He has been for ages! Only serios target on this front so far has been Huddlestone I think. Ramos seems to like him a lot (played him both in midifeld and defence) so he won't be coming here.

That will depend on wether Ooijer plays right back or not...

Well I think he is a high qulaity player, but my point was he is exactly the sort of player we dont need at the moment.

Put this in the intetoto thread which I think is the wrong one... Why I think we are getting pasted: The fact that Coventry felt capable of playing three up front yesterday suggests that how to hurt us is now widely understood to anyone who studies the tapes of our previous ten or so games. Our defence is very exposed, we play two very attacking full backs and our central midifeld provides little protection due to players being injured (Reid) lack pace (Tugay and Dunn) or just average (Axe). Plus our key man and captain has lost two yards of pace and we play a very high defensive line when in possession. So the answer is plain that to hurt us you need to hit us on the counter with bags of speed and width. We cannot cope. I guess the way to sort it out is: 1) Buy a fast striker so we can play deeper and hit teams on the counterattack. Currently we don't stretch defences, our strikers come deep and our wide players lack the raw pace to get behind full backs, so we play a high line and try to pass through other teams. Someone who has that Bellamy ability to get into the channels would be ideal. 2) Get a good defensive minded midfielder who can protect the central defence. Currently we can't close down or cut our the ball enough. 3) Buy a right back with pace whose main priorities lie with covering the centrebacks as opposed to getting forward. We need someone who can help out and give us the solidarity we need. Warnock can continue to get well forward. 4) Get another central defender who is solid and has pace> Ver difficult but if we can it would make such a difference. And really we are sort of doing that. 1) Domi (if he is any good, which Mr E doesn't think he is) 2) Sidwell. 3) Not sure....4) Not sure either- ideally somehow getting the old Nelsen back. Signing a player like Huddlestone - who is undoubtably good and an entertainer - might not help us deal with these fundamental problems as he is not really much of a tackler nor quick. I think we have reached a tactical watershed though. Hughes will start adjusting the way we play. If we adjust our system the bg losers could be Emerton, McCarthy, Axe, Dunn, Tugay all of whom would struggle to meet the requirements

Fact is we are ninth in the Premiership and Hughes has spent virtually nothing. It was a terrible result but to be honest I can't see anyone else to have put us in a position where we are 6 points off fourth in January.

Looks like Pedersen is coming out of the woods now. Only player who had a decent performance yesterday. What is the deal with him only getting good after the winter solstice? Voodoo or something?

I suppose it depends on context. 2m compared to 2.5 for Benni or 3.5 for Rocky (or nothing for Samba and nelsen) and it seems questionable value. But 2m compaerd to the 2m Palace spent on Kuqi it seems a decent deal. As others have pointed out he is too slow to drive through the midfied a la Reid despite some brilliant skills. Can't play on the wing for the same reason. His footwork does win him a lot of space however. Only real future for him I see is either in a 451 where he can get well forward without leaving us exposed or trying to sit deeper in a 442 (as he did in the paring with Savage) and spread the ball around. However while his passing is good you have to wonder whether it has the quality and nous to adequately replace Tugay in the long term. And if Sparky thinks so why were we scouting out Huddlestone? Have been very impressed with his commitment and work ethic on the defensive side of the game. Utterly transformed. For me he has been good enough for 2m and hopefully we will see more when we settle down in midfield a bit.

I can't agree with that. He has been by a distance our worst player yet he remains highly rated. It makes sense to let him go if people want to pay large amounts of money. the only downer is, as he is left fotted, it will be hard to replace him. I am a big fan of him on form, but we have been carrying him for ages.

I am completely behind hughes but I think it is well worth pointing out that in 2003 we had an outstanding squad who had finished sixth and run the top four close. Dunn, Duff, Short, Gresko, Thompson, Cole, Berg, Yorke (who had a very good season 2002/2003), Neill, and (of course) Freidal and Tugay. You could actually easily argue that Hughs has not actually achieved anymore than Souness has yet. By the start of 2004 those same players(with three notable losses in Dunn, Berg and Duff and some less notable additions) were considered absolutely shambolic. Of course poor dealtings in the market were part of it but also a squad that had been largely excellent was now largely poor. Why? It is hard to exactly say. My only point is things change lightning quick in football.

It is a bizarre situation. Touted as the best manager outside the top four by many (including in the media by people who usually don't give much coverage to Rovers) as recently aas a month ago. Then has one o fthe worst runs of four games I have ever seen essentially based on the defence collapsing. I guess the problem could be said to be that our game is very confidence driven, depending on forcing the opposition to sit back and getting the fullbacks forward. Our defence plays high up the pitch and we try to control the game. When the confidence and cohesiveness that sort of approach demands collapses we are very very vulnerable and can get hammered. And our defence has gone from looking heroic to appalling extrordinarily quickly combined wuith oiir firm from our midfield. It will be interesting to see how Hughes recovers. Maybe tme to play depper and tighter? But then we lack the pace to be threatening on the break....

I wonder what Capello will do? He obviously doesn't favour star players, he has dropped plenty of big names in his time. We could see much more emphasis on a team rather than individual performers. We are not going to get swashbuckling football however, more like solid competance which is I think very neccessary to rebuild confidence.Hopefully people will give him a while before the criticism of being too defensive starts coming out as surely it will. Although we have good players we are not Brazil or France in terms of the attacking talent available so we need to get the most of what we have and playing tight will help that. If we start producing a few more Joe Coles and Rooneys (rather than hargreaves and Carricks) over the next two years maybe we can look to be more open and offensive. Its not going to be exciting but it could prove to be very neccessary.

Well in terms of player for player I would say that Rovers are a better team than Rangers or Celtic bu only just. And due to ;ong term season on season participation in Europe thye are both far better than us on that stage. The raw fact of it is that we have more money than Rangers or Celtic, and a more competiive league to test our players in. But if Ranger and Celtic joined they would quickly gain those advantages and obviously have huge gate revenues from the attendance. It would be premature however to say that the gate monies would guarantee success however. You only need to look over at Newcastle...

I would imagine that Asley will be aware that if he sacks Allerdyce he will have even more trouble attracting a decent manager than he has recently. Most will look at the job as being a graveyard for careers. Hughes has emphasised his relationship with the board as being key to his success so I think there is little chance of him wanting a shot at St james. I like Allerdyce but it beggers belief that a side containing Milner, Duff, N'Zogbia, Barton, Smith, Emre, Taylor, Given, Owen, Martins and Viduka is playing so badly, even allowing for injuries.

I broadly agree with this. Neill was a terifically committed player for us and often put in excellent performances. He had his poor periods but he represented fantastic value for the million and half we signed him for. However he has clealry made a concious decision t otry and get together as much money as he can. All's fair in business I suppose but if you push your employer too much, especially if you have not played too many games and not that well when you are in, then you might get pushed back. I suppose Niell's logic might be that if he doesn't get a pay rise and gets shipped out then thats another signing on fee...

I thought Benni was absolutely sensational last night, easily the most technically impressive player on the pitch and transformed from the on-the-shoulder goal poacher of last season to a tremendous linkup striker who showed great ball retention and vision. About three months ago I was advocating, I think quite justifiably, his dropping for Derbyshire or Roberts as he would go through games barely touching the ball. Now he not only looks like he can score at any opportunity (sadly he got no real ones last night) but also that he can create, contribute and defend. One of the greatest turn arounds in attituded and application I have ever seen. Santa and him look like they could be one of the finest combinations up front in the league, which is faintly ridiculous when you compare how much the likes of Rooney-Tevez, Shevchenko-Drogba and Torres-Kuyt cost. Outstanding.

Thats pretty daft. You have to contextualise achievement. Hughes has done very well on extremely limited funds. A sixth place and three semi finals, a high quality balanced and attacking team, all while spending only around six ro seven million pounds net over three season. The man is brilliant. Souness did very well, but Hughes is doing well also. Not sure why you have turned against him, you were very positive about him when he arrived and then at the end of last season were qasking for him to be sacked and Chris Coleman installed?!?

Everyone can always work harder. Clearly Benni has it in him to move up a gear and you have to applaud Hughes in encouraging him to do it. Sparky is no mug, neither are most of the fans. McCarthy was very poor over the last three games he played in before Sunderland and deserved to be dropped. He has now come back showing real quality and determined and willing to put the effort in his all round game. We need to pick our best team each week and I suppose the Benni who turned up on Sunday would be first name- along with the two centreback, Freidal and Cruz - on the teamsheet. The one who turned out at Everton and Chelsea would not make the XI as a 451 seems more effective than carrying a forward uninterested in getting involved, despite his outstanding finishing. Essentially Benni knows he has to fight for his place, and to his credit he is doing so very impressively. Him and Cruz could form an outstanding partnership.

I think we could easily be paying him that much. We offered Bellamy 60k and I imagine Hughes looked at the squad last season and thought that Nelsen was as crucial to the team as the Welshman. Plenty of teams with lots of money to spend on wages like Spurs, West Ham, Villa and, of couse, Pompey would be delighted to take Nelsen off our hands and pay him that sort of wage. Hughes would have wanted to set Nelsen up at Blakcburn and remove any possibility that he would look to leave. Nelsen is arguably - alongside Samba, Cruz, Friedal and Bentley - our best player. He is also our captain. I think that sort of pay packet, if ludicrous in a general context, is quite understandable in the world of football and Blackburn Rovers.

I think he has got to be dropped. We have quality replcements on the bench who can add a lot to the team. By all means bring him on in the last half hour, but whats the point of having 4 good strikers if you are not going to use them when one is not cuttting the mustard. First priority on Sunday is getting the energy and tempo up. Roberts and, to a lesser extent, Derbyshire offer that.

The crucial factor for me is Hughes. If a manager of Hughes' quality had managed him from youth I am sure the whole Birmingham debacle would never of happend. Perhaps he could even be an england regual or at a CL club? Good man mangers are crucial for certain tyes of player: joe Cole, Ashley Cole, Bentley, Gascoigne etc. If Newcastle get frustrated with Duff then why not bring him back too? I am sure Sparky would get the best out of him, injuries permitting. I wonder when Sparky leaves, or if these players get bought, whether they will be able to have the same high level of performance under lesser managers? I doubt it. Hughes really has picked up RFW gift in this regard.

Hughes is in the best position to make the decision obviously but I would imagine an offer of 12m+ would be tempting if Sparky had identified high quality players that he wanted to bring in that the money could fund. I rate Benni as a player but I just have this feeling he's not really up for it this season. Hope I am wrong but I suspect he might leave in the next four days. We shall see.

repeat post

Look I fully accept he is a player who isn't going to run all day, and one who isn't going to make a lot of challenges, or even get that many shots in a game, but is going to put a highly proportional amounts of chances away. THats his style and it was ruthlessly effective last season. However when your side completely dominates the first half yet to not even have a shot off target does not reflect well on Benni. In a team such as ours where everybody fights for everything and tries to put in the statistical appropriate work on the pitch it does not tally. Derbyshire may scuff shots but also, like McCarthy, picks up good positions has more pace than the South African and fights from the front. I expect Hughes will drop him. He has done it before and i imagine will do it now. Its up to benni to respond to that. If he is left in the side when we have 4 Premiership quality strikers available it implies that sort of underperformance is acceptable. It isn't. If we had credible alternatives to Gamst and Bentley perhaps they would be looking over their shoulders, but we don't and at any rate they did manage half decent performances yesterday, and Bentley has has a couple of good games already this season. McCarthy is a quality player, but we have a very competitive squad up front. He needs to cut the mustard.

Bizzarely McCarthy made an outstanding block in the box after an Everton cross. Not really what you expect from Benni. But apart from that and the back heel he did nothing. He did not even have a shot all game I think. He could be dropped next game. He is essentially an extraordinarily good finisher and a bit part linkup man and thats about it. If he isn't scoring then having Roberts or Derbyshire on the field who will defend from the front could be more use. If we do get a big offer maybe we will sell?

Exactly, in both Bellamy's and Benni's case there were a large number of clubs trying to sign the player. In order to make ourselves more attractive we would have to have accepted demands for a clause. We could try hard bargaining with the player but we were in a situation of West Ham, Birmingham, Spurs etc being able to just come in and take the player off us. A current case in point would be Mido. He just refused to sign for birmingham without having his terms. All the power is centred in a top players hand. We just have to hope that they are not complete @#/?s and demand too much, or 'make' a player from a position where this club is bigger than they are. Its sad really but there is very little that could stop Bentley, pedersen, Samba etc. from also demanding clauses in the future. Players in good form get what they want. I think Sparky has handled it excellently- we look like coming out of this summer intact.