I was one who defended Souness almost until the end. On reflection I think a lot of that had to do with the Promotion and the Worthy cup win. His charisma also, I think, had me fooled too. The confidence with which he speaks is very alluring. His whole persona has a way of making you think he is something special, thankfully Fat Freddy fell into the same trap I did. Having had time to ponder and look over what he did my views have changed a bit. Again on reflection, Jansen tragedy aside, he sold two of our "crown jewels" on he got his hands on some of the funds and made this team his own, well that's when it went tits up. I am sure as I am sitting here had he not left we'd have gone down. Thank god for Sparky and Fat Freddy.

Yes, I did actually manage to stay awake the whole 90. Oh and if Beckham gets the nod ahead of our David I'll be miffed. I think Bents did enough last England game to have earned a second opportunity.

One way of looking at it. I had not thought of that.

Quite possible, though Samba has had a little distraction of having a child, or his wife has. Time will tell, I think Samba's done alright of late, Nelsen, don't know who that is out there with his name on his shirt.

I wish we could all just move on and leave Lucash in the past, the history books. An average performer who saved his best performances for pre contract seasons. Let's move on people.

The boy Barton needs some serious couch time Is it true Allardyce told him he should be doin a good stretch in between games

Wondering if Gamst is a bigger problem that we think, seems like a few players had a bit of a go at him today.

I had not heard about the pre contract agreement but there are some that suspected Mourihno was doing this to force the hand of one of the big clubs in Europe. Of course the FA have Drug their feet long enough to let this happen. We will see. Looking at Chelsea early on is/was Jose really the man for the job? Don't know.

Huh??? Did'nt Croatia just turn us over TWICE. It is winnable though we should be inspired by a desire to get revenge on the Croats. The FIFA Gods have been reasonably kind. Now it is up to us to cock it up.

And that is too bad it really is. I was hoping for great things from Keane, not because I like him, simply because if he had any kind of success he would have leap frogged Sparky in the when Ferguson leaves sweepstakes. I think he has spent unwisely, too much money on players simply not good enough at the Prem level. Oh how's that much touted Chopra doing, is he injured or something.

Did not realise he was THAT old.

Great shout, never entered my mind I just thought him too old now, what has he been up to?

Interesting rule, it's called home grown but it really is not specifically targeted at home nation talent. All it means is if you sign a foreign player at 18 and keep him on the rules are met. Or your foreigner has to have been at the club for three seasons. Does it favor the big clubs again? possibly, I mean they can afford to keep "qualifying" players on the books for that specific reason. So the limitation, in a nutshell, means that any club could not go out and sign any more than 16 Foreigners to play immediately, or for three seasons. As for Bents, he simply falls into the association side of the rule. If my interpretation is correct. Also, if the player is English he still falls under the same rule umbrella? For example, a 16/17 year old Wayne Rooney would have been ineligible under these stipulations. Lastly, does this now mean all players must be at least 18 years old, the wording is not too clear, do they have to have been registered for three seasons between the ages of 15 and 21 or does being on the clubs books since 12 or 13 count?

Based on what he has done at Watford that's not a bad shout, the man certainley has the passion about him. He's gelled a bunch of mis-fits there, oodles of fire and personality. Somehow I think his lack of top flight experience will rule him out, beside I sort of have my eye on the guy for next boss of Rovers when Hughes moves on.

speedie has a point, absence makes the heart and all that. Not that England are closer to me than Rovers but they do seem a lot closer to my heart than they used to.

I think I would add Glenn Hoddle to that list, but as is the FA they sack him for stupid words rather than football related matters. In the limited amount of games I saw England under Hodd they looked decent and filled me with high hopes and the promise of a bright future. Or was that in a previous life? heh heh. Let's not forget too what a good job Joe Mercer did as caretaker one time, wish he could have got it full time.

I would agree with that choice, was on my mind this morning. The man clearly has an knack for bringing through good young talent. As for Big Sam, would inspire some passion but I am not convinced he has the tactical ability. As for Gerrard not performing, I had mentioned elsewhere if you don't have true confidence in what the boss is telling you it's highly unlikely you will put in a best effort, I feel that may have been the case with a lot of the players and McClaren. Still as the captain it's up to him to sort that out with the boss. I am also becoming suspicious of this whole "International Break" thing. While it is good to be able to work with the players for a time I wonder if it is seen by the players as just that, a break. A bit of a holiday camp, players get in a bit of a relaxed state without the day to day pressure and focus of the Prem and it is hard to just switch it back on.

Someone here said The FA should be gone too, I totally agree. It's time for a total revamp from the TOP DOWN. Let's get some real footy people in there, who? no idea. I can only see more of the same sameness in the appointment of the next English manger. Footballing knowledge and tactical nous run a poor second and third on their list of requirements.

All well and good, but if you play goalie you will understand the most basic rule of goalkeeping, get your body behind the ball and he did not. He had plenty of time to adjust his feet to.

Spot on. HEre's the real disgrace, the most of the country did not want McClown, the people that support the game for who in some cases it is their life, their passion, but the FA thought they knew better. Is it an ego thing?

Sorry mate, and don't take this personal, but you simply have not been paying attention. It will not be because of a UK thing, it will be because O'Neill is the sort of character the FA likes. PC, steady with the media, won't ruffle any feathers. Best man out there for the job not by a long shot but is the closest to meeting the most important criteria for our FA, does not make waves, not controversial. However he IS 10x better than that idiot McClaren.

Garbage, I knew from the offset McClaren could not guide England to the Euro's and I knew we could not win that game. I'll be over it quickly now, it's next Summer it really starts to set in. Long ball England. No inventiveness, no nous, no nothing we tried going long and over the top and Craoia's defence ate it up, our only decent cross from wide and we score. Embarrassed to be an England fan, again.

SWP hasn't done very well in that aspect lately either but I see he is starting. PLonker.

Someone who has an open and demonstrative passion for the game also. Oh and the talk of Alan Shearer as England boss is just plain ridiculous

Spot on Mum, the players look more like it's a pain in the ass to have to bother themselves with England duty now. The old Emlyn Hughes statement way back when, when the players were haggling over appearance money. I believe Emlyn said, " I would crawl up Wembley Way on my hands and knees to play for England for nothing" Now THAT is what it should be about.