A tale of two halves.

The first was uninspiring. I was pleased in the 2nd half to see greater attacking invention.

The win was vital but there are quite a few areas of concern for Hughes to address over the coming months.

Disappointing to see Portsmouth glide past some our defenders easily, and on another day we could have lost.

The ref's decision not to give Pompey a penalty perhaps partly makes up for the points we lost against the Saints, due to Andy D'Urso's performance.

Below - Matt is greeted warmly at the end by his former team mate.

A nice and interesting read about Hughesy.

Telegraph Article by Lineker

Thanks for that link Alan.

Interesting article from Mr Lineker.

If I may, I'd just like to widen this topic up to discuss coaching and general management qualifications.

Messrs Hughes and Bowen are both 40-year-old Welshmen. And both of them hold the 'UEFA Pro Licence' qualification.

To be a manager in the Premiership now, you need one of two coaching qualifications - either the FA Coaching Diploma or the UEFA Pro Licence.

The FA Coaching Diploma can be awarded to managers with 10 years or more experience of being a Number 1 - for example Souness and Kevin Keegan. There are also specially run FA Coaching courses which enable other managers to qualify for the diploma.

The courses are usually run by the FA at Warwick University under the tutelage of Les Reed and Don Howe.

As I understand it, there are four main stages or levels to qualify as a top coach.

'FA Level 1 Club Coach' is the UK's most popular course.

Over 17,000 coaches took part last year. This is mainly for those interested in working with youngsters at club or county level. Level 1 deals with the basics like passing and ball-control, dribbling, shooting and heading.

The next step is 'FA Level 2 Club Coach'.

This is a course I'd be interested in undertaking myself at some stage.

Level 2 goes into more detail - dealing with fitness, nutrition and injuries etc, as well as basic coaching principles.

The next coaching step is Level 3 or the UEFA 'B' grade licence.

This 3rd level obviously goes into greater depth than the first two stages, and deals for example, with more advanced counter-attacking and defending strategies.

The final coaching steps are the UEFA 'A' Grade and then the UEFA Pro Licence - which is usually only open to aspiring Head Coaches at senior professional level.

Although to manage in the Premiership now you technically need either a UEFA Pro Licence or an FA Coaching Diploma, there is some flexibility in the way the rules are applied.

Last season, for example, Eddie Gray was allowed to manage Leeds for several months despite not holding either of the qualifications.

This season, Steve Wigley is managing at Southampton, despite, I understand, not holding either of the two major qualifications.

There was much tabloid speculation a couple of weeks ago that Alan Shearer was a leading candidate to succeed Bobby Robson. Alan is not, as yet though, fully qualified to be a Premiership manager. I gather that Shearer has recently been undertaking a UEFA 'B' grade course.

There are perhaps, broadly speaking, six main areas that are vital for Premiership managers these days.

1. Coaching and Tactics

Obviously the most important requirement - enabling you to win matches.

2. Man Management

This was arguably where Souness came unstuck at Rovers.

Although, to be fair, he did have to work with some infuriating characters like Dwight Yorke and Keith Gillespie.

3. The Chairman and Directors

Unfortunately, you have to keep these b*stards happy because they are the ones who determine whether you stay in a job.

Keeping them happy though is not simply just a case of winning matches. Mike Newell for example, won promotion with Hartlepool but was still sacked for off-the field reasons. There are politics involved in football and you have to try to keep the men in the boardroom happy.

4. Organisation and Administration.

Good organisation is vital, allowing you to concentrate on the football. It's important to surround yourself with the right kind of people to help ensure that the club is run smoothly.

5. Identifying Player Targets and Abilities

Very important to have a good scouting network and to be able to identify the requirements of a quality player - not just looking once at a long-haired Italian on video.

6. The Media and Agents

You have to deal with these b*stards as well at times.

If I was a player, I wouldn't want to speak to the media unless I had to. I prefer to keep my business private.

But for a manager, it's a fact of life that you have to deal with the media these days. The interest in the press and media has spiralled hugely in the last 20 years but it's something that you have to try to be in control of.

Similarly with agents - they are part and parcel of the game now and you have to negotiate with them at times.

Time will tell how Hughes does in each of these main areas of management. Fortunately, he got off to an auspicious start yesterday with a win.

Hughes' assistant, Mark Bowen, a UEFA Pro Licence holder, has played under a variety of well known managers in his career, such as Martin O'Neill (at Norwich), Harry Redknapp (at West Ham) and Alan Curbishley at Charlton.

It was a bit of a 'politicians' answer on Monday, when Hughes said: "I have no plans to leave Wales."

He didn't say that on Monday. He was asked about it at the Press Conference and said it was something he said a while ago when he didn't have any plans to leave Wales at that time.........

If that's the case Mum, I stand corrected. Thanks for letting me know.

I was under the impression that Hughes had said those words earlier in the week because it was widely reported in some of the more 'informed' broadsheet newspapers as well as the tabloids.

Just goes to show again the power of the press and the fact that you can't take as gospel everything that's printed.

I hope Mum, that you'll forgive me and you won't send me to bed early without one of your nice milky drinks...

Hughes has revealed that he consulted Fergie before accepting the Rovers job, and RFW was supportive of his decision to try his luck at Ewood.

Link below:

http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/...1306528,00.html

Strachan was my first choice for manager - but I'm not disappointed by Hughes.

Sparky might prove to be the right choice given time. We'll have to wait and see.

Looking at the positives for our new manager:

Mark clearly has the respect of the Rovers players, and most of the fans. He had a long and distinguished playing career.

Sparky improved the fortunes of Wales - compared with the shambles under Bobby Gould.

He's not an old dinosaur. Instead, he's in touch with the modern game and will obviously be keen to do well at Rovers - a club he has an affinity for.

For a possible negative:

At the risk of bringing up that old chestnut of 'experience' again....

Whilst it's true that many of the managers in the Premiership such as Mourinho and Fergie had no previous experience of top flight football in England, it's also true that the majority of managers in the Premiership had some experience of previously being a boss of a club side, either in Britain or continental Europe.

In terms of club management, Hughes is a novice. Only four other Premiership managers had no previous experience of managing another British/European club side before they gained their current jobs.

To go through the Premiership managers:

Arsene Wenger - Managed Monaco.

David O'Leary - Managed Leeds.

Steve Bruce - Experience with Sheffield United, Huddersfield, Wigan and Crystal Palace.

Sam Allardyce - Previously managed Notts County and Blackpool.

Jose Mourinho - Managed Porto.

Iain Dowie - Previous experience with Oldham.

David Moyes - Managed Preston.

Rafael Benitez - Managed Valencia

Kevin Keegan - Previous spells with Fulham and Newcastle.

Alex Ferguson - Managed Aberdeen and St Mirren.

Graeme Souness - Previous clubs include Rangers, Liverpool and Southampton.

Nigel Worthington - Previous spell in charge of Blackpool.

Harry Redknapp - Managed Bournemouth and West Ham.

Jaques Santini - Managed Lyon.

Gary Megson - Has managed Norwich, Blackpool and Stoke.

The four other Premiership managers who had no previous club management experience prior to their current jobs are Steve Wigley, Chris Coleman, Alan Curbishley and Steve McClaren.

This might not prove to be a negative for Hughes - but as yet, Sparky is untried at club level.

I was listening to Radio 5 the other day, and a couple of Welsh fans were very critical of Hughes.

One guy said that Sparky "ruined" Wales' best chance of qualifying for years, when he played a negative formation against Russia. Another Welshman berated Sparky for his reliance on the long ball to Hartson, and accused Hughes of being dishonest earlier in the week when he spoke of having 'no plans' to leave the Welsh job.

There are obviously two sides to Mark Hughes. There's the aggressive, nasty bugger with thighs built like tree trunks who enjoyed going round kicking people for fun.

Off the pitch, his demeanour couldn't be more different - a very softly spoken guy who barely talks above a whisper level.

Apart from berating refs, he's never been a very opinionated character.

Very few people probably get close enough to know him well. As Bryan Robson said, Sparky never used to say two words in the dressing room, but as soon as he stepped out onto the pitch, he became a different animal.

How Hughes will do at Rovers, time will tell.

Unfortunately, he can't make any significant changes to the squad until January - and even then he will probably be hampered by the tight purse that John Williams and the board keep now.

It was a bit of a 'politicians' answer on Monday, when Hughes said: "I have no plans to leave Wales."

A bit like a Government minister saying that there are "no plans" to put up taxes, the week before they actually go up.

A link to Hughes's earlier comments this week:

http://www.utvinternet.ie/newsroom/indepth.asp?id=17740&pt=s

The Daily Mail are reporting that Hughes will be our new manager after Strachan turned the job down.

I would have preferred Strachan to Hughes, but I'll accept Sparky as manager - which seems likely now.

Hopefully his lack of Premiership management experience won't prove to be damaging.

The thing that worries me most about Hughes is that some Wales fans are saying he's tactically naive and has had one alright campaign that most have over-celebrated - they didn't even qualify.

This might be a slightly harsh assessment, but it's possible to suggest that when Wales had their best chance of qualifying for a major tournament in years - in the play-off against Russia for Euro 2004 - they ultimately failed.

In the first-leg, they achieved a respectable 0-0 draw away in Russia.

But for the home-leg, with Wales needing to beat the Russians in order to go to Portugal, Hughes played a very cautious 4-5-1 formation, with Robert Earnshaw left on the bench.

The tactics from Sparky were criticised by Welsh fans for being overly conservative, and Russia ended up winning the match 1-0. As we saw in Portugal this summer, the Russians are a fairly mediocre ordinary side.

Leslie Mark Hughes, (understandably he changed his Christian name) was appointed Welsh manager in 1999, initially on a part-time basis.

Wales had a poor 2002 World Cup qualifying campaign. They finished 5th out of 6th in their qualifying group, and their dreadful 0-0 draw at home to Armenia, meant that the Welsh had gone on a run of 11 games without a win.

Wales got off to a flier in their Euro 2004 qualifying group, but then stumbled, losing 1-0 to Serbia & Montenegro and then 4-0 to Italy.

Even after having been thrashed by the Italians, Wales could still have won the group, but rather than capitalising on Italy's 1-1 draw with Serbia, Hughes' side failed to beat Finland at home.

In their current qualifying campaign so far, Wales have had two poor results, drawing with Azerbaijan and Northern Ireland.

So it's fair to say that Welsh results under Hughes have been something of a mixed bag. There have been some excellent performances, like a 2-1 win at home to Italy, alongside other games where Wales have failed to do themselves justice.

Below is Hughes' actual playing record:

Man United 1980-86 League Appearances 89, Goals 37. (Joined United as a 17 year old. It took him a few seasons to get into the first team.)

Barcelona 1986-88 League Appearances 28, Goals 4.

Bayern Munich (On Loan) 1987-88 League Appearances 18, Goals 6.

Man United 1988-95 League Appearances 256, Goals 82.

Chelsea 1995-98 League Appearances 95, Goals 25.

Southampton 1998-2000 League Appearances 52, Goals 2. (A very poor goal-scoring record with the Saints, although to be fair, he did play some games in midfield for them.)

Everton 2000 League Appearances 18, Goals 1.

Blackburn 2000-2002 League Appearances 50 (25 as substitute), Goals 6.

Hughes probably kept Ferguson in a job when he scored twice for United against Palace in the 1990 FA Cup Final.

As well as RFW, he's played under a string of famous managers, like Ron Atkinson, Venables, Vialli, Gullit, and Graeme Souness - so you would hope that he's learnt a fair bit along the way from those various managers.

From high up on one of the St James's Park stands - the watching Graeme Souness wouldn't have had any regrets at all about his decision to swap life on East Lancashire for a new venture on Tyneside.

Flitcroft's own goal was merely the start of the shambles.

This was followed by some disgracefully slack defending seven minutes later when Shearer was given oceans of space to head home and make it 2-0.

It was criminal for our defence to give that amount of time and space in the box to the most prolific striker in Premiership history.

They say that football is the greatest game on earth. It can also though be incredibly infuriating when our players fail to do the basic simple things properly.

Our failure to mark Shearer and give him such time and space in the box was scandalous, disgraceful and an abject failure of duty.

I'm still fuming from it.

On Monday morning, Tony Parkes needs to sit the players down, make them watch a video of the shambles and tell them that they can't let this continue to happen.

As Scotty said, it could have been a cricket score at half-time - such was the space we were affording the Newcastle players.

It was in effect, game set and match to the Geordies after just 16 minutes.

You just couldn't envisage Rovers coming back to make it 2-2, like Norwich City managed at St James' Park a couple of weeks ago.

After the match, Parkes said: "We didn't play very well and the players will be disappointed by it."

That was certainly an understatement from TP.

I thought it was a shocking and disgraceful display.

Make no mistake, these are worrying times ahead for us. We desperately need the right man to come in soon and sort this mess out.

30 miles down the road from St James' Park, two men came face to face yesterday who had both apparently turned down the Newcastle job.

Messrs Bruce and McClaren, if reports are to be believed, were both ahead of Souness in the queue to be boss of the Toon Army.

For one reason or another, they both decided to stay in their respective jobs.

Souness must be counting his good fortune that they did so. If Souey had remained at Ewood Park, there's no doubt he would have come under real pressure at Rovers if our poor results had continued.

McClaren incidentally, won the battle of the Riverside stadium 2-1 yesterday, with the surly Mark Viduka scoring both of Boro's goals.

Just down the A171 from Middlesbrough to Whitby Bay, the stern figure of Captain Cook stands on the shore - looking out towards the North Sea. (Pictured here)

To use a ship metaphor, Rovers are rudderless at present. We desperately need the right man at the helm to steer us through the stormy waters that lie ahead.

With Mr Williams saying that we have to run a tight ship from now on, I'd welcome Gordon Strachan on board the Ewood ship with open arms.

It's vital that we set sail away from danger soon.

Otherwise there's a real worry that we'll end up firmly anchored near the bottom of the Premiership sea - leading to eventual catastrophe.

So according to the Guardian today, Iain Dowie and Mark Hughes are two out of the names on the shortlist.

We don't know of course if the Guardian are right, or if they are just plucking names out like the rest of us.

If it was up to me, as I said in an earlier post, the two main names on my shortlist would be Alan Curbishley and Gordon Strachan.

I had a friendly argument at work yesterday with a colleague who told me that there's "not a cat in hell's chance" that Curbishley would leave the Valley for Rovers.

It may of course be the case that the chances of him wanting to come to Ewood are slim. I just think that it's worth a try and that no harm is done by asking.

Curbishley is the 3rd most experienced Manager in the Premiership - with over 600 games for Charlton.

(Only Harry Redknapp, with over 850 games in charge of Bournemouth, West Ham and Portsmouth - and Alex Ferguson, with nearly 1000 games in charge of Man United, have had more experience of English management.)

There will eventually come a time when Curbs fancies a fresh challenge away from the Valley. Whether he would only leave for a bigger city club or for the England job, time will tell.

Assuming that Curbishley isn't interested in joining us, Strachan would be my next choice. He was on the 'Football Focus' sofa a short while ago - but avoided answering any questions about the Rovers vacancy.

I would accept Mark Hughes as manager, but would have a concern about his lack of experience in charge of a club side.

Remember that although Hodgson and Kidd were both well known names - neither of them had any past experience of being a Premiership manager. And ultimately they both failed at Rovers.

If it's Reid:

1) I''ll be astounded

2) I'll set off to Beachy Head.

If it's Reid, I might be joining you at Beachy Head, Jason!

We could drive down there together - at least it would save on the petrol....

As well as Peter Reid, other managers that I definitely don't want are:

Dick Advocaat

Mike Newell

George Graham

Glenn Hoddle

Paul Jewell

Paul Sturrock

Mick McCarthy

Bryan Robson

Walter Smith

A big 'No' to all of those names above - and especially of course to Gerard Houllier.

Houlliers a joke manager.

You're right Theno.

And as another board member said, Houllier has the habit of buying 2nd and 3rd rate African players - and we definitely don't want any of those at Rovers, eh Gord?

The latest odds with bookies Paddy Power. (Sorry Colin, I know you don't like the betting odds - you're right that they don't tell us who'll be appointed) - but just purely out of interest, they are:

M Hughes 6/4

I Dowie 7/2

D Advocaat 11/2

G Strachan 9/1

D Moyes 16/1

M Newell 16/1

G Houllier 18/1

P Jewell 25/1

G Hoddle 25/1

M McCarthy 33/1

T Venables 40/1

Pure speculative story from Michael Morgan.

I'd suggest that this topic should be locked.

Jim is old enough (82 is it now?) to know better.

Unless perhaps the matron has been feeding him an extra spoonful of tripe for dinner....

I'd be spitting blood if Reid was appointed. And I'm sure thousands of other Rovers fans would feel the same way.

But unless something more concrete develops rather than just this speculative "flyer" from Michael Morgan, then there's really no need for this additional thread IMO.

BTW, our old friend Alan Nixon got it wrong on Sunday. His article in the 'People' said that David O'Leary was set to resign at Villa Park and be named as the new Newcastle manager.

This appointment is absolutely vital as it's imperative that we keep our Premiership place. 

Absolutely right.

It's obviously crucial that JW and the board get the right man here.

Get it right, and we can be a solid Premiership team in the top half of the table over the next few seasons.

Get it wrong, and we could be looking at relegation and total catastrophe.

The two names which appeal most to me are:

Alan Curbishley

It might of course be the case that he won't want to leave the Valley for Rovers.

No harm in trying though is there?

Any compensation we might have to fork out to Charlton for Curbishley would in my view be money well spent. Relegation from the Premiership would cost us £20m. Curbishley has an excellent record with Charlton - operating on a shoestring budget for much of his time there.

After being at the Valley for over a decade (the 3rd longest serving manager in Britain after Dario Gradi and RFW) - he may well fancy a fresh challenge. You never know. It's worth asking IMO.

He commands respect and has authority in the dressing room, without being a screaming tea cup thrower.

Excellent achievement to finish 9th with Charlton in their first season back in the top flight.

My 2nd choice would be:

Gordon Strachan

The wee ginger one did well with the Saints - finishing 8th in the Premiership with Southampton - the club's highest league position for 13 years. Reached the FA Cup final as well.

Although he likes a laugh at times, he can still command respect in the dressing room, as a boss with experience of managing a side in the top half of the table.

He was a successful player too - Footballer of the Year in 1992 - and after taking a break from the game five months ago, he might relish the challenge of managing Blackburn.

I gather that John Williams occasionally reads this M/B.

If you do happen to be reading this Mr Williams: Please Please don't appoint Monsieur Houllier.

The shame and embarrassment of having him as our boss would haunt me. I'd have to lie in a darkened room and wouldn't be able to leave the front door of the house for a week. My ultimate nightmare would be Houllier alongside Phil Thompson. Can you imagine it?

Please don't let it happen, John. This is the duo who blew over £100m quid at Liverpool, with neagative sterile football and ending up 30 points behind Arsenal after promising Anfield fans the title inside 5 years.

I'd be more unhappy than Lucas Neill if he was appointed.

May I also urge you Mr Williams to Please not appoint any of the following:

George Graham

A thief, a liar and a crook. We'd be guaranteed the most appalling negative football. Crowds would dwindle further.

Glenn Hoddle

As a player, I admired him greatly. He was one of the best passers of the ball over the last 25 years and exceptionally gifted on the pitch. As a coach though, it's fair to say that his man-management skills are clearly lacking.

He has already applied for the job and is clearly keen. I can only hope the board have put his application into the nearest waste paper bin.

Paul Jewell

I'd be deeply unhappy to say the least if he was appointed. He was a disaster at Sheffield Wednesday. Not the right man.

Mike Newell

Now is not the time for being sentimental over an old Ewood playing favourite.

He has no experience as a Premiership manager. He is totally untried at the top level. Appointing him would be a reckless gamble IMO.

Left Hartlepool under a cloud.

He arrogantly wanted to sue supporters who had dared to criticise him on the internet.

I'd like to see him try and sue me...

Peter Reid/Bryan Robson/Howard Wilkinson

Surely the board have too much sense don't they?

I mean they couldn't possibly contemplate either of these three, could they.

We would be a laughing stock.

As I said, the most important thing is we try to establish ourselves over the coming seasons as a solid Premiership club competing in the top half of the table.

Crucially, both Alan Curbishley and Gordon Strachan have the necessary experience of both being managers in the top half - which is exactly where we want to be.

In the heart of Newcastle, standing proudly some 130 feet in the air - Earl Grey, the famous tea enthusiast and social reformer who was responsible for abolishing slavery in the British Empire - keeps a watchful eye over the proceedings in the city. (PICTURED HERE)

I suspect that if Grey was still alive and actually able to cast a gaze across the city to St James' Park, he would be disgusted, like every decent football fan, with the disgraceful goings on at the club this season.

It first started on the opening day of the campaign.

A petulant spoilt brat named Keiron Dyer arrogantly informed his Manager that he wasn't willing to play on the right hand side of midfield against Middlesbrough. Later on - when offered the captain's armband, Dyer contemptuously tossed it aside, treating the armband with disdain.

He epitomises the new breed of 'Brat Pack' footballers - arrogant, self-centred and a disgrace to the game.

Dyer is apparently nicknamed "Bling" by team mates - for his frequent boasts that he earns 60 grand a week.

Just a few days after his refusal to play against Boro, there popped up another slimeball from under the Newcastle woodwork.

Craig Bellamy had the audacity and arrogance to undermine his Manager even more by vowing to quit the club if Rooney is signed.

Part of the trouble at St James' Park was that too many players thought they could run the team, instead of leaving it to the Manager.

Working conditions may have improved for people since the time before Earl Grey abolished slavery, but the way in which players now want to run the show and boast of earning 60 grand a week is sickening.

Under the dreadlocked Ruud Gullit, the club, having finished in the bottom half of the table twice under his management, had all the signs of heading for relegation under the Dutchman's regime.

Bobby completely turned the club's playing performances around, and in the last three seasons the club has finished 5th, 4th and 3rd in the Premiership, as well as reaching the semi-final of the UEFA cup last season.

All rather different to life under Mr Gullit.

If this had to be Sir Bobby's final season, then the least he deserved was a bit of dignity and the chance to make a proper farewell at the end of the season to the club he loves so much.

Due to Freddie Shepherd's arrogance and large ego - which matches the size of his girth - Sir Bobby has disgracefully been booted out of the blub after just 4 games of the season. Newcastle are traditional slow starters. A couple of seasons ago they got off to a dreadful start, but still managed to finish in the Top 4.

In their statement today, the club said:

"After a disappointing start to the Premier League season, the directors of Newcastle United have informed Sir Bobby Robson that they have decided he is to be replaced as team manager."

What a heartless b*stard Freddie Shepherd is.

An appalling way to treat a real gentleman of the game.

Bobby lives, breathes and eats football, and will be devastated by his sacking.

Even at 71, there are few harder working managers in the game than Robson. The son of a Durham coal miner, Bobby was brought up on traditional working values.

In his spare time, he does a large amount of fundraising for local hospitals after he was succesfully treated for cancer.

Football can be a cruel game at times, and Robson has been unlucky on quite a few occasions. The penalty shootout with Germany in 1990 obviously springs to mind, while at Ipswich under Bobby's management, the club were runners up in the League twice, in 1981 and 1982.

Ipswich were particularly unfortunate in 1981. They played some of the most attractive football of the season that year, and if they had beaten Middlesbrough on the final day of the season, the title would have gone to Portman Road rather than Villa Park.

Ipswich did win the UEFA Cup though in 1981 - which ensured legendary status for Robson in the town. It's inconceivable that the Suffolk club will ever again win another European trophy.

Freddie Shepherd's arrogance was perhaps best summed up in the unguarded comments he made about Newcastle fans - laughing and boasting about ripping off Toon supporters.

I recently described Peter Kenyon as a leech on the shoulders of the beautiful game. Shepherd is another one. He sickens me.

I started off this post by mentioning a particular statue. Sir Bobby of course, has also been sculptured in stone.

There's a fine statue of Bobby in Ipswich which you can see PICTURED HERE

Robson will be remembered in the game long after the odious Shepherd has gone.

Pederson had a great Debut.

Your definition of "Great" is obviously different to mine....

I thought he was average at best. Indeed, I can't recall him once getting to the byline and putting a decent cross in.

From the Pederson thread:

It's a big advantage that he can use both his lefs.

He may have two "lefs" - but sadly he didn't use his head at times.

He should have made it 2-0 to wrap the game up. That was the defining moment of the game, when in one of our rare counter-attacks, Emerton squared the ball to Pederson.

He had the time and space to control it, move forward and calmly sidefoot the ball past Tim Howard, but failed to do so. Whether it was nerves, inexperience or stupidity, I'm not sure.

Earlier, his acrobatic bicycle kick may have raised a few cheers, but ultimately the showboating resulted in giving possession away to United.

Another comment on the Pederson thread perhaps best sums up the situation:

Everything is faster, and he needs time to adjust

Correct.

Let's hope he can improve. At the moment, this young man looks as if he has a little bit to learn.

Playing United at a frenetic pace is altogether different to playing against SK Brann or FK Viking in the Norwegian League.

The equaliser was sickening but not a surprise to me. In the final minutes we didn't get tight enough or keep hold of the ball.

Smith's goal obviously shouldn't have been allowed, but why do our players seem incapable of keeping hold of the ball near the opposition corner flag for the final couple of minutes?

It was the same against the Saints. The ref robbed us there as well, but the ball shouldn't have been near our goal in the first place.

A final moan about yesterday - What the hell was Lucas Neill doing when he nearly put the ball into the back of the net with a header?

Sorry for being Mr Grumpy - United scoring in the last minute tends to have that effect on me...

We should run a 'most depressing match' thread. It would run and run.

I might be a leading candidate for that....

Anyway, Michael Schumacher once said about a Grand Prix event: "I was in second gear for most of the race and still managed to win."

That was rather the case with Arsenal last night.

The Gunners weren't by any means at their imperious best - in the first half, they looked as ordinary as I've seen them for a long time. If they were playing against another top class team, they could have been a couple of goals down at half time.

Rovers did give a reasonably good account of themselves in the first 45 minutes. Short was excellent in the first half, leading by example, and nearly scoring from an Emerton cross.

I just wish Craig was 5 years younger - his legs did tire in the 2nd half (along with quite a few Rovers players it has to be said.)

On the half-hour, we carved out another chance. Lucas Neill blasted the ball towards goal, but Dickov couldn't manage to get on the end of it.

Playing for Leicester on the final day of last season, Dickov opened the scoring at Highbury against his former club - initially giving Gunners fans a bit of a scare before they came back to win 2-1 and preserve their long unbeaten record.

Dickov is like one of those little Blackpool ponies that travels up and down the beach all day. He'll work all day, and you can't knock Paul for effort - but in terms of overall quality, he's not a thoroughbred stallion.

Unfortunately, the solid Rovers display in the first half didn't continue in the second period. We were sloppy after the break - and you can't afford to be careless against a team like Arsenal, even if they appear to be in 2nd gear.

Poor defending for the Gunners' first goal. Bergkamp was allowed time and space to cross the ball. From my position at Highbury behind the goal on the other side, I wasn't sure of the identity of the Rovers culprit guilty of allowing the Bergkamp cross to come in - but it was obviously bad defending. Henry was then allowed to squeeze in between our central defence and volley the cross into the net.

From that point, we seemed to fall apart. We didn't once look capable of scoring in the 2nd half. It was boys against men - we simply don't have enough quality in our side.

There's a chronic lack of width down our flanks, which means we are too one-dimensional in our play and don't open up the opposisition defence.

For Arsenal's second goal, it was yet more bad defending from us. When will we ever learn? From a set-piece, Gilberto was allowed to rise unchallenged against a static Rovers defence, to head the corner into the back of the net. Fabregas may have got the final touch.

Ten minutes later - a shocking pass from us led to a third Arsenal goal from their sub, the young Spaniard Reyes. Our subs, De Pedro and Yorke, it's fair to say, weren't quite so effective. Dwight moved around the pitch with all the speed of a Caribbean slug.

There could have been more goals. Pires wasted a good opportunity to make it 4-0, and an Henry cross came close to going past Friedel.

When the final whistle blew, a Rovers fan sitting in front of me turned round and said: "A hundred quid to come down and watch that sh1te."

I couldn't find many words of comfort for him - I had to agree that our defending in the 2nd half was abysmal.

There were a few plus points in the first half - Short as I said, played well in the first 45 minutes, and I couldn't fault Dickov and Michael Gray for effort.

Tugay, our Turkish Delight, showed a few moments of class on the ball. Other than that, the gulf in class between the two sides was tangible - even though I didn't think that Arsenal were ever at their very best.

A long hard season could well be lying ahead of us....

"It's a record that I thought would never be broken in my lifetime" said Cloughy recently about his Forest side's 42 match unbeaten run in the late 70's.

Let's face it, despite Rovers beating Arsenal 2-1 at Highbury two seasons ago, and indeed doing the 'double' over them in 2002-03, it's going to be an absolute miracle if the Gunners don't break the unbeaten record tomorrow night.

I'm just hoping we don't get totally stuffed, because at the moment Arsenal are on a different planet going forward. A complete antithesis of the George Graham's dour days in charge of "One nil to the Arsenal."

Meanwhile, sources at both Highbury and the Bernabeu have confirmed informally that a pre-contract arrangement to start up the amusing annual "Vieira to Real Madrid" rumour mill at the beginning of next year is already near to being completed.

As soon as a spin doctor has confirmed that the narrative will be believable enough to trick the gullible one more time, it will be signed.

Although exact details of the agreement have yet to be released the main points of the deal are understood to be:

In January, an unnamed team mate will tell the press "Patrick has never been happier at the club", leading to speculation that Vieira is in fact deeply unhappy at Arsenal and is keen to move to Real Madrid in the summer.

In February, Vieira will be omitted from Arsenal's FA Cup 4th round tie against Darlington on the flimsy grounds of injury, leading to massive press speculation that Vieira will be desperate to join Madrid in the summer.

In March, Zinedine Zidane will tell a L'Equipe press reporter that "we always want the best players in the world", leading to increased speculation that Vieira is deeply despondent at Arsenal and will be joining Madrid in the summer.

In April, following the substitution of Vieira in the 78th minute of a home game that Arsenal are barely winning 5-0, a television picture of the French midfielder will appear to show him momentarily shaking his head at Wenger when leaving the pitch. An Arsenal press spokesman will later deny that there is any rift between the pair, leading to fevered press speculation that Vieira is in fact hugely miserable at Arsenal and is anxious to depart for Spain.

In May, Vieira will be spotted at Heathrow Airport standing no more than fifty feet from a departures screen with a flight to Madrid showing on it - albeit actually waiting in a queue for a plane for Paris. He will decline to answer questions from a journalist at the airport leading to further press speculation that Vieira is deeply unhappy at Arsenal and determined to join Real Madrid.

In June, the Spanish newspaper Marca will quote Real Madrid club president Perez as stating something along the lines of "We have identified our main target for signing this year", leading to tabloid stories that Vieira is intensely depressed at Arsenal and has already signed a deal with Madrid.

In July, a grainy photograph of Vieira on holiday in the south of France will be published in the tabloid press with the headline "Only 100 Miles From Spain - What The Hell Is Senor Patrick Up To?" leading to fevered speculation that Vieira is acutely sad and lonely at Arsenal and is desperate to join his friend Zidane in Madrid.

In August, just days before the start of the season, Vieira will announce that he is staying at Highbury because "I love the club", which a fortnight later will lead to comment that Vieira is actually unhappy at Arsenal and will be leaving the club during the January transfer window.

I think it was Alan75 who said a while back that you have to be a sado-masochist to follow Rovers.

But believe me, I don't enjoy this pain one single bit.

It's ironic that in 1997, Souness resigned as Saints manager after one season, citing that he had been given only £2m to spend in the transfer market.

He complained bitterly at the time: "How am I able to keep the club competitive in the Premiership with that amount to spend?"

Seven years later, Souness has had to make do with only 150,000 to spend this summer - and it shows out on the pitch. We simply don't have enough quality in the side.

We didn't offer any real attacking penetration in the first half, apart from one shot by Jon Stead that was saved. Although our passing was neat and tidy at times, there was no zip, no fizz and very few incisive moves.

Or as Paul put it:

non-descript, uninspired, there is no spark of any sort.

There was a chronic lack of width in the first half which meant we were unable to get round the back of the Saints defence to cause them real problems.

We had no penetration whatsoever on our left-hand side. And there were only one or two sporadic moments of good attacking play down our right flank.

For Phillips' first goal, our defence went to sleep. It was also poor play in midfield to allow the ball to be played into our box in the first place. I thought the point of having Flitcroft and Matteo in midifeld was that we would be solid and difficult to break down. That was not the case yesterday.

Emerton is clearly not a right-back. (Mind you, is he actually much better going forward?)

After the break we initially looked a bit more lively after a welcome change in personel.

Ferguson did well to get forward into the box and score a well-taken goal.

15 minutes later, Emerton (surprisingly) actually got to the byline for a change and put a dangerous cross in. The diminutive Dickov was on the receiving end, and smashed the ball into the back of the net.

The 3 points were there for the taking at St Mary's, but due to a combination of Mr D'Urso's performance and our own inadequacies, we failed in the task. From a position of being 2-1 ahead against what looked like a rather average/mediocre Saints side, we certainly shouldn't have lost the game.

But instead of putting the Southampton on the back foot, attacking them down the flanks and trying to get a 3rd goal, we sat back too much and invited pressure. Friedel couldn't have done much about Anders Svensson's powerful strike into the far corner of the net, but our defence should certainly have cleared our lines better and not allowed the ball to be crossed into the box from the Saints right-hand side.

It looked like being a 2-2 draw - two points lost, but not a complete disaster to draw away from home. That was up until Mr D'Arseh*le decided to create a few headlines and get himself into the back pages.

As my good friend Phil put it:

A couple of minutes fame even if it is for displaying gross incompetence might be considered worth it for a saddo like D'Urso .

Quite a few of our officials clearly love the fame, attention and notoriety they get.

This is why we get refs, such as Graham Poll and Uriah Rennie, who employ agents to get themselves into the public eye as often as they can.

As Sturrock's predecessor Gordon Strachan said last season: "You see these refs laughing and joking about their decisions on comedy programmes like 'They Think It's All Over'. It's sickening. Games are often won and lost because of their incompetence. Do they actually want to be refs or media celebrities?"

Clearly some of them prefer to be the latter.

And so we get creeps like Graham Poll writing his own newspaper column, and Uriah Rennie doing magazine interviews where he shows off karate kick moves to the camera.

Poll himself openly bragged recently: "When I first started out as a ref, I deliberately booked and sent off players to get a reputation as a tough guy."

That is what Poll actually admitted in a TV interview. He was more interested in putting himself in the limelight than in being fair, sensible and strictly impartial on the football field.

Football the beautiful game?

It makes me sick sometimes....

The Guardian are reporting that Sturrock will be sacked if Southampton lose to the Rovers.

Back in 1912, the Titanic departed from Southampton docks in what was to become one of the most fateful voyages in world history.

The "unthinkable" happened, and the great ship was sunk.

To a lesser extent, there seems to be some rather stormy waters down at St Mary's at the moment.

Five months ago, I'm sure it was unthinkable to Paul Sturrock that he could be out of a job by the end of August.

But if they lose to Rovers on Saturday, Sturrock could well be thrown overboard and (metaphorically) sunk from Premiership management.

In February this year, when Sturrock made the relatively short journey along the south coast from Plymouth to Southampton, he seemed regretful of the timing of his appointment.

"It is a sad day. I don't want anyone to think that this is not a gut-wrenching decision for me," he said at the time.

"It has been very difficult. The timing was very disappointing, to say the least. I would have loved to have finished what I started at Plymouth, but football is like that at times, it can kick you in the teeth."

If Rupert Lowe, Southampton's chairman, decides to kick Sturrock out of the club just a couple of games into this season, then it's a fair bet that the Scotsman will rue even more the timing of his departure from Plymouth.

In his short five month stay at St Mary's so far, Sturrock has become unpopular with fans due to his perceived preference for long-ball tactics. His signing of the ex-Portsmouth beanpole striker Peter Crouch didn't go down well either.

Whisperings in the press first started towards the end of last season that players in the camp were unhappy with Sturrock's unorthodox training methods and managerial style.

There have also been reports that board members have been unhappy with Sturrock allegedly turning up late for training, looking unshaven and dishevelled.

Sturrock himself blames the spate of media stories on "agents who are looking to destabalise the club".

"I know exactly where this is coming from," he said. "Certain agents are trying to unsettle this football club, because they are the ones who stand to benefit from selling players."

One suspects that he's got James Beattie very much in mind.

O'Leary says that Beattie is "desperate" to move to Villa Park, but so far the Southampton manager has refused to lower his asking price.

The silver-haired and somewhat portly Sturrock looks almost unrecognisable now from the slim attacking player who performed for Scotland in the 1986 World Cup....

As a player with Dundee United, Sturrock was part of the most illustrious period in the club's history.

He won a Scottish League Championship medal with United in 1983, and the following season the team reached the semi-final of the European Cup. It's inconceivable that a club the size of Dundee United could reach the semi-final of the Champions League now - but 20 years ago the game was very different.

United lost narrowly 3-2 on aggregate in their European semi-final with Roma in 1984. (If they had beaten Roma, Sturrock would have come face to face with his Scotland team-mate Souness in the final with Liverpool.)

In 1987, Sturrock was part of the Dundee United side which lost in the UEFA Cup final to Gothenburg. The club's 5-0 home thrashing of Borussia Monchengladbach is regarded as being one of the best displays by a Scottish side in European club history.

This heady success that Sturrock had as a player with Dundee United contrasts rather unfavourably with some of Southampton's performances under his management.

At Villa Park last Saturday, the Saints were reported to have been lethargic and uninspiring in their 2-0 defeat.

From a Rovers point of view, with Arsenal away, Man United at home and Newcastle away in our next three fixtures after St Mary's - it's obviously imperative that we get something out of this game.

If Southampton do beat us, it will be the first time that they've won an opening home fixture since the Premiership started in 1992.

My prediction:

Southampton 1 Rovers 1.

But I'm desperate for us to win....

SGE is now in a "how to keep a woman satisfied meeting" and teaching the old lechers at the FA just exactly how he does it !

Following on from yesterday's positive performance against the Ukranians, a rejuvenated Sven Goran Eriksson will shortly publish his personal guidebook on the beautiful game.

Sven has handed his guidebook to senior FA officials in readiness for it to be published soon.

Here is a sneak preview:

Introduction

It is my pleasure as England coach to bring you this special footballing guide. Whether it comes to dribbling around the box or scoring while playing away, I believe that my simple list of pointers will guide you to success.

Always remember that great exponents of the beautiful game are made, not born. Don't give up hope of being the envy of thousands of pubgoers simply because you suffer a few knock-backs. Perseverence is the key to success.

Positioning

"Always know where the goal is postitioned" is a useful mantra to remember for all players. Be considerate and do always ask if she prefers to take it up the nipsy...

Ball control

Practice makes perfect, the old saying goes, and I'm a keen exponent of continually honing my skills. Never shoot before you have the goal in sight and remember that a change of scenery works wonders and it's always lovely to move your balls around in an unfamiliar box.

Study the old masters of the game - I particularly recommend George Best.

Equipment

Any self-respecting professional sportsman will need a number of mobile phones, one for each lovely lady.

Women always appreciate quality bedding. Ideally one's bed should be circular, with a rotating function, smoking mirrors and a vibro-massage facility. On the other hand - if you don't earn an enormous salary as I do - then some slappers will probably be happy to do it in the Old Trafford bogs. Allegedly.

Diet

Never underestimate the importance of diet on your perfomance. A good bottle of wine beforehand can work wonders.

Above all, I would advise up-and-coming players to avoid the "Saturday night roast" - much beloved of the younger professionals. Court appearances can seriously cramp your style.

Practice

As I said, practice makes perfect. But at the same time, you don't want to waste your time "choking the chicken". Or, as we used to say in Sweden "throttling the herring".

Dead-ball set-plays

These can sometimes be tricky, especially when you're expected to shoot after nearly 90 minutes and you're faced with a hostile opposition formed into a scowling wall of cross-legged opponents. My advice is simply to deploy more champagne in the hope that your adversary will relax sufficiently to drop her guard, for another good poke at goal.

Internationals

Don't be intimidated by the prospect of testing your skills against foreigners. Once I had perfected my abilities in the domestic arena, I felt confident to take on both Italy and England at the highest level. Don't turn your back on the joys and pleasures of the good, old-fashioned, domestic fixture.

Flexibility

This is important, because no matter how stiff your defence is, 90 minutes of active play will eventually drain your stamina.

So it's important to be flexible in order to move in and out of the box and beyond the half-way line.

Summary

The most important thing, of course, is to have fun. If you're not enjoying yourself when indulging in the beautiful game, then the whole point of this noble pursuit is lost. I took this job with a clear plan of action and this involved me receiving a massive amount of money and enjoying myself fully along the way.

I would finally like to say that the press reports of a breakdown in my relationship with other Premiership managers, especially Alex Ferguson are completely false.

I don't think Alex's comments about a "completely useless fecking foreigner" should be taken as an attack on me. He could easily have meant Diego Forlan instead, couldn't he?

For those of you who don't like negativity look away now!

Ditto.

It was rather like waiting over two months for the opportunity to make mad passionate love for 90 minutes, only to have an unsatisfactory quick fumble.

What a flaccid, limp performance in the first half - too many long balls, posession given away too easily.

Like our venerable senior mod Den, I've got serious doubts about whether we've got enough pace and firepower in our attack.

And have we not learnt anything about giving stupid goals away at set pieces?

We did it time and again last season. Same old story this term - poor defensive wall with players not doing their jobs properly.

Later in the match, some more Keystone Cops defending, this time from Amoruso. We could easily have been 2-0 down after the Italian's lack of concentration with an under-hit backpass.

West Brom will almost certainly be in a relegation battle this year, but at least the WBA board are backing their manager with funds in the transfer market in order to give them a chance of retaining Premiership football.

Megson has so far spent £6m on Jonathan Greening, Darren Purse, Scimeca, Kanu and Kuzsczak, and has reportedly tabled further bids totalling £6.5m on West Ham's Michael Carrick and Anderlecht striker Aruna Dindane.

A possible £12.5m to be spent this summer?

All rather different to the meagre 150 grand we've spent on Paul Dickov. But I guess we've got to 'wee with the willy we've got', as Souness is fond of saying.

At the moment our willy seems to be smaller than a postage stamp. No wonder it was such a limp 1st half performance...

De Pedro had one of the worst debuts I've ever seen.  He doesn't look fit and his crossing was appalling.

Agreed.

Overall summary: CAN AND MUST DO BETTER.

Correct SG.

Just out of interest, Souness is currently joint 2nd favourite with the bookies in the traditional "Sack Race" - ie to be the first Premiership manager to leave his job through either resignation or dismissal during the 2004-05 season.

Kevin Keegan, perhaps unsurprisingly, is the 7-2 outright favourite to be the first Premiership casualty.

Current odds with Bet365 to be the first to go are:

7-2 K Keegan

5-1 H Redknapp, G Souness

9-1 Bobby Robson

12-1 D Moyes, I Dowie.

20-1 P Sturrock, G Megson, N Worthington, A Curbishley

25-1 S McClaren, C Coleman, J Santini, D O'Leary

33-1 S Bruce, S Allardyce

40-1 A Ferguson

50-1 J Mourinho, R Benitez

66-1 A Wenger

Picking the first to go is fairly difficult at this stage.

As well as Keegan, David Moyes will be under pressure if results at Everton are poor again, especially with the ongoing uncertainty surrounding Rooney and with the club having flirted with relegation last season.

The bookies obviously feel that the uneasy truce down at Portsmouth between 'Appy 'Arry and the arrogant Serb Milan Mandaric could flare up again. I understand there have also been a few murmurs of discontent among fans at local rivals Southampton, concerned at the new regime of Rover6's managerial idol, Paul Sturrock.

Sturrock's signing of the ex-Pompey beanpole striker Peter Crouch for £2m hasn't gone down too well with the Saints fans - who are concerned at the prospect of long-ball football being played. There have also been some whisperings in the press that some of the Saints players are unhappy with Sturrock's training routines.

Mark Viduka has claimed that he always gave his all for Leeds.

Some of the Elland Road fans who witnessed the Aussie being sent off twice last season in crucial relegation battles due to his own stupidity, might well disagree with his assessment, especially as last season the striker petulantly stormed off the training ground after spats with the Leeds management.

Signing for Middlesborough a couple of days ago, Viduka said: "I always gave everything for the club in the four years I was there. I was top scorer every year."

(Doesn't say much for Alan Smith does it?)

Interesting that Peter Ridsdale, now with Barnsley, has topped the list of Chairmen paying the most for agent fees in the Nationwide League.

Given Ridsdale's previous extravagances, bringing Leeds to it's knees with over £80m of debt, it seems as if the buffoon still hasn't learnt his lessons. He should have been booted out of football for good after what he did to Leeds.

Such is the mess that he created at the club, Robbie Fowler is being paid £500,000 a year by Leeds up until 2006 even though he's a Man City player, while Robbie Keane still picks up £200,000 a year from Leeds.

Viduka wasn't even owned by the club under a hire purchase arrangement. Leeds still owe £7 million to a loans company for the Aussie striker.

The club had to fork out £4 million in compensation to the sacked David O'Leary, while Venables is due £2 million after he was dismissed.

While Leeds was drowning in a sea of debt, Ridsdale spent £20,000 on tropical fish for a huge fish tank in the boardroom. What a shambles.

One of the few tiny crumbs of comfort Leeds fans have had recently is their draw for the Carling Cup.

In the 1st round, Leeds are paired against Yorskshire rivals Huddersfield, which should at least ensure a decent home gate at Elland Road.

The two clubs haven't played each other for quite a long time. No doubt Jon Stead's old club will be looking forward to playing them, with the travelling Huddersfield fans relishing the prospect of giving Leeds supporters some stick.

Incidentally, Terry Yorath is back now on the coaching staff at Huddersfield, renewing his old partnership with Peter Jackson. Terry was part of the great Leeds team of the early 70's, and is also closely linked with two other Yorkshire sides, Bradford and Sheffield Wednesday, both of which he managed.

Terry has had to cope with quite a bit of tragedy in his life which does put Leeds' financial problems into perspective. He was in charge of Bradford at the time of the 1985 fire, which greatly traumatised him, and later his son, a promising player, died in a tragic accident.

It was a Jimmy McGovern Docu-drama. It was extremely hard hitting, and hard to watch...

We have been trying for years since to get it re-screened to no avail...even this years 15th anniversary went on deaf ears.

Sadly it doesn't surprise me that TV companies aren't willing to re-screen the programme.

There were some unpleasant home truths in the programme about the police and the legal authorities in this country, which people in high places wouldn't want us to dwell on too much.

I think I'm right in saying it was only broadcast once - in 1996 on ITV. The docu-drama was very well written by McGovern - focusing on three families, from their initial excitement as they get tickets for the Cup semi-final, to the agonising turmoil and legal struggle that followed the disaster.

McGovern said in an interview with the New Statesmen recently that there was "a cover-up, and a judge who was a disgrace and created a denial of justice", while the families of the victims were forced to defend their dead.

The programme didn't paint a favourable picture of the police and the legal process in Britain - hence why it probably hasn't been re-screened.

"You should have been at the shoot," McGovern says. "Utter commitment from everybody involved. Money didn't come into it at all. That was the first time I'd ever experienced something like that. We had teams of lawyers though saying 'you can't say this, you can't say that'. Even the most simple speech, I would have to write it 12 times to satisfy the lawyers."

McGovern argues that "white working class males are a neglected group. They are not a sexy cause these days to champion," he says.

The decision of Jack Straw, then Home Secretary, not to re-open the inquiry into the events of that terrible day still leaves a bitter taste in the mouths of many. "Some on the left of the political spectrum often despise those they claim to represent," says McGovern.

I can fully understand the bitterness that the bereaved families still feel. The South Yorkshire Police on April 15th 1989 were guilty of grossly negligence and there has been a strong sense of injustice since that day. There is also a feeling in Liverpool that there has been a lack of compassion displayed by Sheffield Wednesday football club. For years, the club failed to mark the stadium with any memorial.

This report was in Liverpool's Daily Post newspaper:

"Anyone in any doubt whether to forgive the host club for it's shameful behaviour in the wake of the Hillsborough Disaster need only take a trip to Sheffield to see the memorial unveiled before Saturday's game. Squeezed between a piece of waste strewn riverbank and a pedestrian crossing, the memorial has all the respectful and reflective atmosphere of a multi storey car-park. Neither the word Hillsborough or the words Sheffield Wednesday are mentioned on the sandstone block.

The club is still desperate to keep what happened in 1989 at arms length, preferably even further. A fast flowing river separates the memorial from the ground, only a few yards of water but it may as well be an ocean."

The memorial is below:

In the 1981 FA Cup semi-final between Spurs and Wolves at Hillsborough, 38 people were injured at the stadium. Sheffield Wednesday FC were strongly criticised for the failings of their ground that day.

But tragically, the lessons were not learned. Eight years later 96 people lost their lives at the same stadium.

Back in 1981, Wolves fans were given the large open bank while Spurs, despite having the bigger following, were allocated the much smaller West Stand area.

It seems to me that as well as South Yorkshire police, both the FA and Sheffield Wednesday football club also have to take their share of the blame too for the stadium inadequacies.

Typical Merseyside, living in the past with a chip on its shoulder. Scousers Against The World is their motto; no wonder Liverpool has been in decline for years and its population leaving in droves.

Disappointed by that post Jim. You can do better than that.

This isn't an issue about Scousers - it's about a terrible tragedy and an injustice that took place.

It's easy to say 'Forget about it. Move on. It's in the past.' But time doesn't always heal the bitterness of the wounds.

Put yourself in the shoes of the bereaved families and those that witnessed the tragedy. They feel that a deep injustice happened. Whether it was 15 weeks ago or 15 years ago, the wounds are still deep today.

Thousands still remain traumatised by the Hillsborough experience, and a number of suicides since that day can be attributed directly to the 1989 tragedy.

Gerrard is a damned good Sat aftenoon player without question but various adjectives that commonly accompany his name eg 'great' and 'world class' are miles wide of the mark.  I dont know if Opta is up to date but I feel our Stevie might just be the top English player to have given the ball away more than any other in Portugal.  

And now we know the truth Gordon....

Steven Gerrard's thoughts were not preoccupied with England during Euro 2004. On the contrary. According to his family, his "mind was in turmoil" during the tournament.

Stevie had something of a big dilemna on his plate. Should he accept a mind-boggling salary down at the Bridge and stab Liverpool fans in the back?

Or would "better the devil you know" at Anfield be the best option for the time being?

Would it be better to continue with his £60,000 a week contract at Liverpool for one more year, after securing promises from Rick Parry that the Reds would improve their results compared with the dour reign of Monsieur Houllier last season?

After all, if things do go pear-shaped for Liverpool next season, he can always turn round and say his promises haven't been met and promptly hand in a transfer request.

There seems little doubt that he came very close indeed to choosing the Stamford Bridge option, before having a last minute change of mind.

Gerrard's mind clearly wasn't on the job in the first match against France when he made a ridiculously stupid backpass to David James that cost us the match.

He probably couldn't look Michael Owen and Jamie Carragher squarely in the eye in Portugal, knowing that he was seriously considering giving a mighty kick in the balls to Liverpool as soon as the tournament was over.

His mind didn't appear to be on the job in the quarter-final, when he constantly gave the ball away to the Portugese and had to be taken off by the England manager in the second half after a woeful performance in midfield.

Eriksson, if he genuinely had England's best interests at heart, would have banned players from having any contact with agents, chief executives and club managers during this tournament.

But then again, the Swede is hardly a man of great loyalty or morality himself, having conducted secret talks with Chelsea last season when Kenyon and Abramovich fluttered their eyelids at him.

I thought that Kenyon's behaviour in Portugal was appalling. His tapping-up of Gerrard, with leaks to the media about his interest in the player, was sickening. The Chief Executive, on a lavish junket to Euro 2004 aboard Roman's yacht, smugly told the media how much he would like to see Gerrard playing alongside Frank Lampard at Chelsea.

So desperate was Kenyon to secure Gerrard, that he couldn't give a damn about the possible effect this would have on England. But when you look at his track record in football, he has a habit of shafting people.

This is the man who within a second of meeting Abramovich's fat cheque-book, decided that he wasn't a lifetime Manchester United fan, but a big Chelsea fan instead.

Kenyon it was who was briefing journalists that Claudio Ranieri would be sacked in the summer, while Chelsea were still in the hunt for three trophies. It was the slimy Kenyon who promised to deliver Sven Goran-Eriksson forcing more pressure on the FA to stump up a fortune to match Chelsea's wages.

Rather like his Christian namesake Peter Mandelson, Kenyon is another odious slimeball who likes to use the media to spin his way behind the scenes in order to get what he wants.

His track record at Old Trafford was hardly brilliant - failing to deliver Ronaldhino to Man United, having earlier spent £28m on Juan Sebastian Veron. Whilst at Old Trafford, he said that half our clubs should be allowed to go the wall.

This is his personal philosophy - where greed is good, where contracts, loyalty, decency and the interests of fans are irrelevant.

He's a leech on the shoulders of the beautiful game.

I can only hope that Roman eventually gets tired of paying him a £3m a year salary that ultimately fails to bring Chelsea's main targets to the Bridge.

Whilst England sadly has some idiotic yobs following the game, English fans are nevertheless sometimes better behaved than our European counterparts across the channel.

Over 150 German hooligans went on the rampage last week after they were knocked out of Euro 2004, the thugs caused havoc in the city of Hamburg.

In Germany, soccer violence has sadly become commonplace. One fan was shot dead in a fight between Berlin and Leipzig supporters, while at the 1998 France World Cup, several hundred German fans rioted.

There were some appalling scenes six years ago in France, with a policeman left in a coma after being beaten unconscious by a group of Germans. Holland too, certainly has it's fair share of hooligans, and in Italy a 24-year-old Genoa fan was stabbed to death by an AC Milan supporter. It's a problem that affects many countries - not just our own.

Below - a link reminder to that horrendous attack at the France World Cup by German thugs:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sport/football/117358.stm

It was some Swiss chocolate-munching cuckoo-shagging git with a fanny for a chin that did it.

Nice one Bryan.

Gary Lineker, incidentally, seems to agree with Jim.

In an interview today with one of those beastly red-top rags, the former England striker has launched an attack on the tactics employed by Eriksson. Some fairly strong words of criticism from the normally mild-mannered Lineker...

Link Below:

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2002390...4292180,00.html

Comparisons to Jack Walker? dont even go there...Abramovich is on a massive ego trip,nothing more nothing less,he cares not a dot for chelsea's past traditions nor for the feeling or opinion of its support....a dangerous type to have at the helm of any club in my opinion.

Well said mate.

Incidentally, Peter Kenyon has received a formal complaint about Chelsea's behaviour at a recent charity event. Repton Boys Club have written to Kenyon to express disappointment that Chelsea representatives twice ignored a table receipt at the function, that they did not enter into the spirit of the occasion and were rude to others at the function in east London.

Repton Chairman David Robinson said: "Chelsea's behaviour on the night was appalling. They were rude to our helpers. They didn't bring any auction item to the event like a signed shirt. It makes me angry that you hear of Abramovich reserving three restaurants in Portugal before choosing which one to go to with his wife, and yet his club twice failed to pay for a charity dinner table. Why come to a fund-raising night if you're not prepared to support the beneficiaries?"

A Chelsea spokesman said: "We apologise for the late payment. We are not aware of any problems over behaviour."

Remember our old friend Alan Nixon? The journalist who likes writing about Rovers claims that Steven Gerrard is set to shortly move to Chelsea, breaking Rio Ferdinand's British transfer record. According to Nixon, Scott Parker may be involved as part of a player-swap deal worth over £30m, but Damien Duff will not be leaving Stamford Bridge.

Link below:

http://www.people.co.uk/tm_objectid=143502...-name_page.html

Apparently, Urs Meier has received over 30,000 emails from England fans angry at his controversial decision.

The Swiss ref, incidentally, was a visitor to Ewood Park back in 1995, when he refereed Rovers' Champions League contest with Spartak Moscow. He's no stranger to attracting negative press headlines, having controversially allowed a 95th-minute goal for Denmark that knocked Romania out of the Euro 2004 qualifiers. 'A sick thief!' blasted the Romanian press.

Herr Meier also refereed the Champions League semi-final between Monaco and Chelsea, where he failed to spot Desailly's elbow on Morientes and the play-acting of Claude Makelele. Monaco fans were irritated by Meier's performance.

But anyone who wishes to sympathise with the Swiss ref can contact him at the link below:

http://www.ursmeier.ch/referee/

What's that guide dog doing with the ref on the pitch?

Nappy changing time....