I think a premiership 11 would certainly have turned out for Shearer. If any player in the league deserves that it is him. But if they are looking for crowds they have got the right team in Celtic. I don't think any other team would bring as many fans. Their lot are manic and see opportunities to play Premiership as something worth seeing on a footballing level, even if it technically an uncompetitive game. For an English club people would only really want to go out of respect for shearer or reasons similar to those for attending a pre season game.

Why don't journalists write like that anymore? A little more difficult to get a clear picture of the events perhaps, but so much more fun to read!

What I am saying is that Moko will ask for a transfer. He views himself as a high quality player and is proud - walking out of the SA squad shows that. He has had virtually no games this season and is fourth choice central midfielder and fourth choice centre back. Additionally I think any Rovers supporter would be more than a little worried if he was regularly starting as either a central defender or a midfielder in a 442. He will go. He is not like Matteo or Amo who are at the end of their careers and cannot earn any more money at other clubs. Someone will come in for him, and we might even make a tidy profit.

I thought he was neat and tidy and played some great balls as usual but not fundamentally any more effective than he was in his normal position. I only saw three games though, out of those six or so (one was at Fulham where he played that super pass from wide on the left for Cole to score the first of a 4-3 victory).

Well, we can only really afford to sell him if we get someone, on top of Zurab, to sign. We will need cover next season as Moko will be buggering off (not happy on the bench at all) as will Amo, who wouldn't play anyway, and possibly Matteo.

But there is a reason that Toogs sits deep- it is how he has always played the game! He did the same for Turkey. He likes to get the ball deep and search out the long pass. He is not interested it getting forward- the couple of times he did against Suderland were a real rarity. Besides, I am not really sure he would really be effective as a playmaker behind the strikers - mainly because I have the suspicion that if he would excel in that position one of the various managers he has had would of put him there! Maybe someone who is familiar with his time at Galatasary could enlighten me, but I don't think it has ever happend. Also, for a short while (6 games?) two seasons ago we played a diamond with Tugay at the top and although we got some great results that kept us up, I don't remember the Turk shining. The other big problem is that if we do stick him behind the strikers the other three mids will have to play narrower and we will lose width and Savage will have to be disiplined and not play his closing game, which as TND says, is his game. To summerise, "not going to happen"

He does try and he is not a desperately poor player, ideed he is very good defensively. But the fact of the matter is that he offers nothing more than Reid or Bentley there, while those two seem to have a lot more potential in the long run, can play several positions and, I bet, are on a lot less money. I can't think of a single decent argument to keep him. The final one was to have him as cover for the Ped but with Peter now on the scene even that looks like it has gone. As for better for similar money I bet we can. Pedersen was cheaper, and there will be others out there who we can get who are good for that kind of money- just a case of good scouting. Hell, I would even take Damien Johnson off Brum's hands if they went down. If we wanted to spend a couple of bob Routledge or Pennant might be available.

Perhaps Peter, Bentley and Pedersen will form the vanguard of a new era. While I don't suggest any of them are as good as Duff, he was a real one in a thousand find, they are all young and undoubtably talented and (crucially!) not hamstrung (yet!).

Emerton is heading out of the club in the summer. I think there is no doubt about that provided we can find a buyer. Hughes has shown he prefers Reid and Bentley, quite rightly in my opinion, and with the Emergence of Peter we could even play the Ped on the right. Also I think a right winger will be on the shopping list come June.

I would still have Reid over Bert. But I woul dagree with Bentley over both.

The guy on Fox over here in the states thought Tugay was brilliant too... I thought he was good as well. Seems you might be in a bit of minority here 1864... Big positives for mer were Peter who looked good (if a little lightweight), Bellamy, Gray. Reid had one of his worse games as did Savage. Todd looked a little shaky. The one person who has me worrying a little is Pongo. He was pretty poor, his touch was awful. Will be interesting to see if he starts next game. Hope he gets himself together soon, I know he can do better than that,

If we lost Gray, Dickov and Tugay we would need three players at least. Plus we are still a striker short when Pongo leaves. And remember that the likes of Ped and Reid must be in line for large pay rises. ps. thanks Phillipl.

Is there another industy outside the world of sport where the employees earn several times more than the chairman? Oh, just thought of films. And music. And the arts generally. But apart from that... By the way Phillipl wouldn't the wages of the 100+ non playing staff and coaching staff (including our Sparkster) come out of the $40 mill? Fair enough they would all be on a lot less but it adds up...

Even if he is not a world beater he is still as good as Thompson used to be, on less wages I would imagine and came in on the cheap. Also I would say all round he is on a par with the likes of Emerton as well. For the amount of money we had available I am not sure how we could have got a player of a higher standard. And yes I can see an efficently performing Blackburn Rovers using Bentley on the money we have. We don't have the funds to buy a star studded team and I sincerely doubt we will ever have a side where all 11 players are of a standard higher than David. Also at 21 years of age he is expected to improve.

We need to win this to restore a bit of confidence and desire for the closing stages. Team I would like to see: Subs: Encks, Todd, Peter, Emerton, Kuqi

Could it not be about rabbits AND flaccid appendages? That would be more, um, complicated anyway. Potentially illegal too, depending which way you run with it...

So it definately won't be that formation, right?

It will be very interesting to see whether Hughes goes for Peter or Emerton. I would imagine the latter but giving Peter the start would be a huge vote of confidence. Bellamy and Pongo up front? Sounds good to me!

Wow, I didn't realise our wages were such a large amount of our turnover. Hopefully next year things should improve with big earners like Thommo, Amoruso (at least for half the financial year), Jansen and Flitcroft off the bill. At the moment I would guess our big earners are: Bellamy, Savage, Emerton, Tugay (although I think he signed a reduced contract...) Nelsen (Signed a new contract within three months of joining) Niell Amoruso Matteo Friedel Also I would imagine Ped and Reid are in line for big pay rises, Bentley too if he keeps up his form, while if we want Dickov to continue next season we need to give him some more cash. Still hard, as Phillipl once said, to see how we spend over 30 millin a year on wages. We have about 24. Even assuming that some of the money goes on the chairmen, manager, ticket staff, youth squad, Lee (!) etc. I would guess the average is still well over 1 million a first team player. 1 million a year translates to just under 20k a week! Crazy money...

Really good points there 92er! I guess we will have to see how Peter gets on. Although not of the standard of Dunn or Duff, Gallagher shows we can still produce skillful players. And people have to give Rovers credit for casting their net wide- Italians, Swedes and Germans all in the youth and reserve teams. With younger players many of the problems come from players of a high natural ability slacking off and not introducing enough self discipline. THe Hughes era is defined by a huge emphasis on discipline and hard work which hopefully should help bring out the best in the youth team. In the Premiership as a whole I rekon the average for the emergence of a home grown player is about one every other season, although I have no proof for that. If we want to rely on them we need, like 92er says, to be producing one a season. It also means we have to give them chances, starting with Peter. He needs to get a few starts and regular substitue appearences. It's a gamble, but if thats how JW sees our future, and I tend to agree with him, we need to be bold. If young players are put on the field regularly then the finest 15 and 16 year olds will look at Rovers as a good club to start at, and the management will become familiar with how to deal with such inexperienced players. ps. I have been following the comments on The Oatcake regarding Gallagher. He is currently going through a phase of being used as a striker. THe fans are not that impressed at the moment: "Too lightweight" and "poor free kicks" seem to be the comments that dominate. This perhaps suggests he will be moved back to the midfield where he was excellent for them before Christmas.

Um, Zola was Italian. As far as Argenitinans go Crespo is making a good fist of it but I can'tthinkof too many who have been a success in England. Oh, Ardilles of course! And his mate.

Well then I think thats pretty much what Bentley is. The big proble with that is that you cant play 442 with an attacking playmaker, you have to shift to a 4411 or a 4312. I just wish Dunn had been born maybe four years later. If he was coming through the ranks now he could slide into one of those formations with ease. And Hughes would provide so much better guidance and his fitness regeime could help curb those inuries. Oh well, you might as well wish Ronaldinho grew up in Darwen I suppose.

I would wager there are quite a few current England internationals who don't make that (Ledley King for example, I am sure earns nothing like that). I am not sure anyone in our entire squad makes that, with the possible exception of Bellamy. Whats McClaren on? Trying to create allies in his battle against the sack?

I suppose he is trying to spur the Blackburn public into action by making it clear what the concequences of staying away in numbers are. I don't see much wrong with that provided they are doing everything they can from their end, which it appear to me they pretty nearly are. Its an accurate prognosis from the Chairman. I think it is worth a punt on free tickets for kids under 12 (will force their folks to bring them, future Rovers hopefully) and more needs to be done to attract the Asian population. Apart from that I can't see too much that would have a huge impact, but this has been done to death.

Crikey, thats a bit depressing. Hmm... I guess it is Bentley up top then and probably Emerton wide right. It seems we have a lot riding on Pongo over the next couple of weeks. ps. That Everton stuff sounds plausible but aprat from that it hasn't really got anything for it. ANybody could have used the available infomation and come up with that story. Moyes strikes me as far too canny to buy a player off a video, especially at 5m quid. Perhaps the Danes on here can say whether 5 million was an accurate valuation at the time?