Wise up Mr Mowbray

West Brom manager Tony Mowbray has denied making an offer for Bolton defender Abdoulaye Meite. It was rumoured that a bid of £1 million plus defender Paul Robinson had been turned down.

‘There’s nothing happening there,` he said. ‘If comments have come out of Bolton then that’s disappointing but it’s just speculation and no more.`

No Tony, those comments haven`t come out of Bolton. They`re from the keyboards of journalists who spend the summer playing a game called ‘Link the Player.` This is a mixture of rumour and logic with a few lies thrown in to spice things up. When you`ve been in the Premier League a bit longer, you`ll understand. Connecting an experienced, but out of favour, player with a newly promoted club is par for the course.

Meawhile, Meite, who is the subject of confirmed interest from Hull City has travelled back home to France while the rest of Gary Megson`s squad attend a pre-season training camp in Austria. The Ivorian has a price tag of £3 million, which so far hasn`t been matched.