It's not as if good, young central defenders aren't around.

I mean, Iain Dowie picked up Mikele Leigertwood for 150K from Wimbledon - and what a signing he's turned out to be. Admittedly, he hasn't proven himself in the Premiership but I strongly suspect he will have done this time next year.

It seems we're adopting the Steve McClaren theory to signing players:

'Bring in anyone who used to be good or has just had a good season'.

I don't mind Souness bringing in a few like Dickov and Gray but by going for Matteo he's quite obviously admitting that he has no faith in his scouting system and a limited knowledge of the foreign transfer market so is just going for familiar names that have done it in the past.

I sometimes think you talk sense but at others I honestly wonder if you are on a wind up. Leigertwood hasn't even proved himself at 1st division never mind Premier. He's just an average defender if that. He had a stinker in the play off final and has never impressed me at other times.

As for Matteo not bad and would be good for a good few years depending on his fitness. If the fee is £1m or less then great.

I'm not totally against the Matteo signing (if it happens) but we need a balance between bringing in experienced players and younger players. When was the last time Souness brought in a young centre half? Nissa is the only one I can think of who made it to the first team.

I suppose Souness' argument could be that he's got young centre backs already at the club in McEveley, Fitzgerald and Bruce. But whether they will be good enough to get a game is yet to be seen.

Can anyone from Norway tell me if MGP played in the last Euro U21 Championship and how did he do? You know the one, where Dunny captained England to failure and David Pratt predicted that Dunn would be a world superstar by the end of it having brought the trophy home. Egg on face!

Edit: Cheers, Rainmaker.

It's not as if good, young central defenders aren't around.

I mean, Iain Dowie picked up Mikele Leigertwood for 150K from Wimbledon - and what a signing he's turned out to be. Admittedly, he hasn't proven himself in the Premiership but I strongly suspect he will have done this time next year.

It takes a scout with a bit of intelligence and experience to spot an emerging young talent like that.

It seems we're adopting the Steve McClaren theory to signing players:

'Bring in anyone who used to be good or has just had a good season'.

I don't mind Souness bringing in a few like Dickov and Gray but by going for Matteo he's quite obviously admitting that he has no faith in his scouting system and a limited knowledge of the foreign transfer market so is just going for familiar names that have done it in the past.

Would he add pace to our defence?

He's a solid defender but I was hoping for someone younger and faster to help out Nissa - who must be considered as Rovers long-term successor to Craig Short.

We'll get to the final and lose to Holland.

Yes, I know the Dutch had a wretched qualifying campaign and have been pants in their friendlies - but they have so much quality in their squad. If it all clicks, they could do the business.

Micheal Carrick overrated ?

yr joking mate he is the most complete midfielder in Div 1 and is the type of player that can enhance greatly given a run in the Premiership.

he would be an idela foil for ferguson should tugay depart Rovers.

Disagree. Carrick and Ferguson are TOO similar. Both want to play in front of the back four and be the team's playmaker. Neither prefer to get forward to support the strikers and get goals.

I don't think Carrick has the mental strength to make it as a top Premiership player. That as well as his propensity to get injured. West Ham fans got on his back in their relegation season and the guy disappeared. If he wasn't injured, he was avoiding the ball.

No, we have Ferguson and Thompson, and then there's Donnelly, Flitcroft and probably Douglas and Tugay. So we're not short of central midfield players. Unless of course, Thommo or Ferguson have further set backs whilst recovering from injury.

Let's not draw any comparisons with Duff, because quite simply, Pedersen will never be as good as him.

I have not seen much at all of Pedersen, what little I've seen, he looked less a skilful left-wing but more a Freddy Ljungberg type winger who gets in the box a lot to score goals - but isn't exactly mesmerising the opposition full backs or whipping in crosses.

Obviously, this view is wholly unsupported because I haven't seen many matches at all.

All I have to say is - let's just hope Souness and his scouts have got it right.

WE SOLD OUR SOUL AS A CLUB AND WHAT BLACKBURN ROVERS STAND FOR THE MINUTE WE DID A DEAL WITH B*****Y BY HELPING THEM STAY UP(THE POINTS TODD SAVED THEM DID THIS!!!)MCEVELEY TOO.......GET RID OF CLARET WEARERS ASAP!!!!!!WERE TARNISHED!!!

It's that infernal noise again.

Babayaro will almost definitely be sold - worth signing? He's always struck me as useful going forward, but poor defensively. Might, in that case, be able to adapt to the left wing if we don't get MGP.

Ambivalent about this. I was hoping for Donnelly to be given more of a first team role with Tugay's departure, but now he'll probably get farmed out again.

However, if Tugay can rekindle his form, he'll be a very useful player next season. But note that huge word, 'if'.

Pleased if Douglas signs, but a four-year deal seems a bit OTT if thats what it is.

Make a firm offer for Karayaka, and maybe return if that gets turned down. We need a good left winger urgently, and cannot afford to p_ss around too long. Can't really blame Tromso for being awkward since they don't really have to sell.

We would have to wait until after Euro 2004 probably. And who knows, his value may have risen by then if he and Russia do well. I don't think that Karyaka is an option. Souness rated him after the trial but something in his club's transfer demands caused Rovers to drop their interest. The recent comments from the Russian club chairman was probably to flush out some different suitors to buy the player rather than reviving Rovers interest.

Fair enough Herbegeeh, you've no doubt have seen him play, I haven't.

It would be lovely for us to sign him, and for him to be the dog's bojangles, I still have this nagging doubt, based on instinct I suppose, backed by our recent foray's into the foreign market.

As for Souey watching him, well we had Baggio on trial at Ewood and still got it wrong.

Find someone with a known pedigree I say.

We can't afford someone with real pedigree like Rothen or Van der Meyde - unless their clubs agree to loan them out.

We either go for the older player who's probably past his prime - e.g Overmars.

Or, as I think we are right to do, go for an up and coming player who has a chance of becoming a top player. If Tromso reject our overtures for MGP, we should look to the English football league and try and pick up another young player who can make an impact, like Stead.

Stead and Friedel anyone? ;-)

Exactly making Parasyte's point.

Grabbi - big fee - rubbish signing

Stead - smaller fee - good signing

Good signing as long as:

1) We bring in a decent left winger and centre back with the money saved on not spending too much on a striker.

2) His arrival doesn't mean that Andy Cole departs

3) His arrival doesn't mean we discard Matty Jansen

4) His arrival doesn't mean that Gally is elbowed out and into a loan deal at WBA or somewhere rubbish like that.

I was looking at some of Tromso's matches via the links provided by our Norwegian fans, and to be honest, the standard looked appalling.

OK, it's not quite scientific judging a whole league by watching one match but from what I saw, it wasn't too impressive.

The only times Pedersen appeared to receive the ball was from a punt up field aimed at his head (one very good reason for MGP to get out of Norway). I was hoping to see a player who beats the full back to whip in crosses - but despite watching a considerable chunk of a Tromso match, I didn't see it once.

Can anyone allay my fears and tell me that Pedersen is actually capable of running at defenders?

No MGP is not attached by hysterical supporters, but the club is.

We are Tromsø supporters and we put the club higher then a single player.

We will die for the club, the players are just part time workers that will leave in a few years.

We wish MGP the best as we have done so many times before with Rushfeldt, Lange, O.M Årst ... yeah even Tore Andre Flo became a top scorer in Tromsø before he went to Brann and to England.

Enought is enough. We have to tell the management that "money in the bank - doesnt win the match". Instead of selling they should be bying two new midthfielders themselves.

I know that both the coaches (Høgmo and Ulseth) are not very glad for this selling idea at all.

Even the local newspapers are telling the club to not sell MGP now.

I really dont think the new management is so stupid that they let MGP go now. If Blackburn want him so bad, they have to let him stay in Tromsø until the end of the season, else I really dont think you will get him without paying twice the money.

Rovers fans should know how you feel, especially after the sale of Damien Duff.

For Tromso, it must be worst because the star players leave almost every season, at least we held on to Duff for a while.

But that is the vagaries of the football food chain, so you've got to accept it or support Man U. I know what I'd rather do.

How about sending one of our youngsters out there to help them finish the season strongly, whilst we take Pedersen. Not sure how Jerome Watt etc. would mind missing a chunk of their summer break - but it's not as if they've played much this season.

Just to remind people or inform if you missed my post yesterday that you can see Morten Gamst Pedersen in action for Norway against Wales on BBC2 Wales (Sky Digital channel 961) k.o. 6.00pm today.

Hopefully he doesn't have too good a game. We don't want more clubs coming in for him.

This drip feed of info on the Pedersen deal is driving me up the wall.

He had to go really.  They've gone backwards since winning the 3 cups in 2001.  When you look at all of his signings, it's a wonder it's taken so long.....

Jan 1999: Jean-Michel Ferri from Istanbulspor £1.5m

Jan 1999: Frode Kippe from Lillestrom £700,000

Jan 1999: Rigobert Song from Salernitana £2.7m

Feb 1999: Djimi Traore from Laval £550,000

May 1999: Sami Hyypia from Willem II £2.6m

Jun 1999: Titi Camara from Marseille £2.8m

Jun 1999: Stephane Henchoz from Blackburn £3.5m

Jun 1999: Sander Westerveld from Vitesse Arnhem £4m

Jul 1999: Dietmar Hamann from Newcastle £8m Jul 1999: Vladimir Smicer from Lens £4m

Mar 2000: Emile Heskey from Leicester £11m

Jun 2000: Bernard Diomede from Auxerre £3m

Jul 2000: Nick Barmby from Everton £6m

Aug 2000: Christian Ziege from Middlesbrough £5.5m

Sep 2000: Gregory Vignal from Montpellier £500,000

Nov 2000: Daniel Sjolund from West Ham £1m

Dec 2000: Igor Biscan from Dynamo Zagreb £5.5m

Jun 2001: John Arne Riise from Monaco £4m

Aug 2001: Milan Baros from Banik Ostrava £3.4m

Aug 2001: Jerzy Dudek from Feyenoord £4.85m

Aug 2001: Chris Kirkland from Coventry £6m

Sep 2001: Anthony Le Tallec and Florent Sinama Pongolle from Le Havre £6m

Jan 2002: Abel Xavier from Everton £800,000

Jun 2002: El-Hadji Diouf from Lens £10m

Jul 2002: Bruno Cheyrou from Lille £3.7m

Aug 2002: Salif Diao from Sedan £5m

Jul 2003: Steve Finnan from Fulham £3.5m

Jul 2003: Harry Kewell from Leeds £5m

Houllier's transfer dealings make Graeme Souness look like Alan Curbishley. (Curbishley being the manager with the highest points per pound spent record in the Premiership).

Guardian says O'Leary had him watched on Thursday and will be putting in a £2m bid. Prepare for disappointment.

With Barry and Whittingham, I don't see why O'Leary wants another left winger.

But then again, it was O'Leary who decided he needed Robbie Fowler when he already had about 403 strikers on the Leeds roster. So you never know.

Just been reading ceefax and there saying everton have bid 7m??last night on century they said they only had 1.5 million to spend.....someones spreading the billy bullshit somewhere.

They obviously did have more money than they were letting on because they bid £5 million for Sean Davis and Barry Ferguson respectively, in January.

Dunny still bitter eh

Well, Souness has been vindicated in his decision to get rid by the regular hamstring injuries suffered by Dunny and the inconsistency.

Replacing Cole will be a very difficult task. He may not have weighed in with loads of goals, but he's led the line well and before Stead arrived, he did it on his own.

I still think that Gally and Stead as a partnership are not ready. Both a quite lightweight and inexperienced. We need that older head up there - Jansen might be able to do it but he doesn't score too many.

So, hopefully, Cole will stick around.

Reid made his name at Millwall as a winger and deserves more of a chance. I think his displays for us are down to a lack of confidence - just like Emerton.