IT'S no surprise that Newcastle have tabled two bids for Grant Hanley and it will be a battle of wills to see if Rovers can keep hold of one of their most valuable assets.

The captain was the club's player of the year last season and played really well together with his centre-half partner Shane Duffy.

But when a team doesn't do well, then you expect that other teams might come in and nick their best players.

When you look at Grant's age, you would want a good price for him. You don't want to be selling him on the cheap because he's only going to get better.

Players like Grant, Shane and Ben Marshall - other clubs will be looking at them, monitoring the situation to assess whether they should get them in now or wait a little bit.

Newcastle have come down and they're looking to regroup.

They've lost Steven Taylor and Fabricio Coloccini, so they're looking to replace them. Grant obviously fits that bill and brings that little bit of grit.

They want people who are experienced in the Championship and know what the fight's all about, because Newcastle want to get back up into the Premier League this season.

It's not a case of waiting for another season or two, they want to get back up right away.

Rovers are not in that position, but you can see that Owen Coyle is trying to bring together a squad that will perform better than last season.

There have been five new signings, but there's only one left-back now Tommy Spurr has left, so that's an obvious area to look at before the start of the season.

He's brought young Steven Hendrie in on loan from West Ham, but what if he gets an injury?

There's probably another couple of areas he'd like to strengthen, but whether he can is a different matter because it's a very tough market.

Wes Brown has been out in Austria with the squad and is set to get a run-out in the pre-season games.

If a deal can be done for him it would be a good move, but it's down to the financial side of it.

I had a similar situation myself. You're leaving the Premier League, you're without a club, you're in your mid-30s and you're asked to go on trial and to prove yourself.

You think, 'Hang on a minute, I've just been playing in the Premier League', but you still have to do it.

He's been a fantastic servant over the years to Manchester United or Sunderland, and he'd be a good addition for Rovers.

But would Wes Brown in the twilight of his career drop out of the Premier League to sit on the bench? I don't know.

Saturday night's 1-0 win was, obviously, good news, but I don't pay much attention to pre-season games.

They are all about getting match fitness and getting the team prepared for the league season.

Danny Graham scored the winner and it's nice to see he's got that eye for goal that he showed at Ewood Park last season. Let's hope it continues when the league season starts.

At Dundee United I had a great pre-season and was scoring goals, but the league started and I couldn't hit the back door. It was unbelievable!

I was playing well and fitness levels were high, but I just could not score.

You keep plugging away and working hard, but you're wondering why could you do it all pre-season and can't do it in the league.

It becomes frustrating but you can't let it get to you. You keep working hard and eventually it comes back for you.