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.

Thats possibly the stupidest post I have read on this messageboard. How many trophies have Man Utd won? With only two of that "golden generation" getting any playing time at all, and then mostly from the subs bench. Daft. The thing that has kept the Utd steamroller going is the awesome amount of money they genrate from the CL and their marketing/stadium, combined with a fantastic manager in Ferguson. I hate the monotony of it. They are weak in some areas though, especially if they get injuries. But no doubt Fergie will buy to cover those areas and it will be the same next year.

lovely pun! Ferguson's top heavy team was exposed tonight quite badly. Four of the best forward players/winger around, three of the best defenders/full backs, and a decent creative player in Carrick. But they had no one to break up the play at all. The loss of Fletcher was a big blow (never thought I would say that!) Man Yoo always buy one 30 million player a season. It will be a midfield "destroyer" this time I think, which they will need to compete against Chelsea and Liverpool.

Steven Gerrard would probably have something to say about that on current form. I wonder if Capello can get those two to work up front together? Bizarre combination - niether are strikers really, but it could have benefits. And all our "proper forwards" are very average.

Well I think a lot of us owe Benni a tip of the hat, if not apologies exactly, for writing him off - myself included. He has completely turned his form and commitment around and looks like a first rate goal scorer again. He seems properly comitted to the club as well which is a massive bonus. I have said it once or twice before but in terms of raw talent we probably have the greatest strike force ever assembled in Rovers colours - McCarthy, Cruz, Roberts and Diouf (although it is somewhat negated by the fact by the quality of strikers across the Premiership as a whole is very little short of awesome). The range and style of the four is enormously varied, and three of them are prodigiously technically gifted. Sure we had Shearer and Sutton who were brilliant and of course would start if we had them in their prime today. But when have whe had four quality strikers to choose from??! The issue is how do we use them all effectively (and get Cruz to find form) - especially considering how threadbare our midfield is, which will limit the supply. I can see Benni adding seven or eight before the season is out.

Benni has always been a great man in front of the Press. If he had not been blessed with such enormous footballing talent he could be a PR man. However experience does tell us that there is quite a big gap between what he says to the camera and what he actually thinks and performs on the pitch. I hate being cynical but is hard to take his comments at face value. That said there are a few things worth remembering: 1) He is now past 30 and it is concievable that he recognises he will not get a move to a CL club now, and that he actually does like Rovers as a team to play for. 2) He desperately wants to play for, and even captain, South Africa at their world cup. To do so will require being settled and scoring goals. Another move (more than likely sideways to Sunderland or Wigan or whoever) could undermine that. 3) Allardyce may well appeal to him as a manager. No way of knowing but it is possible. 4) From our point of view he is a player who has never relied on pace or physicality. There is absolutely no reason why he could not be a good (or even get better as a) player into his mid thirties. Like Tugay he relies on technique and cleverness, and these attributes do not fade as fast as pace and muscular strength. THe one big issue with this is that he does need to keep his shape, which is something he failed to do over last summer. I can see him being effective until he is 35. He is a tough player to accomodate into a team due to his style, but with Jason doing the donkey work to make him effective he could go from strength to strength.

If anyone is going to spend 20m on Roque in the form he is in they are a nut bar. Can only happen if Man City back Hughes which I doubt they will.

In a standard 442? That would be interesting... not sure Roque would be too keen on it, and I doubt he would do a disciplined job there so the right back would not get much protection. Potentially what we could do is 4312? ----------Roberts-------Cruz ----------------McCarthy ----Pedersen---Grella----Dunn Warnock--Ooijer---Samba---Emerton ----------------Robinson I could see it working up front but it might leave us short on width and vulnerable on the counter. Dunn would be reduced to a workhorse too.

I'm not sure what you we watching! There was a lot of movement around (as all strikers do), not one coveringeither side. The first peanlty came from Benni on the left, and the South African did drop off a fair bit. The one change seemd to be that when Stoke gained possession it was Roberts who would drop back and defend while mcCarthy would stay up front (previously when they have played together it has usually been the other way round). For a guy who is not really a "target man" Benni did a very good job of holding up the ball against a a big set of defenders, and it did mean he would more regularly be playing off the back line. I just can't see how Cruz and McCarthy will work, they bring too much of the same stuff to the party. We shall see though, I am sure Cruz will get a chance from the bench against Sunderland. But when it happens watch how they move off each other. It is just never convincing. If we could upgrade Roberts to a big powerful striker, who is good in the air and has pace, and good technique and finishing we would be laughing. But then I think his name is either Eto'o or Drogba...

I would love for Benni and Cruz to be an effective pairing but I just can't see how it will work. Both of them want to be the focus, they drop into the same areas. Sam would need to get Cruz to change his game - run the channels, play right up against the back line, play a very physical role - while McCarthy drops off. It is hard to make a leopard change it spots. I am sure Sam will be giving it some thought though.