Problem is, none of them are any good.

I think anyone would be happy to get rid, no matter the fee. What we'd save in wages is the main factor here. For a long time I tried to convince myself that his presence, passing, shooting and aerial ability (Both in attack and defense) outweighed his complete inability to defend, but I just can't do it anymore. Seems like a decent enough guy who's serious about his approach to the game, too bad that the great players are often ***** and the great guys are crap players.

I know it's extremely bad business and it's just being petty, but we should absolutely not cave in and sell Barry for the puny amount of money Rangers are willing to pay, even if it's more than the £3m originally offered. They (Along with a certain Mr. Souness) ripped us off with Amoruso and once again with Barry, we surely can't let them do that again? We'd look almost as silly as Birmingham... Good business would be to sell Barry if a £4.5m bid comes in, as much as it pains me, as he's on quite substantial wages and even if he is a professional and does his best, it'll still not be quite as good as if his heart was in it. Or possibly if he figured better performances could persuade Rangers to cough up the extra dough. Then again, Rangers should know Barry better than he knows himself so that shouldn't be the case either So, brain says take any offer approaching £5m and run. Heart says make them pay the £6m we've asked for and if their failure to do so means Barry rotting in the reserves for 2½ years then so be it. I'm glad I usually listen more to my brain.

Wasn't it Nolan who elbowed MGP early in the second half as well?

Some stats about Savage

Yeah he really is cluless that 'Sparky' fella! HUGHES OUT!!!

You sound like that Argentina manager (Passarella? Or the guy before him maybe..) who refused to play Gabriel Batistuta and Sorin because of their long hair

Gold and co. approached this the wrong way. First slating Savage publicly on several occasions, saying they'd let him rot in the reservers and so on. And then humiliate themselves by practicly begging him to stay and FAIL in doing so Anyway, I think Savage will be a good player for us but the price is a little steep. But hey, if he does real well the price doesn't really matter. I don't think Arsenal fans are complaining about the £10m+ for Henry, United fans about RvN or Rio and so on. Now we've signed two of those players that fans of all other teams hate, but the own fans love - Dickov and Savage. Add to that Lucas Neill and we'll not be very popular Now who else do we want to make us even more hated? Danny Mills maybe?

When it comes to Savage; Hughes and Bowen know him well and have managed him in the Welsh national team. Hughes seemed very determined to get Savage, so I trust that he does know what he's doing and that Savage will do well here. Keep in mind that Souness had NOT managed Amoruso before signing him, it just so happened that Amo was at Rangers and all Rangers players are good, right? Well, at least they're good for giving that Murray bloke a bit of money every few years... EDIT: Uhm suddenly I'm not so sure anymore. Surely he hadn't? Bah, never mind me... got three hours sleep last night and it's past midnight, I shouldn't be allowed near the internet atm. I can't think properly :\\

Those Brummies aren't good at keeping their word. Just look at Bruce at Palace It's funny how Savage was firstly the Messiah for them (And he has been good this season, no doubt about it) and now he's a useless nobody who you're glad to get rid of Although I shouldn't take this too far as the opinions about Fergusons contribution to the team has changed drasticly in the last few days as well... If a player is fit then he can keep playing for a long time. Henrik Larsson (Before his latest injury ofcourse) still plays like he was 20, despite his 33 years. Just to name one... I don't know about Savage, but even if he isn't an exceptionally fit and healthy individual he still has two years at the top level in him. He may well have another two. How's Savage when it comes to injury proneness? I haven't really kept track of his career very closely but I get the feeling that he's not injured that often, is that right? While Thommo isn't a great (Or rather, consistent) passer he can certainly create chanses, as seen since his comeback. Such as the two goals vs Brum, Emerton's vs Bolton and MGP vs Pompey. So while we should look at getting a midfielder in the summer (Like Parker) rather than making a hasty decision now. Unless ofcourse Hughes has someone in mind already...

Flitcroft, but seeing as how he's not likely to play most games it won't be him. Todd seems like the primary candidate and he'd be a good choice, but I like the idea of Thommo as captain. At least with all those three you'd never see the captain lacking commitment or not leading by example in a hard-fought contest. It's very likely Savage will be made captain in the summer though.

But we overpaid for him to begin with. He is still worth the 4 mil that he was when we bought him. If there's a chance we might get more than the £4m he's "really" worth, why shouldn't we take it? As the selling club our goal is to get the most money possible, regardless of what he's ACTUALLY worth. Nothing wrong with setting the asking price at £6m+ and just wait. If Rangers really want him, they'll up their £3m bid. I doubt we'll get £6m+, but £5m isn't out of the question.

At least Savage (Or Dickov for that matter) don't pick up red cards

Right... I actually forgot about Spector. But damn, we really do have a lot of defenders on the books now Although I expect Gray/Gresko, Short, Amoruso and maybe Matteo too to be gone by summer.

I know Neill has played left back a couple of times in the last few seasons, how did he do there? I obviously prefer a left-footed player there (If Gresko could find the form he had while on loan here that'd be great), but it could be an option. Or maybe Nellie can play there too?

I didn't listen nor watch the game, but we won so how could I not be happy? Looking forward to hearing how Mokoena and Nelsen did on their debuts, as well as how a central midfield of Tugay (Just returned from injury) and Thommo worked. Oh, and ofcourse MGP and our strikers, including Jansen Uhm, might as well say I'm interested in everything. Anyway... I'd like to believe that Hughes didn't play MGP simply because he wasn't ready earlier. It's true that he scored vs Bournemouth, but again that doesn't mean he was ready for the PL by that time. I'm glad to see him scoring, and especially in the way he has done it so far I've always been a fan of the chip, and if his two goals were chips (Haven't seen them yet I'm afraid ) then I love the guy! 9 points down to the dropzone now, and if the results go our way next week we could be 12th! Either way we're on our way to safety. Three out of Southampton, Palace, WBA and Norwich will go down. My money is on the three newcomers, I believe Southampton will shape up.

I think we're paying a bit too much, but if the management think we can afford it (And they know a lot more about the clubs financial situation than I do ) then I'm not complaining. I rate him highly as a player and I think he'll improve our side a lot. And if Quashie is worth £2m then I agree that we're not getting such a bad deal

I still don't take the Ferguson rumours seriously. There have been stories ever since he joined us and there's been no truth to them so I don't think there's any truth to it now either. But we'll keep seeing those stories as long as he's at Ewood because the media can't understand how ANYONE would EVER want to spend any time at Ewood. Doesn't matter if the other club mentioned is an equally "small fish in a big pond" as us (i.e Birmingham) or a big fish in a small pond (Rangers). Barry is also Scotland's best player, one of the best Rangers have had in the last ten years and current Scotland as well as former Rangers captain. Ofcourse there'll be talk about him in the media. I'm not worried, I'm positive he will be here come February. What'll happen in the summer is a different matter though, but then we'll also have a bigger chance of bringing in adequate replacements.

Ryan Nelsen came on a free didn't he. This may have been discussed elsewhere but how come we got him on a free? Was he out of contract? Yeah he did. Check the date though, the price mentioned in the press for Mokoena at the time was £600k. And I believe Nelsen was indeed out of contract.

It's rididulous to sell Barry to finance the purchase of Savage. Now I've always been in favour to buy Savage, and I still am, but for the reason that those two together would be a great midfield. I do think Savage and Tugay would work for the remainder of the season, but Tugay is injured and we'd only have "grafters" as backups. So no thanks. I don't think it'll happen either. Remember that there's been stories in the press about Ferguson leaving since two weeks after he got here.

Pretty decent lineup, but I'd put McEveley and MGP on the left and Neill/Thommo on the right It's not Souness picking the team anymore.

Admittedly I've only seen Rovers live twice (Once on a pre-season tour in Sweden, and vs Leicester at Ewood last season) so it's harder for me to judge, but I believe Thommo is simply built like that, and it has nothing to do with being overweight. Diego Maradona didn't exactly look skinny even when he was in his best form. Can't say that stopped him

Btw, did anyone else get the impression that Bryan Hughes was Barry Fergusons long lost twin? They look incredibly similar.

Just finished watching it (delayed) and I'm delighted. I was nervous every time Rommedahl got the ball, but he reminded me of Emerton last season, in that he didn't quite dare take people on as much as he should have. I have no real complaints today, I thought everyone did what they should, but Dickov doesn't really have the best vision. There were at least a couple of occasions late on in the game where he was centre-left about 10 metres outside the area and had 2-3 runs forward from other players and yet just laid it back. Also at the end when he got himself into a decent position to shoot (credit to him for that though) but where Gally (I think) would've been clean through with a very simple pass from Dickov, yet he shot. I don't think he should be dropped as he is a real nuisance, and he has scored 7 goals after all, but I see what people are saying when commenting that it's hard to play alongside him. Neill was solid again, Todd was excellent (again), Nissa did his job well, Thommo was lively and creative, Emerton had a good but not great game, Stead looked good but his control was lacking a couple of times when he had decent balls played through to him. Friedel looked reliable. Although I was scared shitless when they had that free kick

I wanna see Johnson play. Basicly because Stead isn't up to it atm, and with Matty and Bothroyd out he should at least get a place on the bench. Oh, and start MGP. One of Reid/Emerton should get a rest, and MGP does have the raw skill, we know that. He should be ready for the first team now as well as he's been on the bench for most games. I know he remained there for 90 minutes, but no manager puts a player who he doesn't consider good enough on the bench. At least not when there are other options. Oh, and I do think we'll win. Charlton aren't a great team on paper, and while Curbishley makes a difference and lifts them up a level or two, I think we should take it. 1-0 Rovers. N-E Johansson (He's got to score sooner or later I believe he's headed the ball onto the bar three times this season, at least):