Mowbray in his time here actually managed to establish a functioning first 11, something Coyle was never near achieving. Looking at Mowbray's record for Rovers in isolation it's clear that he did a decent job, especially considering the state of the club, but at the same time it's hard not to think about not properly finishing off the games against Preston, Norwich and Burton...

The way I see it, Bristol was the toughest game of our run-in and we got out of it with a point. Wolves, Villa and Brentford are all halfway to the beach by now, 7 points from those games shouldn't be a Herculean task. Not that we've been pulling off any kinds of tasks during the season leading up to this, but still...   

Another manager straight from the Last Chance Saloon, he'll be grateful for the opportunity and won't cause a fuss when the strange decrees start rolling in from above.

Parson and other regular U21 spectators, how would you rate Johnson and Dunn as tacticians and match coaches? They're the only ones that have even a theoretical chance at replacing Coyle, now or later... 

Probably not the worst he had a fantastic pedigree and was only on loan but Dino Baggio, the man who came off the pitch every week with his shirt and shorts almost cleaner and crisper than when he went on.

We go on about agents these days, quite rightly but for a period back then particularly the Hodgson, Souness eras they must have had a field day.

I honestly believe Allardyce fits that bunch as well, notorious for having agents dictate his transfers.

It will be interesting to see what Graham can do with a proper partner in attack, last season he played most of his games with a disinterested Gomez as his main support.

Re-signing Spurr smacks of desperation, and I would've said the same if it was on Lambert's watch. We don't need a mediocre, L1 level defender to make up the numbers, the club needs to sign some actual quality.

That signing + reading between the lines of his interviews really tell a sad story. Sounds a lot like he's taken the job knowing that funds will be very limited, and that keeping afloat is the main aim.

BTW, how come no one has asked Coyle about what kind of football he wants to play? I'm not expecting a deep tactical masterclass, but something besides platitudes about "arte et labore" would be nice.

Roque Santa Cruz, at 34, came on a sub for the last 15 minutes Malaga in the Spanish first division today. Apparently he's made 3 starts and 12 appearances from the bench this season, scoring 2 goals. One of my favorite strikers to have played for Rovers, glad to see he's still plying his trade at the top level despite being plagued by injuries throughout his career.

A spirited fightback from Villarreal to come back from 2-0 down to draw against Barca, after one of the worst refereeing decisions of all time.

https://twitter.com/yeremip3/status/711580240179535873

I watched the second half, dynamite stuff. With a bit more composure Villareal could even have nicked the three points.

Anyone who can should watch Dortmund - Bayern Münich right now, nothing in the Premier League I've seen this year even comes close in terms of quality.

I watched Cham play at stockport in November and was ther best player by a mile. Not seen him since. 2-0 rovers

Forester brace

If Forrester is ever going to get a chance to prove himself in the first team, the time really is now. We won't go down, won't go up, our strikers aren't scoring and Forrester's contract expires after this season.

Great win for the Yellow Submarine tonight against Real Madrid.

Benitez is having a real nightmare there, some interesting conspiracy theories on how he got that job doing the rounds. Still, congrats on a massive win!

Our old friend Dickson Etuhu is under investigation for assault after allegedly having come to blows with security guards at a night club in Stockholm last week.

Sweden won 1-0 in Kazakhstan, and had Austria not scored late against Ireland we'd have been almost guaranteed a playoff spot. As it is, we're still in pole position but need a win to be sure in the last two games.

Bit of a milestone game in that Anders Svensson got his 144th cap, making him Sweden's most capped player of all time. Wouldn't have expected that when he moved back to Sweden after his time with Southampton.

6 points from two tricky away ties (Ireland and Kazakhstan) in the last few days, but I still don't trust Hamrén as far as I can throw him. He's gambling like a madman on who should play in central defense and central midfield while also condoning a style of play that gives the back four very little protection. To be fair he doesn't have the same calibre of players at his disposal that Sweden had only a few years ago (it's fairly telling that our best backup choice as a striker is currently a 31 year old domestic player), but I'd still take Lagerbäck back in a heartbeat.

Congrats neighbours! Well-deserved!

Did Martin Olsson start the game?

Thanks! Too bad about Portugal getting between you and Denmark, would have been good to see another Nordic country in the tournament. Will you keep Drillo as manager or try something new for the World Cup qualification?

Still over the moon with Sweden's qualification to Euro 2012 yesterday! We had to beat an already qualified Holland to become the best runner up in all the qualification groups, and despite loosing a 1-0 lead (superb freekick by Källström) to 1-2 Sweden fought back and won 3-2. This side is not as good as the team of 5-6 years ago that sported players like Mellberg, Larsson and Ljungberg in their absolute prime with a young Ibrahimovic to back them up, but hopefully we can have a good tournament now that we have actually qualified... Hopefully we'll get England in our group, as we haven't lost against Three Lions in a competitive game for almost 70 years!

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Six Feet Under yet, it really is the best thing ever done for TV but maybe it doesn't resonate with all you big northern macho he-men?

Italian Serie A side Palermo's owner Massimo Zamparini doesn't mince words on his current coach, Delio Rossi:

– Rossi has a one per cent chance of staying on the bench, you can bet on that. The team has been completely destroyed. He ruined my Palermo. Rossi has destroyed this squad. I asked the coach to fix the defense and he did not do it. Instead, he took off Ezequiel Munoz, who is the best player in the back line. We cannot play like this. I'll think it over tonight and at most tomorrow morning, but I am seriously considering handing the side to the youth team coach. I should have kicked Rossi out at Christmas.

According to Marca, when Jermaine Pennant got his loan move back to England, he left his Porsche at the train station in Zaragoza. After it sat there for five months, the club sent someone to pick it up, who found that Pennant had left the keys on the seat of the car.

The best part is that he totally forgot about it, and didn't remember his Porsche until his Spanish interpreter called and reminded him! He was surprised that he owned yet another Porsche, and even more surprised he had forgotten it at a Spanish train station.

Here you go

The Norwegian commentator actually sighs and says "Alan Shearer will NEVER miss this" when Rovers get the penalty right in the beginning. Classic!

Played some nice football but always passed it out to the wings when counter attaking which slowed the play down a bit for the Schalke players to re-group.

I went to see Hertha Berlin last year, and they did the exact same thing!

Take a look at this fit young man who's the first to congratulate Roberto Carlos after this goal in the Brazilian regional championship...

It surprises me that Inter wants rid of Santon, being Italian and one of very few own talents Inter have developed in the last years.

I liked the look of Denis when he played for Napoli a few seasons back, he must have gotten worse if Udinese wants rid of him? In Napoli-form, he would certainly be better than anything we have up front with Allardyce's tactics.

The Matty Burrows goal for Glentoran is on the list for the Fifa Ballon d'or Puskas Award, which will pick the best goal of the year. I'd imagine he'll enjoy his night out at the awards sat beside fellow candidate Leo Messi.

Here is another candidate in the competition, taken from the Swedish second (!) division:

Can Ronaldo ever forgive Nani after this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NaX8NTtkllw&feature=player_embedded