I wonder where the research for this article was done; LET's where are they now?

Most are young lads but there is one who's 40, and 1 who's 45.

It looks like it's curtains for Mourinho. There's no way they will beat Chelsea. If I was Mark Hughes I would be a worried man.

Fletcher's ban stands; UEFA will not overturn ref's decision. Quite right if you ask me. Next they need to hand Drogba and Ballack a healthy ban.

It's also the only thing you can use as a benchmark. Barton is a plonker, but he's done a lot less than Lee Hughes and Luke McCormick(?). Sign him up. Do you remember Le Saux attempting to stamp on Roy Keane at Ewood when hurdling him years ago? Specific examples are a bit useless. If you watch football based on the players' characters you'll never go to a game.

Rovers should sign Barton. He's exactly what we need; a young, English, box to box midfielder with an eye for goal. We should be able to get him on the cheap as well due to his status as damaged goods and the possiblity that he may end up doing bird again some day. He might be a complete n0b but most footballers are. The latest incident has brought up all his ills. He was p!ssed off and put in a stupid tackle out of frustration, plenty of players have done that. Bellamy is rated by many as the best striker we've had since Shearer yet he's been in trouble numerous times; slapping a girl in a nightclub, belting Riise with a golf club, nearly giving Bobby Robson a heart attack but the fans loved him when he was here. The national media don't care about us so Barton may give us some extra coverage.

I saw it and thought that he was taking the mick.

Amazing this. 2 short years ago he was roundly slated, me included, for ball$ing up England. He's proving why he's a good manager now, he has a certain charisma that players like which will get you places. Maybe it wasn't all his fault after all.

I have to agree that Cole is a complete idiot. His bird is well worth one (even if Cletus' theory is true), but that doesn't always suffice, especially for pampered idiot footballers. It's not like he was pulling classy chicks either; one let him carry on after he'd barfed, the other didn't care about him wearing wellies whilst on the job. Where did he find them? The local Netto? It's a sad case all around but I doubt he'll ever learn from it.

In order to develop footballers have to play in a team. Academy coaches have to have 11 players who are signed on 3 year (with 5 year option if they're deemed good enough) scholarships once they leave school. If they only signed lads who were going to make it there would be about 2 in each academy. They sign players for positions, they sign players with potential, they also sign potential stars who need a team to develop nurturing. The academy only last for 3 years, they have to go somewhere else after that or they don't get a game, the reserves is the next level, and certainly not a good barometer for being close to the first team. An academy coach will look at who he's got and think "Right, next year I need a left winger, 2 full backs, and a striker." So they go out and get the best they can whether they are currently training with the under 15's or not. Granted if John Barnes, Ashely Cole, Wes Brown, and Shearer signed he'd have 4 stars on his hands who would progress quickly. But more often than not they get decent players who can play that position but don't quite have it but will serve a role, get an experience they'll never forget, a fit bird, no real academic qualifications, and a decent non-league career at the end of it. If the academy was about developing players to make money and I was a coach, I'd sign every striker around. However, most of them would end up pants as they couldn't all play up front every game; then I'd get the sack. However the academies are supposed to bring on the team of the future, but they never do.

Based on history, and the general cynicism of the English people the first reaction is "she's after money." Hughes, Vick, et al. weren't accused by someone after money or fame. They were caught based on concrete evidence against them. Rape is a very tough one to prove, especially when a girl is allegedly seen coming out of a hotel room after been given the run through by United's new 5-a-side team. I was listening to a talk radio show here the other day. The host was on about some woman who claims to have bedded Tony Parker (San Antonio Spurs basketballer - married to Eva Longoria). The host's view was that any woman going public with such info is either after money or fame. I'm not agreeing, I just find it interesting he was talking about it the same day this kicked off. OJ's civil trial conviction has about as much weight as a gnat's bollock$. He's still not paid a penny of the judgement, and never will.

Sorry for the cynicism but she sounds like just another groupie exploited by footballers who live in their own world. I read the tabloid snippets of the event; nothing new and nothing will come of it. Whether or not the accused did anything will be lost as the girl's credibility is in tatters. Man U players should be consulting Carlton Cole! Wait until the weekend for more mud raking. I did find it funny that The Sun happened to mention that non of the WAGS were invited. I'll bet the wrath is coming from home, not Fergie, in this instance. Lathund; OJ was found not guilty.

Overall I have to say that an American is more likely do debunk the global warming/climate change theory than a European. A right leaning American is certainly more likely to deem it as hogwash. I also think that human development has some part to play in why the world's weather is topsy turvy.

It seems to be official now. Let him bring a sledgehammer with him and start from scratch. We need it.

Capello will be a good choice, if not for the fact that he can't speak to the press. The system needs fixing, but there are far too many yes men within the FA, and too many people outside wanting to get in who will play the tune rather than doing it the right way.

Team cohesion is awful. But what do you expect when the top teams have a running fued with each other; Liverpool-Man U, Liverpool-Chelsea, Man U-Arsenal (not that it matters for England as Arsenal have no-one). If you consistently pick from the top 4, which you will as invariably the better English players play for them, this state of affairs will always exist. I did find it interesting that Ferdinand, Terry, and Ashley Cole all played at the weekend, with Bridge, Joe Cole, and Lurch getting dropped.

My reasoning is that over here I have friends who are from all over; Germans, Italians, Americans, Scandanavians. Our common bond is football but they don't have the same passion for English clubs as English people do. Even my English friends over here don't get as serious. Most Americans who watch the game pick a team and cheer. Most other imports have a team, like me, from their homeland, therefore the only rivalries exist on the international stage. At home you can work with fans of many different clubs so that excitment is more intense as you have something to brag about every Monday. Another aspect of England's idiocy is the coaching/tactical inability we have. I'd wager that there are thousands of coaches working in America from England teaching Yanks how to play. For some reason we are afforded lots of credence, but it's getting harder to defend when the pinnacle puts in an effort like Wednesday. As for the England job. In no particular order I'd have Capello, Shearer with an astute coach to run training, Lippi, Mourinho, Rijkaard. I would not go near Jack Charlton; read Roy Keane's autobiography. Harry Redknapp wouldn't work either. Whoever comes in needs to start fresh and not pick media darlings, or play Lampard and Gerrard; If you have 2 good goalkeepers you can only play one, the same applies here. Hargreaves and A N Other please.

The Germans appointed Klinsmann who had no prior experience, and look what he did. As long as Shearer has a decent coach next to him he'll be fine as he'll have the repsoect of the dressing room. If were not going home grown I'd have Capello. I'd actually take anyone who can make them play as a team right now. Roll on 2010. I bother more about England than Rovers, I guess it's the familiarity and where I live.

Absolutely disgraceful. We cooked our goose the day we appointed McClaren. I've said time and again that he may be a good coach but he's no international class manager. The bloke has to be on crack by refusing toresign. He tokk a team that was comfortably in the top 8 in the world (3 QF appearances) and turned them into a bunch of strangers. Whoever come sin needs to play a team rather than our "star players". Over 12 games we weren't good enough. We lost twice to the group winners, and once to the other team that qualified, that plus the horror result against Macedonia killed it. I'm ashamed to be an England fan. At least that's all I have invested in it. The bigwigs at te FA must be sweating right now. No money spinning tournament to go to, no prestigious wembley warm up matches to gouge fans at, and a press that should rightly crucify them

Saturday was a bit nerve racking. As much as I think McClaren is the wrong man for the job I'm certainly not in the "let's get beat and he get's fired" camp as England should be at the Euro's, it will be a poorer tournament without us and I'd never cheer for my own country to lose. We got very very lucky, not just with Israel's win but with Croatia's loss. I think we will win at Wembley, even if it's because Croatia take their foot off the gas as they are through. It is also a sad testament to the perceived quality we have in England when an out of sorts Beckham and 3 reserve strikers are ready to play. Without Owen or Rooney there is nothing up top. The French, Dutch, and Italians have an embarrasssment of riches up front, we should too. We got lucky and have another chance at the prize. Hopefully the 3 days of flag waving, bulldog spirit cliche's, and players stating that this will be the biggest game of their careers they'll actually deliver. Drop Robinson for Carson, Hargreaves for Lampard, and have Beckham as super sub. If we need something late on Beckham will come on create some magic as it will fit his legacy.

Oh dear. As usual England brings out the frustration in me. Why bring Beckham back? How many games has he played lately? Granted that ploy has worked in the past; Davor Suker for the 1998 WC and Ronaldo in 2002; they both came in fresh having done nothing and used up all their energy with the national team - shame about Owen though. Lurch is up front having played 20 minutes all season. However I think he is good foil for Owen. As for Lumpard, I can't believe it. We all know he's a star performer for Chelsea, we also know he can't do it for England. Chelsea play a different system than England, his game suits it. His game does not suit the speed and disclipline of international football. To quote McClaren on Lampard's inclusion; Different personnel? Try playing Bentley then, or some other squad player who never gets a kick. I will defend him for a second. The FA cup final from 2001 or 2002 was on the other day (Arsenal-Chelsea) Lampard ran the show, I didn't see the game at the time and watching it later I was impressed with him.

Not unless you're from Liverpool.

Oh Dear, Sparky has done it in another thread. Call the PC police. Jan's attempts at proving the racism angle were laughable. Theno's ramblings were on message for him but didn't help Jan any nor did it make sense in replying to this particular discussion. Benni McCarthy is class, his work rate is monitored on Prozone, the manager looks at it and makes his own conclusions. I seem to remember last season Benni saying he runs more now than he ever did, imagine that.

I've just read some absolute drivel. Some people have no idea. McCarthy is getting an absolute slating. He didn't have his best game but didn't get any service. As EIT said, he's a box player; we never got in there. USA, I'm surprised at your diatribe, it doesn't read like you. AESF is just stirring the pot as usual. Azuri's Mourinho-McCarthy 2 fingered salute love-in is plain silly, and Jan's accusations of criticism because of his skin colour alone is stupid. People didn't like Cole becasue he moaned all day. Yorke didn't like the manager and was playing for a paycheck. Roberts got some abuse the other week because he was seen to be in a huff in the UEFA game. Nonda wasn't good enough and kept missing sitters. People don't like McCarthy because he doesn't run like Dickov (but scores loads more goals). USA you mentioned team spirit. I once played with a lad who was the laziest barsteward ever. He rarely trained, never ran much on the pitch, but won us more games with his goals than the rest of us combined. As a team we took his limitations and lived with them, our team spirit was fantastic; maybe Rovers' players think the same?

This makes a change for this board; a bit of optimisim. However I do think that 65 goals from our strikers alone is too high. Didn't Clive Allen score 50 for Spurs a few years back though? We're looking very good so far, I just hope that they all get along and we'll see the benefits.