I won't be the first to highlight how intriguing it was to see Steven Reid ahead of Matty Jansen or Morten Gamst-Pedersen. Did Reid particularly shine in the recent reserve match or something?

Yes he had a good game against Leeds reserves and to be fair deserved to play some part today. Wasn't good enough to warrent swaping our best outfield player's position around to accomodate him. Based on Tuesday I thought he may be best suited to playing centre mid with Ferguson - which was what he seemed to be doing at times.

The only ones really worth keeping i.e. trying to persuade to stay even if we got a fair offer for them are: Freidel, Emerton, Short, Ferguson, Dickov, Stead and Grey.

The one's who have to go:

Amoruso, Flitcroft, Douglas, de Pedro, Matteo

Of the rest, for the majority it's not that they're absolute rubbish it's just that they don't perform to the best of their ability often enough. I'd add to the get rid list any of the players not mentioned who can't put in a good performance two in three. Sadly if this principle was applied we wouldn't have be able to field a team.

How did Donis get in the list?

At least Gillespie had a few good games with us, played in a cup final and got promoted with us, scored a few goals and lasted more than one season. Surely we've had more better players on the right than Donis.

Am really tempted to go for Ripley as although he wasn't the most gifted of player, he always did his job of providing great service to the strikers. I also think he was very unlucky especially on the international stage, and that with a bit more luck would have been considered by those outisde the club as well as a 'star' player. Douglas' record however speaks for itself, but if Ripley doesn't come second I'd be disappointed.

You can normally find a bit of optimism in any game, even a defeat, but other than the season finishing in May I'm not sure what positives can be taken from today's games.

With regards to the referee I thought he was poor, Tugay's first was harsh and several boro players should've been booked. However this does not disguise what was a truely abismal performance.

I had a feeling that Reid would feature soon after his display for the reserves. At the expense of Emerton at right midfield however, easily our best outfield player at the moment, was a mistake by the manager. I think a lot of Emerton's below par performance today was due to him playing on the wrong wing. I thought that nonsense had left with our last manager. Last season we said we needed a left midfielder on the left, IMO either Jansen or Pederson. Granted it'll take a few games for them to get up to scratch but we cannot afford not to get a proper left footer aclimatised to that position.

To me there was little in the first thirty minutes, it had 0-0 draw written all over it. Then Tugay got sent off, and from that moment on you knew what was going to happen. For a player who seems to give his all for the club his challenge was petty and irrisponsible. That's the type of event you cannot afford to happen in a relegation battle.

Our "defending" was a joke. To last 3 minutes after half time is pathetic. As soon as we were reduced to ten men you had a fair idea that the defence would come under a fair amount of pressure in the second half. I'm sure Hughes will have told them to sit tight and fustrate boro early on in the second half, and see what we can get on the break. Alternatively he might have said let them score three early on to kill the game in which case they followed their instructions flawlessly. What was most disappointing about our defending was having got caught out once early on there was no rolling up of the sleaves and attempt to keep it at 1-0 where we could possibly get a point. Almost immediately after we let in a second. Nor was there any attempt at damage limitation as the third went in pretty soon after. You'd have thought that after one of those three goals they'd have learnt to tighten things up.

Our defending as a team is poor and from our centre backs none existant. Surely there cannot be two worse centre backs than Amo and Matteo. Amoruso's pass for the second goal was criminal, an error of the most basic kind unacceptable at conference level let alone premiership. Both need to be dropped if we're to get any decent run going. Brad deserves a medal for bravery playing with those two in front of him.

Up front again we looked lacking. I know it was difficult circumstances but the team offered very little on the break. I don't think Dickov up front alone, or with Djorkeaff (sp) doesn't have enough presence to bother the opposition. Dickov IMO isn't strong enough to hold up the ball and should not be our target man. I'd much rather see us aiming for someone good in the air like Jansen, with Dickov running onto the flick ons and making a nuscance of himself. Last season despite our woefull defending we were scoring regularly. This season we don't look up to much at the front or back.

January and a few new faces can't come quickly enough.

I'd really like to see the Stead Dockov partnership ditched. With Dickov tending to drop deep it leaves Stead isolated up front, and I've always thought Stead feeds of other players rather than as a target man. I'd like to see Dickov Jansen up front to relieve the pressure off Stead. Thought Jansen held the ball up well vs Charlton.

Other than I'd stick with the team that lost to Charlton with Pederson on the left wing. Villa have quite a combatative midfield so I think we'd need both Flitty and Ferguson in the centre to deal with this.

Am worried what Cole's pace will do to our defence. Actually, I'm worried about the whole thing, since we couldn't even beat a poor Charlton side. Villa are doing okay and are a good side. Can see us loosing this one 1-2. Hope I'm wrong.

I'd go for 4-4-2 since we've had a lot of great centre halves over the years, and narrowing it down to one seems a bit harsh on these quality players. Besides which 4-4-2 is a more traditional and standard football formation.

My first vote would go for the underrated Henning Berg, a modern player who unlike Hendry did not leave the club in such disappointing circumstances. To me Berg was part of a great back four when winning the championship and who continued to put in good performances even under Hartford's regime. I can remember Henning playing left back, right back and centre back within a matter of weeks under Hartford yet always managed to pull out some strong performances.

Perhaps more importantly is his contribution during his second spell at Ewood. It was little coincidence to me that we became a stronger prospect defensively when Henning signed during the promotion season which saw us stop conceeding so many silly goals. This also showed itself in the Premiership where for two seasons we were defensively very strong - resulting in the successes of 6th place and a league cup (where he was captainin the final.) Again, I think that the loss of Berg was a major contributory factor for the defence often engaging in suicide mode. Added to which he is our most capped international player and was a great ambassador for the club.

The club is at fault here, as Souness has been saying for a while now that he is physically and mentally ready and all he needs his confidence yet he does not play the guy to give him the confidence yet still says he is part of his plans .

Agree with Capt and rover6. If as Souness says that all he needs is confidence then why doesn't he play him? Having a striker who was on the verge of the England team apparently just a few games away from his old level/form and not playing him defies belief. As rover6 points out we've had some odd formations and team selections - Jansen can't be more of a risk then Flitty at right midfield.

I suspect Matty isn't but we'll never know as Jansen hasn't really had a chance to prove himself. What get's me is that some players regularly underperformed but got lots more of a chance to prove themselves. Regardless of whether he has had his chance, if Souness believes as he says, that all he needs is a bit more time, and doesn't give him that then what's the point in holding on to him.

IMO Souness has really handled this badly. These mixed messages aren't helpful to the club or player.

For the money we brought Yorke for and the goals he got Yorke doesn't rate in the disaster category of transfers. Much has been made of his laziness, and I have to agree. Yes the guy's talented, he was great at holding the ball up but that was about it. I can't remember the last time he did something but lay the ball off to another player. I'm not advocating that a striker has to run about for the 90 minutes, but the occassional sprint now and again wouldn't have hurt him. Combined with his constant offside positions - which in an experienced pro just shows a lack of professionalism and care - meant that we were right to get rid. More importantly with both him and Cole off the wages (although I'd still like Cole to be here) the club should have enough financial flexibility to get a few top quality players, or strengthen the squad. The huge relief on the wage bill will hopefully allow the club to move forward once again.

As for the lure of the Premiership - what makes him think he'll get in the Birmingham team? In the SPL he might just have scored one or two. Nice one Bruce.

I'm suprised there's not more optimism about this one. Against Utd the team was the most balanced, and more importantly fired up for a long time. We battled for every ball and for once looking as if they really care; which has been lacking somewhat of late. Evidently we've realised that we are allowed to play in the first half... Things are looking good. Added to which the team will be really fired up about the injustice of their last result.

Newcastle on the other hand have quite a few discontented players, which Sir Bobby just about kept from anarchy. As every manager so far has ruled themselves out of the running for the job (even Sam thinks Bolton's a better bet) it's likely there may be a coach in charge. And if Bobby struggled to keep Newcastle as a cohesive unit, then the coach will find it really difficult. Regardless of team selection there's going to be some naffed off players in the Newcastle dressing room. Getting the players motivated for this one is going to be a struggle for Newcastle. If ever a team's ready for getting beaten its Newcastle. Mind you, I thought the same about Southampton.

My team: Freidel, Neill, Short, Nissa (if Amo's suspended) Grey, Emerton, Tugay, Ferguson, Pederson, Dickov, Stead.

2-1 Rovers, with us getting a 2 goal lead before a nervy finish.

Crompton, I know it wasn't so much of a squad game in those days but that many apperences says it all. Berg is unlucky that he's up against Crompton as he's been Mr. Reliable for us for so long. Henning will be recieving my vote for cb as he didn't bugger off during his testemonial season.

It has to be Brad. Never have I seen a more reliable consistent keeper for Rovers. For me Flowers was a bit too error prone on occassions - the worst being his juggling effort against Crystal Palace. Also Tim was dropped during the relegation season to Filan, which to me further indicates that he was not quite top notch.

Brad's reflexes are amazing, and some of the saves he has pulled off are truely amongst the best in the game. He has been an integral part of our success ever since he joined the club, and has always contributed well. Even in our first season in the Prem I thought he more than any other player was responsible for our success. Last season he was one of the few who performed well, and it was only his world class form the season before that made him look average. The guy's saved quite a few penalties, was man of the match in the cup final and even scored for us. Friedel's well on the way to becoming a Rover's legend.

i do not know how the tickets are going for saturday,but the gate may concern the board.anything below 28,000 shows the blackburn public are voting with there feet.

I managed to get a good seat in the Blackburn End 4 or 5 days before the game, which was worrying. Think today's result may have saved Souness for a while. Maybe he has finally learnt the lesson that a balanced team with attacking players, including wingers playing on the wing, is our best bet as our performance today was the best by far. Not knowing his best line up is just about forgiveable - let's face it we've discussed it on the message board at great length - but surely today's game must have shown that players must be played in their proper position. If he reverts to our six defenders or some other stupid system then I say get rid.

What really annoys me is the Gresko situation. Last season we had no one on the left and many fans on the mb thought Gresko would be the solution - Souness didn't. Yet with a near full strength squad to choose from for the opening game Souness plays Gresko in midfield - madness.

A few mopre performances like today and Souness may have turned the corner on last season's blip. More like the Southampton and West Brom 45 minutes only and Souness has to go for the sake of our survival.

Not a brilliant performance but by no means a bad one. He got in a few decent crosses and showed that he can defend and scrap when needed to as well. As for his shot, a young lad with a chance to score a winner in arguably the biggest game of the season and his debute to boot - no wonder he got a bit excited and blazed it over. (Although hopefully his accuracy will improve.) And let's face it when was the last time we had someone getting in attacking positions from the left?

Wasn't looking forward to this at all seeing as we've not had the best of starts to the season and have seen some very odd team selections. So it was a nice suprise to see a balanced team with everyone in their best position - wingers playing on the wing, whatever next? The result of having a blanaced team were plain to see. Whilst Utd may have had more of the ball with two wide men we gave them some problems going forward and despite not having six defenders on the pitch defended really solidly. It wasn't always pretty but it was effective. Dickov's goal was pure class and Brad seems to have got over his injury worries and proved once again why he's the best keeper in the Prem.

Only several minor criticisms of Rovers; Tugay when he shot instead of passing it to Stead who would've been through on goal and Yorke. Regardless of the debate on his running the amount of times he got caught offside was criminal. This in turn gave Utd the ball and put us under pressure again. In an experienced professional this is pure laziness and shows how unimportant the club is to Yorke.

As for the referee he saved Utd (along with that cheating git Saha). At the end I genuinely believed we had won it, I thought that Utd had run out of ideas and were pumping it aimlessly forward. And when Utd start hoofing and hoping for a break you know they were beat.

Of course you don't expect that a blatent handball would be allowed but even before this the referee had shown where his sympathies lay. Amo's first yellow card was a joke, especially when that late two footed tackle by O Shea resulted in nothing more than a free kick. As for his second I thought Dickov had been blatently fouled, yet again, seconds before the ball was played up field. And extra time - how long? The man's a joke.

The only consolation is that if we play like that we should be getting some points soon and Utd are definately not going to get their grubby mits on the title.

If you look at it in some places for the team the competition in really good - choosing the midfield for example, or Gresko or Grey at left back. Other places in the team, mainly up front or at centre back and the squad looks a bit thin. A Dickov Stead partnership does little to excite me. Hopefully Matteo's no nonsense approach will steady Amoruso but to be honest I'm not a fan of his. Centre backs have to be reliable. I'd go for:

Friedel

Neill, Matteo, Nissa, Grey

Emerton, Flitty, Ferguson, De Pedro,

Stead, then either rejuvinated Jansen, new striker or Dickov (in that order)

If Jansen is back to his best, or decent form I'd start with him. Sadly I can't see it happening. Dickov is a useful squad player but not good enough to lead the line at Premiership level. Sadly I can't see us getting a replacement. Therefore Dickov get's it be default.

subs: Enkleman, Gresko, Thompson, Gally, Tugay.

Douglass and Reid should not be let near the team barring excessive injury problems.

I'm not saying that I thougth we'd get anything when we sold him but that doesn't mean that you can't get value for money on a player. IMO only getting two and a bit seasons out of a player is not getting value for money. Ideally another season with Stead and Gally, scoring goals and improving the youngsters' games would have been a far greater return on our investment.

Am very dissapointed. Okay Cole is not the most team orientated player in the world but as a manager you have to get the best out of players, even those who are self centred - that's what managing is about. Fair enough maybe they couldn't work together any longer but having yet another player-manager bust up makes it an all too common affair at Ewood these days. I cannot think of any other manager who has so many fall outs with their players. Whilst some like Gillespie can be argued that the player was already here so a personality clash could not be avoided, to actually fall out with a player the manager brought is criminal. If you can't have a working relationship with a player for over two years there are problems. It woldn't be so worrying if it hadn't happened before with Todd and Yorke. Okay maybe these two aren't the easiest of players to get along with, in which case you have to question why the manager brought them.

Financially Rovers are down, £7.5 million for two and a bit seasons isn't the greatest return on a player (although compaired with our other £6m plus signings it's great business.) To bring in a younger replacement of that quality is going to cost a lot, money we don't have. From a financial point of view we couldn't afford to let a player of Cole's quality go. Also as selling Cole wasn't going to recoup any money whatsoever, keeping him would be the only way Rovers would continue to recoup some of the £7.5m investment.

The timing makes it even worse, leaving it late to get a replacement for the new season. Cheap older players on similar wages have already been signed up (like Hasslebank) and even if we have someone lined up, these deals can take time, and there is a danger that the transfer window may close before we sign a new forward. Also with declining season ticket sales Cole was one of the few big name attractions we had left. Loosing him is only going to lower the morale of the supporters even further, something the club cannot afford.

Finally there's the quality. (I think) that Cole was in the top two for the websites player of the season, and rightly so. True he didn't cover himself with glory, but in a dismal season Cole was one of the more dependable ones - and top scorer. As the only experienced in form striker letting him go will leave a vast gap in quality up front.

Not happy at all.

while i believe and hope that we do bring in a quality striker to replace cole, i doubt that it will happen.

also, there is always hope for matty... should we get a matty version 01-02, it'd be like a whole new signing. and if only yorke bothers to, he can still cut it i believe. he's strong, has a good first touch and other technical abilities.

Agree that it's unlikely Souness will get another striker in although it is most definately needed. If either Yorke or Jansen were at their best then the forward position probably wouldn't need an extra striker. As it is with both of them under par, and both unlikely to get any better, without Cole we are sadly lacking in experienced quality strikers. Dickov was only meant to be a squad player/replacement for Yorke.

Viduka and Hasslebamk may be out of our limits but we do need something to excite the fans. As I remember quite a few people were optimistic about Yorke coming, and he didn't break the bank. Okay, so he flopped, but the point is that you don't always have to spend loads to attract a big name and create optimisim. After last season the fans need something encouraging.

Regarding the 6th place finish, had we not sold Duff and Dunn, both of whom were considered Rovers through and through, it would have been highly likely that season tickets would have increased/stayed the same. As it was both had to go but would have been interesting to see the effect on season tickets if we'd have got Ferguson pre-season to counter-act the loss of these two.

Weighing up the pros and the cons it doesn't make any sense at all to get so worked up about losing a player who has consistently been a disruptive figure, whinges at his team mates for misplacing passes, refuses to help younger colleagues, mopes off on extra holidays and takes home the most obscene anount of money to boot.

It's just that many members on here, me included, think that if he's sold and not replaced, it will see the club relegated.

Simple as that really.

Totally agree. Cole may be a pain to work with, but we really need a target man/regular goalscorer up front, and Cole is the best we've got. Stead and Gally are too young to take on the responsibility as yet. If you look at teams which go down, often they don't have a pinch hitter - someone who will regularly get the goals for them. A god example is Sunderland when Phillips stopped performing.

If it is decided that Cole has to go, then get rid of him and quick. All this anamosity and romours aren't helping the club. However if Souness does not replace him with a quality replacement before the transfer window closes, and Dickov doesn't count, then you have to question Souness' tactical nous, again.

Personally, I'd rather have MGP and I still have reservations about de Pedro's current form BUT given the lack of cash and that we couldn't afford the inflated fee required for MGP, this is as good as we're going to get so well done Rovers for moving in before other clubs. Good news that he'll be arriving in time for pre-season training rather than a last minute arrival like Andresen who turns up out of shape.

My thoughts exactly. Would prefer someone younger but with the limited budget getting someone of this quality is an excellent move.

To cap it off I would really like Souness to 'do another Stead' and pick up a left midfielder on the cheap from the lower divisions. With de pedro also on the books there won't be so much pressure on the player and not so much risk if the player doesn't come good. Ideally we'd find the successor to de Pedro or at least a capable squad player capable of playing on the left - unlike Reid.

I'm with Roversmatt on this one. I've a feeling Spain will do it. Bags of talent, theoretically the best team in the tournament if they all play together.

As for England's performance, thought we were pretty poor till we got the goal - but they say the sign of a good team is one that get's something even when playing badly. After the goal it was fairly comfortable and England did well, even though they were slightly fortunate that the Swiss chap got sent off.

My only worries are Rooney and Scholes. There's a distinct possibility that Rooney's going to get sent off/suspended for a big game which would be terrible considering he's been our biggest threat so far this tournament. As for Scholes he's a good player and hasn't done badly but he's no left midfielder and it shows. A good team is going to punish this weakness sometime.

True France didn't have many opportunities, only a few half chances and a good shout for a penalty, but in the second half they had the majority of the possession and if you sit back constantly giving away possession as we did you're almost inviting the other team to score.

Didn't think Rooney was tired but tempermental - I think Sven was worried about him getting booked. Ironically it might also have been worrying Sven Rooney would commit a rash tackle on the edge of the penalty area giving France a way back into the game...

Totally agree with you about Hesky - he should not be there. Defoe Beattie or Smith should be there ahead of him. What he brings to the team I've no idea. He simply isn't international class.

Dissapointing, although not suprising. To be fair France deserved it; in the second half we just sat back and whilst France didn't create much we were asking for them to score. Thought France had a decent shout for a penalty when Neville handballed it. If they had scored that with much longer to go it could have been worse than 2-1.

Having said that it was really close but you could see we were three positions in the team where we were not world class. Firstly up front, Owen - Rooney didn't seem to work at all; Owen was poor and Rooney showed his inexperience when he should have squared it to Vassel. Also thought his temperment was a bit suspect, which forced Eriksson to bring on Hesky, who did very well - for France. (Whyat was he doing? Three players surrounding the French guy so he decides to take him out, unbelievable.)

Second left midfielder - Scholes did okay but there were several times when we played very narrow and didn't create much down the left side. I can recall 2 or 3 occassions where if Scholes had a left foot he'd have been in a good position to cross in some decent balls. That would have just given us that bit more attacking presence and might have given France less oportunity to get forward.

Finally the keeper. I'm not too dissapointed about the free kick - it had me fooled, but both parts of the penalty were nasty. Although it was a hideous ball from Gerrard I still think James could have done better with it - like try to force Henry wider, there was a good chance he would have scored but it could have easily been overrun. As for diving too early on the penalty...

Today showed that whilst we've the quality to get through the group, that we're way off the pace to coming close to winning it.

Team limited due to those I haven't seen.

Friedal - simply awesome & more reliable than Flowers IMO.

Berg - great servant to club Mr reliable.

Hendry - fantastic leader from the back.

Moran - fantastic leader from the back.

Le Saux - some great free kicks as well.

Ripley - couldn't score to save his life but the best provider and crosser we've had.

Sherwood - the complete midfielder.

Atkins - the most underrated player ever to play for Rovers.

Duff - pure magic.

Shearer - who else?

Jansen - okay most of his stuff was in division one but pre motorbike accident should have been in the England squad and worked so damned hard.

Subs:

Flowers, Henchoz, Tugay, Cole, Gallacher.