And if Fowler was so supremely good at Leeds, why did he start only 24 games? Terrible fitness and a huge competition for strikers- Viduka, Smith and Keane were all there at the same time. I think Fowler would be a decent signing if he came on a free and took 25k a week.

You know any internet sites where I can make such a bet? www.SportingIndex.com Caution! When you open an account your losses are UNLIMITED. Ie if rovers die in the league and we say get 20pts over the season with a stake of a mere fiver you would lose 26x5- £130. I hjad a look myself and while it sounds like a decent quote, we had an awful season last time and got 44pts, on the other hand I cannot really see us getting more than 52pts. A few injuries and we might hemorrage so be careful with how much you put on.

You can have quite an interesting argument about the concept of 'proven quality' and the way it is used to justify the exorbitant wages pais out to the top bracket of footballers. Sure the very best have talent allied with the right, hopefully, attitude but I think there has been too much emphasis put upon an inate superiority of these individuals over their collegues. The value of confidence should not be underestimated and I would personally say that hordes of talented youngstaers who could flourish into 'stars' fall by the wayside by never being given the backing or lacking the self belief to develop. The footballing world is held to randsom by its own belief that their are only a few who can become the best. I would say that the resources are infinately larger than that, and if more confidence was shown in their abilites then a major problem would be solved. I would admit it is a hard theory to test, but the efforts of Greece this year and teams such as Bayer Leverkusen two years bak which had faith in themselves show 'proven quality' being always superior is at least partly a myth. ps. TND, sorry about that- being a bit cranky.

The Morrocan dude is due to show up next week although he is a different player to the one who was out it Germany. Apparently we cannot sign the Italian due to the revealing of the secret identity. That is something I cannot fathom.

Ahhhh.... I would partially disagree there. Viera does not really play in a holding role- indeed Gilberto was signed to free him of that responsibility. To allow a player to get forward you need to be able to share defensive duties between the two players often in more of a territorial way than tackling and so forth. Both players cannot go forward at the same time and I think the principle problem would be that Thompson ould be the forward player virtually all the time merely due to his nature. Also it is seriously worth considering the impact of having our dave in the centre upon the wide players. If Thompson goes forward not only would Barry have to sit back but both Emerton and De Pedro would be limited in how far up the pitch they wentas Ferguson would need additional protection. However this may actually suit us as our two 'wingers' are not really wingers at all afraid of (As Mr Pringle would put it) the 'touchline monster'. There inclination to tuck in and try and penetrate from deep could well close the midfield enough to allow Thompson freedom. On the other hand this is effectively a Diamond formation..... not pretty most of the time.

If he wants a 5 man midfield the sensible thing would be to play a 3-5-2, as any of our forwards would be lost on their own up top. Having Emerton/Neill/Douglas on one side Gray/Gresko on the other as wing-backs wouldn't be too bad. Matteo, Short, Amo in the middle at the back, could work, useful having two reliable if unspectacular players to cover Amo's mistakes and all or nothing play. I dont think we will be playing five in the middle, we did not sign De Pedro to leave him out. Im really not sure how Graeme can adequately accomodate both Thompson and Ferguson in the middle, it is an interesting conundrum. The only way I can see it working is if Ferguson drops into the deep role and sharpens up his tackling- this is not neccesarily a bad thing as he has a very good range of passing which he can use to pull the strings a la Tugay. ps. Ferguson is not a naturally attacking midfielder- indeed at Rangers he was famed for his affinity for the centre circle, Souness has been trying to get him to be come more "box to box" in his time here.

Amen. You might be an annoying bigoted idiot, but there is the truth.

The Cole departure is in my mind a definate water shed. Souness up to now has broadly looked to bring in attacking players of high technical quality and flair (Cole, Yorke, Tugay, Thompson, Grabbi, even Stead to a degree). Dickov is the first real first team signing which diverts from that. I will be amazed if I ever feel as optimistic as I did in the pre season 2002. We had a team that looked on paper as good going forward as anyones bar Arsenal and Man Utd: Cole Yorke Duff Dunn Tugay Thompson Johansson (a bit weak I know!) Berg Taylor Niell Friedel It promised so much but failed to quite deliver its potential- life is always like that so I was perhaps wrong to get too carried away. Still, if Dunn, Cole and Yorke had given their all then we COULD HAVE (like you could have paid more attention in school) done better than sixth- I really feel that the attitude of these players was at least partly at fault along with injuries, something which Souness has never really forgiven them for. I give Souness credit for building a new side with a definate ethic about it but it is a shame to say that the kind of flair that the 2002/2003 posessed in abundence (more than our Championship side even) will not be seen at Ewood for a long time. The fact of the matter is that Cole, like the other two, showed in spells what he is capable of, but I would challenge anybody who said he always did his best. The moot point is whether a consistent Dickov is more effective than a sporadic Cole, something I will be interested to see. My faith sill remains in Souness to of got this right.

Is Gllagher trying to establish himself as the first chops sporting professional footballer since 1952? Or auditioning for Wolverine's weedier un metal enhanced brother?

I wonder how many of the russian public are chelsea fans? The money could be said to be theirs so they might feel they have a vested interest......

Call me crazy but that suspiciously looks like our likely starting eleven for the season. Could Souness be prepaing to give Douglas an outing as our new right back in the coming months?

trialist is not playing in first game Yeah, just found that out.... how confusing.

As the trialist is playing with the first team players again today it would seem that if we did sign him it would be with the idea of putting him in the squad. Previous aquisitons for the reserves/academy, Darbyshire etc., have never played for the first team even in friendlies as far as I know. Also the fuss seems a bit to substantial for a purely youth player. Nice to see Volpatogate has not as yet prompted him being sent home.

I think that's a great point that many people have failed to consider. Assuming that Thompson is fully fit and both he and Emerton start, it's not such a bad idea for them to shift back and forth to alternately provide attacking impetus (Thommo) and solid defensive cover (Emerton) from the center. And American, I wouldn't hold your hopes out for Ronaldo... apparently Burnley have the inside path to signing him... again. Anyway, this XI has already been suggested a ton of times but I'll post it again anyway: Friedel Neill, Amoruso, Matteo, Gray Emerton, Thompson, Ferguson, de Pedro Stead, Dickov Bench: Enckelman, Gallagher, Johansson, Tugay, Douglas I'd really like to see Nissa given a fair run in the side, but as of now I'm not sure whose expense it should be at. Tugay is certainly still capable of a decent run of games in the center of midfield, but I think that he and Gally could each do a fantastic job as game-changing substitutes. Whatever the case, I hope that this talk is premature--and that there will be at least one more signing to come (Butt please) that could shake things up a bit. I dont really think it is viable for Thommo and Emerton to switch back and forth due to their lack of experience in the centre. Whoever plays there needs to be primarily concerned with holding the midfield together, a responsibility that niether of them have had really. It is a demanding job that has a real impact on how much of the ball you can win- swapping will just distract from that I feel.

Thats a bit harsh Rover6- fari enough he has made a few mistakes but all the sides we have had under him have played decent passing football (bar the last third of last season) with tactics on par with most of the premiership. He hasnt done anything ground breaking but then who really has? The main problems from last season resulted in a lack of conviction from Souness as to what the team should look like meaning he didnt buy key players for key positions. He never decided what the best eleven was. That has now changed- he wants 'men' (in his words) all over the pitch with the obvious intention of marrying skill with effort and determination. This to me is quite an attractive suggestion and one that I think could well pay off. Souness tactics do not revolve around man marking and fancy formations (and who is to say he is wrong, the 442 format has consistently shown itself dominant) but he does now have a strategy.

Just to put a different spin on things: Firstly if yorke, Todd and Flitcroft all go like Cole Souness will have saved the club somewhere in the region of 100-120 k a week. Thats a lot of cash and has to be praised on some level. Their replacements will mostly come from youth players along with probably two cheap signings. Good house keeping. Secondly Souness is taking a risk, he is sticking his neck out: Few managers would stick a player like Dickov up front for a european push, Graeme obviously believes in him like he believed in Stead. Give him a chance. It is possible that our manager is actually in control of the situation and everything is coming tgether as planned....... Only time will tell- give him a chance.

If it was camara Wolves will have Souness and ROvers up befor the FA, UEFA and FIFA before you can spit. Ive got a question- If De Pedro couldnt play because he didnt have clearence how come we can get some random triallist to play at a moments notice?

Well I would like to see: Stead Dickov De Pedro Ferguson Butt Thompson Gray Matteo Amoruso Emerton Friedel Ferguson and Butt (our next signing, wishful thinking?) would hold a tight midfield together allowing the fullbacks to get well forward. Both Emerton and Gray could be devastating on the overlap while Thommo and De Pedros preference for playing deep wide roles would allow them the cover. I know, you will say that Emerton cant defend for toffee and all that, but I personally think he would do a good job there. Gallagher, Tugay and Jansen all to get a good crack as the regular substitutes. And can I say it is not a bad side at all either.....

Cole's gone- he had great technique, vision, skill and movement. He was however sadly lacking in his ability to finish well (the difference between him being a great player and a good one) and consistency. Dickov is infinately more limited, but I would not rule out him being more effective for Rovers next season than Cole would of. He is going to shake up defenders and give Stead space.... and we have Gallagher to come on if we need a bit of quality on the ball. Alll is not lost and certainly not millions in wages. The saved cash could be used to look at someone like Nicky Butt and a veteran striker.

Must be nonsense. Cant possibly be true.

What I am saying Dave is that the reason such groundless filth as the Hillsborough story appears in the newspapers in the first place is to sate the thirst for sensationalism, acrimony and blame in the public at large. No matter how much the Sun apologises and how far their circulation falls other newspapers will just take up the slack. Lies of a similarly breath taking slanderous nature will continue to be peddled every day and people will not only consume them but take great pleasure in doing so. To merely say the story was a product of a few evil editors and their minions is to miss the point. Our culture created that kind of reporting and we love reading it.

That's a very "superior" of viewing the situation , Joey ! The fact of the matter is that the vast majority of tabloid readers aren't stupid - they know exactly what they're reading and how seriously to take the contents . However , if you've only 5 minutes break at work , you don't feel like getting out the Times and doing the crossword , you want a bit of light reading. However , 15 years ago the Sun didn't just put a bit of a spin on a story or stretch the truth a little to make a point ; it deliberately and maliciously printed lies that accused fellow Brits of being complicit in this most tragic of accidents - the fact that they are "scousers" is absolutely irrelevant , they may well have been Scots , Geordies or whatever . Only the completely stupid (and unfortunately we have a few of those on here) make any distinction. For treating good , honest fellow citizens like that , the Sun must pay - for as long as memories remain of that day . It must pay as much as possible in lost revenues for as long as possible , if only for the sole reason to deter the other rags from even contemplating treating our people in such a callous manner ever again . My point is that the kind of reporting so massively repulsive in the case of the sun's handling of Hillsborough is just built upon basic tabloid culture. This grows out of what people want to read. Im not trying to be superior but the fact of the matter is that journalsim which actively hopes to exploit, wound, anger and insult only occours because people want to read it. You can blame the sun if you want and castigate the people who wrote the story as evil but in truth the mirror is no better, the daily mail certainly isnt. Misrepresentation and slander is how they sell newspapers because that is the literary diet most want or at least find preferable to such maligned things as objectivity and discussion.

Team karaoke at half time? Now there would be genuine entertainment, who needs Rovers Return.......

The Sun, The Mirror, The Daily Mail (especially) etc all rely on sensation to sell newspapers and all report vitriolic bile with no real interest in journalism, merely in profits. The Hillsborough report was a quite breath taking example of this but in general the moral standard of the mirror is no better than the sun. The people who are responsible for this cancer on our society are not the editors or journalists but the idiots who buy them.

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