Any time you're ready phil... Is he gonna kiss the United badge when he scores? Smith not Blue Phil I mean...

Well you are correct in that Fowler has done nothing since getting pushed out of Liverpool. But the converse of that arguement is.. if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Fowler and Owen were working well together and the team had won three trophies that season. It was a big risk to change things up front, and Liverpool have never been the same since. Anyway, that's what my scouser mate says... and I tend to agree with him. pg- It was Owen and Heskey who were the two main strikers during the season that Liverpool won the three cups. Fowler usually just came on as sub, which is why he was haappy to leave for Leeds the season after.

Regarding the languages- other than English they aren't much use if you aren't going to go to countries that speak them. While many English go abroad on holiday many end up staying in largely Anglophile areas such as Magaluf, Benidorm, Tenerife etc etc where most people in the tourist industry speak English anyway. It's not arrogant to not speak a second language if you are never going to use it. Although I am soon to learn a second language I don't think those who don't should be thought of as being Little Englanders. Regarding Pederson- as a left winger would Souness make sure not to play a right winger due to his aversion to having two wingers? Or is Pederson (I'm asking any of the members who have seen how he plays) also good at defensive duties? Oh..and is he worth the reported £1.5million that he would supposedly cost?

If any manager has ever had a more deluded sense of the quality of their own team i'm yet to see him. My favourite Houllier quote has to be; "You can't say my team aren't winners. They've proved that by finishing fourth, third and second in the last three years". Errr....right Gerard. That's what his problem was all along- he mustn't have realised that winners customarily tend to finish first.

Good Choice.... Am I the only one who found this book a pretentious load of garbage ? I put it alongside The Godfather and Catch 22 in my most over-rated category ... I wouldn't say those were over-rated as people obviously enjoyed them but they were disappointing to you as you expected the hype to translate into something you'd admire. That's individual taste though! If I was to pick what I thought was the most disappointing 'classic' I have ever read it would have to be 'Lord of the Flies' by William Golding. Just hated it even though I've had people go on at me how great it is both before and after I read it.

The Japanese police did the same thing before the World Cup but it didn't have an effect. The Portuguese authorities have been almost falling over themselves to welcome the English fans, even citing the ancient alliance between the two nations. As a major tourist destination they should know how to put on a good show for the fans. Unfortunately we all know that England has a (well deserved) reputation for aggro and this attracts some hangers on going along just for a fight. Scottish and Welsh thugs are even known to follow England for the buzz. Hopefully there won't be any major incidents and certainly not a repeat of the kind of scenes at Charleroi which were transmitted around the world. That's hardly the kind of thing that lessens the poor reputation that England away fans have...

Apparently as of now he still has forty minutes left as Liverpool manager if his sacking is to be announced at 12 o' clock. Amazingly he is the first Liverpool manager to be sacked since 1956! Although his reputation has taken a battering over the last eighteen months he still brought silverware to Anfield. Not the Championship or the Champions League admittedly but silverware nonetheless. In defence of Houllier, he did a better job at Liverpool than Souness did. Not that that was particualarly hard thing to do...

What's the big deal? So he's decided to leave the club he supported to move to greener pastures...it happens plenty of times every season up and down the country so why do we have to keep banging on about Smith and only Smith? I've nothing against Smith but let's not make him out to be something he isn't just because he cries a lot and keeps going on about how much he loves the club. Quite simply it happens time and again at clubs up and down the country so why make Smith out to be so special?

Have to hope Cole stays but the thing is... If only one of Cole or Souness can stay - which one would be best for Rovers? Our top goalscorer or our manager? A year ago I'd have backed Souness unreservedly but after this season and if he really is prepared to let Cole go....I'm not so sure anymore.

Expect to see Michael Moore in the news all over the place since. A new film of his is coming out, Farenheit 9/11, which is making a bit of fuss at the Cannes Film Festival right now.

Good Choice.... Am I the only one who found this book a pretentious load of garbage ? I put it alongside The Godfather and Catch 22 in my most over-rated category ... Must admit that I thought Catch-22 was ridiculously overhyped. Not that I didn't enjoy it, just don't think it is quite the life-defining masterpiece it is made out to be. Still think Catcher In the Rye is ace though. I'd still stick with 1984 as my favourite and which I wanted to win The Big Read (not that I was too bothered but you know...). An awesome achievement and Orwellian terminology continues to pervade modern speech and thinking.

Bent lasted less than a year as well. Although to be fair to Souness...Bent lasts less than a year at a different club every single season.

I'd suggest if we were after a 'Cole-type' player the closest we could get would be Pauline Fowler. For years in Walford she has practiced the hands-on-hip in exasperation stance and can whinge, sulk and moan like the best of them. You wouldn't see her turning up in dirty kit either, not with her background in washing the smalls of countless Cockneys down the years. Certainly she has been playing better football than her once-awesome Scouse namesake Robbie for the past few years.

To be honest I'd rather have Martin Fowler at Ewood than Robbie Fowler. At least the Eastenders actor has youth on his side. Fowler was ace but now is worse than your grandma/mum whatever... Man City want shot after the season they have had yet some wouldn't mind him coming to Rovers....?? The mind boggles....

Could've sworn she told me her name was Michelle..... Does it matter? You're going down either way...

Being a big fan of Robbie Fowler is a bit like being a big fan of Jimmy Greaves...their best days are both well behind them. With all the injuries Fowler has had he simply looks a shadow of his former self. It'd be great if he could reach the same level of the player he used to be but we've been waiting four or five years for that already.

We scored more than most teams. Think only about 6 teams score more than us. That's right, with 51 goals we were the 7th highest scoring team. The problem was at the other end- only the bottom three sides conceded more than us. That was Cole's eleventh goal for us on Saturday- all of them in the league. Without him we'd have been buggered, for all which we may lay the praise of Stead, Amoruso's return, Gallagher etc, Cole was vital to the season. If he goes he has to replaced with quality as quite simply he is still our best outfield player I feel, even when not at his best.

Wouldn't it be most likely he was doing it just in case? A lot could happen over the summer and could have been his last game for us but then it might not.... Cole always seems very uncomfortable in those situations which leads some to think he doesn't care. Maybe he doesn't but you can't tell from the actions of a reserved man who has admitted countless times he is uncomfortable in some situations. As he was like that at Man Utd then he mustn't have cared for them either if that was true. If he does go I don't know who could replace him that wouldn't cost a lot of money. With Yorke also going (or so it seems) relying solely on Gallagher and Stead is a needless risk I think. An older head would be wiser to help them gradually improve and cement their place. Can't think of anyone better for the job than a certain Mr Cole personally...

Hmmmmm..... Somebody couldn't resist a pop could he? One thing is for sure, we'll never see Dunn back in blue and white halves while Souness is at the club.

Can just picture it now.... Big Ron, holding his orange skull in hands, shaking his head from side to side saying "Christ that's all I bloody need! Jimmy chinning Hill on my flipping side...."

Ok so he wants to stay in the top flight for the sake of his career and so leave his hometown. Fine, he's made up his mind. A man has to do what he has to do, no problem, life goes on. Yet why does he have to cry like a bitch over it? Jeez...it's not like he spent years building up a club and finally winning the title. Jack Walker's tears in 1995 were real and the culmination of years of work and dediction. What do I see? Smith decides to leave and does the same as Jack Walker did in a vacuous, self-centred public display of grief? Comparing that childish little display to the years of work Jack put into this club is nauseous to say the least. I've nothing against Smith, I actually quite like his fiery nature yet he can't seem to control anything, whether it be his behaviour on the pitch or his bloody tear ducts.

Excellent post. Have to agree with you completely, hope you don't wait so long for your next post.

Good Choice.... Although my all-time favourite is still 1984. Just an awesome book and changes the way any reader views the world. If reading that book doesn;t get you thinking then quite frankly you are either or dead or a moron. Drummer Boy- although we seemed to be arguing from different sides I agree with your choices, especially Tin Drum. If you like bizarre- try Philip Roth. Weird and, to be honest, utter filth in parts. Read 'Sabbath's Theater' recently about a puppet-artist expecting a nice chilled read and what did I get? Sex and violence all the way through. I felt obliged to read to the very, very end just to say how shocking it was!!!

Well what about murder, genocide, killing somebody's relative through careless/ bad driving, announcing redundancy, paedophilia, friendly fire, any kind of accidental damage / loss / grief caused to another etc etc. Come on Rovermatt you really must try to get a better grasp of reality than you currently appear to possess. Anyway back to the subject matter. What about deliberately elbowing an opponent perhaps? I know which I would rather be the victim of. If words did not have the power to hurt and wound they wouldn't be much use would they? Mike Newell has got all in a flutter recently over words about him.... Here are some words that can hurt.... Is it in yet? Yes, your bum does look big in that. Burnley have announced their new manager...Kenny Dalglish. Blackburn Rovers are said to be interested in Emile Heskey. I've been faking them for years... We're all out of Guinness...... Rovers plan to make the Markus Babbel deal permanent.... I wouldn't mind an elbow after that lot, anything to lose conciousness!