I will have a half glass of hemlock too kind sir.

Gallagher, Chapman, Armstrong in last twelve months. Clearly didn't want Palmer. Nearly got Reed but we might have done better in getting Holtby. So Mowbray's record pretty impressive in this regard. Cunningham is probably a certain bet if we want him. Walton will take some doing while Tosin will probably depend on getting promoted.

Got a feeling that this could be a bit of a rout- who is doing the routing and who is being routed is anybody's guess.

Rovers have a pretty decent record of turning loans they want to keep into permanent signings.

Maybe being hopelessly optimistic but Holtby could be the key to the jigsaw puzzle. 1) He makes competition for places that much more intense 2) His reported passing abilitycould make the sort of attack Mowbray dreams of feasible 3) If he is as good as reported he will give us the sort of midfield resilience Villa had last season 4) just need to give Armstrong and Chapman brain transplants and we have an automatic promotion winning squad...

I feel for everyone affected by this but I fear Thomas Cook are now in a death spiral. Customers and potential customers are reacting to protect their interests. As a result what was reported as a £200m hole that needed filling last night is probably a £500m hole this morning. Businesses go bust very slowly then very quickly.

Tosin and Cunningham are new defenders. Walton is a new keeper. That is three of the five or six at the back.

What are your rights? If you are on a package holiday you are covered by the Air Travel Organiser's Licence scheme (ATOL). The scheme will pay for your accommodation abroad, although you may have to move to a different hotel or apartment. ATOL will also pay to have you brought home if the airline is no longer operating. If you have holiday booked in the future you will also be refunded by the scheme. If you have booked a flight-only deal you will need to apply to your travel insurance company or credit card and debit card provider to seek a refund. When Monarch Airlines collapsed in 2017, the government organised to bring home all the stranded passengers, whether they were covered by ATOL or not.

https://www.ft.com/content/986c4e6e-db81-11e9-8f9b-77216ebe1f17?emailId=5d8509b7310b75000461253a&segmentId=ce31c7f5-c2de-09db-abdc-f2fd624da608 Now begging for a State bail out. And yes they blame Brexit amongst the reason for their ailments.

Very real possibility they will go bust in the near future. 150,000 people will need repatriating. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/sep/20/thomas-cook-in-talks-stave-off-collapse-biggest-peacetime-repatriation

Fantastic interview with Alejandro- the Mexican Rover!!!

Watching that preview by Roverseas and what screamed out at me are Reading's three fixtures after facing Rovers. They will be beyond desperate to get points on the board against us because a big fat 0 out of 9 comes next.

Who was the last full German international we have signed?

My God no way and I say that as someone with a soft spot for Besiktas. If 22 man brawls in the tunnel after games and lots of dodgy types inducing you into criminal activity is your scene, Turkish football is the place for you.

Hamburg are the nuts club of Germany.

Would have been gutted if this had fallen through. Perhaps an u-23s overage player game then into the side?

Yes v excellent reading as always

Got to improve on last year. Very important we don't follow up one step forward with the Millwall win with a one step backwards result at Reading. Reading totally destroyed Cardiff and should have won by much more than 3-0 so not to be taken lightly. Have to stop their quick counter attacking style so retaining possession mission critical.

London Football web site rabbits on and on about Holtby making a surprise return to English football and his performances for Spurs and Fulham and Hamburg and Germany. But guess what/who doesn't get named... No prizes. But pretty well confirms he is signing for us in my book!

I would imagine the agent and Lewis get a big smile on their faces for signing on but his week to week wages will be within the club pay structure. Amazing the number of posters reading the Motorway sign and not the heading of the tweet by the way.

Too early to say the league is rubbish. It is clearly highly competitive judging by the top two both losing at home to unsung opposition this weekend. I suspect Huddersfield and Stoke are really going to struggle to escape from the horrible starts they have made simply because of the competitiveness. In the Championship. Equally very hard to see both Wigan and Barnsley avoiding relegation- one of them will go at least. Having watched three championship games over the weekend I would say the style of play has transformed beyond recognition from the Championship we came down to eight years ago. Now is much more a Premier League 2 in style and there is a gulf in quality to the third level. The quality of ball control and passing from all eleven Championship players in a team are much higher than it was. Premier teams are quicker, more effective closing down and make fewer mistakes but no longer are most Championship teams playing a different style of football from the PL to manage their limitations.

If Holtby arrives and lives up to his billing, Christmas will have come early.

I'd love to have the subs bench Man City have. Signing Holtby would mean about 12 current Rovers players would have to seriously up their game to stand a chance of making the starting eleven. Hope it happens.

Serious question. Has it been established as a matter of fact the reason for Coyle over Warnock was cost?

I am always in favour of class players which is why I gave Rodwell the benefit of the doubt for so long. If Holtby produces for Rovers, we have a player of Premier League class and there are not many at Ewood we can say that about.