sign him? The last Brazilian we had almost became an ironic cult player from being so bad - Bruno Ribeiro.

Ronaldo (earlier on) and Messi. 2 of the GOATS played cutting in. Robben, Bale, Mahrez, Salah, Mane, Neymar, vinicius, Mbappe, Saka. Gone are the days of Giggs, Duff etc getting to the line and crossing. Cutting in, you can shoot or cross and I suppose it's expected the full back overlaps to give a byline crossing option.

I don't follow him but he's got a bad reputation on here. Hopefully someone responds with "if he's been spoken about for 2 weeks, why didn't you mention him a fortnight ago?"

A player scoring 30+ in a season would generally be worth more than £10m, even with the caveat of stepping up to the Prem. But what about a player who has scored about 70 goals in 9 seasons, mainly in the leagues 2 and 3 tiers below where you are signing him to? He had an incredible season, but do those who think he should have fetched around 15m or more also think Rashford, Sterling or Felix (7 goals last season) are worth about £5m? Of course not. That's before you consider age. A younger player either has time to develop more, can either be sold on or you get more years out of them. All things considered, I think 9m going to 11m is reasonable.

I'd be surprised if Travis leaves, or is in negotiations to, given the video the club have just posted on their socials with him talking about how much the armband means to him and his return to the club

Narula's on fire, Venkys are so terrified, Narula's on fire, help Blackburn Rovers stay alive

I didn't say SW deserves praise, only highlighting that even at a club with a worldwide reputation, getting a sponsor seemingly isn't simple. Fully agree that the reasonable way to judge the sponsorship is against our peers. However, I'm not sure how easy it is to find out the financial details of sponsorship deals of clubs and even then, there'd be those who disagree on how to determine which clubs should be classed as peers.

For all the flack SW/the club gets regarding our sponsor (and I'm not saying it couldn't be better both financially and the company), I've noticed Chelsea for the second season running begin the season without a main sponsor. You'd think it'd be relatively easy for them to negotiate a decent deal given the global reputation of the club.

The odd situation at PNE takes another turn...the interim manager has now left. Whose turn to leave next week, the kit man?

Some general thoughts. Eustace's style is becoming apparent, surprisingly expansive and decent to watch. The problem is when they run out of steam, there's no plan B to control the ball and take a breather. It's much better than what we saw last season though, from an attacking perspective. Gueye - continues to look effective. Ohashi - has a goal scorer instinct, shown by living up to the cliche of not showing much before coming alive for the goal. Pears - can live with him as back up but we need at least an equal to have competition if not someone to get him on the bench. Siggy - quite a few recent comments on his work rate recently, but noticed he was the one who sprinted back 70 yards to recover the ball when we'd lost it and committed players forward. Yes he was fresher as a sub, but some players would have made a token attempt. Would have taken a point beforehand, so ok result and good to see we continue to score goals.

And it's happened at various instances over the last 14 years. But what is the net figure over that period, the profit made by the Venkys from Rovers during their tenure?

It can't be asset stripping when the amount they have put in far outweighs the amount they are now getting back. This isn't a defense of them, just hate when the asset stripping comments crop up.

Not just that. Has top level experience already and did ok in it. Also, if Sam has 5 years left, Rutter reasonably has 12 years to play. Can either sell him and recoup the outlay or make a profit, or you've the potential for a decade plus of service.

Chelsea are leading the way. Extended Cole Palmer's contract - which was already until 2031 - to 2033. Absolutely bonkers.

Not just that. Pay £10m for a 29 year old, you're getting maybe 5 years out of them. Pay the same for a 23 year old you and you could get a decade or so from them.

If you're questioning how far we've fallen, you equally have to recognise Brentford's progression. They're a reasonably settled top tier side with what appears a sound financial footing.

Official line seems to be mutual termination as he feels he can't take the team any further. Wouldn't be surprised if it's more accurate that he wanted more signings and was told it wasn't happening.