Crusoe

Whether we sell or not will also depend on whether the club believes he'll sign a new contract. If they don't believe he'll sign, they'll snap someone's hand off for £500,000 now.

I've heard two competing rumours over why he didn't sign for Southend. One was that he had a godawful game in his last loan appearance and they decided the money wasn't worth gambling with. The other is that it was a done deal and his agent demanded an extra £30,000 in fees for arranging it (there was no suggestion that this was illegal, I should point out, just fairly sharp business practice), which put backs up at Southend. Either way I'm not too concerned if the transfer fee is any more than £100,000; I don't rate him more highly than that.

Yeah, I think loans can be re-arranged, but I'm not sure if either MacDonald or Anderlecht would see a regular place at Oldham as a better prospect (or shop window) than sub appearances at the Championship's leading club. Maybe I'm just overly negative, though.

Following the successful vote I could believe that TTA would splash the cash just once for a high-quality player.

Text from club - Birmingham have accepted an offer from us for Kilkenny, but he has not responded to the contract offer. Mixture of good and bad - if he was interested, you'd think we'd be at least negotiating, and the fact that the club have announced that negotiations haven't started doesn't fill me with hope.

I've no idea what TTA have in mind, but this tone irritates me no end. The club is bigger than TTA and will go on regardless of their next decision, and to act otherwise is an infuriatingly patronising message to fans who supported the club long before they arrived and long after they'll have gone. Don't get me wrong; this is not a good night and I understand their frustration - but phrases like "death knell for professional sport" just sounds like toys-out-of-the-pram doom-mongering.

Wasn't Ryan Sugden supposed to be the next big thing based on his reserve scoring record? A pre-Chris Hall, if you like.

I was getting a little nervous there at 2-1. Thanks Deane and Craig.

Yes, I'd agree with that thinking. It's important to keep players rested, but not before they've had a chance to get knackered! Games like this help establish form under less pressure than league games.

Bristolatic - I can't see Shez just having one left back, we'd struggle to cover any injury, so I reckon it could still be Boertien plus A N Other as long as Boertien proves himself. If he doesn't, our 'mystery' signing (is it Mr Wright?) had better be able to last a full season and I'm not sure he would. He's about Daz Sheridan's age isn't he? Agreed, but I can only see one coming in. He would be first choice with a combination of Stam and Lomax as backups. To bring in two left backs would hit our wage bill when only one is likely to play regularly.

I use Madasafish (formerly FreeNetName) and they've been consistently good over the last three years - can't think of any downtime more than a couple of hours, and none at all in the last year or two. They do well in reviews for heavy consumer users.

Well, the latest I've heard is that we won't be signing Robbie Williams - he's off to Huddersfield Town, according to an acquaintance.

Not sure if this has been mentioned or not, but we can forget Clive Platt - he's signed for Colchester United for £300,000. A little bit out of our league price-wise, I suspect.

My current most played list: Well Thought Out Twinkles - Silversun Pickups French Disko - Stereolab British Mode - Goose Skylon! - Gruff Rhys Photocopier - Fujiya & Miyagi The Gruff Rhys track is awesome, a hypnotic 15-minute tale of a flight, an actress, a terrorist, a bomb disposal expert and a dilemma.

Robbie Fowler played 23 games last season, 21 games the season before, 33 games the season before that (and so on). Hughes may be physically fit but he hasn't played professional competitive football in a long time. I think he could come good but even then I doubt we'll see him in form until well into the Christmas run-up.

I'm not sure I agree. If all he does is sit there then no reputable club will be interested in him, so he can forget a juicy signing-on fee. And if he plays well, then clubs will come looking for him earlier and he'd be an idiot not to jump at the first decent offer.

I agree, and while I understand TTA's frustration they well and truly burned bridges here (not saying that Porter and his agent haven't, just that we gave up the chance to be the "bigger man").

What's the point of it? If he decides to stay, it's just embarrassing. If he decides to go, what does this achieve? It's understandable, but in my opinion unprofessional, toy-throwing.

Non-league: Farnborough Town FC (now sadly liquidated and reforming as Farnborough FC) - spent most of my time growing up there. Scotland: Dunfermline Athletic FC - knew a few Dunfermline fans at university. Italy: Brescia - they had my favourite player of all time, Gheorghe Hagi.

I had also heard the rumour about their interest in QPR. Bob, I wouldn't place too much reliance on that email you received.

There's nothing wrong with watching what you say to avoid calling offence - obviously there's an extreme element (although often exaggerated examples) but that doesn't mean the whole idea is worthless. Anyway, Inspiral Carpet has it right - doesn't matter what was said, Channel 4 got enough (deserved) abuse last time they have to be seen to be above reproach, even if it means being sanctimonious.

I'm not sorry to see him go. He never convinced me that he could make the step up to the first team, and since his broken leg I didn't get the feeling his heart was really in it. Good luck Chris, now let's see if Smalley or Alessandra or Wolfenden has more hunger and can make the grade.

My tuppence-worth reproduced from JKLatics (this website is blocked at work): "There are several questions around the Lee Hughes signing. I may not be saying much new here but wanted to get my own head in order and work out my opinion. (a.) Should he be eligible for parole? Has he served sufficient time? There are many debates on this area: should criminals be punished, rehabilitated or both? What is the appropriate sentence for a particular crime? If incarceration is an appropriate sentence, how long is appropriate for a particular crime? On what grounds should somebody be considered for early release? How should someone show remorse? Should familes have a say in sentencing and parole decisions or not? (don't get me started on that one) All of these questions have one thing in common: they have nothing to do with the club's attempt to sign him and are part of a wider debate on the criminal justice system that is unlikely to be resolved by mouthing off on a football fans' message board. This club didn't get him out of prison or set his sentence. (b.) Should he be permitted to play professional football again? Experience suggests the law does not restrict subsequent employment except on what seems to be common sense grounds (child protection, for example). If the law does not restrict him, then this is yet another question that has nothing to do with the club's attempt to sign him. It is not the club's role to set a precedent if the law has not. (c.) Should the club be attempting to sign him? This is the clincher and this is the one we should be debating. I am uncomfortable with the decision and leaning towards "no", but for a slightly different reason to most suggested here. If he is paroled then in the eyes of the law he is fit to re-enter society and continue his chosen career. It doesn't matter how reprehensible anyone finds that decision: the law does not tell clubs what to do here (and if we disagree vehemently with that, well, see (a) above). I am uncomfortable not because I feel Hughes should not be playing football... (that's not my call, and I'm also uncertain how far these restrictions would go - if he was banned from football and became a successful property magnate, should he have his earnings in that field taken away? Do we refuse to pay the license fee or watch EastEnders because Leslie Grantham served only 11 years of a life sentence for murder? Are we supposed to "cap" the success of ex-cons forever, and if so what does that say about the idea that the criminal justice system should rehabilitate? And if his crime was so significant as to warrant further restrictions, who makes that rule and can we really make it consistent across all crimes?) (sorry for the tangent) ...but because I think this smacks of a cheap publicity-grabbing manoeuvre by the club. Hughes may be physically fit but he's short of four years' match fitness and training. The club could expect well in advance that a storm of negative publicity would be generated, and that he will receive dog's abuse at every away ground, with no guarantee that his performances will help us win games. I won't be boycotting games or burning tickets because my real concerns are about the criminal justice system, and hurting the club won't change sentencing or parole procedures or our attitude to how to deal with crime and punishment one bit. I do think this is a very bad misjudgment by the club, though. Sorry that this rambles. Needed to clear my head on this and form an actual opinion."

Really? In that case I'd love him to stay here, but - nasty cynic that I am - I reckon it's a summer of free transfers and nominal fees for us, unless we give Blackpool a damn good thrashing on Saturday.

I'd love Leon Clarke here, but since Sheffield Wednesday paid a rumoured £300,000 for him in January I can't see them letting him go.