The last three games should have seen us pick up around 7 points. Although i thought we'd slip up against the barcodes I fully expected us to beat both charlton and fulham. Now newcastle are not a good team, and charlton are crap. That we loose to both of them in the manner that we did must have alarm bells ringing - even for Hughes regardless of what he says in public. Having listened to a couple of the games i agree with a fair bit of what is said on here. Worryingly the problems are coming from all over the pitch. From the defence upwards we have vast room for improvement. Mostly though the problem seems to be a lack of desire. Last season we seemed to be 'up' for every ball, the team really ran themselves ragged every game, and you could sense the desire in the players. This season we don't seem to be up for it at all. Now rovers have been unlucky with injuries, reffing decisions and players promise not being fulfilled over the last 2 years but we've done well in spite of this. Heck, that's always been the case even when we won the prem decisions were going against us against the bigger clubs, and we've lost some key players to injury (e.g. tommo, gresko and jansen under souness). This season we don't seem to have enough to cope with this, too many positions are filled with players who aren't good enough for the level we're aiming at. The defence has been dramatically weakened - Grey was the weak link last season. I expected a top lb to come in but this hasn't materialise. Added to Neill wanting away (why doesn't he just shut up like Bellers did) the full back positions have been weakened. Ok Emerton has made the right back position his own, but that still leaves us a couple of full backs short of a squad. Zurab was always the weakest of the three centre backs, but Nelsen and Todd always covered for him. Ooijer whilst being decent is not as good as either Todd or Nelsen (although much improved upon his initial performances) leaving the centre of defence much weakened as well. One slightly hesitant centre back is enough imo, two is a desaster waiting to happen. As for Henchoz, he's done a decent job since coming in, but to be relying on a wigan reject is asking for trouble. Worst of all it shouldn't be happening as Todd is still on the books. Yes he is a loose cannon, but his desire to play football cannot be questioned. In our situation can we really afford to leave him out of the team? He's the type of player we need in this situation. Midfield - it was always a risk having only 3 centre mids especially when one is 35. They didn't have to be a world beater but one or two other options would be nice. Certainly reverting to 4-5-1 may not be a bad idea at the moment. For starters it'd give us another decent midfielder in Mokoena allowing him to play his best position and to the best of his ability. Besides the side is leaking far too many silly goals and needs some defensive solidity. Also Pedersen should be rested (not dropped) as that would've taken a fair bit of the pressure off him and hopefully put a bit more energy into the side in Peter's pace. Up front we're missing a powerhouse like roberts. I can see why Nonda wasa worth a gamble, but it hasn't worked and we've no more time for gambles. We need tried and tested players in this situation. Similarly I doubt that Derbyshire is the solution, from what i've seen from the reserves he's promising but not up to premiership standard. Benni imo is a good player, but because of his style needs someone to play off. At the moment none of our strikers actually fulfill that role. Therefore I would: Go 4-5-1 and try grinding out results away from home. Hopefully Bentley and Peter/Pedersen would be able to support Benni up front and with having fewer defensive duties able to concentrate on attacking. Bring Todd back into the team. Strip Neill of his captancy but still play him as he's better than Gray and will want to impress his next club whoever that may be. I don't care what you say having a captain looking elsewhere cannot be good for the team. Get rid of Nonda in the transfer window and buy in a quality striker proven in the EPL. There's not many about so a loan may have to do the trick. Buy in a top class left back. A defence of Emerton Todd Nelsen and top class left back would be committed and far more resiliant. Buy in another centre mid so Bentley can keep to the right mid and Emerton the right back slots. Ideally a box to box centre mid would do me. Three top class signings however would cost the club but without them the team could worryingly look a lot weaker, and with a couple of injuries would arguabley have 2/3 championship standard players in the first 11, which really would see us struggling vs relegation.

Have to say Scotty's reply to rover6 says most of what i wanted to say. In terms of versatility i'm not sure that Mokoena is good enough, certainly when in defence I have worries about him. However as Scotty says he just needs to be decent at centre/defensive mid. We know he can cut it in a 5 man midfield - so he's not a poor player/without talent. He needs to adapt to playing in a 4 man midfield. Whilst so far he hasn't been too promising the fact he has shown that he's capable of playing in a 5 man midfield indicates he has some ability which can be worked with. (Unlike Douglas who was poor even in his prefered position) I agree as first 11 goes Mokoena isn't the way forward. However we're already short on midfield cover and with Tugs and Savage over 30 the central midfield situation is going to see a fair bit of change - which means a lot of work for Hughes. Surely it will be better for Hughes to concentrate on getting a couple of class midfielders in rather than have to worry about a squad/cover midfielder as well. Especially when he has someone on the books who has potential and time to realise it. Also factor in rovers are not a big club with a massive squad. Ok I personally don't think Mokoena is all that handy in defence but can rovers really afford to get a replacement? We've bigger things to think on i.e. improving the first 11, and with only having a small squad Mokoena's versatility however limited becomes more of an asset. And are any of the youth any better in those positions? As we've found out injuries do happen and you need squad players who can come in and do a job, even if not at the standard that's ideally desired. Finally factor in the issue of time. You don't revamp a whole squad in a year or two. These things take time. Wholesale changes are dangerous (Souness' last full season demonstrated that) and some continuity is important, not only within training, but with regards to the manager's division of time (it's easier working with someone you're familiar with) fitting in, team spirit and the like. Overall, if the deal isn't extortionate, which I doubt it will be, then rovers aren't really going to loose/be harmed by this deal and can only benifit. Having said that Mokoena has been mostly shocking this season, but then it takes players a while to really settle in, and the time it takes varies for each player. Reid, Emerton, Bentley, Oijer, are just a few who have been not that impressive at times during their rovers career but are looking the business now. Hopefully Hughes can bring the best out in Mokoena as well.

It looks like something dodgy went on behind the scenes. I think Charlton have ball$ed up this one. It stinks of typical football club directors getting on a power trip and blaming everyone but themselves for the situation they find themselves in. Totally agree speeeeeeedie. Considering that they admitted to giving him part of next season's budget for transfers (just before the transfer window ended i think) this shows a massive turnaround in thinking. Why were they confident enough to give him next season's budget now, yet sack him a few games later, when the results have been better? What he did with Oldham in their situation was awesome, and he started very well with palace, but his signings for Charlton have been very odd to say the least. His next club will make or break the man's career.

I like Gally as a player and he's a decent bloke too. I can remember when he first got promoted to the first team squad, he came and watched his mates play in the reserves. Is he good enough - i'm not sure, but one thing for certain is that he will remain a squad player for us for a while, given a) the injury crisis and we're reliant on the academy for squad players. The lad looks a cut above when playing in the reserves and has got some good goals for us in the past, so imo he certainly should stay. IMO he's probably best as a backup to right mid - and he certainly isn't going to replace Bentley. He's too lightweight in the middle, as is Bentley to be partnering Tugs in the middle and having Gally on the right. On the left Pedersen is a much better all rounder and adds a lot more defensively than Gally would, swapping them again would make the team even more lightweight defensively. Besides Peter looks very promising as a traditional winger and is younger with more time to improve. Up front I feel that all four of our strikers have more promise then him, although Gally could replace Jeffers if it doesn't work out for the lad. However he Jeffers and McCarthy are all somewhat similar insomuch as that non are big powerful strikers, and like to drift out wide and deep. He doesn't really provide anything different in this respect which may go against him when competing for a forward birth. The midfiled situation isn't ideal but at the moment it has to be Mokoena. Personally I agree with comments to push Tugs further up and instruct the Axe not to venture forwards. Other than that Neill in centre mid would be a better solution although we would then have problems with the left back position. As for Douglas - he's never been good enough. Poor in the Prem, poor in the reserves, poor in the championship. Anyone who has seen him play will realise he is not the answer.

I've been impressed with what I've seen of Nonda so far, although I do think he seems a little off his game after the injury. Nonda holds the ball up well and brings other player into the game well too. He's physical, good in the air and creates a lot of chances for himself. Many of these chances however seem to be lacking power and conviction, which imo is his biggest weakness. Overall though he's pretty promising in my book. When you take into account the injury, moving to a new league and settling in, and team lacking many of our top stars, I think what he offers and how he' performed is certainly worth having. He reminds me a bit of Bentley when he arrived in that there's so much promise yet far less end product than their should be. I reckon Hughes and co will shape him into a better player and get more end results from the initial good signs. However, I also reckon this will take a bit of time, but that the end result will be well worth it.

Alan 75's post pretty much sums up my thoughts on what i've seen of him. The reserves/extended youth thing is a big problem and imo loaning brings on players much better than the reserves these days. I reckon with a season or two under his belt at a lower level Derbyshire could well be a decent squad player for us.

Agree with that - both really don't seem to be up for it over the 90 mins but with more confidence and sharpness Jeffers may well revise that oppinion. Not mentioned but something I found significant was that our entire bench last night cost less than half a million pounds. Even with injuries that seems pretty worrying for an English team playing in europe, especially considering that there were seven subs.

This will be a tough game but hopefully rovers will start from the off this time instead of waiting till the second half as we have in the last two games. Rovers team picks itself and looks rather exciting bar 2 problem positions: 1) Left back. If Emerton isn't fit enough for 90 minutes rovers have a range of unappealing options at left back. Gray whilst an improvement on the West Ham game is slow, too easily beaten and has shocking ball control. Opton 2 is McEveley who whilst more committed also switches off at times and has even less pace. Option 3 is Matteo. Nuff said. Personally I'd go for what someone else said in another thread (I can't remember who). play Todd at centre back move Zurab to right back and Neill to left back. However I can't see us doing that as Todd really is out of favour in the worst way and the only other possibility is doing that with Henchoz. Would be a bit worried about that as his lack of pace would be a great invite for Baros and co's pace, but overall it'd be better idea than using one of our ineffective reserve left backs. Hopefully Emerton will be fit. 2) Centre mid. With Savage and Reid out the only other recognised centre mid is Mokoena who has been poor so far this year. However Mokoena is a defensive midfielder and does add a little bit more steel to the midfield than the other options. The other alternative is putting Gally on the wing and moving Bentley inside. I wouldn't really favour this as this midfield would be lightweight beyond belief. You can't really imagine Tugs and Bentley holding their own in a midfield scrap, and nor is Gally recognised for being able to get stuck in. This midfield alternative to me would be overrrun. Based on that my team would be : Brad, Neill, Zurab, Ooijer, Todd (Emerton if fit), Tugay, Bentley, MGP, Mokoena, Benni, Nonda. subs, Gally, Jeffers, Gray, Todd, Brown Prediction 1-1 with pederson scoring for us.

Surprised so few fans came - i reckon a combination of poor results, the possibility of a weakened team, the cold and it being on tv provided far too many reasons for people not to come. As it was they missed a cracking night in which two rovers legends continued to cement their status (tugs and Brad) and certainly in terms of atmosphere the fans didn't seem to be missed. Hopefully such results will persuade fans to come to the Nancy game. However we will most likely have qualified by then - making it a meaningless or less meaningful game - which may well mean another low attendance. What fans seem not to realise is that this is what we fought so hard for last year. Europe is an achievement and for smaller clubs like ourselves doesn't happen that often. Fans should realise the significance and value of such nights.

Agree pretty much with what Scotty says, although wouldn't have classed Nonda as poor. Yes he missed a sitter, but worked hard and held the ball up exceptionally well. Regarding the full backs I thought Neill didn't seem to be going in for loose balls with the determination and commitment he should be, and Gray despite trying is far from good enough. Disappointingly we will have 2 players in the team on Sunday who aren't up to it in Mokoena and Gray. Some of Gray's passing was woeful, his ball control was poor, and he gets skinned far too often. Mokoena seems to know what to do but doesn't seem able to do it. his passes are often the right idea but badly placed, and he doesn't really impose himself on the midfield. This is a shame as the other players in the team, when playing well, can really give a good account of themselves. Rovers were lucky - thank goodness for Brad in the first half. Full credit to Basel I thought they played well in the first half, physical without being dirty, were quick to get forward and defended in numbers. However, the second half rovers turned it around, and full credit to them for keeping going after getting the 1st goal. Tugay like Brad is a rovers legend, and perhaps not mentioned yet in his acolades from last night is how much running the guy did, both going forward and back. I was very impressed with his work rate as well as his class. In fact the only time he slowed down was when he was subbed. The only other thing to mention was the atmosphere which imo was fantastic. the Blackburn End never shut up, even in the first half when we were getting hammered. Maybe it was the cold or something... One last gripe would be their goal keeper who kept stealing yards with every offside and did crap goal kicks, and the linesman who thought everything was offside. Still it made it even more satisfying when we won. Big question is now which rovers team will turn up on Sunday - the first half inept display or the european masters of the second half?

I can remember a few years back that all the boxes were sold out for the entire season, even for league cup games. If this is still the case maybe the only realistic profit-making revamp of the Riverside would be to kit it out with boxes and improve the existing seats i.e. get them all under shelter and get rid of the supports that block the view. Increasing the capacity of the riverside would never make any sense - and I'm not too sure about decreasing it. I reckon for big games or if we continue to be successful we could still reach the 30K margin. However if less seats (say knocking off a couple of thousand) would make it cheaper and easier to run or rebuild the riverside then it'd probably be a sacrifice worth making.

Utterly agree. Think that either Todd or Henchoz would be a much safer and reliable option at the back, as neither Gray or McEveley are good enough. Gray would be decent back up if he could be bothered (although too error prone to be 1st choice) and McEveley also seems to lack concentration as well as seriously struggling for pace. A win isn't vital so I wouldn't rush any players back, but with the same team as Sunday's game I really can't see us winning. Too many average players imo. We really need Tugay, Benni and Bentley to have storming games as they're our most influential players and what with all the injuries it becomes even more crucial that they are on top of their game. Sadly Benni whilst class has quiet spells and Tugay had a poor game vs West Ham so I'm a bit worried whether they can carry us through. Being optimistic a 0-0 draw.

To me the game answered quite a few questions about our squad. On the McEveley debate - I don't really think he's up to it. Promising but I'm beginning to think he'll still be promising when he's 31 and will never make the step up. First half Robben was all over him and beat him every time. Second half he did improve defensively (although it'd have been hard not to) but going forward his distribution was poor. Also he was caught out for the first goal. Would much rather Rovers concentrated their efforts on Taylor, and I personally think Gray, errors included, is better both going forward and back. Peter on the other hand was immense. He looked like a proper old fashioned winger who wasn't afraid to run at his opponent and get to the byline and showed a lot of attacking flair. I certainly wouldn't have any qualms with him entering the team. Mokoena - didn't seem to cut the mustard for me. He didn't really get stuck in the way Savage or Flitcroft does, nor does he offer much going forward. Was excellent two seasons ago and looks a pale immitation of the Axe we got when he first came into the team. Henchoz did surprisingly well considering I didn't have high expectations. Ok he's not the fastest player but he seemed quietly efficent for the most part. Discouragingly it means Todd's rovers career is certainly over which is very disappointing. Overall I felt we were missing too many players, and had several others not in their best positions and it cost us against an uninspiring Chelsea side. I feel if we'd have attacked and got stuck into them more in the first half it'd have been a different game. We showed them far too much respect. Having said that Cole should have walked - which would have made it a different game, but I'm not going to start on the Chelsea bias refs show as I could rant for a long time on it. Needless to say it didn't help our cause.

I reckon we've more chance of winning the League Cup than the UEFA Cup and whilst I reckon our first 11 would get past Chelsea reserves it's a big ask for our fringe players. Remember we need to get 6th in the league or win a cup to get into europe next season - and as there's loads of teams capable of getting those top 6 places the cup competitions have to take a very real priority. However, priorities may be forced upon Hughes by injuries and sheer fatigue.

Utterly agree with Aggy Blue bar the pens bit - it's only when I see them I realise how much I loath Bolton especially pie boy and that diving spitting thing, although the rest aren't much better. There were a lot of positives to be taken from the game as well as a load of negatives. First positive there was no european hangover - or if it was it was minimal taking it's toll in the second half. Notabley Nonda and Emerton imo whilst having good games were a fraction off their usual pace, but for the most part we played at an excellent high tempo. We bossed the first half and whilst Bolton had a few chances, we had a darn sight more. Luck really wasn't with rovers that half and the penalty and ball crossing the line decisions were from where I was sat both 50-50 - certainly at Old Trafford for manure they'd have been nailed on certs. We defended for the most part pretty well against a loathsome but admittedly talented strike trio. With Tugay spraying around his passes, Savage getting into everything, Nonda and McCarthy looking busy you had to be optimistic. Bolton decided to foul whenever possible to slow things down and a stricter ref would've had caused them serious worries with a couple of yellow cards for professional fouls giving us even more room. That the ref booked Savage so early on contrary to later decisions shows that Super Rob is picked on. Nevertheless Rovers fans had every cause to be optimistic going in at the break - if somewhat mystified how we weren't in front. Second half - again we started the better of the two teams but the tempo was that bit slower. Maybe it was europe, maybe we were worried about the counter attack or whatever but the slower tempo to me allowed Bolton back into the game. Their goal was inexcusable - who was meant to be marking Campo? After that the biggest negative of the day showed - we went to pieces for 15 minutes or so. We didn't get the ball our passing was awful and our creativity was dire. I know going a goal down is a kick in the teeth (especially having dominated) but rovers need to react better. Eventually they did react better and clawed back possession and began to become more creative and dangerous, until they were on top again. That Bolton gave away 2 pens in short succession shows how dominant we were again. To me the fifteen minutes prior to our last dominant spell cost us the game. I believe penalty misses aside that if we'd have had chance to attack Bolton as we were for another 5 minutes we probably would've stuck away an opportunity such was the way things were going. We really need to bounce back from going a goal down much quicker than we are. IMO a lot of it was after the 3rd substitution of Peter into the team. Whilst Roberts too made an impact when we take Pederesen off as invariably we do these days we really seem to lack width - especially as our best wide mid player Bentley goes to his weaker side. Having Peter on allowed us to get a bit more width and fully utilise it on both sides. As for the penalty misses - pretty poor really. Not much else you can say but the bleeding obvious that we do need to practice them. In the end it sums up a frustrating afternoon for rovers who despite Souness friend lady luck not really smiling on us only have ourselves to blame that we didn't come away with something from the game. In short - the bad news is we blew the game. The good news is - we blew the game. Despite our european foray we battered the team placed third in the prem, for nearly three quaters of the game played some awsome football and we lost the game rather bolton winning it. We have nothing to fear in this league based on this performance and we can put in back to back excellent displays after midweek games.

Bolton is the last team you want to face after a european game, their physical game will really test our team's stamina and fitness levels. The heart says this'll be a draw 1-1 but the head's quite worried it'll be a loss. Our squad looks pretty thin in places especially midfield. I'm worried how long Sav and Tugs can keep up their excellent form. Tugs is 35 and Savage high energy game must be taking it's toll on him. Personally I've a feeling that this game could well be the game in which we feel Nelsen and Reid's absence the most. I'd be tempted to give Roberts and Todd starts as this will be an ugly game for certain. Zurab in particular seems to not like the physical side of the game, although the idea of Diouf and Anelka running at Ooijer doesn't fill me with confidence either. As for roberts this would be his type of game. However I can't see Hughes dropping Benni, and Nonda is up for a physical battle and was excellent on Thursday so I can't see how he'll get a place in the team. With all the fans going it should be a fantastic atmosphere and I'm really looking forward to it, if a little anxious. 1-1 Nonda

An excellent start to the group stages by rovers. First half I thought we were the better team and although we didn't create too many chances we should have been a goal to the good at half time - the penalty claim should have been a penalty and Pedersen's miss was horific (why didn't he head it?) Even prior to their goal you felt that if we had stepped it up a gear which we were capable of we'd murder them. Agreed with the commentator that the slow pitch helped them and perhaps hid some of their weaknesses. Their goal - typical of rovers. If I recall correctly Lucas was to blame for giving away the corner and we didn't close the guy down fast enough for the shot. Nevertheless it took a large slice of luck and a mamoth deflection for the goal to beat brad. After that we seemed to struggle until half time, leaving me thinking here we go again. Fortunately rovers kicked on - upped the tempo and got a deserved equaliser. All of which continued until about the 80th minute when rovers toned it down and the poles got in their first attacks of the half. To be honest at this point I was pretty disappointed as for two thirds of the game at least we'd bossed the game and should have got a winner, yet it looked to be heading for a draw. Fortunately we managed a late winner in what was our poorest spell of the half - highly impressive considering the fatigue of our players must really have been kicking in. Bentley just seems to be getting better and better. As it is it's a good three points. I, and I reckon Hughes, would've been disappointed with a draw on that performance and I didn't really rate the poles at all. I reckon they'll be the whipping boys of the group, especially in their away games on faster pitches. The other thing of note was that Woy's commentary was shocking - within 5 minutes he couldn't remember the rovers centre back's names and was constantly vague and rambled (the stan ramble being particularly irrelivent and irritating). How he's still a national manager is beyond me. Player raitings: Brad - 8 no chance with the goal but good late save to keep us in it. Emerton - 8 class both forward and back Ooijer - 7 a few hairy moments but generally competent Zurab - 7 ditto Neill - 5 beaten too often had a very uncomfortable time at left back Tugs - 8 good defensively as well as showing he's the master at passing, hard to believe he's 35. Savage - 9 excellent in both defense and attack - some great runs forward and tracking back. MOTM Bently - 8 genius a few trademark wayward shots but terrorised the defense with his crosses, and took his goal well. Pedersen - 5 not his best game, shocking miss but worked hard defensively Benni - 7 one of his weaker games too often couldn't turn and shoot but some nice link-up play with Nonda and some of the others. Nonda -8 excellent worked really hard and forced a couple of opportunities. Roberts - 7 ok he hasn't scored for us yet but he does force the defenders to make errors which got us the win. My only worry is how knackered the team will be come Sunday as it looks like it'll have to be the sam 11 again.

Personally I think that the card and sticker scheme is an excellent idea. Focusing an initiative on fans who go regularly but do not have season tickets is great as often they seem to be overlooked in favour of improving season ticket offers and ways to draw in more new fans. The way I see it this segment seems to be the link in the chain between new fans and season ticket holders, and schemes focussing on this segment will hopefully ensure that more fans progress along this spectrum. Getting new fans to come once is one thing, and rovers do a fair bit with various pricing initiatives to do so. Keeping people coming is a different matter, and hopefully schemes like this one will be one way of retaining and rewarding those who go on a fairly regular basis. Hopefully it'll encourage those who are coming for the first time to come again as it helps out with the prices, whilst also acknowledging the loyalty of those who come on a regualar basis. The fact benefits are available for a range of fans from those who'll come to three/four games a season to those who will be getting towards half the home games or greater shows what a well thought out scheme it is. Full marks to rovers on this one.

What a game, though it didn't do my nerves any good. The contrast between the first and second halves was immense in my game. In the first we were shocking, in the second we were excellent. For some reason we weren't at the races in the first half, which I think was down to complacancy after our excellent performance on thursday night. (I would've written a post on that but I reckon that excellent sums up the performance vs Salzberg.) The first five minutes weren't bad - bar a soft goal that we gave away, as we had a couple of dangerous attacking moves. After that we really were awful misplaced passes, giving the wigan players too much room, struggling to compete for the ball. It really was rovers at their worst. Nice as the move for our equaliser was I'm sure every rovers fan in the ground was amazed that we were going in at half time on level terms. To be honest we really didn't deserve to be, but it did give us a great starting point for the second half. If it had have been 0-1 Wigan may have defended that bit deeper and made it more difficult, as it was we had a great chance to push on. I'm not sure what Hughes said at half time but it did the trick, and rovers were excellent and all over them in the second half. I thought everyone did well battling for the ball and only have 3 gripes about an otherwise impressive second half display. 1) we don't take enough of the mountain of chances we made (perhaps the same could be said of in the Salzberg game.) 2) In a similar vein there were several times a bit more directness would've done wonders. We had several runs where the player should have had a go or kept pushing forward but stopped and laid it off. 3) Ooijer and Zurab look very shakey, especially Ooijer. What a stupid penalty to give away. What Hughes sees in him is beyond me - get rid quick he doesn't look up to the physical nature of the premiership. An excellent debute by Brown - who'se penalty double save really kept us in it. If that'd have gone in I doubt we'd have won given our wasteful nature in front of goal. The lad made another good save too, and his distribution seemed good as well - man of the match in my oppinion. Up front especially we look very strong. Nonda, Roberts and McCarthy all look threatening, and Jeffers is showing signs of why he was once so highly rated. Jeffers really seems to lack that confidence that is so important for a striker. The full backs again looked good. As did all the midfield, although we really need to strengthen here with at least one if not two quality players. The options on the bench aren't that great when compaired to our striking options for example. All in all an excellent game showing the highs and lows of supporting rovers. It was also a great game for the neutral and it was a real shame not more people witnessed it. Overall we deserved the three points as we created much more in our dominant half than wigan did. Another couple of top class buys in January and top six is very likely.

Again it's another game we should win, even taking into account our hit and miss performances. City are pretty poor, especially up front so I can't see them causing us too many problems. Mind you Ooijer and Zurab have been pretty obliging of late, so i'd love to see that partnership scrapped and todd reinstated. Really wish he and Hughes would make up as we're desperately missing him. Can't see it happening though Ok team (assuming everyone stays injured) Brad, Emerton, Neill, Todd, Zurab/Ooijer (can't decide which one to drop) Bentley, Tugs, Savage, Pereson, Jeffers and McCarthy. subs: Nonda, Zurab/Ooijer, Mokoena, Gally, Brown. Since Jeffers apparently had a good game vs Sheffield Utd I'd give him the nod ahead of Nonda, whilst I certainly think that this may be a game for Mokoena to come on into, as I've strong suspicions it'll get a bit heated and physical (hopefully as we're winning.) Early season optimism hasn'tworn off 2-1 rovers McCarthy and a screamer from Peds to settle it.

The sad fact is that Cole probably thinks that £5K a week extra is nothing, showing what a greedy and ungratious twerp he is. And pretty stupid by the looks of it too. Apparently according to teletext he's slating his new manager for not sticking up for him in the tapping up trial. Good move Ashley. If he didn't like being behind Henry (a truely world class player) in the status rankings at Arsenal, I've a feeling he's in for a nasty shock at Chelsea - I can't see him being more popular than Lampard, Terry etc. Not only that it's blooming ungreatful for the fans who coughed up his wages all this time. And how can he accuse them of disloyalty when he goes and meets up with Kenyon et al? The whole book is just making Cole look a bigger and bigger muppet.

Think that's a bit harsh on Nelsen - he played quite a lot last season as I recall. It does seem like a serious injury which is pretty bad news, but calling hima crock is OTT as he missed no more games last season than you'd expect from any premiership player who is a regular for there team. With emerton's latest form at right back, the extension looks a good deal, especially if Neill might be off in january.

1-0 to a Rovers team that should have scored more. Drop Ooijer he doesn't seem to be tough enough and Todd hasn't done much wrong. Let Nonda come off the bench I feel we'll need Robert's battling qualities. Team: Brad, Emerton, Neill, Todd, Zurab (or Nelsen if fit) Reid, Savage, Bently Gamst/Pederson, Roberts, McCarthy subs Nonda, Tugs, Ooijer (Zurab if Nelsen fit) Mokoena Brown. The midfield options still look rather light. Think it'll be a battle but we should have too much class for them.

It's difficult to say how well we did as I was hoping for really big things (three or four top quality signings and keeping everyone we wanted to) but a healthy dose of reality has kicked in. All the stories and speculation the climaxes (both positive and negative) surrounding comings and goings has seen the ball game shift so many times it's hard to see where we started out. Even so my oppinion when considered in light of everything: Getting rid of deadwood: Excellent, 10/10. A bit harsh calling Kuqi deadwood but he was what 5th/6th in line and getting 2.5 million for him was excellent business. Getting rid of Douglas was also good. Pity we couldn't shift Matteo, but overall fairly happy. Keeping players: Big blow loosing Bellers, but for now Nelsen, Pedersen and Neill three of our top players have remained put - so all in all we only lost one key player. What a player mind, but a small club like us is always going to loose top players at some point. The trick is not letting them go at the same time which Hughes has managed to do. Strengthening Defence I thought we needed a left back, and had already 3 quality centre backs so why we brought Ooijer is a bit of a mystery. However if either Zurab or Ooijer can play right back (although Emo would keep them out at the mo) thus freeing Neill for left back it isn't a bad move. Nevertheless I'd have prefered a top class left back in instead. Strengthening Midfield: Needed at least 2 players a centre mid and a wide mid - didn't get either. V. disappointed. Strengthening Up Front: Despite loosing Bellamy I really think that we've strengthened up front. McCarthy looks class, the very new chap has a good track record and Roberts is a better version than Kuqi of the physical striker. All in all we've much more options up front. Not sure in the point in Jeffers though but the contract terms seem ok. Overall when analysing it, ti seems in a long winded way that Rovers have done pretty well out of it. The only black mark can be that the midfield needed a couple of extra bodies, which is a big ommision but in the grand scheme of things we certainly look a leaner and better squad than last season.

Having seen both the home games so far this season, it really is a glass half full/empty scenario which means we're likely to have an exciting and eventful season, although at which end of the table is yet to be determined. Against both Chelsea and Everton there were signs of how awesome we can be; on paper both teams are stronger than us but we were playing it about excellently and neither team at times had a sniff. That shows how good we can be. The negative of this is that we haven't capitalised on this. The positives are - aside from periods of very good play - that were it not for a soft penalty (I doubt the ref would have given it the other way) and not getting a deserved penalty we looked a good shout for at least a point. Equally the team seems to be stronger - Neill at left back instead of the error prone Gray and a rejuvinated Emerton at right back seems just the ticket for me - especially when the Admiral comes back into the centre we'll have a mean defence. Incidently at right back Emo's cautious streak is not a liability, and whilst not the quickest thinker on the pitch, Emerton shows that when he doesn't have a full back breathing down his neck, his vision isn't half bad at all. Benni and Roberts both seem promising up front - the latter seems a class act and Roberts seems to terrorise defences into mistakes. The midfield however seems despite looking good on paper to not be functioning quite right. Firstly I don't believe that we've enough cover for centre mid - regardless of Tugay's availability. Secondly this becomes more problematic when Sav gets booked. It was like having a different player on the pitch. Reid did alright in my book breaking up the play, but seems to be struggling with a knock and hence not have as much energy to get up the field. I belive the big problem when playing with two work horses in the centre of midfield is that the onus for creativity falls largely on the wide midfielders, who as yet have yet to perform. Bentley in particular seems to be too easily shrugged off the ball, and neither seems to get to the byline often enough. The final ball often is a long punt from the edge of the box which is not good enough. The second criticism of the midfield is that this needs the centre mids, and the full backs to really get forward and support the attack quickly. Again against Chelsea this support and surging forward was slow. Reid often is good at this, but I suspect the injury is hampering this. Savage however should have got forward a lot quicker too and has no injury to fall back on as an excuse. In fact, the whole team needs lessons in quick counter attacking. This of course would give more options for the final ball. With this in mind surely a bid for Steed Malbranque might be appropriate, imo he could fill the creativity gap quite well. Overall though not too disappointed. Rovers only have themselves (especially in the everton game) and the ref (especially in the Chelsea game) to blame for not getting more points on the board. Refs will always favour the bigger clubs but the good news is that the former is within our own power to change and improve. Hopefully we can do this in time for the Sheffield Utd game.