So the one stars are from Wheats and Reebok Rebel then

Quite frankly it's the yearly moan from every fan in the country. Check out some other boards and you'll see the same.

Blackburn are looking for their marquee signing, but lacking.

Sheff Wed are lacking new players

Burnley are lacking new players and posters



Everyone is in the same boat. Chillax (cool)

I'm just concerned that we will have 19 players(make that 20 if we add Pratley) registered from last season, of which 3 are on long term injuries and wont be ready for the start of the season.

Elmander, Sturridge, Moreno, JLloyd, Cohen, JOB have all left. I didn't include Ali as he wasn't registered with us last season.

We have quite a bit of work to do, especially if Cahill does one.

Based on like for like replacements, we still need to find 2 strikers, 2 full backs, RM and a CB if Cahill does one.

I aint worried as we will have targets based on the Cahill or not scenario but we are looking at finding a player every 7 and a half days before we kick off and it would be a real bonus if we could get a few in to be involved in our pre-season games.

I forgot to mention that we may promote a couple of youngsters.

If Tom Eaves aint worth a punt after coming on as a sub for Oldham and bagging 3 against a pretty solid Bolton side, I don't know when he will be!

No 1 star from me I agree with some of your article. I am in same camp as bricks. I trust coyle just worried job may be too big for this window. I agree with you about quality not quantity but you know we need numbers. I totally disagree with your statement about strong core of team. Where is our strong core. Jussi is, knight at cb no, we won't have Holden till dec and after our fixture start that spells trouble, left wing both petrov and Taylor were poor, Lee is class but no backup, up front is a disaster with Davies and klasnic. My big concern Cahill will end up doing a lescott on us and if that happens we are going to really struggle. Not a moan at all a fact and I dispute anybody to bury their head in sand and say that is not our current situation.

Bricks wrote:

"If Tom Eaves aint worth a punt after coming on as a sub for Oldham and bagging 3 against a pretty solid Bolton side, I don't know when he will be!"



Based on this logic, Ronnie Rosenthal was the reincarnation of Pele.

I can't decide whether you're naive or relentlessly optomistic.... either way, you're deluded. You're talking about a hat trick in a pre season friendly, for pity's sake.

Some of our all time heroes have got hat-tricks past us.
SKD did for Chesterfield and Super John Mcginley did for Bury i think. Hopefully it'll become super Tom Eaves.

I admit pre-season games are about fitness, integration, toning, tactics etc rather than all out competitiveness.

Eaves is 6'3" and a handful from the reserve games I've watched him in. Kinda of a cheapmans Carroll.

Sometimes clubs that put a youngster in the thick of it reap the benefits and find out what they really are capable of.

He's 20 in January. Should we wait until we have another Vaz Te on our hands?

I would say we do have a strong core we are only 4 signings away from having a very strong team imo
We need a new centre back if Cahill goes, Left back to replace Robinson, Left winger is not a need if we get a good left back to support Petrov and actually allow him to play how he wants, and we need a striker to partner Davies.
Holden is due back in October but we have Muamba and now Pratley for midfield so i am not overly worried about that area.
Knight was outstanding last year in the heart of the defence and Wheater was superb when he came in to replace Knight when injured, If Cahill leaves i do think we need a new centre back but Knight and Wheater are both solid defenders who will i am sure be strong for us again this season.

I'd rather the club bided it's time abit and waited for a better player to be available or discovered. If we had 5 players now and the opportunity to sign say..Sturridge popped up in August but because we had signed 7 other players to fill up the squad numbers and the wage budget was too full and we couldn't afford him, that would be annoying wouldn't it.

There are whispers that there will be 3 signings "asap." Apparently they surfaced from Alan Nixon on a Blackburn members only forum which he is confirmed to be on. Nothing on who they are, but Rodrigo is a fairly safe bet and Rhys Williams another.

At our current state, I am slightly concerned that Coyle has bitten off more then he can chew. I agree with his philosophy of quality over quantity, and understand that he want's to make room for his kind of players. I'm not panicking like some because we've only signed 1 player 5 days in to the window. It's just that the team on paper excluding Cahill is weak, and I don't know if we have the financial clout to get the numbers in if Coyle sticks rigidly to his philosophy.

Jaaskelainen, Steinsson, Cahill,, Knight, Robinson, Lee, Muamba, Holden, Taylor,Elmander ,K Davies,
Wheats this is the team that outplayed Spurs back in November we owned a very good team with ease this day now take out Cahill, Holden and Elmander but add in Wheater, Mark Davies or Pratley and a new striker are you really telling me we don't have a strong core?
I would like to see Robinson and Taylor replaced as well and a new centre back for Cahill rather than Knight and Wheater in the same side but we are honestly 4 good signings away from being a lot stronger than last season.

Bwfc knight sacrificed too many points last season and apart from his comeback against west ham he was average. Left back is an issue and I agree petrov is good but not proved yet for us. He is a luxury player which teams like us can't always afford. No depth at right mid. Muamba is awful and pratley unproven. By October our fixtures could have us bottom so worry is there for holdens return. As for upfront both klasnic and Davies should be used as impact subs in their current state. We need two able forwards to score at least 20 goals between them to maintain last years 14th place

We have got a good team, but there's nothing wrong with wanting to improve. We have a good set of players, but we need more game changers, we need one outstandin winger, maybe Petrov will come more into this year? We only need a striker desperately, everywhere else could be improved but it's not a necessity, ditching Riga, shittu etc means we have lower wages and Pratley dramatically improved our choice of centre mids, a position that les to our poor finish.

We need a back up right mid, Chris Eagles possibly, left back is fine along as Alonso avoids Jail.. Rhys Williams although unproven maybe be Cahills replacement if he goes, Rodrigo will be the option up front. Whatever we need, whoever we need, Coyle will get them.

4 signings not enough unless youth coming through. 2 or 3 knocks and we are on a losing streak. Last season showed we need depth.

Wheats right we need depth, but we only need 5 players in reality, centre mid should be fine now, a rm, two strikers, a centre back to replace Cahill, a left winger and left back depending on Alonso situation.

Rhys Bennett, Mark Connolly, Tom Eaves, Tope and Danny Ward are all training with the 1st team. None of them are starters but I would treat them as part of the squad which actually, leaves us all right in terms of players to call on. With 4/5 signings, might not be to difficult to improve on last year.

Last year was the most goals we had ever scored in a PL season EVER, we have a good team, it only need a tiny bit of depth and tweaking here and there, we can't have 11 10/10 players, but we certainly have alot of 7/10.

I've heard on the grape vine that Wes Brown might be our CB being unvield at the end of the week to replace Cahill. Price has been agreed with Utd, it's just personal terms. I'm not sure how accurate this info is and whether it would be a good addition or not.

Where did this grapevine start Holdsworth?

Hopefully our youth players are ready to step up, it would be nice if after selling Cahill, Bennett and Connolly were ready to step in, whether they actually are is another matter.

I've also been given the Wes Brown noises Holdsworth.

Just like Ricketts, totally versatile across the back lne.

I know everythings is hearsay or a bit this and that, but he would certainly add substance to our squad

Unfortunately you need to sell to buy, eventually the wage bill will catch up and you cannot keep racking up debt.
I dont think OC is truly proven in the transfer market so you might pick up players that on paper look good but just might not fit in and that I think as been the key to Bolton doing well. You seem to get the right player with the right (Bolton) attitude. Not being condescending and if I have to be honest I hope you do well but injuries could force your backs to the wall. If the big guy up front stays healthy then theres always the threat that you will score.

It seems that no one wants Cahill at that price anyway so maybe we rate him more highly than he is. Although it bugs me that players like Lescott go for over £20m.

We dont knw what clubs are offering at the minute though, for all we know, all the 4 linked clubs have come to us, seen the price but they want to sell before they buy like us.

With the new financial fair play rule, every club in the world will need to sell and buy at the same time, just the way the game is now.