Den, thats a gross exaggeration. We finished sixth last year and we clearly have a lot of quality. Freidal, Neill, Nelsen, Emerton, Ooijer, Savage, Reid, Nonda, Tugay, McCarthy and Roberts are all clearly top half Premiership players. Zurab and Pedersen are decent. And the youngsters are coming through. Bentley is quality, Gallagher has class, Peter looks good, Brown showed style in his cameo a few weeks back. We have as good a set of players as any team outside the big four, Newcastle and Tottenham. We cannot win every game. We were a long long way from being a bad side today. A long way. And we were missing five of our best players. If we go down i will eat 50 hats. I will be amazed if we don't finish in the top half.

McEverly looked terrible when he came on though... I think I wouldstill have Gray than him. Niell back on the left would be the best option. Obviously a bad result and we did not threaten their goal enough. Not much point in me repeating what everybody else said. On the other hand I think we played decent football and now have one of the most technically proficient teams in the league. For their respective positions Zurab, Ooijer, Peter, Bentley, Tugay, Gallagher, Jeffers and McCarthy are all neat passers and good with their feet. We are well set up now to play possession football, and that is what we did.SHame about the final ball... We are missing: Nelsen, Emerton, Reid, Savage, Nonda. All five of those would have started if available. THe first four are arguably our four best players.

When was the last time we scored from a corner?

How? Standard 442...

Savage is a massive loss, while Nonda is dissapointing rather than desperate. My team: McCarthy Roberts Peter Tugay Mokoena Bentley Neill Ooijer Zurab Emerton Freidal Subs: Brown, Henchoz, MGP, Gallagher, Jeffers We DESPERATELY need to purchase a proper central midfielder. We cannot get through a season with only three, especially when one has a long term injury, one is prone to picking up nearly a yeallow a game, and one who is 36 years old! Mokena in the centre is just about adequate but nothing more than that. And if either him or TYugay get injured we are really in the poo.

I am a little intrigued by the "conservative agenda of flooding the streets with crack cocaine". How does that work? And why? Incidentally I might as well throw in that I have little time for BP's christian morality thing. Morality can exist quite outside of religion. But what I do agree is that people generally do not have enough of a conception of the concequences of their actions, partly because they do not have to live with the full extent of them. However, I don't think the church can solve that, or has the right to do so. Personally I wouldn't put down liberals failure to lack of spirituality but rather a lack of focus. Still I wouldn't give up the tremendous liberalization of society over the last 50 years (break down of racism, sexual revolution, growth of non profit sector, greater equality between the sexes, scientific acceleration, freedom of movement, larger class mobility, greater world integration) for anything really. While in many many ways modern UK life is rubbish, it is also an intensely beautiful place if compared to, say, Victorian Britain or Somalia today. Each person can live out their life in almost any way they please if they do it with determination, desire and self belief. Even those who get the thinnest end of society's stick have access to schools, benefits, action groups, charities, hospitals, jobs, a relative lack of predjudice. The sad thing about it is rather than seeing our society as one of incredible opportunity, as it undoubtably is, people rather see it as some kind of obscene burden. Ask not what the country can do for you, but what you can do for your country. And all that.

I am absolutely mystified as to how Gally (not even on the bench!) and Peter are not in the side. Sure MGP needs dropping just for fitness if not anything else. Still, a quality team and one that should give Chelsea a game. Can't really see us winning though.

The Walker trust money has all but dried up now, and if you look at Bolton's and Rover's squads I would say that there isn't too much difference in transfer money paid, albeit Anelka's purchase making up a large difference. TV money, prize money, and a few transfers (notably Dunn 5.5 million, Duff 17 million, Bellamy 6 million) have provided the transfer budget over the last three years or so. The last 'Walker Trust Purchase' was probably Andy Cole who we didn't see any return on as Souness gave him away for free... None of the Walker Trust bought players are still at the club with the exception of Tugay (Cheap at 1.5 million), Niell (Cheap at 1.25 million) and Friedal (Free!). So we don't have any financial advantage over you lot.

I would think Jose will have his work cut out to break through Kevin keegan's monopoly on that one. There are some things you just can't win...

I think for home games we don't have a 'squad' as such. Any of our players an be selted as they don't need to travel. I'm pretty sure the Beeb just has a guess at who is available, obviously taking into consideration injurys and suspensions. All of that said however, I would be extremely suprised if we put anyone outside those the Beeb have mentioned. we have no need for youngsters (outside the obvious Gally and Peter) to step in exept possibly in central midfield. And we do not appear to have any decent young central midfielders coming through. Incidentally, with Ooijer injured you have to wonder who will come in. The Axe is in CM, Todd is out of favour, Matteo is useless, McEverly is injured (I think!) . My guess would be Niell at CB and Gray at LB.

How much of our actual revenue comes from gates? I think it probably pales in comparison to SKY money. There could be the argument that the club bites the bullet and lower prices at the cost of a million or so a year off the transfer budget and instead gets a near full stadium. We could have a pricing policy of £ 15 a ticket for all games save Liverpool, Everton, City, Man U, Arsenal, Chelsea and Newcastle. TND has got a very valid point however that we will still get no more than 20-23k for most teams outside the NW.

I am not sure we should be keenly anticipating Roeder's departure. While Man City, West Ham and Charlton all have little to offer hughes Newcastle are a different proposition. and, as ridiculous as Freddy shepard is, i would be suprised if Hughes and sam Allerdyce were not the two names at the top of a prospective hit list. I know Newcastle are supposed to be in debt, but people have said that for years and they have still managed to find buckets of money from somewhere. If FS could guarantee 10 million quid for hughsy to spend then it would be a very attractive deal. In Duff, Owen, Martins, Emre and Parker they already have a few world class attacking players that we perhaps lack, and would, with some good defensive signings, have a great chance of breaking the top four next season. While I have a lot of faith in MH to stick with this fantastic team built up at Ewood, and he does seem to be loving every minute of it, it is a worry. And if hughes goes i reckon practically every player we have will fancy joining up with him due to his evident quality as a leader. God, aren't I gloomy. On the other hand FS himself has proved himself to be an utter tosser, whereas JW has shown himself to be the epitomy of level headedness, so maybe that will ward him off.

If thats true we are buggered.

I think we can still put out a strongish side with key players given a rest. For example: Jeffers Roberts Peter Mokoena Tugay? Gallagher Gray Ooijer Zurab Emerton Friedal While probably not good enough to beat Chelsea it is still a pretty solid lineup. Peter, Jeffers, Mokoena and Gallagher particularly should get an opportunity to put pressure on the first teamers. The bigest problem is, as Savage has picked up another knock, we are terribly thin at CM. Tugay clearly needs a rest but if Reid and Sav are both unfit we literally have no one to partner the axe apart from the Turk. I suppose Bentley could do a makeshift job...

He went off injured again today.... Has played 8 games, 3 as substitute, this season, totalling 743 minutes of a possible 1170- or alternatively 63%. Not too bad but still a major risk.

Well, Moko was anchoring the midfield three- if not neccesarily playing particualrly deep he certainly wasn't getting forward. Oh, not that it matters, but I have revised my opinion. I quite fancy seeing us play three up front on Sunday. Bolton do it and MGP has been so shocking of late that it hardly seems a loss to drop him.

I hope Savage and Bentley are not injured! If they are we are pretty screwed! Tugay must be knackered as it is. My team, if the two above are fit: Nonda Roberts McCarthy Bentley Savage Mokoena Niell Zurab Ooijer Emerton Friedal If they are not fit then I suppose we will just have to swap Pedersen for Bentley and Tugay for Savage. I would like to see Gally get a start but I think his absence from Poland (where we were allowed seven on the bench) shows that he is out of favour.

I feel a little vindicated after today's substitutions. The formation I outlined was played in the last twenty minutes or so and we looked decent. I doubt we will start with it in the premiership as it leves us exposed down the flanks, but it is nice to know it works in case wek get a few injuries/suspensions.

I realise that but my point was to try and retian an attacking impetus with the team which could well be difficult with a midfield of MGP-Savage-Moko-Bentley and two up front.

I think an acceptable, if not ideal, option would be to play: Nonda Roberts McCarthy Bentley Savage Mokoena Niell Ooijer Zurab Emerton Freidel The middle three would look to keep a stable patform in the middle, particularly Axe who would play quite deep, while the Aussies are encouraged to get forward with even more ambition than usual to provide width on the overlap. McCarthy seems to have all the attributes to play a playmaking role behind the front two. As said it's not ideal, but it is a possiblity which might allow us to keep our attacking style with Moko in the team. We really need a new midfielder, and we must have about four million burning a hole in Sparky pocket for one (or maybe a CM and a left back).

I suppose thats the nub of it, Newcastle clearly have great players but have had a succession of mediocre managers. If a new manager of quality came in (please not Hughes) then you would have to admit that newcatle have far more of a capability to challenge for the title over the next three or four years than we, or any similarly financially weak club, have. To put it in context we would take Martins, Owen, Parker, Emre, Duff, Solano, Milner and Given off them, no hassle. I doubt Newcastle would particularly covet any of our players bar Nelsen, McCarthy and Neill. All of which goes to show the outstanding quality of Hughes (or paucity of Roeder) as a manager.

If Emerton and Niell are out it is going to cause real probems, our entire gameplan has been about them getting forward. Gray can attack a bit but SZurab and Moko leave a lot to be desired. Unless the aussies recover I can see us getting a tonking.

IMO Tugay is not only the most pleasing players to the eye at rovers over the last 15 years (I wouldventure ever, but i have only watched for 15 years), but also one of the very finest in the premiership. Right up there with the likes of zola, bergkamp, henry, cantona and giggs. It seems his primary aim, above even winning, at the start of a game is to look good playing. Luckily he has such talent that he gets away with it. Others who challenge but lack the outrageous panache include Duff, Dunn and Jansen. Shearer was brutally brilliant too, of course. Out of the current lot Benni McCarthy offers hope of a bit of class in coming months and Bentley seems willing to entertain if given the opportunity.

My side for Wednesday: Carrick, while a fine player, does not provide the drive that Parker would to the midfield performance. I imagine Mcclaren will stick but really Scotty should get the nod.

I think having Reid back would be very advantageous for this, we could need his extra bite against a team with such a powerful midfield. Personally I will be suprised if we get more than a point out of this game.