I think Johnson will be a really good signing. A natural, championship standard central midfielder. Can't wait for Mowbray to play him out wide.

How much they reckon?

Yer, the way this will go depends on who comes in. If its someone decent, Raya is forgotten. If it's someone crap, constant comparisons etc. with Raya

If Raya is off, I don't think Mowbray would let that happen without a replacement lined up. He's been our number 1 since he took over and despite his mistakes, the Canadian still didn't get a look in until the season was pretty much over.

I wouldn't be bothering with Rodwell anymore to be honest. Johnson, Travis, Davenport and Evans in for CM. Smallwood out the door. No need for Rodwell, definitely not for Centre Back either.

I hope Johnson signing spells the end of Smallwood.

JHC, an actual centre mid! Decent signing.

We all know Bradley Johnson won't be signing. Johnson: "I'm happy with the contract, really looking forward to signing and joining this historic football club" TM: "Great. I must warn you, you'll have to work hard to get a place in the team" BJ - "No worries Boss. I'll be working so hard in pre season, I'll have a place in that starting 11 on day one." TM - "Yeah, about that. So, I'm not breaking up the band anytime soon. So, you work hard and you'll have a good shout come January" BJ - "I'll earn that place in preseason, you'll see" TM - "Well, Ritchie Smallwood will be starting against Charlton. Probably with Ev" BJ - "Ritchie who.....?" TM - "Whooooaaa Eee O" ****Waggot bursts into the room**** SW - "WE'VE GOT RITCHIE SMALLWOOD" In Unison- "WHOA E O, HES THE KING OF EWOOD!, WOAH E O, HE NEVER GIVES THE BALL AWAY!!" ***Johnson exits the room***

Johnson would be a great signing. I hope the interest is genuine and not just agents drumming up stories for a new Derby contract.

You must work in Civil Engineering. I've to attend a worthwhile meeting in like 15 years.

Why did they waste all that time having meetings in India, if they are now still undecided on the way forward?

Probably the least surprising event of the summer.

I was trying to remember who started the rumour last time out. Anyone ever seen Madon and Neophox in the same room? ?

Really good to see Johnson getting a much deserved promotion to the first team set up.

He wouldn't..................would he...? ?

I think Mowbray will try and get us playing with a back 3 again, so Nyambe would probably form a part of that 3. The problem of course is that we don't have any wing backs, so unless Mowbray signs some, it's not going to work.

True but it wouldn't be a surprise if he was looking to impress Mowbray enough to earn a contract. In any case, I'd be very disappointed if we did sign him. Like Downing, we are just signing other clubs cast offs. Boro and Stoke didn't see the need to keep either Downing or Adam and these are clubs who you'd expect to be trying to move forward and compete at the top end of the table, which is where Mowbray tells us we are trying to move forward to.

I don't think Mulgrew went to Austria. So I'm guessing they are at Brockhall together.

Johnson would be decent. Always rated him. Free transfer as well.

Coyle signed him and then got sacked. Mogga took over. Not sure where Coyle played him but seems like the kind of thing Mowbray would do to play him out wide.

At the moment, I don't think Raya should be our number 1. He should have probably been sent out on loan in the past. That said, he's still young and there is a chance he will improve, I just don't know by how much. Again, a problem if TM thinks Raya is basically solely responsible for our defensive shambles.

A bit worrying this. No urgency in getting any defenders in because he thinks we will be a much more possession based team. Not sure we have the players for that. And it would probably mean a back 3 with wingbacks (which we don't have)

The position Payne plays isn't a priority for us in anyway shape or form at the moment. Hopefully, it's just paper talk and we are keeping our cards close to our chest with regards to potential signings.

I can understand where he is coming from. In an ideal world, players we sign shouldn't be guaranteed a starting spot and should come in and fight for a place in the starting 11. However, this isn't an ideal world. We are basically a defensive shambles. The challenge for a starting place shouldn't be thrown down to new signings but to the defenders already here, who have largely failed last season.

This is where my frustration lies. He said all the right things and it seemed that he had a plan in place for the summer to improve the starting 11. I'm not convinced Downing will be a player who will be starting every week and we were chasing a reserve centre back for a year or so. We can only wait and see what has happened by the end of the window but frustrating start as far as I am concerned.