It would be _very_ difficult to prove that Mourihno used the words towards the ref. It's like the phrase "son of a bitch", it could just be a random curse at the world. Hence no action, I think.

It's a good point you make. Mokoena has been exceptional positionally for the last few games, although he has a tendancy to whack the ball anywhere if he's under pressure. That's improving, as has his ball control, passing and for the most part, tackling. I thought he was unlucky on Saturday, frankly, Corradi (or was it Samaras) clearly started the grabbing and holding, but the linesman could only see Mokoena from the angle he was at. I suspect that if he'd kept his hand to himself the same would have happened. As for the first tackle, it was rash, and late. But he made an attempt to get the ball, unlike say, Hamann, or Barton.

Roberts, you mean the pace signed to replace Bellamy? Of course it made a difference, runs like the one against notloB are the difference he makes. As for Ooijer, sure, with Samba in this form then Samba is ahead of him, but Sparkys plan would have been to play Ooijer and Nelsen together in the centre, which would have been an excellent defense. As for Bellers vs McCarthy... completely different types of player, except for the area of the pitch they both play. You just cannot compare them. Now, comparing Roberts and Bellamy is another matter. Bellamy's better

I believe wages might be an issue, someone mentioned that he was on fairly large wages at Roma. I'd like to see him stay, I genuinely believe that it's lack of confidence holding him back, or he could have had 3 against Leverkusen in the last 10 minutes. He needs to work on his heading a bit too, he got some really good headed chances earlier in the season that he should have scored. Depends on how much he costs, really. And where we finish, and who's available, and as mentioned, his wages.

The economics of it just don't work out, though. To get TV-levels of funding for football clubs, what the hell would the supporters have to pay? I'd still prefer to go to a live match with a few friends than watch on TV. Perhaps there should be a specified stand where you can have a drink? And not get warned for standing? I'm not entirely sure that bringing terracing back would help much, if you can't drink, smoke or make merry. One of the reasons that "music on the tannoy" is becoming more prevalent is that you don't get the noise you used to. Other than that, lower priced tickets and continuing success are the only things that'll bring lapsed supporters back. I wonder, though, should we do a ManUre and find a good Asian player, preferably one popular in the East. That might encourage some of the asian community to attend (or at least drive some marketing in the East).

I liked the commentator on Sky when Dunny came on, "Wow, he really wants to get out there and play, he's desperate to impress" I was pleased with him, he looked a little rusty but you cannot fault his attitude today. If he keeps that attitude and workrate up, he'll have been a bargain at the price

Heh, if you can't beat 'em, go completely over the top? I like it!

I concede the point Stick him on the stand roof.

He slid, which made it difficult to spot, esecially as the Liverpool player stepped out at the last second. Under the rules, benefit of any doubt is supposed to go the attackers way. Also, I'd prefer if offside was done purely on foot position if possible. Leaning offside while starting to run shouldn't be offside!

Well, as you may have guessed, I wasn't talking rubbish like that. But the point that the drummers seem to know one "tune" ("Gerrinto'em") is going to be a problem. If a few people could meet up with them for a few drinks and a Rovers singalong, surely we'd drop that one and go with some good ones, like the random stuff that popped up on the Dunn thread. As I'm in Ireland, I assumed that locals could manage it. I mean, going for a few drinks and a singalong is hardly punishment! On another point, PLEASE go easy on the capitals! It's very hard on the eyes, and after working with computers for a while it's the equivalent of someone shouting in your ear

Its one for the supporters club, though, surely? Perhaps agree on a few ditties with the drummers and see if we can't get them supporting the songs and driving some atmosphere rather than killing songs and atmosphere. After all, several spanish teams have drummers and it doesn't appear to have dampened them any!

I'd go with Friedel myself for the moment, but recall that captaincy is NOT just about playing on the pitch. It's about effort in training, the resepct of the other players and attitude as well. Of those four, the second two are the most important, the captain has to be able to give someone a bashing without them getting their backs up. It was one of the reasons that Beckham did not make an effective captain for England (witness Rooney telling him to "F*** OFF" as caught on TV). Can't imagine anyone doing that to Terry, or Roy Keane, or, for that matter, big Ryan. Those are/were great captains, motivating all about them. Sadly, we do appear to be lacking a leader at times, especially in defence. And an armband doesn't make someone a leader...

Yeah, JW seems to be all for cheaper tickets next season. Encouraging Official Site and Sky Sports

Agree on the second point, but on the first point, I'd have to submit Watford as the team with the lowest overall quality in the premiership. Loads of effort and endeavour, but in the final reckoning, Just Not Good Enough (as well as desperately unlucky). They're gonners, though while Sheffield still have a chance.

No one is arguing that Lucas isn't acting in his own best interests. Most of us are pointing out that he's perfectly entitled to do that, and we didn't do badly out of the deal. Seems fair to me. Now, my own opinion is that he didn't really act in his own best interests career-wise, but he's getting a whopping great paycheck out of it, so there ya go. I hope his Australian franchise dream comes true. Best of luck with that. The Hammers are still going down, though!

He also said that "maybe captains get booked less" LINK

Ha, mixed reactions which is no surprise, really. Some good chants. Someone fill the drums with lead (or the drummers) so they can be completed! (To the tune of wild Rover) He was a wild rover for many a year, but he spent all his money on whiskey and beer. Now he's returning with craft in great store And he never will be a wild rover no more and it's no nay never (Da-vid Dunn) no nay never no more.... I've been a wild rover, now I'm going to score!

750k + 250k if Brummie get promoted + 1m after 50 appearances? Seems like a deal to me! Also, a profit of 4.75m falling to 3.5m..... heh, good business in the end I really think that if he gets any run of games together he'll be a big part of the team. Bags of talent, but a terrible time with injury. Interestingly the back operation he had and the recovery from it mean he's fit (a change) and it's possible that it could clear up the recurring injury nightmare, so we could see him soon. Come on, Dunny, Get Into 'Em!!!

Jaypers, why eat him alive becuase he mentioned that BLackburn has a large foreign population that could increase gates at rovers! Certainly Japan and Korea are into football in a big way, and even countries like Iran had decent following at the World Cup. The trick is to figure out what would make them interested. I know here in Ireland the majority of immigrants are in lower paying jobs, but the lower prices thing doesn't seem to be working in interesting them. Something that nearly always works is the high profile signing of a player of the same ethnicity or nationality, although this may not be practical (although perhaps the signing of Wael Gomaa could work towards this). Many of these people might already support a team, probably ManU (they're very popular in the far east). We'll see this weekend!

I have to say I hate Chelsea FAR more that I ever hated united. Not for the cash, but for the cynical, passionless, cheating and diving team that Moaninho has put together, who have taken the "we should win anything regardless" attitude to the point where I don't think they've ever been gracious in defeat. I tell a lie, there was that once last year against Fulham. At least with Ferguson, he'd sometimes give the opposition credit (and he was sacked from St. Mirren. heh). Unlike Moaninho. What a jerk. Also, they play Drogba, who is the epitomie of everything wrong with football. And in United's credit, they have a great youth system and consistently bring players through it and give them a chance in the first team. big budget, sure, but never to the point of insanity like Chelsea. Anyways, on to the the game. I'm terrified at the thought of an angry, strong ManU coming out against our injury ravaged, and low on confidence side. So we're going to win I reckon 2-1 to Rovers, with the last 15 minutes being nailbiting edge of the seat defending from Rovers. Also, going out on a limb, I predict that Andre will NOT give away a penalty, more prosaically, that Morten and Benni will get on the scoresheet. Vidic will score from a corner for them.

I noticed against Basel that Ooijer has an impressive range of passing. Use him as an anchor in front of Zurab and Henchoz/Todd (if he ever gets to play again). Then proceed as normal. With a creative midfielder (Tugs/Bentley), and a confident, decent passing, defensively minded midfielder, it could shore up our midfield, which has been the source of much of our grief. Then we'll have to sort out the left. Morten and Mickey ain't playing well together, and many teams have noticed this. Although you'd wonder does Morten fancy playing United again

Well said, Scotty. I can see why some people get down, personally I was after West Ham. At times Rovers are really frustrating. By at times, I think sometimes it's every second game But you're right. We're struggling with a small squad, a _very_ busy schedule (if teams like Man U, Chelsea and Arsenal can suffer from "the Euro hangover" with their giant squads, then we're allowed to with our small one) and a very bad injury list. I think just about any team in the Prem would be missing Nelsen, never mind five other first team players on top of that. People saying that "Hughes should be blamed because he didn't strengthen " clearly missed the part where we're still hearing about players he tried to get, and we'll never know the half of it. He likes his quiet transfer dealings, remember? I'm certain it was the same last summer, too. And as a mid-level premiership club with limited resources, we just cannot get anyone we want. Now, for my opinions on players. I'm feeling sorry for Gamst. He's clearly lacking confidence in a big way. After the Basel game he was interviewed and he just looked lost. This needs to be fixed as apparently he's not getting dropped. For me, a lot of our problems are coming from the left. Mickey isn't the fastest, and Gamst isn't covering him. Morten also has a horrible habit of diving in towards a challenge and getting skinned for his troubles. Gray can't manage on his own and the end result is disaster after disaster coming from the left. If either of them were on top form, we might get away with it, but frankly, they aren't. Centre midfield is a problem, we're getting consistently overrun there. Someone needs to explain to the Axe the concepts of "the simple pass" and "not losing the ball just in front of your defence". The funny thing is, I've seen him play well. Maybe he just needs a run of games....and it looks like he'll get one. You CANNOT play Bentley and Tugs together in the middle of the park on their own. I'd like to see the 4-5-1 with Bentley, Tugs, and the Axe in the centre, with Bentley as the attacking midfielder, and Gallager on the right. Nonda, for me, still doesn't look fully fit. He's shown enough to suggest that if and when he does get fully fit, he'll be a good signing. I noticed against Basel that Ooijer has an immense range of accurate passing. Maybe he could work as a holding midfielder and Todd could come back beside Zurab? Unless he's still ooking for the toys he threw out of the pram earlier in the season. And Hughes lets him. Benni, oh Benni. i have a problem with him. He looks a real class act, but I wish he'd stop sulking when things don't go his way. He has a tendancy to switch off at that point. Again, still not settled for me. He's also finding it very frustrating, like the rest of us, at how very static we go at times. The boys have got to be more pro-active looking for space. The irritating thing is, we all know that we can play better than we're showing. It seems to almost be a confidence issue (which is mad, because we got into the UEFA cup last year) but it's all very tentative out there at the moment. It's just not positive enough. If they'd just relax and bloody well play football like we know they can they'd be fine. And lastly, is there an ignore function?

I'm confident, oddly enough. Hughes obviously laid down the law at half-time in midweek, and he'll do so again before this match. It's also not one the players could get over-confident about. 1-2 Rovers, Agbonlahor for them, Bentley and McCarthy for us. Gray was badly exposed for pace in midweek, and his positioning was poor. He gave the ball away a lot. I think he needs to be dropped, but unless Brett is back (freeing up Lucas) we look extremely weak in this department. A worry.

I'm going with 1-3 to Rovers. After somehow managing to not score last weekend, it'll all come together! Of course, I'm an eternal optimist!

Good point. They managed to lose that exceptionally dreary commentator who normally commentates on football matches and found someone with a bit of passion! As for the first game, that was up to Salzburg, who went with mostly german language channels, and nothing broadcast in England/Ireland.