Broken leg for Paterson

Blackpool boss Paul Ince has confirmed the club are closing in on a deal to sign Swindon defender Paul Caddis.

The Seasiders have opened talks with the 25-year-old defender after having a bid accepted by the League One side on Tuesday.

Ince is hopeful of tying up a deal for the former Celtic youngster, who spent last season on loan at Birmingham, in the coming days

"I think Paul is a very good player," Ince told the Blackpool Gazzette. "He showed that during his time at Birmingham last year. He gets up and down the park well.

"It's nice to know we have a fee agreed, even if we are a little bit away from sorting personal terms at the moment. There are one or two little things to sort out."

Birmingham boss Lee Clark revealed he tried to sign Caddis permanently in January only to see his bid rejected by the Robins.

When he became available again this summer Clark conceded the St Andrew's club couldn't afford his transfer fee.

"Everyone know my thoughts and how highly I rate him" he told the Birmingham Mail. "But once people start offering a fee, that's us out of the equation.

"He would have loved to have joined us. But it wasn't to be. We wish him well."

The Irons beat Colchester 2-1 at the Weston Homes Community Stadium last night, and have now headed off to Germany for a training camp which will include games against Bundesliga opposition Mainz, Hamburg and newly promoted Eintracht Braunschweig.

Allardyce, whose squad started their pre-season build-up in Cork, Ireland, believes spending less time on a plane and more on the pitch can only help his men hit the ground running when they tackle top-flight newcomers Cardiff at Upton Park on August 17.

"We have gone to Germany again because the facilities, the hospitality and the standard of games is just what we are looking for in preparing us for the new season," he said.

"For me, the good thing is not travelling far and wide like a lot of teams do, going to the Far East and Asia. It is alright financially for the club, but it is not so clever for the players.

"It is better preparation for the season, there is no doubt about that. I have travelled to Thailand and Japan when I was at Bolton, and while we still got off to a good start to the season, the amount of travelling we had to incur was for us done at the right time, at the very start of pre-season, but we did pick up a few injuries on that, which was a bit of a problem.

"Certainly if you are doing it, you are doing it for the money.

"But you are taking Premier League teams to the mass millions who are paying to watch it throughout the season, while I think it is only right that teams the size of Manchester United and Chelsea do go out there, because it does satisfy the people who spend 10 months of the year watching Premier League football on the box."

West Ham's £15million summer signing Andy Carroll is to join up with the rest of the squad in Germany as he continues rehabiliation from a heel injury, with the England striker hopefully on course to be back playing within six weeks or so, possibly even in time for the crucial World Cup qualifiers at the start of September.

The Irons - who are considering an appeal for a work permit for Colombian striker Duvan Zapata in a £6.8million deal from Argentinian side Estudiantes - are not the only Premier League side to have invested significant funds this summer, with the likes of Swansea, Southampton and Norwich all doing early business in an attempt to bolster their chances for next season.

The transfer market shows no sign of slowing down, as clubs rush to spend their new bumper television income, which is all set to be under the new Premier League financial fair play regulations.

Allardyce said: "What surprises me is how it has fitted into the new (financial fair play) system, because I am told the new system is to restrict wage spending, so if the wages are low and the transfer fees high, I heard that does not matter too much.

"But I think those who are spending that type of money are doing so because they have increased the revenue which is coming in via the TV money that has gone up.

"If it is within these new regulations, then it is well within their rights to do, and it should only make the Premier League a lot more entertaining than it was last season.

"Those clubs who are spending it have to spend it wisely, like we all do - and those at the big end spend one amount of money which covers the entire amount of the squad you have got, and that is what you have to compete with when you are a West Ham manager because everybody expects you to still to try to beat those teams when just one player costs £35m.""

Paterson, 33, fractured his fibula in innocuous fashion during Tuesday night's 1-0 pre-season friendly victory at Blue Square Bet Premier side Hereford.

Rovers initially hoped Paterson would only be out for a short period but he will now be looking to return to action at the end of August.

A statement on the club's official website read: "(The) news comes as a big disappointment to the Scottish defender, and the club, and we wish him well for a speedy recovery."