I would be happy to see Hughes back at Ewood - I suppose Strachan does give the best post match interviews. I would be less than happy to see El Tel / Glenda or Monsieur Houllier, just a real shame that Ranieri got a job so quickly - I would have been delighted for him to come to Ewood .

I think he will play Thompson - Ferguson - Tugay - Pedersen, hopefully Dickov can make a real nuisance of himelf allowing Pedersen to roam forward, MGP to make G Neville look like a sloth and Stead to slot 2 well taken goals, Smithy with a late consolation - well I live in hope !

I would go with a 5 man midfield. still think we will do well to escape with a 3-1 defeat, they will be fired up to beat Forest's record.

1-0 to Rovers. Ferguson from 25 yards, scrappy affair but 3 points are necessary looking at our next 3 fixtures.

Here we go - 1. Chelsea 2. Arsenal 3. MUFC 4. Liverpool ( even without Owen ) 5. Newcastle 6. Boro 7. Birmingham 8. A Villa 9. Rovers 10. Spurs 11. Southampton 12. Fulham 13. Charlton 14. Portsmouth 15. Bolton 16. MCFC 17. West Brom 18. Norwich 19. Everton 20. Crystal Palace Everton will be Rooney-less come Jan and I think that the self destruct timer is ticking. The Canaries / Eagles just do not have enough quality but Mr Megson has spent wisely as well as persuading Koumas to stay. These 4 to be well adrift of a large scrum which will include Rovers, top 3 to be 10 points clear at the end of the season with Chelsea just pipping Arsenal.

2-0 to Rovers Stead x2 Yorke subbed at half time and leaves Ewood in a strop.

Very good news - my only worry is that Ceefax is quoting Souness as saying that he did not sign a new contract with Real Sociedad as he fell out with them; let's hope the same does not happen again for either player or club.

The ticket office have only sent out home cup / away season ticket application forms if you held one last season - saves a booking fee each time.

I would be pleased to see Matteo at Ewood - strong character and a leader, reasonably skilled footballer; only concern would be around injuries which i seem to recall have been a significant problem in the past.

3-1 , Fossil for Brum, Cole x2 and Flitty, plenty of inflatables and a good party atmosphere.

Last box of beach balls opened in Rover the Moon today - plenty of arm bands and balloons left at lunch time.