It’s like selling Damien Duff for about £8 million back in the day. He’s a once in a generation player for a team like Rovers. Palace must be pissing themselves.

Quite the philosopher - I have a few tee shirts, one that says - “ In Football Everything Is Complicated By the Presence Of The Opposite Team “ John Paul Sartre. Another - “ If The Game Is Lost Your Earthly Life Is Wasted “ Henrik Ibsen. And - “ Beyond The Touchline There Is Nothing “ Jaques Derrida

I don’t know how that cross from Sammi stayed out.

That’s fair enough.

Sounds like he’ll get one with Gent doing well up in Scotland.

Stay in the Championship, sell a few more “ paintings off the wall “ . One day there won’t be any “ paintings “ left.

I’d be amazed if we weren’t safe with 4 more points.

Mm, it’s a hard one to call. I’m just glad I don’t have to make that decision.

Signing players is always a gamble. You’d have thought Sigurdsson would have been a better bet than Dolan going off his reputation but it hasn’t turned out that way. Better the players you know can actually perform.

That’s a good plan - turn up on Saturday and beat them like Chile did v USSR back in the day.

25,738 at Bolton v Portsmouth. Just shows what can be done when you get everybody pulling in the same direction.

I agree. If you’re playing in an around the box being rapid over 10 yards is vital. I would argue Dolan is quick over short distances and I’m happy with that. I’d be doing my utmost to sign him. If he goes elsewhere we’ll regret it.

What it really needs is some wings and a couple of engines.

Team selection will be interesting. Although a draw would probably be enough for us, playing for one is fatal more often than not.

So how many points will be enough Phil ? I think anything other than a loss againt Sheff Wed would be enough. Even if we lose we have a good home game v Coventry and away at Leicester isn’t what it was a month ago. I we can win at Leeds we can win there too.

Alan Shearer ?

He over took Dolan because he dragged him back off the ball.

Their guy was dragging him back in that break. The linesman’s eyes were obviously just painted on.

He’s quick over 10 yards but over say 40 yards he’s average pace wise. We haven’t got any real flyers in the team. The sort of players who can just run away from defenders with the ball at their feet. Regarding decision making - he has a tendency to over elaborate, usually when he’s trying to buy time in possession so the other strikers can get forward in attack. He just needs to keep it simple and go for it. I like the lad, he plays with a smile on his face. I’d be disappointed if he leaves. We’d miss his enthusiasm.

I saw him in that friendly at Accy pre-season and from what I’d heard about him I was expecting to see a younger version of Graham LeSaux. I know it was only a friendly but I thought he looked pretty ordinary. Mind you, I thought Tronstad looked ordinary as well and I was wrong about that.

Yeah, work that one out ?

He’s earned the right to better himself. He’s been faultless this season in terms of skill and effort. He never “ downed tools “ at any time. Some of the first time finishes he’s put away have been terrific. I’m not as pessimistic as some on here regarding replacing his goals if he goes. We can bring in other players in that role and maybe play in a way that doesn’t rely on one player staying fit for 50 games a season

I would agree with most of that. Only the Chicken Chokers would hold a manager to his contract when he plainly had had enough of their nonsense. Just one in a long line of crazy decisions made by them.

Therein lies his mistake. He was asking his players to play in a way they weren’t capable of doing. In the end it looks like some of the downed tools.

I think JDT’s main problem was he wanted to play “ Rolls-Royce “ football with a team of “ Ford Mondeo’s “ . What he could achieve with a team of “ Rolls-Royce’s “ remains to be seen. I’ll be surprised if that happens at Sweden for obvious reasons. The thought crossed my mind after yesterdays game that if we had played in a similar committed fashion with a similar formation last season at the Dingledome we might have got a similar result.