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.

We are not going down you numptys. We have decent players, money to spend in January, and two first rate players in Nelsen and Reid coming back from injury. Sparky is an excellent manager. Pull yourelves together! UEFA cup and 10th would do me. Or going out in thenext round and finishing 6-7th with an impression in the FA cup.

Academy products: Gallagher, Peter, Tiny Taylor, Douglas, Danns, Dunn, Beattie, Duff (sort of), Damien Johnson (sort of). I think there are a couple more I may have missed playing in the top two leagues.

Nonda should be dropped but I certainly think Benni has something to offer. Clearly the best striker we have at the moment and his strike rate compares favourably to Cole, Jansen, Dickov, anyone really in recent rovers history apart from Bellamy. He has scored 8 in 21 games. While the performance at Charlton was inexcusable we are a long longlong way from being down. Currently we are 9 points off sixth with a game in hand.

Mokoena was consistently good pretty much all through the latter half of the 2004/2005 season. Honestly. Not me looking back with rose tinted spectacles. He was excellent at breaking up the play and played a major part in us staying up. I'm quite prepared to be accept I have misremembered things if people don't back me up, but I think they will.

I don't suppose you ever saw the Sheffield Wednesday kit with the Chupa Chops logo on it... Love shirt 3 away. 3&3 for me.

How does it feel being one of the four teams to have won the Prem? Brilliant and sort of permanent as it is unlikely really to be surpassed by a club of a similar size to us. People bang on about us buying the title, but it is forgotten that Jack loved the club and was not actually spending much more money than Man Utd at the time. Shearer's transfer to Newcastle for 15 million (we got him for 3.5), who failed to win the title, puts the achievement in perspective. It ain't all money. What do you think of Mark Hughes? Was a period at the end of last season where I really thought we had a Wenger standard manager on our hands. Outstanding buys on a low budget, enetertaining football, real determination. A poor start to the season has tempered that a little, but still easily the best manager at Ewood since Kenny. UEFA Cup – Heaven or Hell? Heaven. You might laugh but we could win it. We are a better side than Boro who got to the final last year. Why has your season started so indifferently? We lost our two best players - Bellamy to Liverpool and Nelsen to injury - along with Reid who is excellent and Roberts who wasn't doing much to be honest. Our squad is simply too thin to cope with the rigours of a heavy schedule in the Premiership and Europe at the same time really. Especially when your heart and soul - Tugay - is 36. Who has performed above expectations for your team? And who not? Bentley. Looks like he could actually one day play for England, if perhaps only in a sort of Jemaine Jenas sort of way. Emerton is one of the best right backs in the premiership. I cannot believe we played him as a winger for 3 years... Gamst has been poor at absolute best going forward. He does his work defensively though which I guess is why Hughes perseveres. He could have been displaced by Peter by the time we play you. Why do you not sell out the ground? Heavy competition in the area (Wigan, Bolton, Preston, Burnley, United, City...) over really too few fans to go round in a climate where it seems attendances are declining across the board. It's a shame because we are the cheapest team to watch in the Premiership I think. And we have a very good side. What do you think of Reading? Good club who are looking to make a real fist of Premiership life. Nice to see a South East club outside of london for once. Score Prediction?1-1 Any finally - tell me some Interesting fact about your club?Um. Oh apparently we are the only club allowed to put Crests on out corner flags. Although this is up for debate roughly every six to nine months on the messageboard...

That's good point that, you would think all the London clubs must get better away attendance than pretty much any other clubs in the country due to exiles.