Charlton losing at home to Liverpool 0-3. Good news.

I would guess McCarthy up front with Ped just behind him.

Ped up front, with Gray in midfield? Or maybe 5 in midfield and Benni on his own up front. I dunno.

ROVERS: Friedel, Neill, Todd, Tugay, Savage, McCarthy, Bentley, Gamst, Ooijer, McEveley, Gray. Subs: Brown (GK), Nonda, Matteo, Derbyshire, Peter.

Don't think you've been reading my posts W.

That is interesting. I have wondered how the changes would affect the youngsters. It's fair to say that those changes aren't responsible for the present situation though. You reckon that it's to the detriment of the future of the club as a whole then?

In a nutshell Le Chuck, - in a nutshell.

I'm not calling for the academy to be scrapped, far from it. The question is though - would the money be better spent directly on the "proven player"? As far as I can see, the answer over the past eight years would have been "yes". Simple maths 8x£2.5m = £20m extra spent on players, over and above what has already been spent. Not that things are so black and white as that, I know. You mention west ham bringing academy players through and ask would they still have come through without an academy? Well who knows, but west ham always did bring through great young players. So is it the academy responsible, or is it the scouting system, or something else responsible for that?

Of course it has. That isn't to say kids don't play football though. There are more football pitches across the country and more youngsters playing organised football, than ever before. Don't know what you mean there. Hope you don't include me in that FLB. They DO have a hell of a long way to go though, to become Prem standard. Maybe that's part of the problem. If we were a first div. club, the academy would be working well for us. What evidence is there, that they do work?

I reckon it's flawed idea. Yes - you can improve kids by taking them as youngsters and giving them expert coaching. However, I don't believe that you can identify the youngster that is going to make the grade, until they reach the age of 16/17 at the earliest. There is far too much that can go wrong with a kid before that age. We've seen that time and time again. You can take the best youngsters from the area and give them the best coaching possible, but the vast majority fall by the wayside. So, for me, the whole concept of an academy is basically flawed. Kids need to develop of their own accord until the talent can really be seen, - then the coaches should move in to get the best out of those that have a real chance.

He was asking to hear the boos, from the morons who would be better off actually encouraging the team, after he'd scored the winner. Good on yer Lucas.

Can we use the Bayer Leverkeusen topic for travel etc, now please?

Was in Livorno a couple of months ago. The dock area isn't very nice, but get cheap flights to Pisa, where you can get the train down to Livorno. Florence is within touching distance from Pisa as well.

Attitude - what attitude Jim?

No he didn't. The guy is human, the morons booing rovers players need their heads screwing on. Exactly what do they think they can achieve?

--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Ste B @ Dec 14 2006, 17:21 ) 468011[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec--> Theres a hell of a lot to lose, get relegated and we might have to play Garner/Derbyshire up front as they will be all we have got. Personally i'd like to see Derbs loaned out to a championship side, hopefully he can develop a little more form ready to have a go at a premier place next season. Theres enough potential in the way he bends his runs, but he does appear to miss chances and needs to improve his general positional play. He can only improve by playing. We cant afford to take a risk on him. Whilst i'm not convinced Nonda has done nearly enough, theres is a history that he has scored goals at the highest level, and if he gets that back etc etc. Chances are the alternative will be to bring a player with a similar history into the club and hope that signing comes off, we havent got 10 games to give somebody else a chance. The Premier League demands instant results I think my touch of sarcasm went over the top SteB People used to say I was good at sarcasm, must be losing my touch. I agree with everything you say.

Why give Derbyshire 5 games? Did you see something that the guys that were there didn't, or did you just pick a name out of a hat? What about Joe Garner, shouldn't he be given 5 games as well, let's see how he settles.? What the hell, let's play all the young lads, there's nowt to lose.

None of the youngsters - Derbs, Gally, Jay, Peter or Nolan look anywhere near being ready for the first team. It's dellusion to think otherwise.

It will be interesting to hear the views of those that want the youngsters playing in the first team. I would ask - which ones?

Tony Cascarino isn't struck by our strikers.

Get there early. Emergency road works on Livesey Branch Road.

Nearer £25k I think.

Nelsen said on Radio Rovers, that he would be "playing football" in three or four weeks.

West Ham to make an announcement about his future, this afternoon. [Radio Lancs].