Really? I don't. And it's not because of the "betrayal". It's because he is no longer works for Blackburn and any success he has may come at the expense of Rovers. I couldn't care less about Newcastle's lack of trophies, poor discipline except that if they are in any kind of turmoil it's good news for Rovers when we play them. This is a contest after all, success has to be had at the expense of others.

For all his qualities as a manager I doubt Souness was loved by the players. He may well have been respected but there is not going to be a shortage of players desperate to stick it to Souness at St James. This manager caper is good news for the Newcastle match.

I always had a lot of respect for Henning and articles like that are one of the reasons why. I don't think he has said anything that is untrue in that piece, and i was never a full-fledged member of the Souness Out brigade.

That is a load of bull. If you look at the address you'll see it's a Rangers site. Nice dream though.

OK THAT'S IT! Now i'm going to bed (it's past midnight here) and I want you all to *promise* me that you won't go firing or hiring any more players/managers until I wake up in 7 hours time. PROMISE PEOPLE!

Pipe Dreams: Hitzfield: Were he to sign you wouldn't hear from me for months as i would be too busy trolling the Newcastle message boards baiting Geordies O'Neill: If he were going to come south he would have come for the Liverpool job. Decent Choice: Strachan: Because we need someone who can motivate the team to win now...never mind this "building" ###### while we are in the relegation zone. Plus he is something of a disciplinarian which would help our team (let's not forget who the majority of players were signed by)

Wow you should here the conspiracy theories that are doing the toon army rounds at the moment (talkofthetyne.com) On a personal note i had started to move one foot into the souness out camp after the poor start to the season. This way we get rid of Souness and we get some compo cash. Plus we have *seriously* disappointed some geordies! As for the betrayal....who cares. I couldn't see Souness turning the team around to the extent i wanted (top 10 finish). In fact i thought it would be another relegation scrap. I can't see any other half-decent manager doing worse than he was threatening to. But there in lies the genuine danger. There are many available, worse managers than Souness out there, all of whom will be queueing up for the job. We are simply going to have to have faith in our board. They have not been nearly as shocking as other clubs boards (Newcastle spring to mind ) but this is their real acid test.

HOLY ####! I go out to dinner and come back to find that we've lost our manager and are currently searching for a new one! Kudos to Phillipl for the correct prediction

Sure Cole's goals had us playing in the UEFA Cup twice and helped win us the League Cup but yeah, rubbish signing. Hignett was not awful and did the job for us on many occasions coming off the bench. Nissa may still prove to be a good signing; he's young, talented, and played well in the pre-season matches. And there you go showing your lack of years again. Ashley Ward, at 4.5 million pounds was a much poorer signing but i suspect that his signing was well before your time, having occurred in 1998. Speaking of a complete lack of research: Mate, you need players that can win matches, not players that you can get money for selling. Getting money for selling-on players is a bonus. If the players can't win matches you get relegated which is far worse financially than a small/non-existent sell-on fee. You might want to ask a West Ham or Leeds supporter about just how comforting it was to have young players they could sell when they were relegated. Younger players are no more likely to stay at club than older players. Age is *not* a factor in determining loyalty. Further, a younger player does not necessarily improve to become a saleable asset, and certainly not a guaranteed profitable asset. Yes there are examples where young players prove to be profitable for a club (although in nearly every one of those cases the club would prefer not to sell the player in the first place) but they are not the rule, they are the exception. I'm guessing that you haven't played much football or you would realise that for every young player that makes a rep squad there are about 50 that have been cut from the team. The football wilderness is where most young players end up. The fact you don't hear their stories [edited] doesn't mean they don't exist. An older player is a proven player. There is a lower risk in signing an older player as they have already demonstrated an ability to perform at the highest level. I would put money on the fact that, had you been [edited] around when Grabbi was first signed, you would have been praising Souness to the high heavens for signing a young, exciting striker. He didn't work out because signing a young player like him is a gamble. Small clubs like us need to spend money on PLAYERS THAT WILL WIN THE DAMN GAME REGARDLESS OF THEIR AGE!!!! JUST LIKE BIG CLUBS!!! JUST LIKE EVERY DAMN CLUB!!!! WHO GIVES A #### IF IT YOU'RE MAKING A PROFIT WHEN YOU'RE PLAYING AGAINST CANVEY ISLAND IN THE NATIONWIDE CONFERENCE!!!! EDIT: Blatantly insulting stuff removed (yes removed).

Yikes Okie...you will be up in V for sure! But surely you need a bigger stadium. I mean mine is 3500 seats bigger than yours and i only have 654 supporters. A plus side from the above result is that it's the first time i reached 30 stars which pretty much would have won the match against any other VI opponent.

GODAMMIT!!!!! So close! And to add insult to injury i had another yp with a TSI of 10 (and that was because he had weak stamina). It leaves me trailing by 2 points with both of us taking on muppets for the rest of the season. Ahh well. Hopefully he will promote and I will win it next year. 15500 spectators arrived at Supine Rovers Arena, where weather conditions were pretty good for football. Supine had chosen a strategic 3-4-3 formation. They fielded: Wharerau - Curry, Aujla, Martens - Mackenzie, Lawrance, Elizondo, Sarumara - Martin, Graziano, Bradley. PinkSnitch had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Kois - Bathgate, Ribilla, Wills - Johnstone, Dalerberg, Delahaigue, Walker, Schupan - Buckby, Faka’osifolau. PinkSnitch clearly preferred attacks in the middle. Many thought Felix Bradley ought to have been awarded a penalty shot in the 8:th minute, as he went down trying to circle the visitors keeper Argirios Kois. Chris Lawrance still has a lot to learn. For instance not to make half-hearted passes in front of Pontus Dalerberg who scored for PinkSnitch to make it 0-1. Due to some great work on the right wing Supine:s Dante Martin was able to even the score in the 23rd minute to 1 - 1. Chris Lawrance gave his Supine the lead with 2 - 1, as he successfully challenged both the guests central defenders, then placed the ball unreachably at the goaltenders right post. In the games 26:th minute the visitors levelled to 2 - 2 as Don Buckby struck home on a bar rebound, following a shot from the right. The teams went for a half-time break at 2 - 2. PinkSnitch held the ball, with a clear 57 percent possession rate. PinkSnitch had several good opportunities to take the lead, especially in the 50:th minute when Antoine Delahaigue came up alone against Kirby Wharerau who managed a block. Some beautiful plays on the left side of the field resulted in a 54:th minute goal by Kihiko Sarumara for Supine, putting them ahead 3 - 2. Don Buckby came close to levelling the score in the 63rd minute, as he was set up with a through ball coming in from the left, but his shot hit the post. PinkSnitch levelled the score in the 73rd minute at 3 - 3, as Pontus Dalerberg struck home after a fine midfield combination, leaving him completely unmarked. PinkSnitch held the ball, with a clear 60 percent possession rate. The most dominating Supine player was without a doubt Billy Curry. Juan Jesús Graziano on the other hand, had a terrible day. The most dominating PinkSnitch player was without a doubt José María Ribilla. Ole Schupan was a disappointment, however. The match ends 3 - 3.

I doubt we'll get a more clearcut favourite until we get to the forwards (Shearer and Garner anyone?). I vote a hearty yes for Crompton.

Rik please read the posting guidelines here especially items 1, 2, and 3, all of which you have managed to violate.

From the Birmingham City website (includes the fee): l: brfcs04 p: supporters (unless one of you crazy kids has changed it) ahaahhaha...they're in damage control already! Plus we got 250 000 pounds and that grinning git off the field and off our wage bill!

...bloody hell. That was my reaction as well. It seems like yesterday that he was this young, up-and-coming, future international. I guess it seems like that because the last time we saw him play was so long ago .

Well I can't fault Soueys tactics in the tranfer market regarding Dwight Yorke. Souness: Anyone want Dwight Yorke? Anyone? You can have him for free! Other Managers: God no! *4 games later* Souness: OK you cannot have Dwight Yorke. He's an important member of the squad. Other Managers: But now we want him! Steve Bruce & Martin O'Neill: Here's a substantial fee for the smiling git!

Eddie, Yorke said that he would walk back to Aston Villa to play with them again in the off-season. He was also constantly fighting with Souness and I am cast-iron positive that the reason he left it so late had *nothing* to do with him being attached to the club.

I don't think anyone seriously gave up slating Yorke. They might have been hopeful after a couple of good showings in pre-season but the resentment against the smiling git ran deep for most rovers fans. Hopefully Matt does get a look-in this season. Can someone confirm that our only strikers (in no particular order) are: Bothroyd (22) Jansen (27) Gallagher (20) Stead (21) Dickov (32) With an average age of 24.4 our forward lineup sure looks different from the geriatrics we had at the start of last season.

Seinfield...but whats the connection? A reference to the extremely shiny, gandhi-esque dome of our new signing shown in the picture above my previous post. If nothing else the sun reflecting off his melon should blind opposing defenders (or it would if the sun ever came out in England ).

"I would like to dip your bald head in oil and rub it all over my body" Anyone?

Plus even the brummy gits reckon he's getting fat. And he's unfit. And he's always injured. But hey the potential is there

Hell yeah. WE've got rid of some money-hungry @#/?s desperate for their final paycheck and brought in some really solid, proven workaholics in Matteo, Dickov, and De Pedro (with the jury still out on De Pedro) and some keen young players in MGP and Bothroyd. I'm very happy, although if this poll had been run a week ago i would have said a very loud and definitie NO!

I wonder how long he can trade on a couple of good seasons nearly 5 years ago . In the tradition of shameful joy i would like to present the following quotes from the official Blues message board (note i've ignored the ones that are happy about the signing ) that login and password works on the blues boards if you are interested. I wanted to see what the supporters had to say...bizarrely most of them are quite happy as, with Forssel out, Birmingham are *really* short of strikers. Although as soon as i joined the board i got a message from a Blues fan asking me to post on what a crap signing Yorke is so they are definitiely divided. I would also like to add the following pearl about David Dunn as it sounds so very familiar:

Link to the above (registration required) l: brfcs04 p: supporters EXCLUSIVE - BLUES SNAP UP YORKE Blues have just completed the signing of Blackburn striker Dwight Yorke for a substantial but undisclosed fee. The 32-year-old has signed a one year deal with a further year's option. The deal was completed with just minutes to spare before last night's midnight transfer deadline and came despite stiff competition from a number of other clubs, including Scootish giants, Celtic. The Trinidad and Tobago international said: "I'm relishing the opportunity to continue my Premiership career with a progressive club like Birmingham City. "I greatly admire what Steve Bruce has achieved in his time at Birmingham and I believe it is a club which is going places and I very much look forward to being part of it." Yorke is a natural goalscorer with a wealth of Premiership experience. He began his career at Villa Park as an untried teenager in 1989, before making the big time in 1998 when he joined Manchester United in a £12m deal. During his time at Old Trafford he formed a lethal attacking partnership with Andy Cole, which saw United win the treble in 1999. After four successful years at United, he made the short move to Blackburn, where he remained until making the switch to St. Andrew's last night. YES! FINALLY!

Thanks for the advice BigA and Okie. I dare say i'll end up playing both matches normal. I pretty much have second spot wrapped up as it is as i still have two matches against bot teams. As BigA said the fourth team always plays counterattacking but my defence tends to get 3 stars most game and is definitely stronger than his attack. The fourth place team is new and i'm not sure he really understands what he's doing tactically, even if he has some *really* good original players. The match against the top team could go either way, although hopefully my three solid 17yo strikers can make the difference. EDIT: Typical, my TS goes up to content for the first time since i switched to scoring training and my new player (sympathetic) causes it to drop to irritated again.