AspRover

Thanks, that was bugging me. Must have imagined Portuguese because we bought Benni from Porto.

Didn't we have a strike partnership that spoke portuguese to each other on the pitch (I want to say Benni McCarthy was one of them) on the grounds that the opposition wouldn't understand what they were saying to each other? Would having a German double pivot in Trybull and Holtby have the same effect?

In my FM20 save I am managing in Croatia - Istra 1961. I picked up Dominic Samuel on a free after the first season when Rovers released him. He was appalling. Got about four goals in a season in the Croatian first division, where the general standard of footballer is probably about league 2.

A team that finished above us by ten points last year came to Ewood to stifle, defend and nick a win. We're going in the right direction, and other teams know it.

They changed the rules a while back so that all the clubs that trained a player are entitled to a (Very) small 'solidarity' payment when a player moves. A fraction of a percent, the idea being that a non-league team that produces a premier league player gets money over the course of the players career, depending on how many years the player was with them. No idea if that would apply in this case, but if it did we might get a couple of thousand quid.

A pedant nit-picks whilst a pendant hangs his head two : one to Rovers

goal difference matters in this league - we need to pick up goals where we have the chance, get a couple more lads...

I feel better already.

This is an odd one for me, I live not that far from Bournemouth so this should be one of the away matches that I would really look forward to. Instead I'm sat at home catching up on work and finding it difficult to work up much enthusiasm. I'm expecting to play one of the 'kids' in central defence - probably Magloire after the Leicester game - and for us to 'put on a good show' but lose by two or three, probably down to individual errors from the defenders. Then we will be told that there are 'a lot of positives' to take from the performance.

Is it possible that some of this comes from the owners? As in they realised that they got taken for an absolute ride by Anderson etc. and are now over compensating and refusing to sanction signings with big agent pay offs? I mean I doubt they are as hands on as that, but I can see sending a missive from Pune saying 'no more agents' and the club just having to try and live with it.

Don't particularly like the away kit, but watching the game it looks better on than I was expecting from the photos.

Pressing well enough, decent energy but against much better opposition. Can't get on the ball for more than a couple of passes, and our forwards can't win a header when we ping it forward. Going to be a long game!

yeah or that, but right now if you've got straws I'm clutching at them

That's interesting, possibly we're holding off announcing it because there's another signing imminent and they want to do the press at the same time?

A big red 'R' on the front of the shirt and no gambling? That would probably be the first shirt I buy in a while. I've been wearing my pre-Venkys era red away kit with the premier league arm patches and 'Salgado' on the back in protest for most of the last decade.