joey_big_nose

This should be an excellent game. Both Rovers and Charlton will fancy their chances not just in this game but also getting all the way to the final. We have to, and I am sure Huges will, put out our best side. My reckoning of the lineup: Having Toogs available (even if Charlton couldn't possibly give him as much room as last time) would be a real boost but I am guessing Hughes won't take any chances. I am also assuming Niell won't be fit. Thompson for Emerton might be a bit harsh, especially as the Aussie was so good against them last time, but Thommo really did look bright (if a little podgy) against arsenal. A real goal threat too if he is on form. Just less of those wayward cross field passes and corners please! I would expect Jansen to come on after the hour mark sometime. The only other very slight possibility of a change in lineup would be Gresko, if he has impressed in training, maybe getting a sniff. Can't really see it happening though. 2-1 Rovers AET Savage, Thompson ps. Can anybody see how Bently is going to get into the team? If Hughes was feeling outrageous then I suppose he could come in for Reid as Tugay replacement, but he seems a bit too soft to play in the middle of a 442, especially for Sparky's liking. What are the chances of him being packed off back to Arsenal in the January window?

I think you are going to be a disappointed man. Thats championsleague form!

If you read through the messageboard on the oatcake you will find frequent comments along the lines of "he isnt interested", "He goes missing" etc. And I think it is a fair thing to say that he never really looked like he was giving a hundred percent when he played for us- the games away at Burnley was particularly illustrative in this regard, he looked utterly disinterested. I really want him to do well, i think he would make not only a good player but also a highly entertaining one to watch, but he does appear to have a bit of an attitude problem. I am open to be corrected on this but some of his performances have been woeful for us (just as the Drog, he will wax lyrical about it) not as the result of any lack of talent.

Same old story- plenty of ability but lack of physical strength and commitment. Both these things are emminently achievable through hard work. Like it or lump it he is the most gifted player we have produced since the Duff and Dunn year and remains our best hope for the future out of the current lot. Nonetheless unless he sorts out these issues he will never feature again in a Mark Hughes team. The suspicion is that players of Dickov's and Kuqi's ilk actually cause more problems for a Premiership defence because they force mistakes and capitalise (sometimes...) upon them. Gally does not do this and can also be knocked off the ball easily. It is frustrating. Is a few hours a week in the gym and a little bit of determination too much to ask for a Premiership career with his childhood club and bucket and buckets of money? He has all the 'uncoachable' qualities- movement, finishing, passing.

Well I am extremely embarrassed and for that I apologise profusely. I made some major accusations where my factual basis was completely inaccurate. I will now shut up for a while and check my facts. I ballsed up in a major way. As for Zurab, to refer to him as an asylum seeker is, any which way you like it, an insult. So I am certainly against it and seems a bizarre way to treat one of our own players.

I think this is broadly aimed at my post. 1. I am not defending Kuqi for playing ok. I am defending him because, in my opinion, he was the best partner for Bellamy we had for that game yesterday and he does put in 100% effort. He is not a good striker and we need another one in but he is currently the best we have if we want to cause problems in the air, as we did yesterday. 2. All I was saying is why in god's name did AESF refer to him as a Kosovan? The only answer I came up with is because he wished to connect Kuqi to asylum seekers. Why? As far as I can see for only three reasons: a) because he has a strong fondness for that subject and brings it up all the time because of that player's dark skin c) he dislikes kosovans and dislikes Kuqi so he connects them. I am happy to listen to any other rational reasons he stuck it in there. ps. I don't think it would be unfair thing to say that AESF is prejudiced agianst pretty much everything that is foreign, but that was not what I was getting at.

Has gray's inclusion over the last two months only been a result of Matteo' absence? Personally, despite him having a torrid time yesterday, I think Gray's re-emergence as a first team starter has been key to us sorting out our attcking game. Defensively solid as he is I would think Matteo coming in at left back would be a backward step.

Wouldn't a better title for this thread be "why doesn't (super super clever) Jan just shut up"?

Kuqi is finnish, not kosovan. Can't you keep your racist overtones out of a match report AESF? It is hardly the place to put it. Anyway I thought Kuqi was okay. You have to rember he came to the club on a free, and he managed to win a decent amount in the air. We desperately need someone who can finish better and can link up with the ball at feet (preferably while also being decent in the air) but at present he was by far our best option for the game. Jansen would not of won anything, big sol would of forced him off the ball all the time. Dickov similar lack of height was a problem. We cannot 'get rid of savage' as some people suggest. He was one of our better players yesterday and there is the plain fact that we have nobody to replace him with. Our manager payed far too much for him, but in his defence he does have a galvanising effect on the team and makes some cracking tackles. Most importantly though Hughes likes him (obviously) and will not drop him. If we hold on to Hughes everybody will just have to get used to the fact he will be pulling on a rovers shirt week in week out for the next eighteen months at least. Judge the team when we play our equals rather than when we are away at one of the best sides in Europe. My personal opinion is that if we can replicate that performance with some btter finishing Everton should yield 3 points.

If I was going to pick out a single point of view which makes me weep then this has to be it. The government makes the whole bloody country work, without it the whole fabric of society would fall apart. If you feel strongly about it, join it. Become a civil servant or lobby to be an MP so you can improve things with your superior assessment of ideal governance.

Gallagher played the full ninety minutes on the wing in Stoke's 2-0 win at Wednesday.

I would take four wins and two losses out of those. I think it is unlikely that we will win all four at home, we will slip up here or there. 30 points going into the new year (and one game over halfway) would be excellent. 60 points as a target for the season, equalling our 2002-2003 season, is something to persue. 50 Points would be acceptable. Anything less would be disappointing in light of the quality in the side compared to last year or the year before.

Personally I cannot understand all the people who are doom and gloom about this. In every department we matched Arsenal today apart from finishing. We defended well, passed well, created chances, held on to the ball. The difference was that Arsenal has one of the top 5 players in the world (and one of the best of all time) playing at the very peak of his ability, and a squad rammed full of attacking talent which we can only dream of. We are not expecting to win the premiership. These are games we will lose if the opposition is playing at the top of their ability. If we play this well against teams in our bracket we will beat them. Those are the important games. Today we did our best and played very well but were undone by some sublime finishing. Lets kick on. That said two changes need to happen- Zurab for Todd and perhaps give Thompson a start next time (although he did look like he was carrying a bit of weight). I was very impressed at how he responded to the challenge. I thought his career at Rovers was over. If we can scrape the cash together for another top striker (someone with height and technique would be ideal, although Kuqi was not too bad today) and a creative midfielder (come on petrov!) we will turn into a very very good team. I do recognise that funds are limited though. Looking forward to the next game. ps. personally I think he looked very happy today despite the drubbing. If we can finish in the top ten, keep hold of Hughes (this is crucial!) and look like we are steadily improving then I think we stand a real chance of holding on to him. If we don't I would expect us to make a decent profit.

It is interesting that they say he is worth £2-4 million! Personally I think Hughes would find £1 mill tempting. Nonetheless in an ideal world I want him to sort his game out and turn into a real top class player.

Especially when you consider that without Viera Arsenal could well give him a lot of room. If he doesnt make it the coice would be between Reid and the Axe. Neither of them inspire much confidence in actually creating something. Get well Tugs!!

He played wide but suffered from a lack of pace and dribbling ability. Also he alway wanted to drift inside. His crossing was good though! If Gally is going to make it as a player it will be in the mold of Sheringham. All his strengths mirror big teds- good short passing, good movement, good finishing. THe problem for Gally is that to convince a manager to play you in that role you need to be bloody good at it, and I am not sure he really is. Two things will infinately increase his chances- putting on some muscle, and putting in a 100% every match. Whether he wants to do that is the big question. Nonetheless I cant see him making a career on the wing.

The team seems to pick itself if Nelsen and Gray are fit: Reid performed excellently in the last game, Bentley has been shocking for the last few so- even if it is on the right- Reid should get the spot. An interesting point is that with Nelsen and Todd playing who will get the armband? Really it should be Nelsen. 1-1, but we resoundingly outplay Citeh. ps. nust realised Thompson is in the squad. Shock inclusion on the right? I would think he would be lucky to make the bench but you never know...

I would say it would be impossibe but for the fact that he has sucha strong connection with Hughes. You can imagine that they miight get along quite well. I am not, however, convinced that Keane would really add much to our team. On the form of the last couple of seasons Svage has been as decent as he is at the moment. Plus I could see Bellamy and Davage finding it hard to get along with Keane. Bellamy in particular could feel Keano's wrath.

Wow! Is it really as high as that? If it is that does put a perspective on it, especially in the increasingly depressed transfer market. For that amount of money invested we should really be hoping for another top class player who can make a serious impact at Premiership level to come through. Out of interest when Dunn was coming through did he look like a top class player at 17, or did it take a while for his talents to be recognised?

Can we work out all the money we have recouped for home grown players since Jan 2000? I will put out the more obvious ones because, frankly, my memory is awful Dunn (5.5m) Duff (17m) Taylor (1m?) Johnson (?) Plus Gallagher and McEveley must be worth around half a million each. Thats not too bad.

This suggests that Donnelly superior ability should shine through over time and he will play at a higher level than Douglass. This is not the case at the moment. He has currently played 9 games for Blackpool this season scoring two goals.

Who does wverbody think is the best team not to make it into the world cup? I am not particularly well informed on this but I would probably plump for Turkey.

TND is completely accurate here. If we do not raise the money to buy players through decent crowds then we are screwed. The entertainment on offer at Rovers is improving but the fact of the matter is that other teams can play awfully and still get in 25k+. If people are going to stay away for whatever reason, and that is perfectly their right, then we can expect, inevitably, to expire as a premiership force. Once the Walker money runs out it is all over. One bad manager and a relegation and that will be that as not only will we have tiny crowds but also vastly cheaper tickets than the other sides we are competing against. It is absolutely a personal choice, but it is a personal choice that will end the club as a top flight team. Lets just hope Hughes, his succesors and the board can put it off for as long as possible, or, somehow miraculously, BRISA can get 5k-7k extra fans in every week even if we play shocking football.

Ive never come across that but I have heard of people spooning out a bit. Still nothing compared to alcohol anyways. So to clarify normally people love each other, or at least are happier and have a larger desire to plese.

Well, okay, it's not weak. But its not outstanding either, certianly not in the same way that their attack is at present. Anybody else readily recall an attacking five as talented as Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Kaka, Adriano and Robinho?