This seems like an almost suicidal act by the G14. while CL money makes up a large amount for the big clubs they really depend upon their domestic leagues and cups to keep them ticking over. The rest of the clubs in the Prem are already hacked off its so uncompetitive. If they try to force the issue on this there will be a mighty backlash.

If everyone was fit I would say we could field 8 or 9 world class players, including two of the biggest talents in Rooney and Gerrard. The great shame is that those eight or nine don't really work together as a team.

Utterly bizarre. Surely Nolan deserves the spot on the bench more than him. Or Barry.

I agree: Decent players in the Prem who have come from MLS: Nelsen, Convey, Reina, McBride, Freidel, Tim Howard, Oneywu (is that his name?). quality player in the Prem who have come from conference: Phillips? A while back... Clearly the MLS is reasonable. But as far as Beckham goes, hmmmm. iam against it as it seems a bit daft to bring him back after throwing him out. THe whole reason he was excluded was so wecould build a team. Mcclaren has miserably failed at that though... We have an abundance of decent right sided players, its probably the one are where we are well equipped. Anyhow, my team: ----------------Owen----Smith Joe Cole---Gerrard---Hargreaves---Bentley ---Shorey-----Ferdinand---Terry---W Brown -----------------------Robinson

Not sure how you work that one out. Reading will have virtually identical income to us (probably slightly more as their tickets cost more and they finished higher, perhaps offset by our cup runs) and a wage bill that must be considerably less than ours. I would say Reading have more fluid cash than ourselves at the moment. The vast majority of our and Readings money will come from the Premiership TV deal which will be virtually identical for both of us.

Jason was not offered the money he wanted at Wigan and had decided to move on. He was also arguably not their first choice striker as they had just bought Heskey, and also have Camara on the books. Doyle is one of the hottest properties in the Premiership and is not going to lose his place at Reading whichever way you look at it.

Well, you suggesting that we sign Doyle is entirely the same as a Reading fan suggesting that they could sign Bentley, McCarthy or MGP. Of course we could sign Reading players if we had something to offer them (CL football, first team football if they are not getting it where they are, more money, playing in front of more fans etc). All we can realistically give Doyle is intertoto cup footie, and I don't think its an outrageous statement to say I severely doubt he will give a toss about that. If Reading got into the intertoto and we didn't can you imagine pedersen bashing down the door of the Mad-jet-ski stadium? When was the last time we signed one of the top players of another Prem club which had not been relegated or come to the end of their career where they were? That would be Robbie Savage who only came because he loves Hughes. We are not in a position to sign other Prem team's key players. If we want quality we have to wait for them to either be upset/thrown out (Roberts/Bellamy) or ignored (Freidel/Tugay/Bentley/Warnock), or we look abroad (Prem offers much more money- mcCarthy) or down the divisions (Reid). The only clubs that can buy out of other Prem teams first XIs are the 4 CL clubs, and (far more worryingly for Rovers) Spurs, Newcastle and increasingly West Ham, Portsmouth, Aston Villa who have wadges of cash to spread around like there is no tomorrow and in Villa, Newcastle and tottenham's case can point to large fanbases and theoretical long term potential. Hughes' will look for more delightfully random purchases. And why not with his bizarre track record?

Um, Reading finished above us in the league, have similar supportand doyle is their star striker. Dream on! Bellamy and kewell are worth a look though.

I would be suprised if Mourinho or whoever hasn't been speaking to McCarthy. But then we are just as guilty of that as anyone else. The Tapping up rule is completely daft.

I think Bentley is a bit wasted in the centre. He is a fantastic crosser and dribbler but not really up to the same standard passing wise. lightweight as well... hope he gets some time out wide to impress.

Well after reading that article, and that comment from Wiggy, it does really look like McCarthy is the sort of person they are looking for. I guess it will be interesting as the whole point for Chelsea buying mcCarthy is that they reckon they will be able to get him 'cheap' (say six or seven million) while clearly if we are forced to sell we will want 10+ mill. Its going to be a battle of wills. Im sure hughes will stress to Benni that if he goes to Chelsea he will be 3rd or 4th choice striker (after Drogba, Shevchenko and maybe Kalou) playing for a team that often elect to play only one up top. Even if he impresses he is unikely to play more than 50-60% of the minutes he did for Rovers this season. Ultimately though he is clearly a bright bloke and knows what his position is but still about as eager to leave as its possible to be. If we could get enough money to sign both Mido and Bellamy then this could turn out okay.

Um, lovely idea that but as he is not our slave we can't deny him his wages. He has signed a contract and any fine has to be shown to be a) proportional to the 'crime' not over the maximum term of four (or eight. But i think its four) weeks. Much as I am peed off about this really he hasn't done that much wrong. He has not said he won't play for us and has merely stated that he would like a move to a CL club. We might be able to fine him a couple of weeks wages but thenall that would do is make him more desirous of a move which in turn reduces our chances of getting a decent fee. If we treat him badly then rather than looking for a CL club he could start considering any transfer (spure, west Ham etc). Lets be fair here, he has come along and done a good job for us. If he moves on thats fine, all part of a footballers career. Whats a bitch is the way he is broadcasting it. There is no value in the club fighting McCarthy, what we need to do is work with him so we get the best outcome. Him rotting away in the reserves while his value rapidly diminishes does nothing for us whatsoever. We do not have money to burn.

As good as gone. Ho hum. I just hope we don't get forced into a position of letting him go for less than he is worth. 10 millionish would be reasonable in light of the new transfer money and his outstanding record. I wonder who Hughes will pull out of the bag this summer?

I have to agree with that, there is absolutely no value in booing him. All its going to do is make him want to leave more which in turn is going to make it more difficult for sparky to either get a decent transfer fee or persuade Benni to stay. I think substantial booing woul be a very substaintial blow to Hughes' position. If we want voice our displeasure then we can do that after he, if he, leaves.

I thought that...

Pretty extensive quotes in the sun about him wanting to play CL football, i don't think its been made up. Hey ho, if he does really want to go and a CL club does want him then there is little we can do apart from make sure we get a good fee. 10m isn't out of the question. Keeping him would be better though, but we cannot do that against his will as the Ferguson fiasco showed.

I have been critical of Benni's workrate in the past but i today I have just given up. He is in unstoppable scoring form, unbelievable. Also i though he really put the yards in at Spurs too. If bentley had taken the sensible option of crossing instead of chipping he could have got a second as well. The man is a genius finisher and has some of the best off the ball movement I have ever seen on a football pitch. Space seems to find him as much as he finds it. We have to keep him.

Awesome, simply awesome. Looks like we might be able to get through the summer holding on to all our players

I have to say I am a bit suprised. Does this mean that we definately do have the money for a big summer striker signing? Or does it mean that we are just going to stick with what we have? He has done okay for us, and I am not opposed to him staying, but just a little worried we might miss the boat on someone like Bellamy.

I love Benni's positivity, its great to hear someone willing to come out and lift the spirits. I would take it with a pinch of salt though, he has clearly stated that he would like to play for one of the big four if they are interested, and there's no reason why he shouldn't either being an ambitious individual. What we have to hope for is that no one comes in with a serious offer for him and that he recognises that if he did go he would become a bench player.

I can see somebody putting bids for him. He is third top scorer in the Prem for God's sake. The thing that worries me too is that he has a career on the continent so, unlike Pedersen and Bentley, will attract serious attention from clubs overseas. The one thing in our favor is that at 29 he is too old to really justify massive bids, so he will probably stay. Unless he has a clause I'm certain Hughes will not be tempted for less than 8-10 million and I don't think anyone will go that high.

He has been okay, deserves a new contract. Next season is going to be tough for Gallagher and Peter. We have significant numbers in midfield so opportunities are going to be at a premium. Even if Pedersen leaves I would expect we would look to replace him. Plus Warnock, Dunn, Bentley can all play on the left if needs be.

Whats even more bizarre is tha tI meet Rangers fans up here who seem entire non plussed and unbothered about TUgay leaving. I tell them that Tugay is the greatest foreign player ever to have graced Rovers (and one of the greatest in the Prem's history), and nothing short of a bona fide genius. Infinately better than Ferguson. If he had arrived at Rovers five years earlier I have little doubt we would have been fielding offers of many millions for him. Yet they just shrug their shoulders. If they held onto him maybe they would have had more luck in the SPL and in europe. But their loss was certainly our gain!

Looks like he is staying. Wahey!!! He is getting older but still can think of few better to bring on to dictate a game. We will have a large amount of midfield options next season if everyone stays fit and we don't sell, but Tugay will still make a major contribution. Mark my words! ANybody thought about making him honorary president of BRISA?

While i always thought Dunn would represent good value for money at around a million (pennies for a decent premiership player, especially an English one) i was very ambivalent about how much of an overall imact he would make, especially in CM where he always seemed a bit of a liability in his first stint here. 5 games left to go and I have to say he is doing us proud. No Joe Cole, or even really in the same league as reid last season (or the some of his own games before he went to Brum), but you have to say that he is doing very well in the context of his fee and looks like he is improving all the time. And, without wishing to tempt fate, I am sure everybody would be suprised he has made 13 games without injury, and for a traditionally unfit player his work rate has been sensational. Could form the heart of the side next season. If I was Savage (Reid will be all right imo) I would be begining to wonder whether a place is certain upon returning from injury. Certainly when you consider the strides Mokoena has made too. I never thought we would be in a position where Savage could lose his place... Congrats to Aaron and David who were never really bought as anything else but cover!