Gally and Pongolle were ready to come on, but now only Pongolle has done so. (for Paul Dickov)

Give Gallagher and McEveley a few minutes now, please.

KUQI!

Thommo just scored a screamer for Wigan against Arsenal, a cheeky freekick that caught Lehmann out of position.

Peter to start, same team elsewhere should be ok- but if City lose out to Arsenal tonight they should feel free to experiment. Players like Bentley, Gallagher, Peter (other youngsters from the reserves?) needs first team football.

Agree with B/W, unless we get serious £ for him, there's no point in selling. A player with pace and strength like Emerton can always come on and make a difference, players like Jon Douglas never will. The last few weeks makes me wonder, why the currently "unproven" Emerton gets all the stick, when MGP (with the exception of a good match against Liverpool) repeatedly creates sweet F A. (and I'm not saying I want him sold either, but he really only contributed defensively against Chelsea)

Wouldn't say he's definitely leaving just because he hasn't featured the last few games, but I agree - he's surplus with the form he's showed. Having Peter on the bench instead is a sign, but the last four places is obviously destined for other positions - a defender (Mokoena) and two strikers (with Gally, Dickov and Kuqi) plus the goalkeeper. If we can get £2m for him, I'd be very pleased, even if he has all the physical attributes.

Pongolle was awful, but other than him I agree with you. He does give us something though, his pace is a threat no matter how lousy his dribling and passing is.

Actually they don't, they 47-40, we have 48-42.. but fair enough, if we take one point and they take six they'll probably go past us. (well actually, there's no chance of them taking six points without having the better goal difference, so forget this post ) Newcastle has Chelsea in the last game though, whilst Bolton has M'boro and Birmingham, both of them at home. In other words, a point against Chelsea tonight is absolutely vital!

Carrick, Kanoute, Repka?

Would've liked to see Gally replace Dickov aswell, but I can see Dickov creating problems for Carvalho and Diarra (?) back there, Carvalho certainly doesn't like being chased around. Cudicini Geremi, Gallas, Carvalho, Del Horno Wright Phillips, Diarra, Lampard, Maniche Gudjohnsen Crespo ? Don't like the combination of Gudjohnsen and Crespo upfront, and hopefully Gudjohnsen won't man mark Tugay too much.. But we have a good chance here!

I think you'll have to re-read that ihtd; the 76% stat isn't "matches David Dunn has not featured in", it is the percentage of the fans who has missed him the most the matches he hasn't played. So the 3/4 injured isn't entirely correct, that poll isn't really bad news come to think of it - it just shows the quality Dunnie has when he's fit. We all know he's been injured a lot, but we also know he's been playing when really - he should've been rested. With strained muscles, that's about the worst thing you can do! This is just repeating ourselves really, we'd just have to wait and see. Personally, I love the thought of him coming back, because I'm sure Sparky can make it work if he signs. If he doesn't sign, Sparky clearly believes he has passed the point of no return - and I'll be fine with that too.

Seems like the positions are settling now, we only have to worry about taking another point (preferably two!) to hold off Newcastle - with Spurs clinching the fourth spot and Arsenal the fifth.

Apart from set pieces and work rate, Duffer has more quality in almost every aspect of the game than MGP imo. But it's not a fair comparison anyway, wonderkids like Duff and Giggs doesn't come through often - we'll need to compare Gamst with people we can buy to replace him. (And let's face it, if we're ever to get the Duffer back.. no, it's highly unlikely)

I'm sure they don't. My dislike for Berg has little to do with him managing Lyn, that statement should have had a .. I've always respected him as a footballer, and his managing career has kicked off well, but as a person I've neved liked him - regardless of club or nationality. He certainly doesn't strike me as particularly intelligent when he opens his mouth..

I can assure you, it is not the word I was looking for.

Rule of thumbs: (in my opinion, concerning corner kicks) I: The harder, the better. II: If the corner is aimed towards the 5yrd box, it should fall down by one of the two posts - not in between - that area is covered. (Dickov's goal earlier in the season is a good example on the first one, as for the latter I like it when someone can head the ball back into the box) III: Scoring directly from a corner in the Premiership is not going to happen more than once every ten years - the goalkeepers are too good. I'm not all that pleased with our corner kicks either, and certainly not the shots. It might look good on tv, but it's not threatening at all, and we will most likely end up with a corner kick on the opposite side. They usually come in hard though, which is very positive - we haven't had much luck with the few good ones. Nelsen isn't a good header unfortunately, he's a good jumper though. Todd has scored a couple, and Zura has had good finishes saved. Set pieces - both ways - are something we need to work on! We concede too many goals this way, and we score all too few. There's a huge potential there, just look what good set pieces (and one decent winger) has brought for Bolton!

Most likely because Sparky was afraid of Pennant, he would've skinned Mickey completely. Agree though, we missed Lucas on the right hand side against Brum.

He's a real comedian, I'll give him that.. *sarcastic smile*

Should add this link in this thread aswell.. Gally back to Ewood

Berg is as cynical now as he was as a player, his team is defensively solid but scores few goals. Wouldn't want him back, since I've never liked the guy. (managing FC Lyn doesn't help, I admit) Hughes for Rovers!

Good news! Gally / Bellamy against Charlton for me, will be interesting to see his progress!

Luckily, you're not in a position to bite anyones hand off.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, we're very onedimensional going forward. We play ball to feet, and try to set up quick one-two's, which does not work against teams with 10 men twenty yards from their own goal. We let Kuqi come on, and it usually helps. But we need our wingers to run at defenders more, the only times we get past the fullbacks is with Bellamy, leaving the box empty of Blackburn players.

First of all, Tony Diamond: Yes, I think it's a coincidence, or more precisely, it's more of an issue of lacking Tugay's creativity methinks. Perhaps would the defence be more solid with Todd back there, I'm a bit undecided on that tbh, but I don't really think you can put our poor run on Todd being out of the XI. Secondly, Cue Roversmum on this one, the LET is making an article on this. Not loving the headline tbh, too much tabloid - aren't they supposed to be on our side? I'm not saying they should be covering things up, but just watch and see the national papers following this one up. PS: Interesting little part about Gold and Savage further down in the article, a good move by Robbie imo. Those Big Club owners doesn't strike me as the nicest fellas', which Simon Jordan also has pointed out (in that fantastic article linked in the Bruce thread) - they use the media very cleverly to manipulate people. I can see that sleezy pornstar sitting behind his desk and ordering Savage into his office. You have my full support, Mr.Savage