Must be a CB incoming. We wouldn’t let him go without one.

Mulgrew is finished as a defender. Hope we have someone to replace him though.

Mulgrew has gone

I agree. Yesterday he denied the Cunningham links.

That sounds very promising indeed. Sounds like a done deal but knowing our luck there will be a last minute glitch. Was widely regarded as one of the best LBs in the league before his move to Cardiff.

Cunningham would be an excellent signing. I’ll believe it when I see it. Him and a decent CB today and we’ll have gone from an average window to a very good one. That’s how crucial the next few hours are.

You'd think we'd need to be very strongly linked with a defender today for something to happen tomorrow. Our recent pattern shows we are normally strongly linked with a player at least 24 hours before they sign, but I have yet to see us strongly linked with a defender from a reputable source so looking unlikely at this stage. I'm absolutely flabbergasted that TM has not addressed the defensive situation at all. The signings we have made are good, but overall this window has been a huge failure due to not addressing our main weaknesses. I am a big fan of TM and believe he has done an incredible job, but sadly I think his job will be under huge pressure this season as we're likely to be confined to another lower mid table finish due to his failures in the transfer market. In saying that, a LB and CB signing and we're back in the game.

I presume we can still sign free transfers after the window has closed?

I think we will sign one defender before the deadline, probably someone who is a CB but can play left back too. That’s not based on any info, just a hunch.

I’m hoping it does. We have a top 6 in the making so it would be very disappointing if we cant sign a couple of defenders that can head simple crosses out of our box

Stating the obvious but Bell, Mulgrew, Bennett are not good enough. How on earth are these players still starting after the shambolic defensive record last season? Lenihan is good, Nyambe has potential, Walton will be good, and Williams is an ok back-up centre half but that’s the extent of any quality we have in defensive areas. Big week ahead on the transfer front.

My predicted team: Walton Bennett Mulgrew Lenihan Bell Travis Johnson Armstrong Dack Downing Graham The team I would like to see: Walton Nyambe Mulgrew Lenihan Bell Travis Johnson Armstrong Dack Rothwell Graham

Good summary.

I think we’re very much in the dark horses category next season, probably along with Brentford. I think a top 6 finish is a real possibility as we’ve got a decent squad and it’s a weak league this year. Fulham have got the best team by miles and Leeds will be decent too, but then there’s not a lot in it. The two other teams who’ve come down from the prem are nothing to worry about, and some of the teams who did well last year (West Brom, Derby, Middlesbrough) have lost good players and are under new management. Even other teams who finished above (e.g Forest and Brum, if you discount their points deduction) have had unstable summers.

That sounds very promising. Two things that we lack in our defence - heading ability and pace - so hopefully he can help plug those gaps. We have to stop conceding goals from simple crosses into the box.

I’m not too fussed whether the city guy signs or not. He may well be a good player and I’d support him if he comes, but I’m not a huge fan of loan signings, especially when there’s little chance of signing them after their loan period.

You’re absolutely right. It does look like we have a golden generation of young players coming through our youth system and the future is bright if they stick around. Add that to the likes of Rothwell, Brereton (I think he’ll come good) and Chapman, and we have a very good set of young players. The transfer dealings so far have lacked the wow factor, but our younger players coming through mean we could have a very strong year.

Good GK, pleased to have him here. Not sure if he’s an upgrade on Raya though, probably about the same. Hopefully the Raya cash will be spent on a CB, as TM has said recently.

That would make sense. Walton is surely not coming here to sit on the bench; and Eastwood is an experienced, cheap option who won’t mind being a back-up GK.

I struggle to see the logic in signing Walton on loan and bringing in an experienced GK on a perm. Surely the experienced GK will be the one to start which leaves Walton warming the bench. Walton is a very good young GK, but it’s hard to get excited about a player who won’t be ours longer term. Also slightly concerned about the comment that “we'll see what’s left in the budget” after the two signings today. Two GKs and a loan signing in defence will not sort out our defence problems. I’m hoping that’s just a smokescreen to catch other clubs off guard who also may be chasing the same players we are.

Key learning points: we have to start Rothwell and Travis when the real action begins. Johnson did much better alongside Travis, but Downing was pretty poor throughout I thought. Left back is a big problem, Bell still looks woeful. He gives the ball away every time he gets it.

I look at it in terms of where do we need to add quality in order to make a top 6 push, not on numbers of players in that position. Evans/Smallwood/Bennett are not good enough; Davenport may well be out for a while on the treatment table; and Buckley is still very young and most likely is not ready to play week in, week out. Think we need one more in there on a cheap-ish deal. Signing Adam would therefore make sense to me, but sounds like that is now unlikely to happen.

GK and the Man City loanee to be announced today? My money is still on Carson for the GK position, although I’d prefer Joe Hart. Experienced centre half, another GK, LB, and central midfielder needed after that.

He can play RB too so that gives us cover there too. LT reporting that it’s virtually a done deal.

James Wilkinson on Twitter: I wouldn’t be surprised to see a loan player from Man City arrive at Ewood in the coming days. Usually very reliable poster. Edit: player called Adarabioyo