Tom

I don't know about that. The Gazette have broken this story, as far as I'm aware. They're very rarely first with transfer news, and normally only report it and attribute it elsewhere. The fact that they've confidently announced this link makes me think they have some solid info from somewhere. It wouldn't surprise me if it was quite close.

Maybe there's a chance Guardiola will be on his way if they don't win the CL? I can't imagine any incoming manager at Man City would want Roberts, but anyone coming in may want to assess their squad.

Aren't Paul Lambert and Kenny Miller both Rangers fans? It may be that I'm wrong, and that McNair would never play for Celtic in a million years. But I just think it's fair to question whether he'd go to an abysmal Stoke side over Celtic if those were his two options.

He'd surely choose Stoke, being a Rangers fan. He'd *surely* choose a low level Championship team over a Champions League team where he'd be almost certain to win trophies? Rangers fan or not, that would be a baffling career choice?

Mejias will probably stay around I reckon. Seems to be content as 3rd choice without rocking the boat too much, and is maybe doing coaching badges or something while he's here. I would guess he's probably among the lowest earners too. Stojanovic will be moved on if anyone is.

I thought Warnock said that he told Gestede to bugger off basically? Yes, and he got a lot of praise for it. I wonder if those people feel different now they know that he wanted Gestede as his main man? Having said that, both things could be true, Warnock could have wanted Gestede to play, but when the player made his ridiculous demands, Warnock then told him to sling his hook.

Karanka wouldn't have gone to Birmingham if they were skint. They may not necessarily have the funds to buy Gibson outright, but they'll certainly have the money to loan him.

Wing wasn't getting a start even when we had so few players that I think we were an injury away from Warnock naming himself as a sub. Assuming we replace Clayton and possibly bulk up the midfield even further, that's him even further down the pecking order, I'd say sell for a decent offer. That said, I can't imagine there's much truth in it. Aside from having a cracking shot on him, and the ability to spray a decent pass once every couple of games, I really don't see what Wing would offer a Premier League team. I'd be surprised if Boro weren't the highest level his career hits.

Well their contracts have expired, so yes. But as I said in my post just before, the Boro website hasn't posted anything about them having left, which it did do with Shotton, Gestede and Clayton. I would expect some kind of announcement if they are definitely leaving.

I'm quite surprised there has been no announcement from the club either way about Friend and Johnson. I know contract talks can sometimes be quite protracted, but I would have thought that once Warnock was offered the contract that would have been his first order of business. On balance of probability, I expect both to stay, but as I say, I'm surprised it's not been sorted out already.

Liverpool have signed a player from a relegated club for each of the past 5 seasons. Granted, they're not all Andy Robertsons, but even the Danny Ings/Shaqiri types of player are more than useful in that division. No reason why we can't get the best out of a player here.

Yes, I just said on Twitter that is probably something that the EFL have insisted has to be added to betting adverts on shirts. It's neither ideal for Red 32 or for the aesthetic of the shirt, though.

Could still be. It could be someone from a PL club who's been on big money but has been, in tabloid parlance 'offered a lifeline' here. Someone like (just as an example) Joe Hart, who will have been on big money, but would have to take an almighty pay cut to come to a club like ours.

I said on Twitter today the same thing I'll say here: For the first time in probably about 8/9 years, since Mowbray's team, I don't really mind who we lose, and it's actually quite refreshing. Too often I've gone into the transfer windows worried that if we lost a player, we'd either not replace them, or replace them badly. This has been the case with Gibson, Traore, Randolph, Stuani, Ramirez... the list goes on. Absolutely right. But so many of our players have underperformed recently that I am quite relaxed about losing any of them (for the right money, obviously). Of course, it would be a shame to see young talent like Spence and Tavernier go, but for 90% of our squad, how much worse could replacements be? It's not like losing 3 players of the season in a row as referred to by the first 3 names I listed. While the last few years have made me wary of trusting Boro's transfer strategy, I do feel a kindling of anticipation for this summer, mainly because we might actually end up with a balanced squad by the end of it, and because there might even be some kind of plan in place.

Maybe because Walker went out and Roberts was injured we hung on? Isn't he a winger who can also play up top?