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.

Just because a Rovers fan has negative vibes about how things might turn out next season does not make them stupid or not a proper supporter. The fact that they're worried shows that they're bothered about the club.

As it is I think it's a bit early for all these negative vibes. Let's see who Souness signs before all the gloom. If however the squad has no more changes when the season starts, I'll be very worried as none of the problems in the squad have been addressed. We've a couple of large deficiencies, the lack of a left midfiedler and a lack of quality at the back. (Amoruso IMO is an okay defender, but nothing special. He's no Hendry, Berg or a slightly younger Short.)

Fortunately Souness seems to have recognised these problems. We've been linked with a couple of names for both positions, and given our finacial situation they appear to be very good value for money if they come off. I'd be delighted with either the Russian chap or Pedersen on the wing, and Matteo or Van Buyten are both very good players IMO. For the possible fees that have been mentioned I'm not sure who else is a better option. Like Dickov, this to me would be considered a shrewd use of our funds.

Blackburn Rovers need to be improved upon if we are to avoid another season like the last. The squad does need a few additions, not many but it is crucial those positions are filled. Souness needs to stop falling out with players. We've got to concentrate more at the back, no more silly goals. These improvements would make a substantial difference to the team but fortunately aren't that hard to achieve. The time to see whether they have been achieved will be the first few months of the next season, so let's try to be optimistic for the moment.

If he's a good left sided midfielder than 2.5 million is not too much to pay.

There's no way we'll get more than 1 maybe 1.5m from sales. Assuming 3 players leave, Yorke, Todd and another - possibly Gresko or Reid - but even so that would mean that the transfer could cost about 1 to 1.5 million. And if we can't get that to fill the only position that really needs filling it's a poor lookout.

For me our club comes first and if McEverley needs to go out on loan to Bumly for him to become the successor to Grey then so be it. I'd rather he went on loan elsewhere but getting Jay to a decent standard is the most important thing.

Both would be great moves...

... so neither of them will even be attempted.

Not good news. There's not many left midfielders about, and considering we really need to fill that position I reckon we can afford to spend a large part of our transfer budget on someone like Pederson.

As for the whole aclimatising discussion, Norweigans do tend to settle in England better than players other countries, and certainly appear to adapt more quickly. Not saying players fromother countries don't just that statistically Norweigans are amongst those who most regularly do. I feel its a gamble worth taking. On the whole issue of carrying a player we've carried whoever's been left mid all season, and I don't think Pederson would need to be carried, but if we do - well, we're used to it.

We need a decent prospect on the left.

Apparently, Michael Owen and Steven Gerrard are both having a full say on who the next Liverpool Manager will be. "Player Power" seems to be getting out of control these days.

Whatever next - Ballot papers dished out to all the squad for them to decide who the next boss will be?

If they did that Houllier would be staying with the club. All the donkeys he's signed would like to ensure their place in the squad.

Can't find the link but read the other day on the BBC website that Hesky backed the sacking of Houllier. A bit ungreatful that, considering he kept the misfiring inept muppet in the team despite constant poor performances.

Yeah he's fairly creative, and a good passer of the ball. He's always looked good when I've seen him (although admittedly that hasn't been much.) Also he's in his last year of his contract with West Ham so won't be costing mega bucks.

As for Berkovich I know he's moody but he played well for us before and Souey knows the player so should be able to get the best out of him.

I'm not too keen on loan deals as it's more for short term problems rather than the long term benefit of the team. End of that season you've still got the same problem.

Even though I don't think Tugay would be starting every game, loosing him would mean that there would be a severe lack of creativity in the squad. Perhaps if he leaves Berkovich or Carrick as a creative replacement?

Not the most inspiring signing but a good piece of business. There are far more important areas that need strengthening and our money so it's a pretty shrewd signing. The guy's proven, provides something different up front, and brings a bit more experience up front - fulfils all the criteria we were asking for.

It said on the BBC website that he was a replacement for Cole, in which case I would not be happy, as don't think Dickov is good enough as a replacement for Cole.

Luck having your main midfield players Ferguson and Thompson injured???

Also Tugay along with others got us into the relegation mess but not so sure without him we would of stayed up...He certainly pulled his weight and was superb in the games we had to pick up points.

this year starts on jan the 1st john not in december

It's the old chestnut though...if you want rid who do we bring in? The only managers I remember you mentioning are Mark Hughes, who despite some impressive results in friendlies has still ultimately failed to get Wales into Euro 2004 and instead snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

You say Tugay can no longer do it; well, he could do it a month ago so when exactly did he go past it? There is no reason to think that as long as he used a bit more sparingly in future rather than playing every game. Tugay has always been inconsistent for us, if he wasn't inconsistent he would be at a bigger club.

You've said Cole is lazy in the past and doesn't give a damn about the club. The second part may be true but where do you get the first one? It certainly isn't from watching the games. I've watched Cole countless times and he's always seemed commited and has had no problem working his socks off. Despite him being our best player this year (that has been here all season) you have said on another thread you'd be happy if he left. Why? Let's sell all our best players and sack Souness for Peter Reid eh?

While I'd have no problem wanting Souness to leave if we were having another poor season later on, surely we should give him a chance to rectify the wrongs? He's overperformed with Rovers at times; winning a cup and sixth place so soon after the depths of the Kidd regime? We want someone to take us up the league; Souness has already done that. It only makes sense to see if he can repeat that before realising he can't and then sacking him which would cost us a fortune in compensation.

Souness has to improve. We know that. If he doesn't there be calls for his head. To suggest not giving him the chance to put right his wrongs after such an impressive preformance before this season is too much, too soon. Basing Souness on his entire record at Rovers rather than kneejerk reactions to latest results.

waggy- I'll just say that you have consistently held your views and I respect that, unlike some members of this board you haven't popped on to say "told you so" after every single Rovers defeat. You make your case better than most.

Excellent post although IMO whilst Cole's been good he's still been inconsistent and needed the presence of another performing striker to regain his form - which is fair enough.

Think there's been underlying problems for quite some time - mainly the ability to ignore certain positions and the tendency to fall out with players. However all managers have their downsides and as long as the good outweighs the bad - as it has for 3 out of 4 seasons then we should stick with Souness.

And that combined with O'Leary's quote from earlier this season (can't find the whole thing, but I distinctly remember him uttering something about wanting to "do a Leeds" with Aston Villa) is what pisses me off.

What - spend vast quantities of money and get them bankrupt? That'd suit me fine. Then we could pick up Barry, Angel and a few others on the cheap.

Seriously though, I don't think that's likley to happen. Ellis is notorious for not supporting managers that well with funds.

If we let every player who's played inconsistently go this season we would loose half the team (and I'm being generous). And since Tugay's form has been picking up of late, he's one of the players who has indicated that they can get back to their best, or at least a good level of performance.

In a team with as little flair as us loosing Tugay would be another step towards achieving the goal of the most unattractive team to watch. Even if Tugay isn't up to the full 90 minutes every week, having his killer passing ability on the bench each week is a huge asset and likely to give us a fair few goals and points. Personally IMO he can perform this role for another 2 seasons. Added to that, as already stated, he's Rovers through and through and a fan favourite, loosing him is only likely to dishearten many of the fans.

I think that we've just as good a chance as Villa as getting him. From his point of view he's more likely to be guarenteed a first team place - let's face it he's no competition at all. Also Villa are not much more likely to win anything than Rovers, indeed we've had more success than them over the last few seasons. Not sure how badly Villa want him, he's hardly neccessary for the team, so might not make as much of an effort to get him. Hopefully Stig can put in a word for us.

Peace offer to Jay and DavidDunn 16 :

OK LADS! you are the bestest, bestest and even better than bestest fans ever to visit our falling down stadium,you are huge and make the pig farmers of Blackburn look small fry.Your vocal support nearly ripped the sky open tha' nows!

Will that do lads? .....................

I thought you were talking to Spurs fans there for a moment.

Birmingham manager's hardly noted for his loyalty. When the going gets tough Brucie gets another club. How many clubs did he botch or jump ship? Couldn't even get Wigan out of the second division.

And let's be honest, can anyone see Birmingham winning anything in the next five years?