joey_big_nose

Well done! Shame there are no questions about his bizarre move from Business lunch to MOTD 2. Chiles' cheery face became synonimous with the school holidays for me. Waking up at 12.30 hung over, turning on the telly, seeing him entertain a lot of boring men in suits and watching him try to marshall discussions upon subjects which he clearly didn't know the foggiest about. Happy days.

Shame that Pongolle cannot play, with him in the side I would of hoped for a bit of debut magic. As it is: We lose 2-1 again. Its so frustrating because you know if you stuck Bellamy and Pongo up top we would be favourites coming into this.

Completely agree about the first bit, but I would just add that I think there will be a 'natural' general tendency to favour the home side in any game as a matter of course: Subconcious intimidation by the crowd, more highlight given to fouls/rough legal challenges by the noise from the supporters, subconcious desire to have an ride home without getting abuse from people outside the ground. But I don't think this is a major factor. However, as AESF says, there will be a couple who conciously try to favor 'big clubs' for their career. What everybody has to remember is it is a dangerous game to play, if a ref was caught doing it then their career would be over. The vast majority of abuse directed at refs, imho, is completely undeserved. We have both benifitted and lost out on referee decisions and most of it just comes down to natural error. You have to put yourself in the referees position, on the pitch running around without the benefit of television replays. As for the 'never trust a frenchman or a german' thing, well if we are trading in stereotypes I have always found Germans more trustworthy and respectful than the British generally, although to be fair we both have a lot of 'bad apples'. As for the French... well 'they' (don't you love the genralisation!) do seem to be unneccesarily rude an awful lot of the time. I have no doubt the feeling is mutual though.

Phillip, just because I am thick and have an insatiable thirst for speculation, can you give me a rough idea of how much you think Rovers do have to spend at the moment and in the summer, once the sky money comes in? Helps pass the time, anyway...

To be honest even if Arsenal have three or four bad seasons they are going to continue to be a massive club. They have been extremely successful in a crucial time for football, just as the game was opening up on sky, and managed to put considerable distance between themselves and the other London clubs in terms of support, although Chelsea are catching up. They now have a massive fanbase around the world and throughout the South East (huge amounts of fans in Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire which used to be a very fertile United/Liverpool area). They should always be able to fill the stadium for Premiership games irrespective of how well they do in the league apart from, obviously, if they were relegated. Poor performaces however would massively affect the ludicrous sums that they charge for boxes. Chairmen will not view it as an ideal way to entertain clients if the games are bottom of the table scraps with unfashionable clubs. What is interesting about this is that now the North/South wealth gap is going to be seriously exploited. Traditionally the richest clubs have been in the north (Man Utd, Liverpool) due to larger attendances but Chelsea and Arsenal are going to annihalate everybody in ticket revenue. The notion of on the field competition continues to be slowly eroded.

I have got a feeling that it is oretty much nailed on thta it will be Hiddink.

We don't really sound like we are up for it do we? Reid seems to be continuing his rich vein of form though and Bentley seems to be having a good game. Personally I would bring the Axe off. It really looks like he is only playing to try and appease him so he doesn't ask for a transfer request. Axe for Jemel, move Bentley to the right, Reid to the middle and Johnson up front.

Hopefully we should have a new striker by Wednesday or, failing that, Bellamy should be fit. If neither happens I reckon we should play like Ajax/1970s Brazil with NO strikers: Pedersen Bentley Peter Tugay Savage Reid Gray Nelsen Zurab Niell Freidel The wide player and the front two could rotate and move about the pitch bemusing the Utd defence. Think of it, we would be AWESOME! Of course this is a ridiculous idea but I have a suspicion that it might be better than having Kuqi on from the start. Better to have himcoming off the bench in the second half.

A real shame today. We were decent but lacked the quality up front. If we had gone out and bought (from somewhere with what cash, I know) a top class striker or Bellamy had been fit we would of stood a chance. Arguably if just Dickov was available we might have made more. Hughes know, the board know it, the players know it, the fans know it: There needs to be a striker coming into Ewood within the next six days. I have a feeling we may go out in the cup on Saturday but then hold steady for a top half finish, maybe even a top eight.

I never said I was expecting him to, it is just if we are going to cause them problems we will need him to provide a real threat- something he hasn't done before. Come on young David, prove your worth! Please!

You get the feeling Bentley is going to have to have the game of his life. Kuqi will be up for this and will hustle the defence. Come on lads, this is going to require a special effort. Just don't conced early!

Really an Premership team should have five strikers, three of whom are squad players and two who are top class. We only have the one top class and he is only sporadically fit.

If he is a man of decency and honour, which I think Mr Hiddink is, he will see the Aussie's to the world cup. After that he will become available I am sure. I cannot see him walking out on Australia. That would not only be despicable but also damage his reputation severely. I again offer to eat my right leg if your speculation (there is so much of it it is hard to keep track!) is proved correct.

Christ, we really do suffer from almost scouse levels of paranoia as a club don't we. I didn't see the penalty decisions tonight but, guys, get a grip. The FL will not be plotting against us, it will be a game of football. Were the powers that be in cohorts with Mark Hughes when the Ped slam dunked a goal against Newcastle last weekend? Or in the soft sending off of nakata the previous week end? Get a hold of yourselves for godsake!

I think this is a bit harsh. I mean he f-d over Rovers, which I detest him for, but in the grand scheme of things I don't think he has been any more 'immoral' than any football manager or, indeed, the average human being. He kept his eyes out for new jobs. Whats wrong with that? Why should he be sentimental when the FA and te English public would happly kick him repeatedly in the balls if he gets two bad results or does something privatel considered out of line. I am sure throughout my working life I will always be keeping half an eye out to see if the grass is greener somewhere else. He shagged about a bit. Not something that I am exactly 'for' as such but whats the problem? The footballers do it, fans do it, i am sure newspaper editiors do it. Absolutely no bearing on his ability to, ahem, perform as manager Got mediocre results. Actually has got very good results in competitive games. I don't buy that we would of done any better with any other manager to be honest. Speculative, I know, but I just can't see an other candidate doing much more. Dishonest, self centred etc etc etc. see- Brian Clough, Glenn Hoddle, George Graham, Terry Venables, Arsene Wenger, Alex Ferguson, Graham Souness, Jose Mourinho, Steve Bruce... How many more years before anybody of any quality refuses the England post? I suppose a true patriot would find it hard to turn it down but really it just seems impossible.

Well if you are splitting hairs - essentially saying that any player who has not been the finest among their generation are not 'appealing' - then Australia are a side entirely filled with players who are not that attractive at all. Positively ugly even. What in God's name is your point? Rooney is one of the finest players in the world who would walk in to any team with the possible exception of Brazil. What difference does it make? He is brilliant, the best available to England, so should be in the team. If Walcott is smilarly brilliant he will be in the squad come May. THe issue is not whether he wins trophies or is 'appealing'. The issue is whether he is one of the five best forwards this country has to offer. What planet are you operating on?

Don't say that! It has to be surely. Im not going to get to see the game tomorrow because my work is full of beestards so I will have Rovers world on the radio. If I dance on my chair because the Ped scores in the 118th minute they are just going to have to deal with it.

Would we fill the stadium do people reckon? Fantastic turnout in 2001 not really replicated in last years trip to Cardiff (but to be fair that was a semi not a final).

So glad to hear that! If anybody is our bogey team its Arsenal. I think we would fancy it against Wigan. Just the small issue of United first though... I really have no idea about this game. Us receiving a thrashing, us dealing out a thrashing, penalties, a tight win/loss all seem possible.

I will be suprised if Hughes doesn't just stick to the same formula that has made us unbeaten in seven games. If Bellamy is fit we are sorted and I guess will lineup exactly as we did a Ewood in the first leg (apart from maybe Zura instead of Todd at the back and Reid instead of Bentley). If Bellamy isn't fit then we are a bit screwed but I am increasingly thinking that Ped will get a run out up front and Peter a start.

That is precisely the sort of player Tugay is. Absolutely brilliant except when he isn't and then he is awful! If he was consistently playing like he had been recently he would of been playing for Milan or Utd or Barcelona years ago and we woul dnever of got a sniff. Similar case with Bellamy. If he didn't have his temper he wouldn't be at Rovers.

He had one good game did that fecker, and it was against us.

We can easily out fight that in the middle of the park! It will be a case of trying not to get hurt when they do get the ball which will be the problem. Is anybody else still amazed that RFW still hasn't bought a central midfielder? I mean they have needed one for about threeyears now, even more so since Keane left. Beggers belief.

I was pretty sure we only bought Reid after Duff went and because he had gone. Emerton was the player who came anyway. I have never understood where all that 22 million went. 7 for Ferguson, 1.5 for Reid, 1.5 for Amoruso still leaves 12. I think paying off a loan was the prevalent theory?

We have won the games we have been expected to win (and one that we weren't in the shape of Argentina in 2002)and lost the games we have expected to lose. The draw against Portugal was a fair result, the sides were evenly matched (plus Portugal had home advantage and Rooney went off injured). Sven certainly hasn't excelled as manager but he has been steady and decent. We are not even guaranteed steady and decent with any of the likes of Curbishley and Allerdyce and the situation is made even more difficult if they only have six months and a few games to get it right. Have you considered that Curbishley or Alledyce could just be a disaster at the job? It is a very real posibility- no experience, no time, never worked at that level, never managed against South American teams who use different tactics, never been in charge of genuine superstar players. I think a lot of people are mistaking Sven not being brilliant with him being a failure- failures, gentleman, are characters in the mold of Keegan and Taylor, not manager who get the national team to quater finals in major competitions where the quality of the squad indicated that was exactly where we should get. Now if there was a candidate who did look like he was brilliant then I would be out with you guys too merrily calling for Svens head. But, sadly, there just isn't. The only English managers who have won a single trophy (happy to be proved wrong on this) in the last ten years are McClaren (and his expensive looking side appears like it is going to go very close to relegation), Royle (now managing Ipswich Town in the Championship) and Brian Little (now at Tranmere). Not brilliant.