a European tour

As for other questions one of the most eventful summers for decades has thrown up, here's a few random thoughts:

Blues are heading into administration imminently, right?
Not so. In simple terms, the cash generated from recent sales is going towards keeping the club /BIHL viable for the next few months at least. Yes, that's how bad the financial situation is and relegation and the freezing of Carson Yeung's assets has only exacerbated the situation. Clearly the initial plan, if it can be called that, to generate money and make the club self-sufficient off the back of the Chinese and Far East markets must have seemed like a good idea at the time. Parent company BIHL appears built on sand. The myriad of shareholders, I can't imagine them being interested in football per se. I wish I could tell you if those running operations out in Hong Kong really have a hope of securing significant investment, or the acumen. But no one knows, or rather no one is telling. Just don't hold your breath. The £6.2 million injection by the Inkatha Group's Yang Yuezhou seems odd to me. Unless he is going to mount a complete takeover - and there are no indications of such - what does he actually get out of it? Perhaps it dabs the bleeding, but the wound needs stitching. If it's any consolation, bankers HSBC are not rat-tat-tatting at the Kop reception door with baseball bats in hand. I am told of course they are concerned and want to protect their interests, but are working with Blues and not working against them to bring the whole thing crashing down.

Carson Yeung going to prison?
Again, I wish I could tell you if Cell Block H is being reserved. The charges relate to a period before he was in sole charge of the club and it's been argued in Hong Kong that this is more a tax issue than some kind of dramatic expose of a John Gotti-style criminal empire. I do believe that in buying Blues Yeung came in with the best of intentions. He is a football nut. It's just that the modus operandi and the means of 'taking Blues to the next level' (as David Gold reckoned when he took the loot) can be picked to pieces. He is a demanding, quixotic owner and, by the looks of it, businessman. Yeung has put his own money in and secured loans with collateral. Yet it's not scaremongering to say that Blues are in their most parlous state since the Kumars.

Peter Pannu, good cop or bad cop?
It's worth remembering that he is an employee of Carson Yeung's and not on the board of BIHL. And in fact I get the impression he could be frustrated at what's happening in Hong Kong and may have given advice that wasn't heeded along the way. But as the man at St Andrew's, in England, he is in the firing line and that comes with the territory. Although uncalled for, if his car gets surrounded at Derby County by irate fans, and if they protest in general, then that's not the media's fault. It might have more to do with what's happened these past months, all the worry, the lack of transparency. In Saturday's match programme, Pannu informed Blues fans that he was 'very much on your side in that I only want the best for the club and am working hard on that front day in, day out'. He can be blunt, aggressive and he's going to stick it out and make these 'unpopular decisions'.

Chris Hughton, on a hiding to nothing?
He told us he knew exactly what he was getting into when he took the job. I dearly hope so. People keep making comparisons with Newcastle United, and their owner Mike Ashley. Forget it. Newcastle kept big wage earners and had the best quality squad in the Championship. Here, it's Bosman Blues. I can't see a cash signing and Hughton still has not got his preferred assistant manager. There's no chief scout and Paul Montgomery has taken his network of people over to the dark side. To a man, every player I have spoken to has given the thumbs-up to Hughton's training and methodology. They enjoy what goes on at Wast Hills, which can only be a plus. But ultimately as a manager you are only as good as what you have at your disposal. Blues have to hang onto, and/or bring in, more quality if they are serious about promotion. Jerome, Dann and Nikola Zigic still look most likely to exit. The agent of Liam Ridgewell and Stephen Carr would like them to leave, also, but people at the club who matter have insisted to me that neither 'are on the books to go'. Whether that changes, we shall see. But certainly when you have reporters feeding off agents for stories and Sky 'Steve Cotterill for the Blues job' Sports putting out BS, it only makes matters worse, creates confusion and anxiety and doesn't help the manager.