I think he will be able to make a good career in the Championship. He might even come back to haunt us.... Still, he has been poor for too long now and he wont be going broke, thats for sure. Sad to see him go but it is time to look to free up money for a new signing.

The difference today was made by Reid and Thompson. Previously we have failed to turn posession into teritorial advantage due to two factors in a 451 formation. Firstly Ferguson liked to slow the game down and ping passes through which our strikers could not take advantage of. Reid played the opposite side of the game driving forward at every oppertunity running with the ball at feet. That created the goal and seriously worried the defence. Secondly Thompson did the same wide on the right, not cutting back and playing it square like Emerton which allowed Reid to break through. If I was the Australian winger I would suddenly become very worried about my place in the team.... Having an excellent defensive set up helped to instill confidnce too, but by way of warning it is worth remembering that Everton looked to attack at home. Against more conservative side at Ewood it might be harder to make an impression using the 451 formation, but I do not see why we should not try. We can always count on Pedersen to link up upfront and help out.

Right, I am going to defend myself. In the first half Stead genuinely looked like a third division player. All his basics were wrong- not retaining the ball, not winning itin the air, poor movement etc. After the break he looked much better, well before the goal, winning flick ons and so on and managing to beat a few players with his feet. He looked like a good premiershp forward. The goal was an excellent finish and he ran around the pitch non stop- something noticably absent in the first 45. I am delighted, I have always wanted Stead to do well (hence the avater) but frankly he put in (along with Gallagher at Burnley) one of the worst performances I have seen in a Rovers shirt in the first half. This is excellent stuff, if he keeps up what he was achieving in the second half I think we might start to hope to hurt teams. It is a massive boost for the side if there is someone who can hold up the ball and finish- especially as it looks like Dickov could have a long lay off. My assessment is that Reid especially, Thompson and Moko have played themselves into serious contention- Stead obviously too. Nelsen, Todd, Niell, Brad and Pedersen all looked extremely good. Johansson was appalling going forward but reasonably (remember the flick on....) decent at the back. The formation for Leicester seems pretty straight forward now if Dickov is ruled out and Savage back in.: That team looked solid and if Stead can maintain a cutting edge we should have no problem staying up, and even might be able to give the cup a run for its money. pps. how much better di our wideplay look without Emerton.....

I think we have been playing quite well, moving around the ball and dominating possession in the first half hour. Things got a bit ropey towards the ends but they have only had two real chances- A Carsley free kick and bents 1 on 1. What is a real problem is that Stead looks awful. I mean really awful. Looks like a rabbit in the headlights and hasnt managed to trap a ball and make a sucessful pass in four attempts. He ducked out of a header too. I know he is short of confidence and I really want him to play well but I can evisage him being substiturted around the hour mark if things dont improve. Hope he comes to life in the second half.... ps. Thomspon, Pedersen, Moko, Todd, Reid, Brad and Nelsen have all looked good. Johansson is a bit weak and Niell has not had much to do. Flitcorfot has been decent. The only real issue seems to be Johansson going forward and everything about Stead.

I have never seen an established player been sent home due to work permit problems. It seems very much a situation of "when youre in youre in". I hope so anyway.

Interesting. Lets see how we play without Emerton.... Losing Savage is a real blow and it has just occoured to me tat the midfield four is completely different from the one that has played our last fourgames and so. Not a man left. Well Moko and Flitty should rough them up a bit, lets hope Thommo and Reid can do something with the ball.

Um, if I was going to say one thing about Cole it would be he can create his own chances. He misses alot but he can sure create them. Look at him this season at Fulham! We need a player like him at the moment IMHO. I dont miss him getting caught offside eight times a match however!

Well I'm excited! We have all seen what Stead (last season), Reid (very briefly), Thompson (pre-injuries) and Jansen (fleeting glimpses post-Rome) can do at their best. All four have it in them to be top performers in the Premiership. With MGP and Nelsen having pushed past previous first team certainties to nail their names in the starting XI, the challenge and example is there for that quartet to do the same when fitness and opportunity comes along. Nelsen is a simply awesome addition. Interesting points those. I think it really does look like there will be a massive clearout in the summer. Defo out the door (if we can shift them) are: Bothroyd (Hughes only uses him cause everyone else is awful), Gray, Amo, Tugay (retired), Jansen (cannot see him getting a contract extension), Short (retired), Douglas Players I can see Hughes letting go: Stead (on loan probaby, Sparky not a fan), Thompson (if a decent offer comes in, again sparky not too keen), Johansson, Emerton (really think he might play his way out of the door now, I can see him being dropped in the next couple of weeks and him just fading away) That leaves us with a pretty minimal squad: Freidal, Enckleman, Moko, Todd, The Admiral, Matteo (I think he should go but Sparky seems to like him), Niell, Gresko (Hughes might give him a chance as he has not seen him yet), Pedersen, Savage, Reid, Flitcroft (see Matteo), Dickov, Gallagher, McEveley, Johnson. Even if Emerton and Thompson stay, which is very possible I admit, that is a squad of only 18, six of whichare a bit dodgy/unproven to say the least (Matteo, Gallagher, Johnson, McEveley, Flitcroft, Gresko). Niell and Dickov have their critics too.......... It will be a summer of wheeling and dealing t'be sure.

Well- here's my team....... Thomspon and Stead have done little to warrent inclusion but I think changing things up as Emerton and Gally have been so poor. I cannot see how Thompson would be less of a threat than Emerton. I have a suspicion however that neither Thompson or Stead will even get on the bench if recent selections hare any guide. Bothroyd should be hounded back to italy. 2-1 Rovers MGP, Stead (I wish....)

Fantastic result although the performance was a bit worrying. Our only real attacking threat remains MGP, even Dickov did not have much about him. Good to see a bit of decent banter between the fans on the message board rather than a slagging match (including the burnley site which I had a look at, a couple of morons giving Rovers a bad name but most had the decency to acknowledge a good Clarets performance). Leicester should be a winnable game but it is a shame to be in such a good position but so bereft of attacking talent. We need a late resurgence of form from all of Stead, Emerton, Thompson, Tugay, Reid, Dickov and Gallagher if we are ever going to hope to make an impression on the semis (should we get there!). Anyhow, we have a very important run of league matches where our forward players should get a bit more room. Lets try and build on this! ps. Defence was excellent. Amazed at just how good Nelsen is. Oh for a decent left back..... pps. Everybody else left in the cup looks vulnerable apart from Man Utd. Praying for Southampton to pull a suprise and open it right up.

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Just noticed that Thompson is not even on the bench..... with Emerton playing so poorly I would of had him arounfd to change things up. Still, I suppose we have Reid.

The game looks like it will sell out at just under 29,000 (due to security arrangements) making it the biggest crowd of the season so far apart from the Newcastle boxing day clash. Does anybody knw when the last true sell out occoured since the new stadium was built- ie. +31,000?

The team I would go for if Dickov fails his fitness test: I suspect Hughes might prefer Reid or Tugay to Thompson and maybe work Johnson in therer somewhere too. I still think Stead and Gallagher deserve a shot as a partnership.

Ferguson might just end up wishing he stayed to the end of the season. We could have done with him yesterday and the draw we got means we have a decent crack at a semi final. It would be an experience I think you would agree, bigger than Bolton-Rovers anyway and even the Old Firm derby in its own way. Well, good luck to him. I am not bitter but surely six more months would of been worth it to see if something like this would of happend.

Obvious question, suprised no one has explicitly asked it- I could not quite decipher Phillips cryptic comment in the report. What is a decent guesstimate for the summer's transfer budget if we exclude unknown factors (dont factor in Dahlin money, Assume Finishing at 17th- it cant be any lower! etc.)? Does the Walker funds intervention have a huge impact on this or a tny one? Will we see Shevchenko and Ronaldinho sign in the summer? Or Nicky Barmby and a one legged chimp?

Its a funny old game..... We do not really deserve to get such an easy route to the semis but we cannot look a gift horse in the mouth. Our defence is meaner then my gran and in the likes of Savage, Pedersen and Dickov we should have sufficient tenacity and a tiny bit of quality to be favourites against both Burnley and Leicester (should we get there). Getting to the semis would be great but that is as far as we can possibly get unless somebody finds their shooting boots. We were woeful up front against Burnley. It is unfortunate in its own way that our team which is so inferior to the 2002-2003 vintage should be so blessed. A draw like that handed out to the likes of Duff, Berg, a top form tugay, Dunn and Cole and we would be laughing. Oh well, all ifs and buts.

Can you sort something out for me? I caught the rugby league world final and the commetator constantly referred to canterbury being australian. I had an arguement with my flat mate where I said they were from New Zealand and he said that the commentator was right. Was I right, or is there another canterbury in australia? If not that is some shocking research done by the commentating team.

A valid and important point. but probably not one that Rovers fans can make! I knew some one would say that. Nonsense!!! Rovers did not go out and buy established international superstars in the early nineties, like Chelsea and Man Utd are now. Indeed we bought much lower profile players than Man Utd did then too (Cantona anyone?). Shearer Le Saux Sherwood Ripley Sutton Wilcox Were all talented up and coming players, not people at the top of their game. It was intelligent management rather than raw economics which won us the title. Batty could be said to be a well respected player when he moved, while Shearer and Sutton were recognised outstanding talents but still! We had the financial backing but we were not massively outspending the other big clubs (look at Cole's 7 million transfer in '95 and shearer's 15 million). We were not operating with kind of advantage that Utd, Chelsea and Arsenal can exercise now. Rant over.

Wednesday because my dad supports them, but always rovers if Wednesday were in the prem or met them in cup- like the league cup on the way to cardiff! Hearts in Scotland because they are my cousin's team and i am at uni in edinburgh. I cannot stand the old firm. Apart from that no one really. I always go for the smaller team if I am watching a game. I have a maissve antipathy for 'big' clubs who essentially bully teams with their financial clout. What I do like to see is clubs exceed themselves in terms of their relative financial position and play decent football. On that basis I had a soft spot for Arsenal in the early Wenger years but since they have been throwing money around I have lost that. The bottom line however is that Rovers are the only club I feel attached to, the only club I support.

He scored two goals which is good, but his link up play has been atrocious. It really takes the impetus out of the team. We need to free up cash and we cannot just pray that he will improve. Stead and Gallagher are the players we are looking to for the future to have Matt as well is a luxery. He will go.

It is a ridiculous thing to say that Australia are a better team than England. The friendly, despite being an excellent performance by the socceroos, does not prove much. England currently have more world class players and a stronger all round squad than at any time since I dont know when. Ferdinand, Campbell, Cole, Gerrard, Lampard, Beckham, Rooney and Owen would all get in to almost any team in the world. Even rat face Neville can be said to be world class. Wright Phillips, Downing, Terry, King, Smith and De Foe all look like real prospects too. I just hope Sven can make it work. With players like that we should be looking at the semi finals as the bare minimum in the next world cup. It would be a real travesty if such a golden era of english talent is wasted. The only weak link is the goal keeper and the left wing. We need to find a system, 442 preferably, make it work and stick to it. Oh I do love making up formations: That is one hell of a side, Sven just needs the balls to pull Beckham off and stick SWP on if he is underperforming. Similar goes for Owen and Defoe. Also, get us to pass the bloody ball and retain possession! ps. what is even more encouraging is that the next world cup will only be the last for three players in the side, and for those obvious replacements seem to be maturing: SWP for Beckham, Terry for Campbell and Glenn Johnson for Neville. A good time to be an England fan.

That might make them a bit more pro rovers....... Anyway, we are suffering from a bit of a comedown. When we had Duff, a top form Tugay, Dunn, Cole and Yorke we were one of the most attractive sides in the league- although we didnt quite get the press we deserved for that. At the moment I would certainly say we are no worse than the likes of Charlton, Bolton etc. I do believe Hughes will look to get the ball on the deck next season and pass it around more, indeed we can move it round at the moment okay. The fact of the matter is however that we do not posess the strikers to make that system work effectively and we need the points but we are hardly route one. We havnt got anybody who can win it in the air! Savage can pass a bit, Gallagher is technically proficiant and Pedersen has a some invention about him. If we can get in a striker who can hold up the ball and a true creative midfielder I think things can rapidly change. Having fullbacks who can actually overlap would be good too. Oh well, as long as we stay up!

Oh bugger it. I havnt a clue. How about this? 8-0 Rovers.

Things have gone from looking quite reasonable a couple of weeks ago to looking pretty desperate. While our midfield seemed to be playing well and sort of making up for our forwards being inept now that looks lost too. Emerton is looking low on confidence again, Pedersen is losing momentum and we have a new problem of finding a partner for Savage. The way I see it is we persevere with MGP and Emerton. They have been decent so we just need to pray they get back into it. Dickov needs a partner, I personally think Gallagher is the best shot but that is merely on the basis that he gets the midfield involved and can finish. He can be bustled off the ball but that goes for all our front men, bar Dickov. Moko looks like he can do a job sitting infront of the defence. Flitcroft is a decent alternative, but not much more than that, and Tugay is a huge risk. Why not tell the fullbacks to play flat (ie. dont foray too far into the opposite half) get Moko to act as a defensive shield and tell everybody else to drive forward. It is not much of a plan but it is the best chance we have to create openings. I, an eternal optimist, am beginning to feel a little desperate. Realistically we have to try for three points against Norwich as the following four games are stick on losses.