Derby did look very poor. Lots of misplaced passes and bad touches. Not that it will have any bearing on Sunday's game as they've apparently only lost 2 league games at home this season. You are right about Rooney. There was one instance in the first half where he pinged a 60 yard cross field free kick straight to the Derby winger, who promptly miscontrolled it and the ball went out for a goal kick.

An odd one from South America; Ronaldinho and his brother arrested for having fake Paraguayan passports Why would they be given Paraguayan passports when they arrived? Is it me or do a lot of Brazilian footballers go off the rails once they have finished playing and go back home?

Coaching and managing are 2 different skills. Going from Liverpool youth to Blackpool is like moving dimensions. His drills during training may be the world's best but he now has to motivate players who operate on completely different ideals. Good luck to him, but I think that he'll find it hard. Youth coaching is sheltered. Being a manager puts him in the firing line.

I know a bloke over here who is a Boro fan. He's been slating Woodgate since last August. His take is that he should never have been given the job in the first place as he wasn't up to it. So far he is being proven right. They are dropping like a stone. Others around them are waking up.

Scores and predictions after leg 1. Borussia Dortmund 2-1 Paris Saint-Germain - PSG should win at home and go through. Although they are serial bottlers and can't cope with Haaland. Real Madrid 1-2 Manchester City - City have too much for Real. Atalanta 4-1 Valencia - Classic Italian defending will see Atalanta through. Valencia aren't very good either. Atletico Madrid 1-0 Liverpool - Anybody's tie. If Liverpool score early they'll win easily. If not I can see Simeone's tactically excellent yet aesthetically horrible team sneaking it. Chelsea 0-3 Bayern Munich - Game over. Chelsea have no chance. Lyon 1-0 Juventus - Lyon wound Juventus up last night, expect more of the same in Turin. Ronaldo usually turns it on in times like this. Despite Sarri I think Juventus will win. Tottenham 0-1 RB Leipzig - on paper Spurs can progress. In reality they are streets behind Leipzig. Napoli 1-1 Barcelona - Barcelona will rag it through. Messi to score. Thankfully there will be no Busquets to roll around crying all game to waste time.

The Rovers all too predictable goalless home draw wasn't available over here so I watched Real-City instead. They were miles better than Madrid. If Mahrez either shot a bit better or wasn't so greedy they could have had a few more too. That rogue Sergio Ramos was sent off too. He was protesting away at the decision even though it was a cast iron red card. I do wonder as it wasn't Ramos's usual manhandling if Jesus should have stayed on his feet and slotted in the 3rd. Or did he think that he was in the box and would get a penalty? Real won't be top dogs again for a while. The 3 in a row winning team is on the way down. Modric, Kroos, Benzema, Ramos, Marcelo, and Bale are all on the back end of their careers. Hazard is a short term stop gap. They do have some good young players, but need a galactico or 2. They'll get them at some point soon.

That dumbing down mentality is part of the culture of East Lancs. It's easier to start your disappointment off early rather than be optimistic and look foolish if it doesn't go as planned. Each of the 12 fixtures Rovers have left need to be considered must win games. A home game against a bottom 6 team, albeit in good form, should be the first.

They were very poor, but Bayern forced them into errors too. The transfer ban helped Chelsea as it forced Lampard to have to play Abraham, Mount, James, and the like. However, they are still young and need older heads to guide them. Chelsea's older heads aren't good enough. Willian, Kovacic, and Pedro aren't good enough for business end Champions League play. Not having Kante hurt as well. He does the work of 2 players. In the other game Barcelona drew 1-1 away at Napoli in an utter bore fest. Expect more of the same in the second leg.

I missed your post before I posted. It looks like we have a very similar outlook. You are a tad more optimistic than I, 19 to my 18 points.

There are 36 points to play for. Over the 12 games Rovers need to amass 6 more points than those currently in the playoff positions and hope that the teams below don't go on a super duper run. 7 wins and a couple of draws will probably do it. I think that that will be a bridge too far despite Rovers playing well. The remaining fixtures are; Home - Stoke, Swansea, Bristol City, Leeds, West Brom, Reading Away - Derby, Wigan, Barnsley, Cardiff, Millwall, Luton My (usually way off) predictions are; Home - 3 wins, 2 losses, 1 draw Away - 2 wins, 2 losses, 2 draws 18 points - 69 total - missing out by hair.

I'd rather an English team win than another country's. I know the players, the league, and won't have to listen to American fanboys talking up La Liga - that they never watch, or Ronaldo again. You are missing out Chaddy. Last season's knock out stages had some of the best football matches I've ever seen. The fitness, skill, coaching, and overall play is superb. Of the 4 games played this week you'll have at least 2 crackers next time out. Liverpool have to go for it against a resolute Atletico. PSG need to score, and stop Haaland (what a player). Although unlikely Spurs still have a chance, and Valencia have nothing to lose so expect goals.

It's not a stretch to suggest it. I'm with you although I think Liverpool are touch and go. Can they sneak a couple of goals against 10 defenders and a good keeper? Spurs were outclassed last night and Chelsea don't have an identity, a striker, or a manager who knows his stuff (yet?).

Simeone's Atletico are the best in the business at stopping other teams from playing. Give them a goal and it's even harder. They will be very hard to break down at Anfield. Liverpool were woeful. No rhythm or cohesion, and their passing was uncharacteristically off too. Much of that was down to the opposition stopping them from playing. Pluses for Liverpool going into the second leg are that they can't play much worse, are at home, and won't have that dodgy ref.

After 16 games Rovers were in 18th spot on 18 points. first 16 - 1.125 pts per game next 17 - 1.88 pts. per game. If Rovers keep that average up for the last 13 games they will make the playoffs. 2 points per game over a season will get a team automatic promotion.

Anyone thinking of the playoffs after the Hull win? Over the last 10 years only once has a team made the playoffs with less than 70 points. It was Leicester during Rovers first season down in 2012/2013. They finished 6th with 68 points(interestingly Peterborough went down with 54). Rovers need 7 more wins to get to that number. The Championship is still wide open, everybody is beating everybody, so it won't take 74 or more to get in. I can't see Rovers winning over half of their remaining games though.

Sounds like it was job done last night. Beating a team at home who Rovers were supposed to beat.

Thanks.

What did he do to earn that distinction? I don't know anything about him. Unlike past teams Southgate has players who actually play better for England than their club side. Pickford is one of them. I can't see him being dropped because of the odd error. He kept him throughout qualifying, and that time included his clanger against Liverpool, and a couple more cock ups.

It was one of the better Superbowl's. San Francisco will be sick this morning. 20-10 up with the best defence around and not much time left to 31-20 and losing. That will hurt for a while. J Lo is 50, Shakira 43. They looked good.

It does. Cars everywhere is one thing I notice every time I go home. It wasn't like it is now 20 years ago. I've said previously that successive governments prioritised cars over buses and trains. I'm sure it has a lot to do with WWII recovery and allowing American firms the chance for new markets. I used to work with a bloke who lived near Ipswich. He lived in the middle of nowhere, although not too far out, but said that he rarely went out for a drink. He had to drive everywhere he went because of the lack of public transport. There was a bus that went past his house once a week.

Ince had far too much ego. He was never well liked as a player. Not many of his former teammates are full of praise for him. Mathias was awful. He had no business being part of a premier league team's coaching set up. I'll never forget an interview he did from his car after Ince was binned. He sounded like a Sunday league boss. As to Robinson, I thought that the signing was a bit of a coup. England goalkeeper coming to Rovers. Friedel didn't have long left, I expected Robinson to last 10 years. He didn't though.

Days like today are why I like this messageboard. It was an almost universal opinion that Wednesday were nailed on for a home win. Cue a stonker of a performance and post after post singing the team's praises. That's football. It allows people to dream. Come Monday it will be back to the usual uncertainty. Mowbray has a full week and more with his team. If Klopp, Guardiola, or even Dyche had that much time to prepare there would be a massive improvement in team performance. Let's keep dreaming.

How many games did Cunningham play? Not many, right? It was a shame that he got injured but it looks like a wasted loan.

Rashford, Sterling, and Sancho as a front 3 will give teams kittens. They may need to stay on their feet though as they aren't the best at penalties, something that Kane is very good at. I don't think that Kane will be anywhere near match fit. He'll get the best treatment and rehab that money can buy but I don't think that there will be enough games for him to play in. That's if he comes back in April. He won't be playing matches until late April/early May. The Prem finishes mid May. He wasn't fit for the CL final last year and was very poor. It is part of the narrative of England at tournaments from the golden generation on. It always struck me that other nations didn't have the same problems - they may have done but I didn't notice. I seem to remember Japan/Korea 2002 being particularly bad. It was the era of the metatarsal injury. I think that Southgate would have played Ox and Gomez in Russia too if they would have been fit. He didn't trust Walker. Ox was flying. He'd have been ahead of Lingard.

A question for the England fans amongst us. Harry Kane's annual injury is upon us. His latest one looks more serious than his usual ankle issues. He did his hamstring and had to have surgery. Initial reports had him out until April, but yesterday Mourinho was a little more vague saying that he could miss the Euros. Should Southgate write him off for the summer? Even if he does come back in April it will take him a while to get fit. He is also one who usually starts slowly. He was similarly out last spring, came back for the Champs league final and played like a chump.