Jansen, or play Gray and Gresko in combination.

Good point Tom. I clearly hadn't thought it through.

Yeah, @#/? to it. Let's get Souness back, he was ace.

I don't think anyone is writing him off - at least not anyone with a brain anyway. What we are saying though is that there is no way he should be in the team at the moment. I'm not being melodramatic when I say that a non-league player could have made more impact than Pedersen has so far. He doesn't look like he's ever been a footballer. Now, I'm sure that's a combination of nerves, a lot of change in his life, and his age, but the fact is that he's been a liability in every game he's played so far and has shown no signs of improvement.

This article includes some quotes from Jansen that give a little insight into Hughes's methods - and perhaps highlight how backward things were under Souness. The more I hear about Hughes the more impressed I get. Soccer365 Article

New manager, new coach, new Moorings. It was a new dawn for me today and boy was I looking forward to it. So, it was a complete surprise to find out that the same team was starting that had performed so pathetically up at Newcastle. Oh well, I'm sure Hughesy had a plan. We started off poorly and didn't get any better throughout the first half. It was like Souness had never left. We had lots of possession but failed to threaten a poor Portsmouth team, in fact, Portsmouth should have gone in at half time in front. Berkovich was injured and substitued on about the half hour mark and was replaced by Stone. Suddenly Pompey looked more solid, had a bit more steel in their midfield, and had much more purpose going forward. They bossed the last 15 minutes of the half and should have scored when Fuller barged through Gray and Matteo to leave himself one-on-one with Friedel. Thankfully he hit the outside of the post. We came out in the second half and were simply unrecognisable. All of a sudden we had drive, passion, determination, and no small amont of skill. We pushed up the field a good 15 - 20 yards as a unit and pinned Portsmouth into their own half. The likes of Emerton, Gray and Dickov were driving forward and running at players, something it seemed they hadn't even thought about in the first half. The real catalyst though was Mark Hughes's first tactical substitution as a Rovers manager (Amoruso had replaced Short earlier but that was forced by an injury). Off came the totally ineffective Pedersen and on came Matt Jansen. I'm not sure if I've ever seen a Rovers player receive a better reception. Rovers continued to press, winning numerous corners and free-kicks in dangerous positions but failing to convert them. But there was something funny in the air - a strange, almost intangible feeling - was it hope? Whereas the crowd may have been discouraged in the past by our failure to turn possession into goals, this time we just roared the team on. Boy did it work. We just battered and battered Portsmouth into submission. Neill picked the ball up in his own half and drove at the heart of Portsmouth's defence. Fourty yards out he hit a perfectly weighted ball towards Matt Jansen's right foot on the edge of the Pompey area. Jansen controlled the ball, rolled it onto his favoured left foot all in one movement, stumbled, got up, and then belted an unstoppable shot into the corner of the net. The crowd went fecking mental. We looked world-beaters after that. Boothroyd look a class above any of our other forwards. He ran at defenders with real pace and power and actually had the confidence to shoot. We started playing screen passes with the forwards on the edge of Pompey's box and we actually had players running onto them. Instead of hanging on for a win we looked like we'd score again. We pi55ed all over Portsmouth in that second half. We shouldn't get carried away though. We could easily have been 2 down before we scored. I mentioned Fuller's chance earlier but I didn't mention the time in the second half when Yakubu just barged past a hapless Matteo and blazed over when it seemed easier to score. Pompey also had a good shout for a penalty near the end when Friedel appeared to bundle over Fuller. Still, who gives a ... I thought Dickov was lively and gave the Portsmouth defenders no respite. Emerton was inspirational in the second half, running from deep, taking people on, driving to the heart of the defence, unlucky not to score. Yes Emerton! Ferguson passed the ball superbly throughout. He's not as mobile as I'd thought he'd be but he's fantastically cultured in midfield. He looked class today. Flitcroft got stuck in and gave their midfield no time at all. Gray had a great second half. Bothroyd looked genuinely class when he came on. Negatives? Pedersen was awful again. Terrible, shocking, pi55-poor. He's young, it's a new league, he'll need time etc.....@#/?, he's not up to it at the moment. He should be dropped until he is. Neill gave the ball away constantly. We need a new right back to pressurise Neill because I think he's become complacent. Stead didn't look sharp today - he'll struggle to get back into the team now I'd say. Matteo made a couple of glaring mistakes that could have cost goals. Portsmouth were poor today and so were we in the first half. We improved massively in the second half thanks to some good substitutions and a bit of luck, but don't think we're world-beaters all of a sudden. We're not. But there is a sense of hope now - something that has missing for some time at Ewood.

Amen to that. Cole's class. Yes, he got sent off today but the blokes a class above. He even gets sent off spectacularly. Cracking punch up.

I think I've been complaining about most aspects of the club for the last eight months or so. Along with all the things you've mentioned we've sold good players and replaced them with average ones. But it's more the type of players we've not bought that has been the problem - nobody with pace, power, flair, creativity. I realise though that you were one of Souness's biggest fans so I wouldn't expect you to want to blame the man that has caused all our current problems.

Another smart-alec comment from you American that in no way reflects what I was trying to say. Obviously this is all my opinion, but I think Souness managed to reduce a squad that finish 6th to relegation fodder within a year. That's why 17th place wouldn't have been good enough this year under Souness. He made us crap - they're his players. Hughes has now come in and has got to deal with the mess. If he keeps us up that would be great and we can build from there over the summer. If we do any better then Hughes will have done a fantastic job.

Yep, you're right Bryan. You're totally innocent. Oops, was that me needling you with a sarcastic response.

Yes, last Saturday at Newcastle.

If that's directed at me then you're just wrong. I'm just commenting on what I think the situation is. Sorry if that's different to your opinion Bryan but there you go. Maybe it would be easier if I didn't offer opinions but just slagged eveyone else's off like you do.

You can think what you like Bryan but I don't agree. As you rightly point out they are Souness's players. Hughes does have the January transfer window to hopefully change a few players but will he be given enough money to make that much difference? And even if he is, trying to get a number of new players to gel in the middle of the season won't be easy. I know it's early in the season but I'm not basing my opinions on our results so far - as bad as they are. I'm basing them on the way we play, and have played for a year or so now, and how good imo our players are. I just don't think there's much quality there and it'll be difficult to change that during the course of this season. If Hughes manages it then we may just have appointed a fantastic manager.

I don't know. Sounds a bit pessimistic to me. Are we really that deep in? I mean, one win and we could be in midtable. On sunday we might be 13th. Fair enough a few players need to get their confidence back, but I seem to remember a poll/topic concerning the quality of our squad this season concluding that it was the best for a long time. 17th would be surprising to me, anyway. I expect us to finish no lower than last seasons 15th. We cannot possibly be that poor at home for another season. IMO the team lacks sufficient quality to finish anywhere near mid-table this season. That's what Souness has left us. So, if Hughes can keep us up then I think he'll have achieved all we can ask of him this season. He can then use next summer to truely shape the team to how he'd like it - and then we can judge whether he's a good manager or not. If we go down this year it won't be Hughes that I'm blaming.

That's what worries me. Are we going to give him a chance? We've effectively given the teams we should be matching up against anything from a two point to an eight point headstart. He should be judged on how well he does over the rest of the season, not on the next few weeks. However, I can easily see some turning on him very, very quickly. Spot on Modi. Finishing 17th this season would be a fantastic success for Hughes. He isn't going to be able to turn things around instantly. It will be a long slog.

No, it just means you book holidays at daft times!

Have you read all of this thread? I have already put a case for Bill much earlier. It is not Bill's fault or even mine that by an accident of birth you were not priviliged enough too have seen him play. Just read what we who have have to say. We have seen him and all the subsequent left backs and we know what we are talking about. Second to him I would put Le Saux and Bailey but by a long way. No need to get a cob on Al. Yes I read what you said. I'm afraid I'm not swayed by the "telescopic leg" stuff and Le Saux was an England regular just as Eckersley was. After saying that, reading what Ianrally said later as well as what you said is certainly making me think. I rated Le Saux very highly though.

Here are a few links to sites I found useful when planning an away day. Trains: National Rail Enquiries Virgin Trains Midland Mainline Ground Information: Football Ground Guide Fanzone Maps: Multimap London Tube Map

I've been completely undecided about Hughes taking over ever since he was first linked. One day I'm feeling positive and think he'll do a good job, the next I'm worried about his lack of experience and can see parallels with Brian Kidd. It's certainly a gamble by the board. If the rumoured short-list is to be believed then the other two candidates on it were much more experienced. And Hughes has definately got a tough, tough job. Our team lacks flair, pace, power and creativity and no amount of coaching is going to change that between now and January. Hughes has shown with Wales though that he can get the best out of players and a team. The Welsh players all seem to love him and they certainly don't lack passion and committment. I guess I'm hopeful but not delighted - fairly pleased but not ecstatic. Hughes could turn out to be brilliant, he could turn out to be rubbish. We'll have to wait and see.

wetness in the ground I think. Used in horse racing.

no press conference though, although he did say more on hughes in a moment. He called Hughes a moron?!!! Those @#/?s at Sky - I'm writing an e-mail.

Has Souness left?

Someone is going to have to make a very good case for Eckersley (or any one else for that matter) to stop me voting for Le Saux. Le Saux was easily the best left back I've ever seen, either for Rovers or anyone else.

That's one of the best displays of dummy-spitting I've seen in a while.

Still available on Betfair. Skinny odds (1.4 at the mo) but still free money if you believe the story.