I think if anyone is the 'club captain' it's Nelsen. Clearly Todd isn't as hughes has lost faith in him entirely, to thepoint where he signed another player (Henchoz) to take his place on the bench.

In Rover 6s defence when Curbishley did have money to spend, like when he got 10 million for Parker, he didn't set the world alight. It will be interesting to see how he handles the Icelandic millions and a genuine global superstar in Tevez. Management is a strange game, there are some born winners I suppose - Ferguson, Mourinho, Clough etc. - and then for the rest it's more of a mixed bag perhaps. It is really hard to sit down and say 'so and so' is definately a better manager than 'so and so'. So many factors are involved - injuries, size and pulling power of the club for players, transfer funds, boardroom stability, quality of the inherited sqaud. You really can't judge till they have a year in the job at least.

Savage has real loyalty to Hughes rather than Blackburn. Just as good a reason to give him the armband imo. I would guess the only reason he hasn't got it already is to head off suggestions of favouritism from the rest of the squad. And I imagine his personality probably gets up the nose of one or two players. While I have no problem at all of Niell playing for the club I do find this whole captaincy thing bizzare. I bet Hughes is hoping that Nelsen comes back quickly to sort things out smoothly.

I would say Nonda has lost his chance. I will be suprised if Derbyshire doesn't play at Reading, despite obvious problems with his youth and so on, and absolutely without a doubt Roberts and Jeffers would be playing if they were available. It's a shame really as Nonda seemed in his first couple of games as if he had something to offer. Now we really look like having to go back out into the transfer market despite bringing in 4 strikers in over the summer.

I would say there has to be something in this. So many people are saying the same things. We won't have long to wait to find out though as, if the situation is as it is described, he will move on the first or the second of January. And to be honest even those of us who are not huge fans of Dunn can't really argue we don't need him, we need ANY quality midfielder at the moment, even if they can only manage half of the season's games. Peter, Mokoena and Gally are not providing the sort of first team backup we desire, and Dunn has the huge advantage of being able to play all the way across midifeld and potentially up front too. I would suggest though that we probably need another more workmanlike midfielder also.

With Todd out we are in trouble. We can either play Moko at RB or in the centre, or play Nolan in the centre. Neither fill me with confidence. I rekon Derbyshire will get the start with benni. Apart from that ususal team.

I think he will, he has been so far. He values being professional and he needs to play well so that he gets the move he wants to a big team in January.

He is employed by us, he works hard for us, I don't see the issue. He has the right to move clubs if he likes just in the same way you have the right to move jobs. He is in the team because he is our best option available. He is not taking the p---, he is just behaving in a purely professional manner for better or for worse. However I do completely agree that he shouldn't be captain, that just seems daft as we will have to hand it over to someone else in Jan/Feb. Savage is here for the long haul and is committed and I cannot work out for the life of me why he isn't captain already in Nelsen's absence.

But isn't the whole fitness thing just a result of higher standards and more intense competition across the board? Management and so on is more scientific and more cutthroat so look for any advantage they can, and physical condition is an obvious one. The only way of taking that out of the game would be for managers to allow their players to become less fit. Is that going to happen? Also, if Britian had a much higher technical standard of play how come we have made such little impact on on the international stage 1966 aside?

I don't think that's true, but you have to accept a balance. The game today is different but somethings are better for it. Tugay is the sort of player wou would have been exceptionally unlikely to see back in English footie in the sixties. The pace of the game is quicker too, and the Prem can ligitimately be said to hold someof the most skillful players in the world. Royal Fleet: That is an impressive list, and kudos to Copell for assembling it on such small money. However I am a bit suprised Seoul is not on there... It will be interesting to see whether Copell can maintain success on such meagre resources, and take the club forward without resorting to foreign players.

Don't you think it would be more damaging to restructure now? Just look at Charlton. And the core of the team - Savage, Nelsen, Ooijer, Reid - are all likely to be very loyal to Hughes so it could result in an exodus. If we are in the relegation zone come January you will have a case, but for now it is inconclusive. And the big question is there anyone out there who is better than Hughes who is going to come to Rovers?

Well I wouldn't say it is too bad. In England at the moment I would say domestic players are becoming better because of the competition from foreign players. I cannot see how the quality of English players suffers from it- if you're good enough you play. Les get the chance to play top league football but that is an incentive to work harder in training. While we had an exceptionally good team in the sixties today we pretty much rely on foreign players to get a high standard of football. If foreign player restrictions were brought in we would be in serious trouble as the few high standard english players would be nicked by the big four plus Spurs and Newcastle.

I think Pedersen will play. Hughes likes his defensive attributes and he has just scored. I just can't see him being dropped. Jeffers or Derbyshire starting is much more likely. Nonda's half time substitution against Toon and his terrible performance against Charlton all point toward it. In fact I think Jeffers would have started against Toon if he was fit. Todd's not going to get the armband. Or if he does it's bizarre since Hughes has frozen him out for months, even resorting to signing player to take his place. I am suprised Savage doesn't get it, clearly the best man fo rthe job. Tugay would be fine too.

Just for us young 'uns (well, 24) can someone describe what happend?

Well we can laugh but I'm not sure we should. Aside from Curbishley and Eriksson it is hard to see who is available who will appeal to the new chairman and his war chest. The Swede might well not fancy taking on a smaller club, and I doubt he would go down well with the Hammer fans either. If I was in his position I would fancy my chances of getting Hughes. The other obvious candidate would be big Sam but Bolton's excellent form makes it extremely unlikely he will jump ship, same goes for Redknapp. In the betting Glenn Hoddle, David O'Leary and George Graham have all been mentioned. I doubt any of them really match the chairman's ambition. I am moderately worried about this. Of all the currently employed Prem managers I think Hughes is the one who matches appeal with the possibility of actualy being interested in moving in light of morbid recent results and a lack of cash, and the potential for expansion at West Ham to meet his own ambitions. Hopefully the fact we are only 2 places above them in the table will put Magnusson off.

This has to be an impossible task. Over the history of the game there has to be thousands of absolutely first rate players which of course many will not have seen. For example my experience of Puskas is about thirty seconds of highlights. A more managable proposition would be the best 50 players of the Premiership. At least you would have a vague idea that people had actually seen a reasonable amount of the players they were talking about and so aable to have their own opinion rather than regurgitating and assessing from journalistic sources.

Wellwe aint likely to get an inform player in Jan as they will be extraordinarily expensive, but your exactly right about the pace. McCarthy, Ooijer and Roberts are the only players we laid money down on so far, and we are likely to get a little bit of cash for Neill. Another striker may not be too much to ask, as Nonda could be returned to sender without loss, while Gallagher looks like he is in line for selling. Earnshaw, while hardly ideal, may well be better than what we have. We need speed!

First part may be true. THe second part is absolute nonsense! Nelsen is a world class defender. Todd is a brick out house.

If Sparky had any faith he would havebeen on the bench today. The only striker there was Derbyshire and Hughes usually likes to have 2 forwards avaiable to come on. For whatever reason i don't think Gally is going to play a real part this season. Derbyshire and Peter might get a shot though.

I dunno, I think it's a fair enough point. There was no need for savage to say what he did, even if City's antics were a big melodramatice when he left. I'm sure Sav won't care though, water off a duck's back.

And injuries to Zurab and Nelsen. But he has played well, so far! I fancy him to keep his place even once Zurab and Henchoz return. Don't know why, but I think him and Ooijer could be a good combination.

Todd has made an amazing comeback for the second time into the Rovers side! After falling out with Hughes and signings relegating him to 5th choice behind Nelsen, Ooijer, Zurab and Henchoz, our former captain seems back from the dead.

Three big things have changed since last season. a) We have lost Bellamy Nelsen and Reid, two of out best players (Nelsen arguably THE best) have been injured for the long term. c) We have played six games in the UEFA cup. All of those things are outside Hughes control. What is within Hughes' control is who he brought in, and I would say that broadly speaking he has done a good job on the money available, which is not much. Jeffers, Henchoz and Nonda were free, while Roberts and Benni seem worth their low fees. The one serious accusation that we can level is he did not bring in a quality central midfielder. Virtually everybody on the board was suprised by that. A player with a real engine in the middle and some passing ability to compliment Savage would have been a real advantage. If we lose today, which we almost certainly will, then Hughes will for the first time start feeling some pressure.

Well it all depends how much money we have in the pot. Which I guess is not a huge amount. While we certianly don't have the same amount of money as the city clubs we are in the same financial bracket as the Bolton's, the Wigan's, the Reading's of this world. Just because we don't have huge amounts of money does not necessarily mean we are going down, although it is more likely. Just like any one we have to live within our means, which are unfortunately pretty small in the post Jack era. There is no reason why the Walkers are obliged to bail us out. And I feel there is a thread of panic at the moment which is unwarrented. We have a good side in terms of players. The only significant loss we have suffered is Bellamy. That said a cash injection would be warmly welcomed.