There were a few people wondering why ManUtd paid £14m for Cristiano Ronaldo when he was close to joining Villa(?) for around £5m. I think the price had been accepted.

I doubt that any of the clubs in this country would actually be as blatent at bribing the refs (bar possibly Abramovich - there is rumours he has sent hits on people hlding his business back in the past.) but the main thing to come from Italy is the pressure that big clubs put on referees - Jeff Winter admitted that he would think twice about giving the opposition a penalty at old trafford (to t5he away side) John Terry's goalkeeper handballs in the penalty area come to mind with Chelsea, as does Rovers vs Utd at old trafford in WC Semi Final when Uriah Rennie booked lucas neill for diving when it was a blatent penalty (I think he said after that it was a penalty THANKS A LOT!)

Without wanting to look back over the past 5 pages - has all this talk of Dunn come from a genuine rumour or are people just talking about it (again) ? Cheers From what people have said that he's arrogant when he's out - evry time i've seen him he's always been ok. He is always going to get stick off people cos he's prob got about a grnad in his pocket and a porsche parked up outside - fair play though -I think we'd all do the same in his position.

some top class trouble making by the argies after losing thre game... everyone should look out for the highlights - theres a 'come together' at the end and an arg player flys in from nowhere and hits one of the germans in the back. Heinze from Utd gets really wound up too. Its classic stuff. At least england won't have to play argentina now. Its setting up for a Eng Ger final hopefully

Why did Emo get a second yellow? Did anyone see? Was it for the handball or for his blue language towards the idiot Poll?

I totalyy agree with Roverthehill, I was saying it today - you can't fault crouch's individual performances over the last 4/5 england games hes prob been the most consistent player, but when he plays England never play good football, we always end up lumping it forward, when owen/roo play it brings joe cole and lamps into it a lot more. I think crouch should be sacrificed for the greater good.

Spurs can do anything if the papers say so... remember they are going to get into the Champs League when Arsenel are kicked out (according to the papers)...

Yes gerrard went to ground bit easily - but as someone said, you don't hear the spanish or argies moaning that their teams are cheats... Im sure most people would take a world cup win whatever way it comes eg owen last time diving for penalty

Yeah - hope Rovers don't get any Polish teams in europe, sounds a bit crazy.

mouthwash is alright compared to Skol!

Thwaites choice of lager: Warsteiner Kaltenberg Although most Thwaites pubs have either Carling or Carlsberg as a guest. Warsteiner on tap at Rovers is bound to get the atmosphere going!!

good though for england that Ash Cole had a decent game - looks to have a good level of fitness.

I don't think Henry will go to Barca now - I think he saw last night that Barca are a bunch of divers who havent got any sense of good sportsmanship. The way that Puyol and Ronaldihno (near the corner flag) threw themselves to the ground was pathetic. The overall feeling from last night's game was that I am now very vary of England getting cheated out of the World Cup this year, maybe by a bad ref decision or opponent diving... It just always seems to be English teams getting the worst of it against Johnny Foreigner

I believe that the reason why the FA (and the public) would prefer an English boss is that they will have more passion than Sven who just sees it as a job. HOWEVER, I don't even think that McClaren has the passion and emotion to fulfill this - maybe Big Sam would've been the man to show a bit of emotion. McClaren is just as placid as Sven.

IMPORTANT QUESTIONS: a) What round do we enter in? When is the draw for this round? c) What are the dates (if decided) of the first / second legs of the match? d) Who are the potential opponents from other leagues? Also - are we seeded to avoid (eg) a big spanish team in the 1st round?

I wouldnt be too harsh on the axe because (again) he was out of position tonight when he came on, plus players need a run in the side to get full form.

Well done the lads!!!!! Great performance tonight by all the players. Bring on EUROPE!!! Just a note though about the coverage on Sky, its so disgracefully bias towards southern clubs its untrue. The only one who's fair was Ray Wilkins. They didnt mention once the fact that Geremi was lucky to still be on the pitch. The ref was awful - he was poor towards Rovers all night.

Hopefully we'll get the points we need against Chelski - but if not then we need to get at City. They seem to always be a bogey team for us tho. I say play Gally and Bells up front.

Cheers for help

Does anyone have a clue about how much it'll go up in May? I want to get a ticket but need to sort it out with friends/finances Plus if I get a seat now (with the offer) can I relocate if needed post April? Thanks

I'm hoping Rovers step up a gear and bounce back after a few bad results. Team: Brad Neill Nelson Todd Gray Reid Tugay Sav Gally Bells MGP/Pongo

Reid's at wigan, the speed of the shot should NOT be underestimated: In the words of John Motson -''Its the hardest shot I've ever seen''

Well we are still top of the bad boys league...

I think he was annoyed at the ref at not giving him a foul because I think he thought he got kicked, throwing the armband was just frustration. I think when hughsie asked him why he did it it looked like (lip-reading) he said ''he kicked me'' then he shook he head at the ref.

I don't actually think we've been that bad lately - POMPEY away - draw - Harry Redknapp says it was their 'best performance of the season' LIVERPOOL home - bad decision by linesman ruined the game, we had all the possession, but couldnt break them down - liverpool are one of the best in europe at holding a lead. BIRMINGHAM - we had all the possession again, their keeper's made some amazing saves. They had two breaks and score both. Maybe we're just due a bit of a break in front of goal