DangerousSausage

I remember the shock when Andy Cole joined Manchester United for 7 million in 1995. It was featured on the news then - that wold be regarded as a "cheap" transfer in the top flight today. Likewise when Alan Shearer joined Newcastle for 15 million, maybe two years later? That also appeared on the news. But this discussion has been going on for longer than that - it has been a burning topic ever since football went professional. But I feel there is a new quality to it today: This is just it. In the 90s, Manchester United and Newcastle spent all that money because they could afford it, because Cole and Shearer were proven goalscorers (and both transfers were hugely successful) and no doubt for merchandising too. But today we have a situation where clubs are backed by the wealth of entire kingdoms with virtually unlimited funds. Simply having a top star is a matter of prestige for them, and money is no object.

Derby County 2-1 Brentford (joker) Middlesbrough 1-1 Swansea City Doncaster Rovers 2-0 Bradford City Southend United 1-3 Fleetwood Town Morecambe 1-1 Macclesfield Town Yeovil Town 2-1 Swindon Town

Millwall 0-2 Leeds United (joker) Sheffield Wednesday 1-1 Stoke City Fleetwood Town 1-0 Accrington Stanley Peterborough United 2-1 Portsmouth Carlisle United 1-2 Tranmere Rovers Mansfield Town 1-3 Exeter City

Bristol Rovers 2-0 Plymouth Argyle Blackpool 2-1 Bradford City Southend United 1-3 Peterborough United (joker) Northampton Town 1-1 Cheltenham Town Oldham Athletic 2-1 Newport County Tranmere Rovers 0-2 Colchester United

I'm not overly impressed but he deserves our backing now. It'll be interesting what he can build out of the players he has at his disposal.

I think @Chris needs to find a decent Indian! There are a lot of lame Indians that just serve up meat and interchangeable spicy sauces. But the best are amazing. The best I've visited is Saravanaa Bhavan in Croydon and Frankfurt - they haven't got a website but check the pics in Google. It's vegetarian food like they have in India. I don't know what most of the stuff on the menu is, so I eat a thali, which is lots of little portions. Most of the customers are Indian too, which is always a good sign. An honourable mention goes to Kebab Masala in Edinburgh, which looks like a complete dive but serves up amazing, cheap and award-winning curries. In my experience it's the flashy-looking places that tend to be most disappointing.

Preston North End 1-3 Bolton Wanderers West Bromwich Albion 1-0 Stoke City Portsmouth 3-1 Plymouth Argyle (joker) Wycombe Wanderers 0-2 Luton Town Exeter City 0-2 Lincoln City Stevenage 1-1 Cambridge United

He's a good player, but a utility player he is not. Play him in centre midfield, or as an emergency centre half, but that's it. He's one of the worst right-backs I've ever seen, Pindroch would probably be better in that position. It's not his fault that we're in a position where we have no back-up for either of the full-backs. But he's the last player who should be filling in there.

Aliens, yes of course. There are so many stars and planets out there, there's no way we're alone in the universe. But the distance between ourselves and the nearest planets that could harbour life is so inconceivably huge that it's hard to imagine how we could ever enter into meaningful contact, if they're intelligent enough to contact us in the first place. UFOs, no. Now that most people carry a smartphone with hi-res camera around with them all the time, surely there would have to be a proliferation of sightings, pictures and videos. And in these days of social media, they'd be halfway around the world very quickly. But instead there's been nothing. UFO sightings tend to happen in years when there are big UFO blockbusters on at the cinema, that tells its own story.

If we go for the experienced manager option we need to make sure he still has drive and is not just living off past successes. Gudjon Thordarsson and John Sheridan both ticked all the boxes on paper, but both were very disappointing. I would once have been in favour of Gary Johnson, but I think he'd come under the same category. While we're digging up names from the past, I'm surprised no-one has mentioned Martin Allen yet!

Charlie: please, please, please, please no! I'd be happy with Gary Bowyer but I don't think he'd come. Paul Heckingbottom was mentioned to me but I can't see him in League Two. Appleton is a good shout.

I'm very disappointed with this. While I can understand it given our form over the past few months and the ridiculous start to the season, I feel Kevin Nolan had earned at least a bit more time to turn it around. Ultimately, with the personnel we've got at the back, I don't see things improving, new manager or not. And with all the money we've spent, that's a sign of bad planning. Now I'm concerned that our lack of a permanent manager will make it more difficult to sign the players we badly need...

Bolton Wanderers 1-2 Sheffield United Swansea City 2-1 Bristol City (joker) Blackpool 1-1 Accrington Stanley Oxford United 0-2 Burton Albion Forest Green Rovers 1-3 Swindon Town Milton Keynes Franchise 0-2 Exeter City

Sign 'em up!

Fair point @Truefootballfan. It's worth point out that we achieved a remarkable turnaround in the first months under Kevin Nolan with much the same personnel. Duffy and Brisley have been extremely poor so far, but with the powder-puff midfield in front of them and the inexperienced keeper behind them I'd be a bag of nerves too. We need someone who can compete in the middle and cover for the full backs too, but we can go a long way by making the most out of what we've ot, which we haven't so far.