Quite aside from the appropriateness of Sepp Blatter's comments can we all just pause to give a MASSIVE HI-FIVE to rover_786 for his best sentence yet in grammar, syntax and spelling? ps. Sepp Blatter saying that there is no racism in football is akin to saying there is no sexual harassment in bars and pubs. Just because a tiny moniority of people do it is not a reason to deny it's existence and deny the need for censure. That was his mistake. And frankly the guy is a high class buffoon who should have lost his job years ago. If he was a person of sense and judgement then I imagine he would get a little more leeway.

I sort of agree. But then you do have to ask who would manage the club? The only way that could work is if we had someone lined up who had 100% agreed to take the reigns. Looking at the shambolic corporate adminstration of Rovers that is about 0% likely. After todays game there might be the spark of an inkling to find someone new, but it is going to take weeks to sort it out. The temptation from the boards point of view will be to "see how it works out, maybe it will be okay.....?"

I would severely question Kean playing Dunn in central midfield away at Everton! However I do agree that the side was well setup against Blackpool, Arsenal and Birmingham. You can argue with RSC being included but there was little to suggest anyone else would be better until after the Birmingham game.

In case you haven't seen arguably the best and catchiest parody to grace the internet..... Charlie Sheen - Bi Winning

Yeah, I think Duff is the only one in the 2000s who has gone on to achieve. Maybe Bellamy to a degree at Man City but they have now jettisoned him. After Tugay McCarthy was, imo, the most naturally talented player to turn out for Rovers in recent years. Breathtaking ball skills, excellent finishing and a good footballing brain. If he had tried he could have been one of the best players in the Premiership - but he never had his head on straight. Such a waste.

Christ, what a naked attempt to get a job?! Although to be honest he is no worse than Andrews.

Two ex Rovers have stormers for Liecester:- Bruno Berner (remember him?!) and Gallagher. Gallagher is maturing. Could well come back into the Prem next year either by Liecester's promotion or someone buying him. Leicester v. Notts Forest

Is Ilan any good? If I was Zola I would partner Benni with Cole. Cole would suit Benni perfectly.

Yup. Out of all the players who have left Ewood over the last six or seven years there are only three I hold a grudge against. Bellamy for lying (which is just unbelivably taking the p***) and Ferguson and McCarthy for refusing to train. Cruz and Bentley while annoying largely conducted themselves within the boundaries of what is acceptable, even though they were knobs about it (the interviews they gave primarily). However they continued to train and let us negotiate big fees to compensate us.

He has always been good at that. Shame he does not live up to his billing. If I was a betting man I would say he is going to have a great end to the season, get eight or nine golas, go to World Cup, have an average time there, and then only get around 10 starts next term and score a couple of pens. After that he will end up in Dubai or the like on a fat contract.

He has been a d!ckhead and I am glad he has gone. Shame as if he settled down I think he could have worked really well with the younger lads like Kalinic, Olsson and Hoilett. It is also annoying to have had, three years ago, three of the most technically talented players in the league - Benni, Bentley and Tugay. Now we have no real entertainers. I hope that Basturk goes someway to filling that gap.

Yeah, it is a shame. If Benni had kept his toys in the pram and kept on scoring then he could have probably got a move to a CL club the following summer for the circa 15m we were looking for. However he lost interest when Cruz took over the lead role and suffered a massive dip in form. Arguably, after Tugay, the most technically gifted player we have had a Rovers in Premiership times. But his biggest enemy has been himself. He could have become one of europes top players imo if he handled himself correctly. The annoying thing is he will probably walk into West Ham and set the house on fire till the end of the season. He showed against Fulham what he can do when he foucusses and the Hammers will reap this as he will wnat to impress the fans a win his place, Not good when we are competing against them in a relegation battle.

Hmm, problem I have with Hoilett is that he does not seem to have much of a shot on him, or a cross. If I was Sam I would be looking to start Kalinic and McCarthy regularly together. THey compliment each other well. Hoilett should be reserved as an impact sub on the wings I think.

Really? I would say most teams struggling in the Prem will have a look at him alongside Galatasaray et al. I think there will be a bit of interest. 2m is not going to buy us a servicable player. it won't even get us Beattie for God's sake. We shouldn't sell for 'what we can get' we should sell for what he is worth to us. And I would say 4m is about right. If we get much less we should keep. He is looking like forming a good partnership with Kalinic.

True. Annoying. If he really is contracted till 2011 we should be looking for 4m I would say. Ambitous I know but he is a brilliant player on his day and already attracting far more interest than Beattie is who is rated at 3m.

I am sure he is on more than this. After his exeptional first season here he would have been bumped to 40k+ imo.

I would ay Benni looking decent comes a lot down to having in Di Santo an ideal partner. Di Santo does everything Benni won't - runs the channels, pushes right up against the back line, wins the ball in the air, is physical, holds up the ball. This allows Benni to drop off, float and find space and play facing the goal. The Argentine much better partner for benni than he has had over the last three years - Roque was too similar to Benni in where he plays, and Derbyshire too lightweight. Roberts worked better but Jase can't win anything in the air which was a major problem, plus has extremely poor technique.

Sorry mate, no chance! No way you can have Diouf, Dunn, McCarthy and Di Santo in the same team. If we were going to play both Dunn and McCarthy (which I doubt will really happen) then the only real way to do it imo is:- ------Di Santo------McCarthy ---------------Dunn ----Grella---NZonzi----Emerton Givet--Nelsen---Samba---Chimbonda -------------Robinson Its fair enough having a lot of attacking players but we need to keep defensive solidarity which means having the fitness and the workrate on the pitch. Also I could see McCarthy and Dunn crowding each other as they operate in the same areas. I personally would go for one or the other in the hole and Kalinic and Di Santo up front running the channels and the back line.

Diamond formation anybody? -----------Di Santo-----Roberts ------------------McCarthy -----------Dunn-----------Emerton -------------------NZonzi Givet----Samba-----Nelsen----Chimbonda -----------------Robinson

I don't really agree with that. He hasn't looked that good, easily pushed off the ball, drops too deep. As a lone striker he is awful. Under Allardyce and the lHughes last season he has looked poor the vast majortiy of the time. However I do agree he has something to offer with another more mobile player alongisde to give him room - we have three more of those than we did last year (Di Santo, Kalinic and Hoilett). Personally I would be tempted to play 442 against Pompey if Dunn isn't looking too hot in training (seemed very lacklustre against Utd). Let Benni play, see what he can do. He did look good on Sat (although still massively overweight!). If Dunni s playing well Benni will have to sit on the bench. Can't drop him, and not convinced we can play him central in a 442 midfield.

To be fair both Stead and Gray had a period where they were outstanding for us. Really really good. Around about Autumn 2003 when we beat Man Utd.

Interesting. I wonder why? We haven't got any money and a very full squad...

To be fair his record is one of the finest for any england manager ever, and in terms of the quality of players we were very very far off Brazil. Capello looks the business though, and has the advantage of having better players at his disposal. The crucial thing for him has been the emergence of Barry who balances the side in a way we have never been able to before. Still however in terms of raw player talent we are miles behind Spain, Brazil and Argentina.

Agreed. McCarthy is the second most technically gifted player I have seen play for Rovers (just behind Tugay, just ahead of Bentley). His touch is exceptional. However he has also been extremely lazy over the last two seasons. His saving grace is that Di Santo or Kalanic may be able to bring more out of him than Cruz, Derbyshire or Roberts did. They are two different sorts of player, and Kalanic in particular has pace that Benni could use to make himself the space he needs. It will be interesting to see how he works with the new guys. If he doesn't get sold first that is!

I once saved a penalty from him when I was twelve! RIP Bobby Robson. Legend.