If true, the two we've gone for are also cheaper than the other two are likely to be. That would be this hierarchy down to a tee. Make do, it's alright, we can save a few quid. Stats look good.

It's not just with Gallagher either, IMO. It's the same with a lot of our attacking options. I'm not interested in how fluid they are and any other jargon Broughton wants to come out with about metrics etc, I don't think there are many goals in our attacking line as it stands, Dack aside (assume BBD won't be here), and that is a concern. On the Peterborough signing, their fans seem to be surprised we have gone for him and at the rumoured fee too. They don't seem to think he can cut it in the Championship. There might be a few "he's crap anyway" posts among them, as happens with some fans at every club when a player leaves, but the general feeling from them is of surprise. A few have mentioned it and I agree, he does have a Bellamy-esque vibe about him from the clips I have seen, so we'll have to see how he settles in. He could turn out to be an exciting player. Might be an extremely unpopular opinion, but I think this JDT experiment could be short lived and could end in tears. I don't want that to happen, obviously, but it's just the feeling I get from the way we are faffing about, the way Dack is being held back, the way we seem to be 'done' with our CM business etc. I'm just stating how I feel about it at present and don't expect many to agree.

Yeah, that's right. Brittain was already a club target from a previous window. Puts things into perspective a bit. Of course, he still has time to get things right. As it stands though, Morton on loan is his only incoming, and that is a move that isn't exactly revolutionary compared to what has been seen in previous windows.

You're right, he was quality for us, but it doesn't always work out like that, as we saw with Clarkson. I know it's not only us that does it @islander200, I'm just not pleased to see it become a staple in our transfer windows. Every summer it seems as though we're waiting to see which kids the Premier League clubs are going to let out. The new guys have come in I.e JDT and Broughton, but here we are with another Premier League youngster on loan. I'll get behind whoever comes in, but it is underwhelming for me.

It's piling kids upon kids though, isn't it? Quantity, but little quality, imo. We needed one or two experienced heads in there, but clearly that's not how they want to go about it. All good, thanks for asking. Just very underwhelmed with our transfer business and the way we are going about it.

A kid on loan from Liverpool. That's about the best that Broughton can do. Shouldn't come as a surprise.

To be honest with you, Chaddy, I'm not feeling the JDT 'revolution' right now. I was disappointed with what I saw on Saturday even though we won. I didn't see much different from the Mowbray era or much to get excited about. I accept it's early yet, so this isn't a crazy 'get him out' post. It's underwhelming for me though, with how they came in with big talk, it felt exciting and the start of a new era. Yet the lack of transfer activity, Broughton going into the hiding and the way they are pushing this youth project is killing it for me. The aim should be to kick on from last season's 8th place. Unless we make a few serious signings in the next few weeks, bettering 8th place is not likely to happen, IMO. I am concerned about the month of August and I fear Swansea and West Brom are going to run rings around us in the next couple of games. Hopefully, that turns out to be unfounded, but I can't get excited about any of this yet.

Give it a few months. In January it will be a case of "I think Vale could do with going out on loan to L1". He's flavour of the month right now just because he's a young lad from the Academy. Saturday was enough for me. He isn't the answer. We need two forwards as we look incredibly blunt upfront. We can't rely on 30 yarders to bail us out every game. I thought we were shockingly short of creativity the other day and did not look like scoring from open play.

Hedges needs to sharpen up on his passing. There were a few breakaways in the friendlies that broke down due to his poor passing. Has been sloppy again today on the ball. He would be a handy player if he could sort that out.

Poor kick from Kaminski goes straight to the QPR attacker who hits the side netting.

I think that Travis goal has papered over a few cracks in that first half. We have not looked like scoring at all from open play. No cutting edge, no real threat upfront. Lucky to be ahead. Vale not the answer.

Looking quite blunt upfront. Can't see us scoring today. Going for a 0-0.

With each day that passes, it's becoming more and more apparent that Broughton is a dud. Overwhelmed and unable to deliver. If the best he can come up with is blowing £2.5m on some L1 no hoper and a loan for Tyler Morton, he needs to start packing his bags now. Peterborough fans can't believe their luck and want to take the money and run. That should say something.

Fair question and one which can be flipped around and applied to today's situation, for me. What is going to do more harm to our season...not bringing in the required quality early enough or going into the season expecting these kids to step up? Get off to a bad start and it's a long way back, IMO.

There seems to be a lot of mental gymnastics going on to make it look like all is calm and in hand. "We're stronger than this time last summer". Do me a favour! I personally think we're going to struggle massively in August with this squad. Just look at some of those fixtures. It's all well and good saying we can move this player here and there. It's wishful thinking, in my opinion, that they will click and get us through August. People can dress it up however they want, we are going into the season short on quality and ill prepared.

When it was put to you that a player had chose to sign for Derby instead of us, what was your response? "I don't believe it". You're free to believe whatever you want, as am I.

Not sure how somebody who wants promotion and holds that as the standard is seen as trying to wind people up now. Not everybody is buying into this youth project, a project which means we can likely forget about promotion for a few more years. IMO, it's ridiculous the amount of stick that is being aimed at posters who refuse to parrott club propaganda and go along with the "all is rosy in the garden" narrative. We've already had "it's not 1994 anymore", "he's a dingle", "he's a Preston fan" and "I can't take you seriously". All aimed at fans who demand better. Promotion is the standard, it damn well should be anyway, and Carter and the rest of the kids aren't up to that standard. Simple as, for me. At this moment in time, it's blind hope that JDT and Broughton will sort it out, in my opinion. Imagine this pair weren't here right now and we had Mowbray/Adkins/Ferguson in the dugout, with one signing through the door and the season days away. You can imagine how different the reaction and concern would be on here...yet there's no need to stress and we should chill as Broughton is here? Yeah, right. Broughton has it all to do, in a role he has never worked in before. We need some realism here.

It doesn't need a Jota type to make a mug out of him. Most Championship wingers will have him on toast at right back, in my opinion. He can be played around one with quick one twos, as Lincoln did a couple of times on Saturday. I think we're seriously overrating some of these players we have.

Carter will get found out this season. Celtic ran rings around him, which is understandable, but he wasn't exactly all that against Lincoln either. We need better back there.

Exactly. I think a few are going to be in for a shock when the games get underway. If Mowbray was still here and we were going into the season like this I.e. one signing made, people would be fuming. As it's JDT and Broughton though, it's fine. Last season it was a case of "why is that bastard not making signings", but now it's a case of "It's difficult to make signings, JDT wants to bring quality in, we shouldn't just sign anybody, let's wait and see". No romantic notion or theory papers over the fact that we are going into the season woefully unprepared, relying on a wishful hope that the kids might do something. We're weaker than last season and it looks like we are going to make very hard work of the first seven games. QPR (H), Swansea (A), West Brom (H), Reading (A), Sheff Utd (A), Stoke (H), Blackpool (A). Looking at that and our current options, I can't see us beating any of them.

Don't know how true it is, but saw it claimed somewhere that Barnsley want £2.5m for Styles. If true, that is what will likely scupper it for us, IMO. We just don't spend that sort of money. As much as "we have the money" can be said, it has been said in the past too, without us seeing it in reality. Brittain is a good start, but I would be shocked if we started spending £2m+ each on a couple of further defensive additions. I would love for us to get Van Hecke and Styles in. The combined cost could well be close to £5m though, at a guess. Let's assume it's £2.5m each. Will the money men want to stretch to that? I'm not sure. A back 3, or 5, of: Brittain, Ayala, Van Hecke, Wharton, Styles, would be a different ball game. A real upgrade on what we can currently field. Come on Gregg, make it happen.

Excellent burst forward from Harlock before being chopped down. He has impressed so far.

Dack scores. 1-0. Brittain assist.

This is why a lot of us were being 'hysterical'. Leaving it this late for signings is a major concern as we are going into the season so unprepared. We need a lot of new faces to come in.

Dack looks way off the pace. Giving the ball away, control letting him down at times. Need another signing in that position.