I dont think he will need 3 months worth of training before he plays for the first team. That would be way too long. Im guessing he will be back mid-January. GREAT NEWS!

And as if fans fc is a reliable site!

I think 1 million may be the best we can hope for and I cant see Bridge being traded for Neill.

The table doesnt lie. People should stop misleading themselves like they did a couple of seasons ago with Souness in charge. We are in bad form, forget about decisions. How about two pens against Bolton yet we couldnt score? We have had our fair share of decisions go our way too I believe. However, our main problems are injuries to key players and lack of thrust up front and I dont see that changing till the end of January at least, on both fronts. We have missed pace in the team with Reid and Roberts out and up front, well Benni cant turn it on every single match and the burden of scoring has been firmly on one player this season. Our makeshift defence has only started to settle during the last couple of games now as well. Overall, I think we need to turn the corner as soon as possible cause there are games coming thick and fast and we dont want to be down there X-mas time.

Is the draw for the next round random or...? I mean how is it that we avoid CL teams if we finish first?

People wanting Gomaa is a surprise. Has anyone actually seen him play?

Jeffers has looked "lively". For a striker to be looking good, in my opinion, the guy has to be pushing the keeper to good saves and I havent seen that in general unless it happened in the last 2 UEFA Cup games which I havent watched.

I kind of agree. Id rather a hungry and young striker too. From the start when I saw Nonda for us I had my questions about him because he is not half the player he once was. His movement is very awkward and no pace at all. Yes he works reasonably hard but still. People were singing his praises as if he had scored consecutive hat-tricks. But after about 12-13 games, its obvious that those were premature. Roberts on the other hand is so influential cause his pace is something we lack anywhere else in the side. And Jeffers well you got to be kidding me!! With Benni out of form and Roberts injured, we are as good as shooting blanks up front.

I dont think he will be solving any goal scoring problems and in fact I think he isnt an out and out striker. This is a bit about him on wikipedia: "The ease with which he misses goal scoring opportunities, however, makes him a scapegoat for the Olympiacos fans when the team isn't performing well and they are becoming increasingly vocal about it."

Would be devastating to lose Nelsen!

After the UEFA Cup game, we will have 10 days to recuperate and I think we should be up for this game and have Neill back too. Why is it that our match with Watford was postponed though?

The ref and his linesmen had a stinker. And we lost the game cause of that. They didnt look like scoring to be honest and even with the man advantage they really couldnt muster anything but with that said we didnt really look like adding a second either although our buildup play was decent.

Cant see us winning. We are on a bad run and our squad is being tested to the limit. Hopefully Savage is back cause we have missed him. Is it coincidence that our bad run has seen him missing?

I completely agree with the above. We have a small squad without injuries and its a shame that we have lost Reid and Nelsen and now Roberts to long-term injuries and Savage as well the last couple of weeks. Is it a coincidence that our league run has occured around the time of losing Sav? I think not. Mokoena was poor in my opinion. He is a very limited footballer who gets exposed if he plays in a 4-4-2. His short-passing is a massive worry. I thought Tugay played some wonderful balls last night and overall we lacked a cutting edge from midfield and the boys up front were left to feed off scraps. Disappointed but expected with our current situation.

Is Savage back tomorrow? Its vital for us if he is.

Lets be real. He is still a good player. He never was an excellent player but his set pieces, crosses, and passing are world class. So lets not act as if he is worse than what we got, cause he isnt. Bentley can move infield. But I cant see Becks coming to us.

I reckon the first goal will make a big difference especially if we score it and they have no confidence.

Injury or suspension to Tugay or Savage and we will be left very thin in the middle with not much options other than Mokoena. Priority must be a central midfielder for January.

Shocking. So disappointed for him and for us. He was coming off the best form of his life and signed a new contract then this. So much pressure on Tugay to stay fit and on form now but with the games piling up, it will be difficult.

Latest on Reidy?

For an experienced European international player, Ooijer makes an awfully lot of misjudgments. What was the point of that late challenge on Heskey who rarely scores, let alone with his left foot from the left side of the area! Overall a good performance and I thought we were worth the win especially with our second half performance. Roberts' pace is a great asset and Benni looks to be on fire. His movement, touch and shooting is top drawer as well.

At least we all know we will have at least 4 more European games thus completing our longest European campaign since the CL debacle the year after our league win. And since the top 3 qualify then we can reasonably expect to be among the last 32 teams too!

Yep 2-2 and we got extra time. I cant find anywhere to watch it. I wish I was at Ewood tonight.

Confirmed. Its on. And away goals count at the end of 90 minutes! So if we draw 3-3 after 90 mins we are out. By the same token, a 1-1 draw takes us through.

Red Bull travel poorly away from their artificial pitch. My Austrian journalist friend says we should have them in a bag.