amen, FLB. Wiser words have never been said. Remember lads, Souness is gone. There are two benefits to that.......

tears to my eyes, tony, tears to my eyes

Met a Norwegian bloke in Beijing the other day. He spotted my Rovers shirt and asked me about MGP. HE reckoned that he would be the next OGS. Also said that MGP's old man was a good player. Perhaps we should give this young lad a go. Let him settle, don't push him.

What a turnip John really is.

Interesting, Billy. We picked the first three albeit in a slightly different order. Mike England oozed class. What would his worth be in todays terms? Rooneyesque, I hazard a guess. Matt Woods, solid as a rock, great header of the ball, the mainstay of the defence in his day, allowed others around him to play their own way because they knew he was always there. Hendry, there's nothing more that I could add that hasn't already been said.

There can only be one winner here and that is Mike England. Absolutly no question about that. If my memory serves me correctly he was the first 100,000 pound transfer from the Rovers to Spuds. Always had a commanding presence in both boxes, good on the ground, good in the air. Oh to have him now..... The next would be Matt Woods, just for nostalgic reasons. A nuggety player who gave his all for the Rovers. I remember him scoring a couple of cracking goals... unfortunately, they were own goals.... Then Hendry..... no need for comment there...

Perhaps we should be looking at the contribution the player made to the team, and the recognition he got by way of caps etc. In the days of 2-3-5, the pressure on the fullbacks was enormous, play was more open, get a couple of pacy wingers running against you and you really earned your money (all 20 quid). Whilst I voted for Eckersley, (I'm not running down the others that played in that position, as polls such as this have a certain degree of subjectivity about them), did any of the others put in as much over as many games? Le Saux, for instance got more caps than Ecks, but got them in a time when they played more internationals. Just a little more food for thought.

Maybe we couldn't find a villa fan with a view on this game, or one that could articulate a view

Indeed the era that Bill played in could restrict him, But I could also be saying , imagine Le Saux playing in Bill's time? With the training in the 90's Bill would have been a tremendous back, even better than he was. Remember, Le Saux was a product of his time, just as Bill was of his. We should all remember that the game has made advances with the changes in coaching, tactics and the general approach to the way the game is played. That should always be in the back of our minds and take that into consideration before we vote.

But shouldn't it be based on what the player has acheived. I doubt that too many board members considered the opposition when choosing a player, or even considered the change in the pattern of play. How, after 40 years do you describe Eckersley? Memories are great, but they don't catch every moment and every passing year something gets lost. If I had to sum up Eckersley, it would have to be "they shall not pass". Now that doesn't mean foul them as a last resort, it never came to that. Bill was always between the ball and his own goal, he was always there. Leather ball, no undersoil heating, ice, snow. If Bill were around now, with all the expertise at hand, the training, the care that's given, he'd be playing Barcelona or Milan or even Arsenal and be worth a lot more than we got for the Duffmeister. 432 games for the Rovers says it all.

I'm sure the local magistrate(s) is (are) unbiased. Convince them, and you'll convince me.

....but then, theno, you never saw Bill, did you..... edit: He was good.......

quite simply MB6K, you're not a supporter then! Thick/thin/good/bad it's all about being a rovers supporter.

Has anyone gone to the "Asian" community and said "why don't you support your local football team?" At a guess, I'd say they don't do things that way in their community, because it's not their "tradition". Having said that, tradition has to start somewhere. I would agree that the Rovers should try and attract as many supporters as they can, from where ever they can.

Brownie, that's a message you should get to MJ asap. Get on to the Groobster.

To me, the best full backs (left) that I've seen, in order: Eckersley- great defender , nothing flashy about him, did the job every week rain and shine. His standard never seemed to drop. My memory of him was that he seemed to play the same each week. Newton- Hard defender to get around. If he was playing now, he would be the first on the team sheet. Le Saux-The educated mans (womans) fullback, The best of his era, the overlapping fullback. In some ways, it's a pity he got old, and the rovers shafted their Prem side. Whelan- My personal favourite, Always liked Dave, he had the same first name as me, used to like getting stuck in. I'll never forgive that Wolves winger (McParland/Mc Farland) for breaking his leg in the 1960 cup final. Had we had 11 on the park it might, just might, have been a bit different. But, it's got to be Bill.

They can have the consistant(ly) injured Duff, but not Emerton. I'm not sure Emerton would want to follow Souness, who, I think, stuffed his career todate at Ewood. Bert will come good.

paul, I've never considered him as a winger. Having seen Emerton play a fair bit (albeit at international level) he's played the way you just described. Australia v England he had Kewell running the angle across infront of him, thus denying him space. As soon as Kewell went off, Emerton had more room. The ball that Skoko (I think) put through to him, behind the first line of defence, let Emerton run at the backline (10 - 15 yards in), he turned them and eventually scored. He was constantly turning the defence It's my feeling, that Souness was telling him to play in a different manner, one that was detrimental to his natural game. I have a feeling, that we'll see the real Brett Emerton soon. That can only be good for the Rovers.

Paul, your description of Emerton attacking "10 to 15 yards in from the touchline" is exactly how he should be played. On the angle, running towards goal, someone outside him to drag the defence wide, someone hanging back inside him. When he's played with this in mind, he'll produce the goods.

Ban them! They should nail them to the floor and use them to show the rest of the world what a fool looks like.

Tooting, that would be Kitty O'Shea's in Oxford St. Haven't been in there in years. The Orient does a good one as does the Mercantile down the road. If you're ever in Victoria, go up to Kate Kellys in the Dandenongs on a Sunday, great music, food to feed an army and a cold well poured Guinness.

Looking at the age of some of those listed blows a huge hole in the statement that "wisdom comes with age". Sad really.

I voted "yes". Will he be a success? Only time will tell, we have to give him and the team the support to turn this season around. Hopefully, we will have the "feelgood" factor for the first couple of games, and pick up a couple of wins and kick on from there. What will change will be team selection and tactics. With Souness, we were probably easy pickings. New tactics will put opposition teams in some doubt as to their approach on how to beat to the Rovers. Good luck Sparky. We all want you to succeed, we need you to succeed.

I know Dennis Roach. He's a ref here in Sydney on a Sunday. He also buys and sells pubs. Top bloke unless there's another bloke by the same name.

Back onto Lionel Hampton. Now, for you young blokes, this guy is soo sooo good. Plays drums, vibraphones, piano. Some of his music is electric, particularly his "Be Bop" years. But it's a bit like learning to drink Guinness, an aquired taste. listen to him though....blisssssssssssss