That would be an unbelievably splendiferous put down if (a) Paul Sturrock was doing a terrible job as Swindon manager, (b.) you weren't digging up a view I held 3/4 years ago without the illuminating benefit of hindsight and which I have since revoked and admitted that I was probably very wrong (c.) every human being was always right in their predictions.

However, seeing as those three provisos are not met, you just sound silly.

You thought (yes, I have been bitter enough to turn to the search facility) that Javi De Pedro would be a decent addition to the Rovers squad. Now, I respect that view that you held, although I disagreed at the time and it turned out to be wrong. But if I were to follow your logic, I should now chuckle every time you discuss a midfielder.

I considered Allardyce a fairly intelligent, open-minded guy but some of the ethnocentric claptrap he has spouted about the superiority of British managers (veiled attack, again, on Rafa Benitez, I think) has really put me off.

Hughes isn't God (the one who rules the roost in monotheistic religions anyway), therefore isn't infallible. Wahey...people are clocking on.

I think Sparky would admit that one himself.

Link doesn't work for me but I believe that many Welsh fans, underneath the media hype, were unhappy with Hughes - especially his selection policy and tactics.

Mokoena - please feel free to go! I accept he has done a job for us but we can do better than him and if we want to be a regular UEFA cup team, we have to do better than him. He failed the cut to get on the bench in the last game, which is something of a new experience for him - and with certain injured first teamers returning to fitness, Mokoena's appearances may become somewhat rare.

If an injury in defence does occur, then Mokoena captained his national side at centre back and he would feel comfortable playing there.

Mokoena is a woeful centre back. It would appear that Hughes sees him as his spoiler who'll come in and tighten up a game in midfield but that leaves open the risk that he'll have to come in and play in defence if one of the back four suffer an injury.

I have maintained that Mokoena is not good enough for Rovers and I stick to it even though he won a lot of people over last season. Imo Zura should be ahead in the pecking order as utility man - even if he's not got the pace of the Axe.

Can someone reassure me that Zurab is currently injured and therefore I should not assume that Hughes prefers Aaron Mokoena as the defensive utility player on the bench. Mokoena has played his part, I accept that, but surely Zurab is the superior CB/RB and having played CM before in his career, should be on the bench ahead of the Axe.

Not Sure:

Andrew Reid.

This article reports Andy Reid leaving Ayr United for Troon Juniors: The Big Move (Sept 06)

I think it's the former academy player - not that anyone cares...

Pearce did say that Mark Hughes had contacted him a week before Bentley dropped out, asking for the player to be left out of the squad. SO i think it was kind of orchestrated by the club but with the player having the final say.

Alan, I find your news article on "two faced Pearce" embarrassing. Sure, in some quarters the media have gone OTT in finding fault with Bentley but that does not excuse myopia and an embarrassing lack of objectivity amongst Rovers fans.

How can Stuart Pearce saying that he must protect 18 year old Micah Richards (whilst he was City boss) from burn-out mean that he is two-faced in slamming Bentley for turning down U21 duty? Pearce, as far as I know, is not denying that players can suffer burn-out and need a rest from time to time. His gripe is that Bentley is implicitly belittling U21 duty by rejecting the call-up.

Say next season Bentley plays even more games and is even more tired and 'burnt-out.' so much so that he knows that if he has to play in Euro 2008 he will not be able to give 100% - will he reject the call-up? Will he hell. If McClaren, in a fit of normality (i was gonna say delusion...), picks him with a broken leg, Bentley will still be on that plane faster than anything.

The bottom line is that Bentley thinks that he is now above the U21s and has bigger fish to fry. The tiredness rhetoric may have an element of truth but is only a means, not the end.

Alan, I bet you could dig out a quote from Mark Hughes criticising or complaining about a club not releasing a Welsh player quickly enough for whatever reason. Are you going to start calling him two-faced - or do you admit that your article is wholly biased?

Rover6, we will wait to se on Milner but he's had several years to show his worth and has failed so far.

The decision may belittle the U21 team, but does it really matter? Even if they go on to win the tournament (with SP in charge there is virtually no chance anyway) will we be celebrating in the streets? No. The senior side's success has nothing to do with the U21 side's success at all. The only use for the U21 team in my opinion is giving players experience of european football and Bentley is getting that already at rovers.

Now that Bentley is on the verge of the national squad, playing UEFA Cup football and top premiership sides every week, what exactly is he going to gain from group games against Czech Republic and Serbian teenagers?

I was hearing your argument until you lapsed into stereotypical England football fan chauvinism. These Czech and Serbian youngsters may not be household names (who's this Petr Cech who was in goal for the Czechs last time) but if you watch them play, I assure you that they will display as good - if not greater technical ability than England.

Youth international tournaments ARE important. Englands U19s haven't qualified for that age group's tournament this summer. We consider ourselves a strong football nation but our success at these levels is crap - in want of a better word. WHY should we expect England seniors to win anything when they couldn't do so as U21s or U19s, U18s etc. etc.?

I think some of you lot are being very naive as well as myopic.

This has little to do with Bentley being loyal to Blackburn - regardless of what he said. It is ALL about him wanting to go to Euro 2008 and having limited interest in u21 football.

I personally agree with the criticism Bentley and Blackburn are getting. The decision belittles the England u21 team, including manager. As I've said before, England aren't going to start competing respectfully at the top level until we're doing so at the lower international levels. We already lag embarrassingly in success-rate, technique etc. etc. at these levels - players pulling out is not going to help one bit.

I also believe that Bentley is doing damage to his full international hopes. James Milner will possibly come in to replace him in the u21 team and imo, he has the ability to eclipse Bentley and force his way into the England squad. He has the skill of Bentley, more pace - although perhaps not the crossing ability. I firmly believe that now that Newcastle have a decent manager, Milner will finally flourish next season after showing exciting glimpses thus far.

This tournament was Bentley's opportunity show that he can really lead the attack of a team consistently, under the increased pressure of the international stage. He's turned it down for bigger plans but even the best laid plans...

I actually think Mido would've done well at Rovers, although not necessarily better than Benni. He's not had a look in at Spurs with Berbatov playing so well.

What about Didier Agathe (the never-ending trial...). What a right-back he could've been.

And Ahmed Elrich - although he was only invited on trial - what has he done at Fulham?

I really can't be bothered to go into the usual slating of players and manager after an England game. I've done it enough over the years and besides, glancing through previous posts, it's been done pretty comprehensively this time by certain people.

It occured to me that it's high time that England held up their hands and admit their failings. Only then can we progress. Think Sam Allardyce's Bolton. No - not the parody of Sam Allardyce's Bolton competing in a hoofathon, but the Bolton that repeatedly troubled the big clubs despite being made up of golden oldies plucked from all over the world.

Allardyce's tactics made no apologies for Bolton's direct style. He had skilful players in his team and on their day they could pass the ball about well at a quick tempo. However, the basis of Bolton's success was their direct style, aerial strength in the box, meticulous preparation of set-pieces, 4-5-1 formation, using a big man as a battering ram.

The England team cannot pass the ball around like the continentals or south americans. We cannot do the neat inter-play thing with the long periods of effortless possession. Yet, because others can, we are trying to do so and failing quite miserably at it (think last world cup). We have players who are excellent at long passes and crosses. We have a big man who can win headers. Why don't we give-up on continental style and ideals that pundits repeat religiously? We might not have Allardyce in charge but surely seeing as we can't compete at the passing game we should play to our strengths?

We might attract ridicule and criticism for being boring and rudimentary (like Bolton) but if it's effective - why not? We're hardly playing delightful football now.

Robbie Savage preaching loyalty. You need a powerful microscope to find any integrity in the game these days.

Benni won't go to Chelsea imo.

He's a moody and slightly arrogant so and so, and Jose will be more than aware of that. At Chelsea he would not start too often and would consequently kick up a fuss. With the money Chelsea have, they may well prefer an up-and-coming star who will be more than happy to play the cameo role to the big stars. That's not to say he won't move elsewhere...

It really makes me sick how these self-obsessed, materialistic footballers display utter contempt for most basic moral values. Benni was saying months ago that he wants to stay at Blackburn and if a big club came in for him, the club may well choose to sell, but he'd be more than happy to stay. Now he wants to go to a Champions' League club. I wonder why I spend my time on football when stuff like this happens.

We need Roberts back on form. He troubled the best defenders when at Wigan and scored goals. Even at West Brom, when he couldn't find the net, he was always a major handful for opposition defenders.

He's surely the best partner for McCarthy but obviously with Derbs in rich-form (and Roberts far from), it'd be a brave man to drop him.

Think about where McCarthy has been most of his career. I read him saying that in Portugal he wasn't expected to chase lost causes - it's a different culture. That's what he's become accustomed to and what Hughes is trying to change. Derbs football education has come in a country where honest endeavour is often valued as highly as skill.

Watched Mc Eveley playing for Derby on the goals programme, he's not got any better has he ?

Discipline's not got better either judging by his yellow card count.

Careful , Scotty ....I nearly got in trouble on here for suggesting that

Not only did Ternana get the £7 million pounds approx (do u think we're still paying the instalments?) - they also got an opportunity to humiliate us in a friendly game out of the deal.

And we didn't even get an opportunity to see Grabbi score a trademark penalty.

With Wingers you can usually tell from a early if they're going to be top class.

Like Gamst. (although I'd guess you'd say that Gamst isn't a bona fide winger).

This season his sub appearances haven't been great when they've come - but last season he made a number of assists coming off the bench. And didn't he do quite well as a sub in the Bayer Leverkusen first leg?

The thing is, as he is not playing regularly for even the reserves, how can he be expected to come to perform well with desultory appearances. I just think it's asking too much - same goes for Gally.

He should go on loan to prove himself, or otherwise.

Anyone else think that we should be delighted about Roy Keane's apparent talent for management? If Sunderland continue their good form in the Premiership under Keane, we have less to worry about in terms of Fergie's successor imo.

rover6, yet again you make your point(s) eloquently but to use Wenger as an example is flawed due to the money spent on the youngsters recruited (as said in a previous post).

Just on a side note, what's your opinion of Man United's acquisition of Larsson and consequent loaning out of Giusseppe Rossi?

You're right. I accept that Arsenal can afford to splash cash on teenagers. (I kind of admitted that in the final sentence of my post). Perhaps, I am wrong to draw comparisons with Arsenal due to the gulf in financial muscle between us and them. But it'd be interesting to see a Premiership manager of a 'lesser team' trying to build a team that grows 'organically' without millions to spend.

Perhaps, its not possible, which is why it's not done.

As for Larsson in, Rossi out, that smacks of short-termisim in my book. But if short-termism wins you the league - who's to complain. But then when Rossi moves on and proves a success with another team or doesn't develop as much as he should have due to lack of first team opportunities, maybe that short-termism will come with a cost.

Oh get you, sweetie!

Have you got your managerial tracksuit yet with your initials on, so you can feel like a proper manager when you're playing Championship Stuck in Your Bedroom Getting Bleary Eyed 3?

I'm sorry but your "I will tell Hughes where he is going wrong from behind my PC" attitude is quite honestly a little bit irritating after the 5,000th judgement based on media reports and televised games.

So me expressing an opinion irritates you? It doesn't matter whether my arguments have any validity but because they are made by me, vitriol pours from your fingertips.

I noticed that in my post questioning Hughes' decision on the renewal of Mokoena's contract, your immediate response was "If only he listened to you, eh? The man's a fool." (typical mixture of whimsical and droll)(No such derision for other's who concurred).

Yet further down the life of the thread, as consensus grows that Mokoena is a shoddy player, Bryan, responds to a description of a dire piece of play from Mokoena in a match with: "You can't teach that sort of thing. You're born with that sort of touch and awareness."

I don't mind criticism, after all, it's part of the banter and general liveliness of this board. However, I do take exception when someone as inconsistent and apparently opinion-less (or maybe it just gets diluted by the drollness) as Bryan throws insults at me because of my opinions and not their substance. Suggesting I get a "hard-on" or whatever for young players because I am a proponent of giving youth players a central role at Rovers, I find insulting. Not because of the words used but the discriminatory way I have been targeted.

Maybe I do bang on about things far too much - but that's because I strongly believe in them and have thought them out (whilst I admit to having been wildly wrong before and will be in the future, I don't think you'll ever find me putting forward a view without foundation or reasonable argument). I enjoy engaging in the debates and widening my horizons by engaging in argument. I guess that's why most of use this board.

I challenge anyone to argue against the fact that my record on "being right" (if there is such a thing in the world) on issues regarding Rovers is as good as anyone's. (It's a shame that there is no record of opinions expressed on here because then you could identify the people who have no opinion or who are always wrong from those who are usually right).

Sorry, mods, off topic.