Bents now public enemy number one. Can't help but think that its only because he plays for dirty little blackburn rovers.

Even if Pedersen leaves, I don't think Peter is ready to step up automatically. He still seems raw, and should the unfortunate sale of Pedersen happen, I would be terribly upset if we don't go for a more proven replacement.

At a fixed price of 2m, I don't think we'll keep him. However, in an ideal world, I do think he is worth keeping. He has by and large shown himself to be a good team player, and his holding of the ball is actually very good. I think what will happen though is we'll move heaven and earth to try and tempt bellers back. If we pull it off, jeffers and nonda are both gone. If we dont, I think we might just keep jeffers around as a cheap back-up. Hopefully, that would see Gally given the permanent 4th striker's spot while we shop around for a big name partner to Benni.

I'm not even surprised. I'm pretty sure it happens all the time, and frankly, DB would have a lot more than 2 suitors in my opinion. Certainly those clubs who fancy themselves bigger than us like Newcastle would take him. And I think he could really do well in Man Utd, and I wouldnt even be surprised if Arsenal wants to bring him back. And of course, there's Spurs who wants everybody. But that said, my point is, if we're not kidding ourselves, surely this is an expected development. I'm pretty certain it happened with Pedersen last season. The main thing is how Bentley conducts himself. Having just signed a new 5 year deal on improved wages, and the way he has settled here, I'm optimistic that he will stay. Unless its one of the top 4 wanting him, then he might be off. (As i type this, i suddenly realise that he would fit into Chelsea's team too... not impossible especially now that they want to go British) Anyone else and i'm not too worried. PS: With regards to tapping up... didnt we do it to a certain with Savage and Dunny too?

The brown handball this weekend was almost identical to his other handball incident, which was given (lucash converted the penalty) in the 4-3 for us last season. Where's the consistency?

I can't give you guys any link because the article isn't available online, so please dont shoot the messenger. The Straits Times (Singapore's national daily) has quotes from benni taken from the "United Review" ahead of tomorrow's match, linking him with a summer move to them, stating that he has a 5m clause and that "If the big clubs want you, then they will get you. If Blackburn is offered the money, then of course i'm interested". Now, few points to ponder. 5m for a 29-30 yr old 18 goal forward. What do you guys think? It is afterall double the amount we paid for him. More pertinently of course, I've not heard of this clause anywhere on this board (or elsewhere for that matter). Does it exist?

in light of the new bumper tv deal, prices are bound to be inflated. if you consider that a defender like micah richards was being touted around the 12m mark this january, i will reject a 12m bid for bentley out of hand. Besides, bentley for now seems to be happy staying here, although he could quite easily get into one of the top 4 sides. Hopefully there's no clause in that new contract he just signed!

Bentley ran straight to derbs following the 2nd goal as well to congratulate him on the assist, ignoring the pile of players celebrating with routledge. Class.

Goal by derbs! Doing us proud, bentley and derbs.

Assist by derbs!

can't believe bentley missed out again. this is biasedness at its extreme. what must the guy do to get a call up?! Surely he's on better form than SWP who has seriously regressed this term.

neill's been made west ham skipper! not that i'm happy, just surprised.

To be pedantic, have you got a link to the above? Seriously though, delighted with this piece of news. To those who thought gally was going to be sold, clearly this is not going to happen in the near future now. Both promising players, they could turn out to be our front pairing in a couple of years, though the likelier situation is them occupying 2 of 4 striking positions, not necessarily as the first choice pair.

It's 12.40am here.. not the time for cereal yet! lol

*dons protective shield in case of flak* I'm ambivalent about dunny coming home. No doubt i like him, but i take issue with the price we're paying. Assuming we've matched Bolton's offer of 1m upfront and 1m on appearances, it still means a total outlay of 2m for a player in the final 6 months of his contract, who has played 53 times in the last 3 years. That for me, is just not rational economically. Should we be getting dunny on a free transfer in july, i'll be much happier. The homecoming would have been much more 'rational', and bringing him back would have then been a calculated gamble. I understand that he is a local lad who bleeds blue and white blood, but having such a desire is useful only insofar as he stays fit enough to play week in week out. For the camp who thinks 2m is a fair price, I unfortunately have to disagree, and my opinion is that the 'fairness' is a function of the blue and white lenses we all wear 24/7. Consider, we already have a very similar case in francis jeffers, who we got on a free (and on a pay-as-you-play deal at that!), who still invites criticisms of being a waste of space and a has-been. His circumstances are vastly similar to dunn - lots of talent, lots of potential in his younger days, lots of injury problems, havent played a whole lot. The only difference is that jeffers was essentially everton blue, while dunny is rover blue, and hence dunny is getting all the hype of a 'homecoming'. Personally, I'm not convinced. But that said, finances and decisions on transfers are out of my, and our, hands. As supporters, we shall just cheer dunny on, and I personally hope my opinion is proved wrong! (ps: my main gripe is that 2m could have gone towards a more 'established' or less injury prone midfielder of a suitable quality, or it could in itself secure us a fairly useful left back, rather than being gambled on a 'risky' dunny).

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/tm_...-name_page.html follow up link to above story. that greedy aussie!

to be pedantic, i dont think it's this year (2007). it must however be from this season... notice the coca cola league patch on the jersey. but is the food THAT good in birmingham??

hey mate, are the jerseys still going at 31 pounds a piece?

i completely agree; looking at the replay, the dive was ridiculous and almost comic. From his position, he could well have had lashed the ball at goal anyway. As for the general performance, first half was terrible, but the second was great. We really need to be much more consistent now. On the positive side, it looks like last week's goal has done wonders for MGP's form, gray continued to do well, and savage was very good as well.

reading 2 rovers 1 (derbyshire)

to be fair to hughes, he was probably banking on that midfielder being reid.

rovers 0 shay given 3 newcastle 2

Charlton 1 Rovers 2 (Mccarthy, Jeffers)

I think your friend meant 'coloured' literally. If so, it's michael GRAY, with the pun on his surname as it is phonetically identical with the colour 'GREY'. If however your friend meant 'coloured' as in coloured skin, then marlon broomes is probably your best bet.

Very admirable USABlue, i salute you.