How can the BBC boards post allsorts of rumours and this site cannot do a thing? The BBC topic board is quite blatent; have a read.

I can't get home 3. I'll vote for that one if it has genuine halves, not the "extra" opposites 1 and 2 have on the sides, they will look like Sheffield Wednesday. I do like the red bit on 2 though. Away has to be 1. Red is a home kit; not ours either.

I'm with Rainmaker on this one. What are you on about? Do you have inside knowledge of what Hughes tells him? Pedersen may not be a direct winger but his deadball delivery is great, and most importantly he scores loads of goals; a very precious commodity in a midfielder. What do you want, Keith Gillespie. He can run, get to the byline etc. but he's crap.

I too agree that he's had it. It is a shame, fans want him to return to what he was, but I seriously dobut that it will happen. It is now over 3 years, his prime is passing him by. He will be back at Carlisle soon.

Andy, I'm assuming that it includes everything, as Beckham's ridiculous figure cannot be purely football related, and it would also explain Bergkamp's cheese business. Is that why he doesn't travel well?

This year's football rich list has been published: Find the richest people here. What do you think? I'm not surprised at the top two in either group; Beckham and Red Rom, but Bergkamp in second confuses me. I'll expect Vinjay will have something to say about the Walker's being in the top 10.

In theory we should win all of these, but football does not work that way. Everton (h) Last season a crap Rovers did the double over a Champs League Toffees, and before that they beat us. I reckon this season is their turn. Loss. West Ham (h) Easy win in revenge for them tubbing us on opening day. Win. Fulham (a) We normally do well at Fulham. They are the streakiest team around though. Win. Middlesbrough (a) Why do we always play them around Christmas, even dating back to our old Division 2 days? I view this fixture as I did back then when we used to get turned over at Ayresome Park. Loss. Sunderland (h) If we don't win this one it's time to give up. Under Souness we would lose, but not now. Win. Wigan (a) The kind fixture list has again given Rovers fans a chance to go to a close Christmas away game. THe joy will show on the pitch. Win. Pompey (h) We should beat this lot easily. Draw. I'm not one for predictions but procrastination does wonders for the soul.

The difference betweeen the two teams yesterday was about £50 million (conservative figure?) worth of striking talent. They could call on Henry, Bergkamp, and Pires then bring on van Persil to rub it in. What do we do? Bring on Dickov. The early goal didn't help our cause as, no doubt, our game plan was affected, but we gave a very good showing of ourselves. I've skimmed through the last page or so and I disagree with some: Savage played very well yesterday, he is a spolier who does his job with aplomb. He winds people up all the time but is very effective in stopping opposition attacks. The Reyes incident was a bit stupid, but imagine the reaction if it was the other way around, Reyes would have gone down like he'd been shot and the press would have called for a lynch mob. Our corners were pathetic.

Petrol in the US is currently around 50p a litre, and has been since late August. The powers that be have been blaming both recent hurricanes saying that they disrupted supply. But this has been happenning for a while and nothing has been done. Brits will no doubt tut that it is still half of what it is there but when prices have doubled in less than a year it puts pressure on everything. The funny thing is that now US politicians are mounting a campaign to have the average US householder to "save energy" by buying long lasting lightbulbs. It's a bit rich really when the same government officials accept boat loads of cash from oil and motor companies and only recently decided to increase the average mpg of cars built in the US but by a figure lower than what most wanted. The US is no angel but China and India are the ones to watch as they don't really care at all.

I always want England to win. Sven is a bit mystifying but you have to stick it through. We could go on all day about what he should do but the bare facts, unfortunately, for us are that we are 2 or 3 players short of winning the World Cup. Our left back is out so Phil Neville may get another chance to cock something up. We have no left winger at all, and haven't had since Barnes and Waddle. Our strikeforce has two exceptional players, Owen and Rooney, but they do not play well together so Sven brings in the only "traditional" English centre forward we have; Peter Crouch. The same goes for central midfield. We have 3 very good players in Beckham, Lampard, and Gerrard. Beckham is getting on a bit and will probably play wide but the other two clowns are too similar and they are not clever enough to think; "oh, well he can do that so maybe I should change my game a little and have a little discipline". World class should mean being able to adapt for the cause. If you are a Lampard or Gerrard fan what do you do? Play one only, or tell one of them to hold regardless of how it might affect them. Who else do we have in the middle who can hold? Jenas? Smith? Greece did well because they played to a system and believed in each other. England can never be like that because of all the egos involved and the horrible national press. Euro 2004; Gerrard couldn't concentrate because agents were tapping him up. Arsenal and Man U players have learned to hate each other. The predictable North-South divide also plays a part. Must go my computer is acting up.

I went to watch him a couple of times and he was far and away the best player on the park. My mate, a season ticket holder back then (3rd division - league 2 now), said that he never misplaced a pass in all his time there. He also said that Beckham was in the crowd when they got promoted later on that year. How things change, eh? As far as Bentley goes, I think it is pretty obvious that he has no future at Arsenal. It is his second season on loan. The poor bloke was compared to Giggs a few years ago and hasn't lived up to it, but he will be a Premiership player, no Giggs though. He will be a good squad player for us as he can fill in a few positions which is sometimes bad for footballers. Managers like players who can play in more than one spot but it puts the player at a disadvantage as he can't forge his own role and has to juggle a few.

Foorball will have to deal with this very very soon, but will the clubs care? If Sky manage to sell the English game elsewhere they will keep pumping money into clubs who in turn will become more dependent on that money rather than concentrating on gates. This dependence is evident with BFRC and their scant gates. The club will be happy to finish 17th every season to guarantee that money. It will be great for me as I will get to see us play on a regular basis. When we went down in 1999 I had two lean years watching nothing. I do wonder too though; why go? You can see extended hightlights on Sky at night with loads of good angles, unlike at the game where you see it once. I love going to live games but understand that there is no need to go any more as you will not miss out. I think most people are in agreement that prices for games across the board are too high and clubs would rather cater to Roy Keane's prawn sandwidch brigade than the traditional fan. Fan power should ultimately decide the outcome. Football is an entertainment business and if its true customers are fans walking through the gates they need to vote with their feet and keep away. Many may feel that they are doing an injustice to their club by not going but this chain reaction, if done properly, will force clubs and greedy agents to reassess what they pay their players. Right now, Chelsea will not suffer because they do not need gate money for funding, but every other club does. Maybe this protest will make players realise that £60,000+ per week is a tad excessive.

I find it very hard to believe that the US government deliberately held back rescue efforts to kill the poor. I've read my fair share of conspiracies but this one is up there. Despite what most people think of George W. Bush I do not believe that he is a genocidal tyrant. I think that too many people are very quick to judge the USA in this case, probably because of the Iraq war cock up. I'm no fan of Bush but what I'm trying to say is that how could a country that stands for democracy and equality do this in full view of the world. Andy82, are you saying that Cowboy Bush sat in the White House and when notified that a hurricane might directly hit New Orleans he sat there rubbing his hands thinking "great, we'll get rid of a few"? A tad cynical even for a student's eager mind. There is one such conspiracy theory running around that tries to say that Roosevelt during the 1930's "New Deal" to get the US out of a depression moved loads of poor people to rural states such as Iowa so that they could all be killed off every year by tornadoes. Do you subscribe to that one too? If America deserved it so do the Germans as Glenn pointed out, as do the British, French, Spanish, and Portugese for their colonial adventures plus numerous other countries that have conquered over time. You should study history a bit. The human race is not a bunch of hand-holding, peace-loving, egalitarian creatures they are a selfish, self serving, greedy bunch who will quite easily run over another one for their own self gain. Politicians survive by placating voters; I don't think that murder would get many of them votes. The reasons for the delay are now turning into a childish "it's your fault" slanging match. The national government is run by the Republicans yet the state and local ones are Democrat. Each is now saying that the other should have acted first; this gives a clue as to why there was a delay, no-one had any idea what to do or who was giving out the orders. FEMA, the agency getting the worst of it is made up of many volunteers and part timers, they are not thousands of ready professionals sitting in mess halls waiting for the next disaster. They have normal jobs, then when disaster strikes they are called by a private contractor (who won a government contract), then they have X amount of time to get to where they are supposed to go and await further orders. The only person likely to lose over this is the FEMA boss who has looked like a clown throughout. The fact that he got the job becuase he inherited it from his old boss and only got that one because he helped on Bush's 2000 election campaign with the former boss may have something to do with why he stands around sweating.

SAR, I read reports on the Tsunami animals, but was this a bit different. Most animals in NO are urban creatures. How would they find higher ground? Go into hotels? I'm not having a go, I just think this case is different from the tidal wave.

(We're slipping off topic a bit now .. ) 344453[/snapback] I agree, that is for the usual topics. Anyway, I too agree that there will be thousands dead and it will never be the same again. Some US senator is in trouble for saying that it's pointless to rebuild New Orleans because of the cost. He immediately got battered for it but I somewhat understand what he is saying.

Please. There is no witch hunt here. Phil, you are right, religion has nothing to do with it. Their webite had the viewpoint not Matt or I. Why does Mr. Repent post on his website that the disaster happened because New Orleans is a den of ill repute? This is another form of religious fundamentalism. No doubt you are up in arms over the London bomber's confession, but will keep quiet over the "un-enlightened" view of Mr. Repent. I think that it is a very silly insular view to blame the crisis on people's choices rather than the fact that it happened because a hurricane's fury was perpetuated by human greed, stupidity, and selfishness.

I've been following this quite closely, as it's the only thing on the news over here, but we are getting the same stories, it's basically Lord of the Flies. Survival instincts have kicked in as no-one is willing to help so everyone reverts to every man for themselves. Police are resigning in droves as they figure it's not worth it. They've no houses either so they may as well get what they can. A bit stupid if you ask me because they'll be the first to get looked after later on. I'm sure someone will do a study on the social perspective in years to come. The general US public are getting a might p!ssed off at the government for not handling this thing well at all. First they told everyone who didn't leave, mostly the indigent, to go to the Superdome, so they did, but that place cracked under the pressure, what did they expect, I wonder? They are now busing everyone to Houston to stick them in the Astrodome (former home of the Houston Oilers), this place is now full so the rest are being sent, in their 1000's, to other big Texas cities where they will be housed POW style for a few months. What is going to happen here will be very interesting. I remember New Orleans being the scruffiest place in America. I couldn't believe how filthy the place was with loads of run down houses and tramps everywhere. It is a very poor city, and many of these poor peopleare now looting, shooting and polluting in the carnage; they have nothing to lose as they never had much and have lost it. The ones that go elsewhere will probably not go back. Why should they? They have nothing to go back for and won't get a free bus there either. This will put a massive strain on the adopted cities welfare systems. Rovermatt's link to the bigoted "religious right" view is typical of some of the idiots in this country (America not Britain) who vote blindly (and are as such courted by selfish politicians) and cannot think for themselves so they blame everything on poofters and abortions. The same clowns were spouting the same sh!t after September 11th. Overdeveloping a city below sea level by getting rid of the natural protection of wetlands and natural silt deposits from the continent's biggest river and having it then protected by an 80 year old wall not capable of coping with the surge of 140 mph winds and 2 feet of rain a hurricane beings may have more to do with it than a bloody gay pride parade being in town. My morbid curiosity and blanket media coverage will keep me interested in this for a while.

I'm in the who cares bracket. Savage is royal pain to play against, why would Rovers fans not like him? We cry blue murder when public enemy no. 1; Emerton "doesn't try", but Savage runs his nuts off every week and gets slated for doing an interview on a golf course wearing a Ping hat and talking about WALES. Most people know he's no Zidane, but he is very effective at clsong down the opposition and dneying them space for other teammates to play. He's played a good few times for his country and pretty much all of his career in the Premier League. Why have a go, he plays for us and tries.

Again, I missed the meat and potatoes so I had to refresh what was going on. What was a funny thread has descended into a puerile generation game insult session with very hard to read posts due to txt speak. You cannot win an argument against a 16 year old, don't try it, they know more than anyone and are used to handing out insults every second. As far as the fashion debate goes leave that as well. They have parents to look after them so all spare cash goes on overpriced clothes and shed loads of booze that they have just discovered. We were all 16 once, I can still remember it very well; I'm only 28. I could go out whenever I wanted, spend money like it was going out of style as I didn't have to pay ___, ____, _____, and ___ (fill in appropriate blanks), and knew my tea would always be on the table. It was a great time. Wez and the Invisible Man are probably alright lads, but they haven't learned yet how to handle themselves when boozed up in public. The brick throwing incident is a he said-she said that will not be resolved on here by trading comic fashion statements and educational achievement bragging.

Missed this one but read the highlights. Wez and his posse are your typical bunch of young lads who think that they are invincible. Most of us go through that stage then grow out of it. They have some spare cash around (I think more from the fact that they still live at home, not through lucrative paying jobs judging by their spelling capabilities), drink too much because they think it's good to do so, and cause general annoyance wherever they go. I'm sounding old now, and I'm not, but this is the youth of today. They grew up without any responsibilities and won't for a while yet. They will all calm down when they get a grilfriend and the attached pleasures, but for now sensible away fans will have to put up with these clowns acting up at football matches for the benefit of the team and doing likewise in local boozers for entertainment.

As is always proved we have no say in tactics or players, so what about Emerton at right back whilst Neill is banned? Everyone said he played as a wing back for Feyenoord, one game won't hurt him and he might enjoy it. Put Reid out wide and Mokoena in the middle with Savage and Tugay. When Todd gets banned expect Axe to slot in again as Neill should be back.

Will Neill miss this one? Or does he sit out first? In all likelihood Todd will be up for a 3 game ban but that one will come later n'est pas? Where is Nissa when you need him!

Saw the goals, both were absolute class, but I'd give the nod to MGP's as the 15 pass build up and pinpoint cross was good football. Tugay's was a thunderbolt that could have gone anywhere. We beat a team that will struggle to survive this season so no reasonto get excited, much like we didn't need to get despondent after last week's defeat. Spurs will be tough, but I'll bet we will be more organized.

Innumerable factors are contributing to our decline. You can make decent arguments for all the poll options, but I would rather have one for gerneral health of the game. Football is suffering. Everyone wants to watch the "big 4" because they win everything, so they will be ok. They keep getting the money and buying the better players leaving us with the scraps. As I've stated in other threads, and other have commented on, we don't have the aura that we did when we were Prem new boys beating all comers iwth swashbuckling Shearer scoring goals aplenty. The local public cannot be bothered watching mediocre Premiership football, it's just not as exciting as a trip to the Trafford Centre, even though it's probably cheaper.