Yes.

Pity this season we were only just beginning to get some value out of the £6.5 paid for him, but once it was clear he was blubbing for home, I think there was no way back. Rovers must have sensed that then held out for the best deal possible. We lost £2 but holding by the summer transfer period, with less time on his contract (which he wasn't likely to have extended ), he may have been worth even less (if holding out for 1 club only), and we would have paid the wages of a player who didn't want to be there, and may have been saving himself for the move.

This is half an article which appeared on Soccernet....

.....'The bottom line is that I'm 30, I'm a father and I was being made to train with the kids.....

"We're tired of training Daddy, can't we go in now and watch Tellytubbies?"

Has to be Todd. Would you argue with him?

So the deal hinges on finding a replacement for a player training on his own and not being played.

On the wages he's being paid to do nowt, there must be plenty of willing candidates.

Oh go on then, I'll be the replacement, where do I sign?

For Rooney's sake I hope Ferguson sees the photograph, which I can't find on the web, and has more than a word in the lad's ear. If someone does not take him in hand he'll be the next Gazza in every sense, it's as plain as day.

This picture?

Shudder.....Never mind incitement offences, the police should charge the gurning idiots with frightening children.

As Nick Hancock described Peter Beardsley, maybe Rooney is someone else who when appearing on TV 'causes daleks to hide behind the sofa'.

MGP doesn`t seem to have a right foot(see goal) but boy does he have a left one(see goal).

Didn't he score with his right?

Yes with his right, and the ball must have been chipped from the outstide of his foot, cheeky or what?

......The first sending off we didn't see, but after someone in the crowd shouted 'Todd!!! You stupid idiot!' (or words to that effect!) we was expecting Todd to go. But he got nothing and Lua Lua reluctantly left the field.

......Some man on 606 said that it was a 50-50 challenge, but it wasn't.

For the first sending off, Nissa was looking a bit sheepish, so when the Ref. went to speak to his assistant, I was worried it was he who had been up to something, thank god he hadn't (or had but got away with it).

To the 606 caller, the only thing 50/50 about Faye's lunge was that he took out both Brad and Nissa.

We were a bit worried after Dickov's caution, as seconds after being booked he dragged back a Pompey player by his shirt, right in front of the ref's assistant! Luckily he went unpunished, as whilst in the 6 yes 'six' minutes of extra time, we'll miss him when suspended.

Some early team news ahead of match. Shame for Peter Thorne, was his only 1st team appearance as a Rover at Wembley for the charity shield match v. Man U?

We were joined as visitors to West Brom. by Cardiff fans a few seasons ago when the match they had been travelling to was postponed. They seemed to cheer louder and longer than us when Rovers scored, thanks to the scorer being Cardiff old boy Nathan Blake.

A case of cut off your nose, to spoil your face.

With Steve Bruce's facial features, he must have done that already

From the MOTD coverage, looked like the lino. was shuttling back and forward to check for offside (to keep Ferguson happy), and was probably a bit dizzy when the ball looped over and Carroll fumbled it over and beyond the line.

Still think their hand ball assisted goal for a point at Ewood would have been easier for the officials to spot though.

Brum lost 2 - 1 tonight, at home and to a recently poorly performing Bolton. Bruce used all 3 subs and must have been thinking how he would have faired with Savage on the pitch.... Shame.

Mind you would have prefered a draw to keep both teams within our reach in the table.

Look forward to Bruce's reaction on MOTD tonight.

As for animals, not to detract from their precognitive abilities, but in one of the eye-witness accounts in the Times yesterday it distinctly mentions animal carcasses in the aftermath.

Read an article about it today, anyone who is interested, PM me your email address, I can't post the link, as it is a pay site, but I can email the link and the article can be viewed for free for a week.

What it said is that there were early warning signals and escapes by pretty much every animal except for the dogs. For some reason almost no dogs even acted weird in the minutes before, and some had to be driven to higher ground.. At one zoo, the only animal that died was a boar.

A friend who nearly drowned there in her hotel room (Thailand) told me there was also strange insect activity, and that crabs had been scurrying across the beaches. Apparantly when the tide shot out just prior to the tidal wave, fish were flapping on the sand, stranded where the sea was supposed to be.

Here we go then, Shame there isn't a white one to make up the pair .this one's out for the lads!

In the past we've met up in a place opposite the train station.

Probably 'The Cherry Tree(s)' opposite Norwood Junction.

Pub 11 on Scotty's link.

Haven't been there for a while but we're usually welcome there

(even if they did once show a tape of 'that' play off final).

'Broth-ade' despite getting to the world cup finals with NI, and being a treat to watch, was sadly untested with us at the top flight. Wilcox was a key figure in our title run, but have gone for Duff as the best all rounder who single-handedly could really turn a match.

What the heck is a meesage anyway.

An infestation of small rodents?

Interesting comment from Chris Coleman as reported by

football365.com

Probably a load of meaningless manager-talk, and let's hope that Cole (not Coleman) spends the match on hands-on-hips mode

Maybe Chris had read Andrew's article in the LET (please make this link work). Cole sounds almost regretful he hadn't hung around at Ewood a bit longer and for the new manager. Saying that maybe Coleman could still do a job for us in defence

Aside from his all time scoring record for the club, all the boxes for cheeky charisma etc would be ticked for the legend that is Simon Garner. Such characters may never be seen again at the top level(s) of football in Britain. Unless that is a revolutionary new sports conditioning diet emerges, based on Mild and Ciggies. Still sad he didn't make at least one game in the Premiership.

Any news on a loan deal to Oxford?

I have no beef with the player, and still don't believe he's a lazy heffer, despite all the tripe I've been reading on the matter recently.

Hate to be the bearer of bad news but the mystery trialist was Dean Saunders trying out some orange boots

And he would have got away with it if it wasn't for you pesky meddlin' kids.

Scooby snack anyone?

Have transferred a tenner to the account and set up a standing order.

Considering the unpaid time and effort put in by mods/admin etc. it's the least I could do to help keep the site running.

All the best - Blunder

Watching live football at Ewood is like having sex with a beautiful woman

I can't remember that having sex with a beautiful woman caused me to :-

bite my nails to the quick; sit for 90 minutes all tensed up inside; wonder if a heart attack would ensue; grind my teeth in utter frustration and scuff my shoes on the ground in despair as I walked away despondently afterwards.

Obviously you're doing it wrong

45 minutes each way? I'm impressed.

Maybe, just maybe the hype of the tournament might get a few of the regions new footi enthusiasts

(I've heard several cases of non believers getting excited about the sport this summer) rolling up to Ewood to see live games. Lucky for us the seats aren't available at other grounds, and if we have a few decent results early on we could get some hooked. Maybe us long term sufferers and addicts should warn the poor misguided fools.