Advocate would be a dreadful manager. He did well at Rangers in the beginning, then slowly took them to the dogs. There has also been mention of Walter Smith, please God no.

I was totally taken aback when Souness left, because I never even considered him for the Newcastle job. I wasn't one of the people who was wanting him out, because I believed that he was doing a decent job, even though team selections were sometimes strange. However, I ddn't want a manager always saying that our priority is staying in the Premiership, that is fairly obvious. I think that he has taken the club as far as possible and if he were in charge for two or three more years, I think that you would find Blackburn in roughly the same possition each year. We have a good squad and a new manager may well be able to take them that bit further and realise that Amoruso isn't the answer to our defensive problems.

Sky Sports are saying that Strachan and Mark Hughes are the favourites for the job, but then again David O'Leary was the favourite for the Newcastle job and looked what happened. I'd be happy with either of those two, although Hughes doesn't have experience in managing a club, if he could replicate what he has down with Wales we would be flying. I'm not sure of Mike Newell though. He has done well at Luton and is definately an up and coming manager, but I don't want Rovers to be the club where he sees if he can manage in the Premiership. As I have already said, I don't want Glen Hoddle, Terry Venables, George Graham, Ron Atkinson or Gerard Houllier anywhere near the club.

Other managers that I don't wan't are Glen Hoddle and Gerard Houillier. If Houillier came in, then it would be the end of Neill's career at Rovers.

They would be top men to get into the football club. People like Strachan, Dalglish, Robson and Hughes would also be pretty good candidates. Just as long as Ron Atkinson, Terry Venables and George Graham come near the club, then we are getting somewhere. If it takes awhile for the new man to be brought in, who will take over for the time being?

This really has come out of nowhere. I have mixed views about Souness going. Firstly I believed that he could still do a job for us, keeping us in the Premiership. However, I also felt that we shouldn't be just looking to stay in the Premiership each season, we need to push on and if this was attitude that Souness was starting each season with, then maybe we needed someone else in charge. We have a good squad of players, and maybe Souness was unable to keep the team fresh and happy, which would translate into performances on the pitch. Whoever the new manager, he has to have top level experience, but not necessarily in the Premiership. It will also mean that players like Todd, Jansen and McEvely may get a chance when the new manager comes in.

If Souness managed to convert that potential to performances on the pitch, then he could be a very good signing.

We never solved the defensive midfield role during the summer. Souness brought in Matteo, who played there a couple of times last season for Leeds, when he wasn't being useless in defence and he only played well in that position against us. He isn't the answer, he is slow and lumbering and can't pass. I'd play Thompson and Ferguson in the centre. They both have great engines, they get forward well and can defend as well, so they should take it in turns for one to go forward and one to sit. I thought that Emerton was excellent against Man Utd and showed us what he can do. I haven't seen enough of De Pedro or Pedersen to make up my mind on who should play on the left wing. I'd also have Andy Todd back in the team. He was our best defender last season and if Souness is willing to give Yorke another go, he should do the same for Todd. My starting 11 would be: Friedal Neill Todd Short Gray Emerton Thompson Ferguson De Pedro/Pedersen Stead Dickov

When we signed Dickov, I wasn't best pleased. However, for £150,000 he is looking like a bargain and I have been proved wrong about him. He was excellent when he came on against Southampton, and played well against Arsenal and Man Utd. But sometimes I get annoyed when he holds the ball up well, then loses it by trying to do too much and play a difficult pass. But overall he has shown that he gives it his all, he wants to win and this should be an example to the rest of the team. Jay brings a different dimension to our striking options, with his pace and skill and I think that there are alot of combinations for our strikers, which could work well.

I went to see the Jurassic 5 after show party in the Empire Bar in Belfast on Monday. They had been playing at a concert in the Botanic Gardens, along with Ash and The Darkness. DJ Nu-Mark was doing a set and he was to be supported by Raaka from Dilated Peoples. Before Nu-Mark came on a DJ called Vitamin D was on with Raaka and he was great. While he was on, Akil and Chali 2na from J5 were in the crowd talking to people and they were so dead on, but they said that they weren't performing, just there to watch. DJ Nu-Mark was absolutely brilliant, but was made better when J5 came out and sang What's Golden. After the show I got all their autographs, including Cut Chemist who I didn't know was there until I was leaving. This stuff was far better than all the bling bling rap that we hear so oftenand I doubt you'd find 50 Cent standing in the crowd with all the fans. If you ever get the chance, go and see them.

Pleased enough with this signing. A promising player, who is fast and skillful, something which we haven't had since Jansen. It adds to squad and he will do a better job than Yorke, who must go down in the list of crap signings, truly awful. As others have said, it is only a loan signing, so if it doesn't work out, we haven't lost much. This is one player that I never thought of us going after, but he could be quite affective. However, I still can't believe that we didn't take up the option to take Claudio Lopez on loan. There are other quality players out there who we could have brought in on loan, like Nicola Ventola or Cosmin Contra, who would solve any doubts about the right back position.

Thank God he is on his way. His performances against Man Utd and Southampton just proved that he hasn't changed. He is just as lazy and crap as he always has been. This may well give Jansen more of a chance with Yorke moving on and indeed one of the youth players like Jemal Johnson. What still grates me is that Souness allowed Cole to leave, and giving Yorke a second chance, but as most of us knew, it wasn't going to be any different. Coming from a Celtic mad family, I wish he was going somewhere else, like Rangers.

I'd give him until the end of the season, give him a run in the team and if he isn't up to it, then we should let him move on. This is such an unfortunate thing to happen, because we had a genuine top class striker on our hands.

There's a member of this board who's always fond of a good preach about the evils of such statements. He'll be on soon no doubt...hold on a minute. He's got a point this time, mind. I could say the same about Megadeath.

Sorry, didn't see this topic, before I posted one.

Skysports reporting that Bobby Robson has been let go by Newcastle. The poor start to the season is probably what is behind the decision. This could be good for us, when we go and play them. What does this do for the Shearer link though?

Hoobastank are a class band, I have the Hoobastank and The Reason albums, which are brilliant. If you like them you should download some of these songs: Crawling In The Dark, Same Direction, Out Of Control and Remember Me. I'm also listening to quite alot of a band called Audiovent. The lead singer is the brother of the lead singer of Incubus. Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells 3 is a brilliant album and is well worth a listen. I too was at the White Stripes in the Botanic Gardens in Belfast. They were absolutely brilliant. I'm not the biggest fan, but they were excellent, unlike the New York Dolls who supported them. The lead singer looked and acted like Mick Jager, while the lead guitarist was a cross between Alice Cooper and the lead guitarist from Aerosmith and all their songs sounded the same. Before them was some band called The Peaches and they were just course. The leading lady attempted to use as many vile words in a sentence as possible and mimed sexual acts on stage -classy.

Does anyone know what number Pedersen has been given?

I was reading on planetfootball.com how Souness was 'keen to discover' if MGP was able to perform at this level and is quoted as saying that it "remains to be seen whether he can make the step up to this level." Now I'm not slagging Souness, but would it not be better if he actually knew that he was good enough to play in this league, before he spent what little money we had on him. But then again, you have to take a chance with players from lesser leagues.

Going to see the White Stripes on Wednesday in Botanic Gardens in Belfast and it will be sweet. They are supported by the New York Dolls, who are supposed to be good.

We have a very good midfield, but this idea that Souness has of making us harder to beat is a good one, but if our midfield is so negative, we aren't going to win many games. We saw what a difference it made when Emerton was put on the right wing and players were played in something resembling their proper position. The fact that Souness was so negative against WBA still grates me.

I was disappointed with the lack of good players being brought in during the summer and was baffled by the formation on Saturday, but I still think Souness is the man for the job, and I'll be happy if he can bring in the Nigerian player Odemwingie, who is very good.

I was very disappointed with the result, when you consider the games that we have coming up, 3 points was essential. However, the performance didn't seem to be too bad. What did trouble me was the formation, I just couldn't work it out. Last year we didn't have many left footed players, but loads of right footed players, but it seemed that we were playing all our left footed players and not having a balanced midfield. Was this out of necessity, or is the tactic we can expect from Souness this season? Then it seemed that Matteo was put back into defence, was Short moved up front then or what? A good result against Southampton is a must.

I think that we will win this one 3-1. It is so important that we win this game, when you consider the games that we have after this one and Southampton away.

I was very annoyed to hear that Cole had been let go. He was our top scorer last season and a proven Premiership striker and his departure will make goals difficult to come by next year. What angers me more is that Rovers still haven't gotten rid of Dwight Yorke, who also fell out with Souness, hasn't done much since he has joined, Souness didn't see him fit for the first team for much of last season, but is still willing to keep him and pay him a fortune. The mind boggles.