I think he's on his way. He blatantly played like he was making sure he didn't get injured tonight. Given the performance of the team as a whole, I think we should get whatever we can for Mccarthy, Roberts and Pedersen and make the savings from the wage bill. We have young replacements who could benefit from the experience and make us stronger for next season.

Brilliant stuff. What a miss though by a certain Mr Hughes!

It's a pity he didn't put that easier chance away againts them at Ewood. I wonder if he's gonna stay at Roma now.

He was of eligible age at the start of the qualifying campaign so is allowed to carry on playing untils its completion. Its the same with Richardson as well. Otherwise the manger would have to change players all the time and wouldn't be able to have a settled side.

Thats irrelevent. I don't really care how good he was - all I'm bothered about is how good he plays for Rovers. I suppose you could argue he's done a decent enough job as a loan signing but I doubt we'll sign him permanently. With the form Roberts has shown recently and the potential Matty has I don't think he'd be higher than fourth choice next season. Thats if we don't buy another striker - if we do he's gonna be even further down the pecking order.

I've just got on x-box live and fancy a game of Pro Ev 6. Is anyone around tomorrow night? My Gamer Tag is WorldWideWalls

Players can't be registered before the 1st Jan due to the transfer window. Also, I think players have to be signed the day before the round of fxtures to make them eligible for those fixtures - meaning players signed on Jan 1st can't play until the next round of games.

And have Nelsen with who? Hope you're not suggesting Nelsen and Zurab to be our No. 1 pairing. Zurab was the weak link in the defence for months. For me Ooijer and Nelsen would be a pretty good partnership - albeit lacking a bit of pace. We have Emerton providing pace down the right side so I suppose the question is therefore who will provide it down the left? Over to Mr. Hughes...

and Steve Bruce...

On this photo does anybody know who the middle aged guy is with the rovers flat cap on? Looking at the photo he is just to the right of the arm on the bottom left of the picture. I seem to see him at every match I go to! EDIT: Also the main bloke in this piccy

Yeah not a problem - they'll need to know your details though so just let me have your name, address, credit card number and that nice little 3 digit number on the back of your card and I'll give them a call.

Now Ozz - I know this is ground breaking stuff - but have you tired ringing to find out?

Two of the most sensible posts I've read on here in donkey's from Scotty and daren. Aggree whole heartidly with the points raised especially relating to the fact that Todd should come in. However I think it should be in partnership with Oojer - and it should be Zurub who is dropped. Personally I think that a lot of the goals we have leaked this season have been down to him. During the first few matches we conceded goals as a result of opposition players finding acres between Neill and Zurab. More recently he seems to have become error prone as well. The 1st against WH started with a weak header by him and also the 2nd Villa goal was his fault as well. I've read many people blame Gray for this but Gray was played into trouble by whoever knocked it back to him and had to get rid quick. He played it to Zurab who should have just booted it up the pitch. He is a defender 1st and foremost. No fannying around - just get rid. He tried to have a touch and got tackled. We need to be tougher at the back and Todd is just the man for that. I don't know if he's been ommited as a result of a fall out or an injury but if fit he should come back in for the Man Utd match.

I presume he's on about his recent absence from the Rovers team...

How on earth can you judge when you haven't seen it? I am listening to the Villa commentary and even they said it was harsh. He might have been playing really well for all you know and you're judging him by the fact a penalty was awarded against him. It might have been blasted at him from a yard for all you know. Watch it before you give opinions.

There aren't any details of tickets prices on the official site. Anybody know? Are they available on the gate?

Change the blinking record will ya? You're getting on my tits now...

I would say that Gray went off because it was such a physical miss-match between hime and Harewood. You could argue that the match was already lost by then but either Hughes wanted to limit the damage or thought we could still get something out of the game. As to all those who complained about Jeffers. I thought he looked very good again yesterday. He has impressed me on both of his last 2 appearances - this and against Wigan I think. Fortunately for him I think he may now get the run in the side that he needs to as a result of the injury to Roberts. It will be interesting to see how he does. I feel he needs a goal sharpish though before his confidence goes. The other question is though can he play with Macarthy?

Zurab last week against Bolton

Think you're wrong there. He was left one on one against Heskey and that was as a result of the team not defending properly. The full backs were caught up field and so Zurab couldn't cover him as he had to mark his own man. Although I agree he could maybe have sheparded him away from goal, Heskey is all about power and pace and would have got around most defenders in that situation. To call him a joke of a defender is way OTT. He's getting better and better every game and I think he'll actually turn out to be a very good signing. Back to the game and I think Benni should have had at least a hat-trick today. In the 1st half he had 3 good chances and in the second half he had a few more besides the goal. As for the question of offside I thought he was behind Roberts when Roberts took it round the keeper and had his last touch and so couldn't be. As already meantioned Jeffers was very good today. He's obviously still way short of being able to complete a full 90 mins but what a headache for Hughes to have when it comes to picking the strikers. The good thing is that we will have different options for different games and we should be able to keep them all nice and fresh whcih we will need to challenge in the cups.

I thought they already had Bob TBH. There hasn't been any home fans in the Darwen End yet this season. But then again is that due to the teams we are playing? Everton, Chelsea and Man City I suppose would normally have the entire Darwen End to themselves anyway. Maybe just coincidence that they're the only fixtures we've had this season...

That goal was after his crash as well. I thought that Matty was back for sure when he scored that. Unfortunately it wasn't to be... The reason everybody still wants to know what he's up to is because football is all about memories - and he has provided many of us with great ones.

It's surprising how persuasive a £2m a year salary can be...

Twas in the Sun this morning too. Apparently Benni is making his debut...

Can't believe you missed Fettis off!