Yeah but why are they sponsored by an 80s boyband?

That is interesting to hear from Souness. Especially as when he joined Newcastle he said... " "I'm sad to be leaving (Rovers) but I'm excited. I'm joining one of the biggest clubs around." BBC - Souness joins Newcastle

One...he has David James in. As for the rest...what you would expect from Crooks? Has he ever said anything at all about football worth listening to? Yet he is employed as an expert summariser...As Crooks once said "Football's football: If that weren't the case it wouldn't be the game that it is." Hmmm....so Roque cost about half as much and scored more than three times as many goals yet Jones is the buy of the season?

Is that fair and are you sure you are not being hypocritical? Don't you consider economic reasons when applying for jobs? It must also have something to do with Benitez not seemingly wanting him THAT much...Rafa (if it was him involved in the negotiations) messed around with the Warnock swap deal in the summer and might not have been as welcoming as West Ham were. Besides...I expect the majority of Aussies would prefer to live in London than anywhere else in England. I have no problems with what Neill chose to do. For Rovers he was a good, solid player for little outlay and then he moved on for a profit. Not once do I remember a game where it seemed Neill was not trying. Where he moved on to does not really concern me...and of course money had a lot to do with his choice. It usually does when we are choosing employment. I don't think there is anything too "controversial" about that or that I am trying to "have an argument". I just don't think Neill did too much wrong...we have certainly had many players who represented Rovers in far less professional ways. That said...queue jumping in a packed pub is out of order!

Whatever you think about rover6 he has put an argument forward without resorting to name-calling , ad-hominen attacks or personal insults. If you think he is wrong then why not try to debate as to why rather than just slag him off? The last two posts are just concerned with rover6.. You two just seem to keep goading rover6 yet you don´t address his points. If you think he is wrong then why not challenge what he writes rather than trying to undermine his status as a contributor to this messageboard? rover6...you keep going on about Bruno Berner as if he is symptomatic of what Hughes perceives as dunderhead old pros being better than youngsters. Yet that is to ignore the likely reality that Hughes just bought a player who has not done too well. Do you really think Hughes bought him knowing he would not do too well? Most likely Hughes bought the likes of Mokoena and Berner hoping they would be like Warnock or Samba have been. Just because Hughes buys players from time to time who do not play like fantastic bargains does not prove the man is anti-youth...but simply that he is not infallible in the transfer market.

Superb?? Calm down Simon...he is a decent enough defender but nothing too special and certainly nowhere near "superb".

I seem to remember Lineker mentioning his dislike of Rovers stemmed from the play-off victory in 1992. Leicester fans think Speedie dived and there seems to have been bitterness as they finished higher than us and mixed in with thoughts that we bought the promotion rather than earned it. It was over fifteen years ago now but I guess like another large-eared creature, the elephant, Lineker doesn´t forget things easily...

I'm reading 'A Long Way Down' by Hornby at the moment. Tells the tale of 4 people who meet when all coincidentally go to top themselves from the same suicide point on New Year's Eve. So far it hasn't really got going so will reserve judgement. Recently finished 'The War of Don Emmanuel's Nether Parts' by Louis de Bernieres which was a interesting and particularly good at the start. It went on to drag in parts and is of the magical realism style. Much better than his 'Captain Corelli's Mandiolin' which I couldn't bring myself to finish. Jon Snow's (the Channel 4 news chap) autobiography 'Shooting History' is a rip-roaring read as he covers locations as diverse as Nicaragua, Vietnam, the US, Iraq and meets the likes of Idi Amin in Uganda during his roving career as a journalist. Snow is rather a man of principles and was a passionate opposer of the Apartheid regime. Recommended.

Overall Souness has had a very chequered managerial career. There's no doubt he has had successes such as at Rangers and, overall, his time at Rovers but he also had some awful failures. If he had stayed much longer at Rovers we would have been back to where he'd joined us but having gone through most of our money. Furthermore he spent plenty of money at both Rangers and Rovers yet not particularly wisely. Meanwhile at Liverpool and Newcastle he spent a fortune just to make both teams worse. When you think of buys such as Boumsong for 8m, Grabbi for - what was it - 6.25m or something etc he has wasted a lot of money. Overall he doesn't have a good record but somehow he was in the right place at the right time on a couple of occasions. With such a colossal ego however he is always going to have a limited shelf life before he implodes.

Some recent reads... The Sound of Laughter by Peter Kay Bolton bloke recounts incidents in his childhood. Writing comedically is far more difficult than being funny in performance and this shows. No bad but rarely laugh-out-loud funny I felt. Beyond the Coral Sea by Michael Moran A travelogue mixed in with interesting snippets from history by an Australian writer about Papua New Guinea. This rather isolated outpost was famous for its cannibals more than anything. Errol Flynn pops up in the story as do the Germans (pre-WWI) and the Japanese (during WWII and not liked by the locals at all unsurprisingly). An interesting read about a country that is rarely wrote about. I, Virgil by David Wishart What Robert Graves did for Claudius; David Wishart doesn't quite manage for Virgil. It's not too bad a tale but there is much that is fabricated to make a rounded story and it doesn't quite skip along at the same pace as the excellent pot-boilers - as he called them - by Graves. Would be of interest to those who love reading about Rome but not much more than that even to them. Pele by Pele (with Alex Bellos) This is an interesting look into the life of the world's most famous-ever player...meaning that from the age of 17 it is fair to say that Pele didn't live anything other than an extraordinary life. Pele seems a nice enough bloke who is awful at business and trusts the wrong people time and again. There are some rather meaningless platitudes...such as when he scored his 1,000th goal (these included friendlies) and dedicated it to the children of Brazil because without children there is no future...yeah we know Pele but how is dedicating a goal going to make a difference? Anyway...recommended but not quite up there with Futebol: The Brazilian Way of Life also by Bellos and all about Brazil and its football. I'm currently on The God Delusion by Richard D-A-W-K-I-N-S which is fascinating and I even got This Thing of Darkness by Harry Thompson sent out due to so many recommendations on here and that will be read soon. PS - If you are wondering why I have posted the surname of the last author like that...it appears that name is now blocked by the swear filter.

Compared to how Barry Ferguson left the club Lucas Neill was a model of professionalism. Now that really was leaving the club in the crap. We were in the middle of a relegation scrap as well...

I thought Bellamy was booed when he came back last year. As for not spouting to the press...Bellamy said there wasn't a clause in his contract and Mark Hughes wouldn't abide by that. Not only was he lying but what on earth is that Hughes thing about? Was he suggesting Hughes didn't know (unlikely) or simply being such a weasel that he was using Hughes's good name to try and back up the lie? Still....Bellamy came and did well for us so no need for hard feelings now. We did make somewhat of a profit on him as well although not as much as we might have done if it hadn't been for the clause. Would he have joined us without the clause if the clbu had played hardball? That we don't know... Neill didn't leave on a free but instead we made a profit on him when we sold him. All this is trying to make excuses...Neill probably left for to go West Hame for a few reasons namely he wanted a change and, of course, would get paid a lot more for doing his job. What a tosser! How dare he go to another company who offer him a better deal? None of those getting at him would do that would they? I don't think we should feel grateful to Neill as he was handsomely renumerated and progressed his career at the club but also there is no need for some of the vituperative hatred and bile (calls of 'Judas' are just ridiculous) that is being thrown his way either.

I thought the widely reported figure at the time was supposedly around 30k a week and most certainly not 50k...why would Liverpool pay 50k a week for Neill? They were paying Bellamy less than that in a transfer that cost them far more than Neill would have. Be what it may...the lure of living in London and being a regular in the side probably swayed it for him. After being here for over 5 years I don't blame him for moving on. Who wants to stay at the same place for longer than that? Some people do but many people don't.

Why? They have only just appointed one and Ashley will make sure that, this time, as the manager is his man he will give him his backing. Keegan has been a good manager overall if you ignore England...excellent for both Newcastle and Fulham while not bad for City as he got them up and made them into a (not very good admittedly) mid-table outfit.

Because Souness is a nutjob who seems to regularly start arguments in an empty room. Hughes is still learning as a manager and keeps trying to adapt and do different things. Besides...Souness going stale meant desperately fighting relegation. Hughes going stale means mid-table placings and not that far away from the European places.

That's a straw man argument. Never a good position to argue from by beginning sentences with "if you". You said Hughes wasn't and hasn't been producing the "goods" this year. You said you would judge that on the league. Well...we are in the top half, have no concerns regarding relegation and not that far off the European places. How is that not producing the "goods" this year? Where should we be? How many points should we have? If you can define what producing the goods would mean to you then we can ascertain whether those "goods" have been produced or not and, fujrthermore, if your expectations are realistic. You said base it on the league...being almost clear of relegation by January The team is going through a rough patch and has had some shocking results and performances. However I remember the last time we crashed and burned out of the FA Cup against Birmingham. Compared to then our squad is far superior and we are much better placed in the league. That is down to Hughes. Nobody is happy losing 4-1 at home to Coventry. Yet we should keep calm heads. Hughes is far more likely to turn it around than Souness was who imploded in his own self-satisfaction. Depending on what happens in the transfer window we could well have a good second half to the league campaign as well.

You don't seem to have any coherent argument Eddie. You say you will judge a manager on the league yet come out with this "losing faith" stuff after a cup game. Not to mention that we are in the top half of the Premiership...where we also finished last year...so Hughes is producing "the goods" after all. The squad needs freshening up that is for sure and it is pretty obvious Roberts and Savage want out. Time to see what Hughes does to arrest the slide but even so it is not often we have so many points after this number of games.

We don't know what the alternatives are yet or who Hughes will be looking to bring in. At least we could see what he does in this transfer window before saying "I can't agree". We will all be in a better position to have a look at what Hughes is thinking in just under a month when we know what our squad is for the rest of the season.

A quarter final appearance in a cup and being in the top half of the league...six points from the Champions League places....suggest that he has produced the goods this season. Maybe the problem is that you don't know what the "goods" are? What were you expecting when he has spent very little since his time here and took over a weakened, demoralised squad headed for the Championship? Nobody is too happy at some of the results but, overall, Hughes continues to impress. Now is the time for the club to back him in the transfer market and see what happens in the rest of the season. We won't go down and will probably be around the halfway mark...maybe even higher if we start pulling our socks up again. That sounds like a successful enough campaign in the bigger scheme of things.

Sad news indeed. A great author and I loved reading all of his Flashman series.

Calm down Jimbo. Dunn was never a world class player. Your memory is playing tricks with you. Besides...world class players don't go to Birmingham City at the age of 23...the proper "big" clubs want them. Sure he looked promising and had some good patches of form but let's not go overboard. Maybe that is why some people are being disappointed...some are expecting the earth from him.

I think it has been money well spent and Dunn will be at the club for years to come. The main worry regarding him was due to concerns over fitness but they seem to have been largely overcome *touches wood* It is true that recently he has tried to do too much himself regarding running at players but it would help if our players supported him a bit more closely. If you watch when he is on a run our lads back away from him as if he has leprosy whereas the opposition crowds him out. Soon the opposition crowd him out and the ball rolls free...where are our players to pick up the loose ball and take advantage of the situation? Usually nowhere to be seen so a promising bit of mayhem is lost. The likes of Gamst, Bentley, the strikers or Reid should be getting a bit nearer and pouncing on opportunities Dunn and his runs - although admittedly some runs are of the headless chicken variety but many aren't - to keep the pressure on.

Well he obviously needs to get out any disruptive influences who aren't vital for the team. Roberts certainly isn't and Hughes seems unwilling to play him. There has to be a reason for the unwillingness of Hughes to play him much despite some lacklustre performances from others and if there are personal issues at stake then he has to be got rid of. Better not to have a bit-part player than one disrupting the more important players. Neglecting to throw him on against Arsenal AT ALL was a strange decision if there is no history around it. If anyone could disrupt their defence with presence and power then surely it would have to be Roberts? Ultimately we don't know what has been going on but Hughes seems unimpressed by Roberts this season. Personally I would have liked to have seen him given more time on the pitch. However he is replacable...there are many decent but not great strikers around. It's top-class ones like Benni and Roque that are really thin on the ground for a club like ours. True but there a lot of players we could go for. We are a Premiership side so are attractive to many players. Top class players are much more difficult...but ultimately if Benni wants to leave then he will get his wish. If he has got over the Chelsea rumours and will be happy to stay that is obviously the best solution for us. The opinion on here in the main seems to be he doesn't look happy. Is it just a loss of confidence or is he hoping to leave for a bigger club in January? Exactly. Hughes himself has proved time and again that there are good players out there and they don't have to cost the earth. Can he pull a rabbit out of the hat again? It is critical the board back him if he needs to do so, Some players when unhappy or looking to leave will put their head down and get on with it. Lucas Neill has a lot of critics on here but to be fair to him he did do that even when playing at left back. Some players won't do that and instead help create a bad atmosphere within a club. So to suggest that it is "better to have an unhappy player than none at all" is only partly true...it depends on the player. We are all second-guessing here but the recent rumblings from Ewood certainly suggest all is not right within the squad.

This is a particularly challenging time for Hughes as a manager and the recent results are - strange as it may seem - not necessarily the most important thing he will have to rectify. Instead the major obstacle he now faces is what seems to be multiple cases of, if not outright player revolt, then certainly enough members of the squad being disgruntled enough to be affecting team morale. This can threaten to disrupt the whole season whereas bad patches of form happen every year whatever this doesn't. This has not really happened before in such a direct fashion. The principal cases seem to be these... Aaron Mokoena - Probably the easiest resolved of the players wanting out. Although he has handed in a transfer request there haven't been any suggestions of a lack of professionalism playing-wise. Not a particularly good player anyway despite being decent enough when sitting in front of the back four and not being required to pass anywhere more than about five yards. While he has done a job he is still merely a squad player. Jason Roberts - The other transfer requestee and - seemingly - less likely to be able to keep his feelings to himself. We have all been witness to him having a strop earlier in the season when he refused to celebrate his goal properly in the...was it the MyPa game? He looked about as happy as an undertaker would do when doing his job. While there are grounds for him to be unhappy...he hasn't got bad stats either. Seven goals in about seventeen or so started games IIRC...not exactly up there with Benni but not bad,..and what number of assists he has given? Regardless though...rumours suggest he is one of the players helping to unsettle the squad so needs to be shipped out. Benni - Ah...the mercurial Mr McCarthy. It's pretty obvious to a blind man on a galloping horse that what he cares about is Benni McCarthy...and this season he has been in a self-acknowledged sulk. While he seemed to be getting over it have other parties been buzzing in his ear regarding a January move? Although a great goalscorer Benni has shown before that if not happy he is of little use to a club. Just ask Porto fans about his - finally successful - attempt to leave them even when the club said no. Sometimes a star player leaving is better for the club as a whole. Besides...can he actually manage tp form a successful partnership with Santa Cruz? It seems that Benni had his nose put out of joint by not getting a dream move in the summer and that has still not yet been resolved. Savage/Ooijer/Pedersen - None of them really the happiest of bunnies we are led to believe. Savage wants in the team, Andre has made insinuations about not staying after this season whereas MGP is having an awful time. Hardly Conducive to team morale. For the first time since working with Souness' squad Hughes is facing a lot of unhappiness from within the club. In previous seasons it seemed largely to be isolated disgruntled players such as Todd and Neill wanting to run down his contract. Now he is facing a revolt that is threatening to derail the team and ruin what was an excellent start to the season and even now is still a good one. We currently have 26 points from 17 games. After 18 games last season we only had 19 points so even if we lose to Chelsea on Sunday we will still be seven points better off than at the same stage last season. Hughes faces his toughest test since steering Rovers away from the relegation spots to safety in his first season at the club. If he turns it around we can still have a very successful season in the league and we are still only four points off fifth place. It will be interesting to see just how Hughes comes out of this while trying to satisfy the ambitions and egos of his players.

More useless trivia...Roald Dahl wrote the screenplay for You Only Live Twice.