I don't know about his second goal, but apparently Cole's first was a Zat Knight header that brushed Cole on the way in - at least that's what the Sky commentator said. Mind you Cole also missed a hatful of chances, including an open goal, so maybe it hasn't all changed for him down at the Cottage

I actually thought Souness had the right idea with his tactics in the first half. *Waits for volley of abuse*

We were playing away from home and, to me anyway, it looked like he played to protect Tugay, who is at his most effective when given time and space - which he doesn't get when he's forced into back-tracking or covering large areas of the pitch.

For the first half an hour it was working. We were the better side, dominating possession (according to Soccernet we had 70-odd percent of it) while Stead was unlucky not to score with his early chances. However, we fell behind due to a defensive error which immediately exposed the weak link in Souness' tactics - we couldn't keep the ball high enough up the pitch and Southampton ran us ragged for the last 10 minutes.

Souness obviously recognised things needed changing and reverted to a more attack-minded formation in the second-half in order to salvage something from the game and, had it not been for a diabolical decision by the referee, we would have come away with a hard-earned, and justified point.

Part of the reason we have been playing these seemingly unbalanced formations has been due to the injury of Neill and the continued absence of Thompson, leaving us having to play Emerton at right-back with no natural width available. Admittedly though, playing Gresko in the centre of midfield was a mistake but one which Souness rectified.

Give it more than 2 games before you say 'whatever we try it doesn't work'.

Robbed. Simple as.

DICKOV!!!!!!!!

Stuwilky, some of us don't have sky and are forced to listen to the match on the radio and it was Mark Bright who claimed he was offside, hence I put the word in inverted commas.

Southampton take the lead in dubious fashion - an 'offside' Phillips toe-pokes home.

Shame as we'd been much the better side.

Matteo playing left-wing according to Five Live

I'll go with 1-0 to Rovers. We could do with the 3 points with Arsenal, Man Utd and Newcastle ahead.

I'm going to give my vote to Friedel. In his time at Rovers he's been awesome, pulling off some of the best saves the Premiership has ever seen. Those saves in the Worthington Cup Final will live long in the memory.

Not on last season's evidence he's not.

Hey, sorry Tom. I genuinely thought that your guess was a mickey-take, but it seems that I was tragically wrong. Please accept my heart-felt apologies in this matter.

6. C.Palace

7. Charlton

8. Chelsea

Shouldn't Crystal Palace not come after Charlton and Chelsea?

For me it all depends on whether Vieria leaves as to whether Arsenal retain the League Title - they look far less impressive without him imo.

1. Chelsea

2. Arsenal

3. Newcastle

4. Man United

5. Liverpool

6. Middlesborough

7. Aston Villa

8. Tottenham

9. Charlton

10. Blackburn

11. Fulham

12. Birmingham

13. Man City

14. Southampton

15. Bolton

16. Portsmouth

17. W.B.A.

18. Everton

19. Norwich

20. Crystal Palace

How did Gresko did in central midfield last night (to anyone who went)...?

In the words of Souey; "I thought in the second half Vratti was excellent in the centre of midfield... he was exciting and never gave up tackling or chasing the ball, maybe I should have tried him in midfield last season?"

Link to full article - Rovers Official Site

Could it be Ferguson and Gresko in the middle to face West Brom

Something tells me that the commentator from the official site has had one too many pints of Guinness...

"74 Mins: Gallagher tries his luck from distance as the referee is off his line, but his shot goes well wide"

Rovers

EDIT: Full-time -> 4-0 to the Rovers

Oi! Andy Cole would be proud of scoring within 3 attempts

2-0 Rovers according to the Official Website.

Stead bundling home a cross from Douglas.

Rover Drake - that was the Rovers reserves' result against Altrincham from the other night.

You weren't the only one to make that mistake though - Skysports News used that score on their scroller thingy.

Yup: ROVERS: Enckelman, Neill, Amoruso, Johansson, Gray, Douglas, Ferguson, Matteo, De Pedro, Yorke, Stead.

Subs: Gallagher, Yelldell, Flitcroft, Emerton, Dickov, Gresko.

www.rovers.co.uk

2-0 Rovers.

Dickov and Steady to score.

(Btw, nice preview Scotty and Nuclear sox.... made bugger-all sense but at least you put the effort in )

More importantly, where's Freddy Adu?

I should imagine we'll get the best idea of how Souness intends to play Matteo against Sporting Lisbon. He's probably just experimenting with players in different roles at this stage. I hope...

Those icons conveniently hide the fact that you've spelt nonsense wrong

Edit: Oh and Pringle... you spelt sentence wrong too

Does anyone know what has happened with Mounir el Hamdaoui, his trial finishes today (providing the sources were correct) and I've heard nothing about him.

Anyone?

Finished 2-0 according to the official site. We seem to have had quite a few chances judging by Lee's (I assume) highlights.