No, he's going in the hopes of winning something too, but the thing is that while players feel the need to move to certain clubs in order to win anything the others don't stand a chance and that was the point of Samuel's article - that if more players stayed put then the league could become more competitive again and we'd stand more chance of getting cup finals worth watching rather than the dross that was served up yesterday. A bit hypocritical from someone who's probably done as much to keep trying to move players on as any other writer, but perhaps yesterday's appalling match has finally made them wake up and realise that the product they're all so keen to profit from relies on competition for its appeal.

Interesting article in the NOTW by Martin Samuel about why Berbatov should stay at Spurs. Goes on to say that the league is becoming increasingly non-competitive and if players like McCarthy leave us and Owen leaves Newcastle etc. then there's something wrong, because Newcastle, Blackburn and several other clubs he names are good places to be at the moment.

If it gets to a week before the transfer deadline then I don't think he'd be allowed to go. That's what happened with Lucas Neill last year. we held on till the Jan transfer window just because we had no time to buy a replacement. We have all the more reason to hold on to McCarthy because he's got plenty of time to run on his contract. Mark Hughes was open and honest with Neill about his reasons for not letting him go at that stage and I think he'd be equally so with McCarrthy.

The thread asks "What does everyone think of him?" Well, unfortunately what I currently think of him is unprintable and, if it appeared here would get me banned permanently. Enough said.

Fife you are a very crafty gentleman. I think Mark Hughes will handle the situation in his usual apparently mild manner whilst letting Benni know in no uncertain terms what he thinks of him if it turns out he did say what he's been reported as saying. Our players all say in interview that Mark Hughes doesn't need to say much - you know when he's not pleased with you.

Was in tonights LET too so I suspect the intention at least is true, whether or not Hughes is able to hold on to him.

What's medium priced for Chelsea anyway? Surely they wouldn't want to admit they couldn't match Spurs price for Berbatov or pay what Liverpool paid for the strikers they bought last season. Even if we bumped McCarthy's price up a bit from what we paid for him we couldn't ask much and I doubt Chelsea would like it to be thought they needed to buy players on the cheap even if they've proved to be rather good in the prem.

If you read the article in the LET he also says that's he's really excited about the squad he's got at Rovers now and is looking forward to next season. What's the guy to do? He can't say I don't want to be United manager and the prospect fills me with horror if he wants the job at some time in the future. I think he's perfectly content to learn his trade here, to build up respect and credit for being good at his job and then, at some future date he'll go. Can you honestly see United or Chelsea taking him at the moment? He's good but still relatively unproven and both the United and Chelsea managers had achieved before they moved to those jobs. Ambitious Mark Hughes certainly is but unrealistic, no.

Wasn't meaning to talk about attitude but about how hard it is to progress if you come through too early. I agree that Rooney does still work very hard but nobody could say that he is still hitting the heights he did earlier in his career.

The problem with lads who are "world class" at an early age is that all too many of them never, for whatever reason, get any better. Think of the hype around Rooney 3 years ago and then look at his performances recently for England and even for United. He's good but he hasn't gone on to greater things. Look at Jeffers, worth a fortune a few years back and now unable to get a game with us. I'd rather have a player like Derbyshire who won't think he's got it made, who'll be prepared to work for what he gets and not take things for granted but who'll develop into a good premiership striker with the right help and advice. I'd like a few stars at Rovers, of course I would, but they cost big money we don't have and so we have to look realistically at what is available. I was delighted for Matt, scoring for U21s and absolutely delighted for the club too. Think what a boost it must be to the youngsters at Brockhall to see a guy they were playing with not so long ago doing so well.

For the U 21s Bentley played inside Routledge anyway and so could be accommodated for England even if you persisted with Lennon. Personally, although pace matters it is not the be all and end all and being able to hit a decent cross is as important if not more so and so I'd choose Bentley any day

Couldn't believe the very guarded criticism of England yesterday by all the pundits I heard. Apologies if any of them said what the fans were really thinking but I didn't hear it. What's the point of being a pundit if you're scared of saying that was rubbish, especially on a night when if you'd dared to be really harsh 99% of the country would be behind you.

Appropriate too for a club with our history that our players make their mark today. Kept waiting for the commentators to use the word fairytale about Matt Derbyshire but somehow they resisted it. Much more exciting watching international games when your players are playing, and probably a far better game than we'll see form the full squad later today.

Amazing how seasons can turn round when you get a bit of confidence and score a few goals isn't it? You look back at games like Middlesbrough and Liverpool at home and think that if they hadn't gone our way we could be the ones crying now.

The point surely in the Arsenal Wigan game was how could neither the ref nor the linesman see anything when on the first shot we saw, not the millionth replay, everyone in our house shouted penalty as by all accounts did all the sky pundits, in line with, but further away than the linesman. Were the officials too close? I have no axe to grind with officials in general as my cousin is married to a premiership linesman, but that was a penalty however anyone tries to explain the decision away and if they couldn't see it, with clear sightlines such as they had, then they shouldn't be doing the job. It wasn't an honest error. It was, at the least, gross incompetence, and at worst, something far more sinister.

It wasn't just the pen he was scareed of - it was the sending off that would have had to go with it. Arsenal have had Gilberto and Senderos sent off recently but not at the Emirates? This one would have required far more bottle than Dowd possesses.

The blame for this unfair and frankly sickening bit of big club bias rests solely on the three match officials! They should be relegated to non league reffing in order that they have to rethink their entire outlook on the game. Apparently he said he couldnt be sure if Heskey had been brought down- meaning in his mind he had to wave the claims away. Surely if he is in doubt he should be able to turninstantly to his linesman, who was yards away for help! Secondly the doubt he has in his mind is so obviously due to the fact that he doesnt expect Wigan to win and so doesn't want to be the one to condemn Arsenal to defeat. If it was at the other end it is a penalty every time because he expects Arsenal to score at some point. To deny Arsenal the same penalty would be to postpone the inevitable and so the doubt in his mind doesnt matter! I still have that horrible sick feeling in my stomach from the feeling of being cheated and I don't really give a hoot about Wigan. What we all care about is the fact that we have seen here, first hand, that clubs outside the Champions League are being cheated, disrespected and denied a level playing field. Personally, with that decision, the conduct of Henry(including a blatant dive in the first half that has not been mentioned enough) and the £££ pumped into 3 of the top 4, I am finding it difficult to remain interested in the Prem. Platt, McAllister and Gray all condemned it outright and basically called it how it is. So sudrely now something has to be done. Unfortunately its only going to be focused on this match and this ref, the wider, more difficult picture will not be looked at.

Would fans not get behind any manager who actually dared to axe some of the so-called big names. I think most fans would even take non-qualification if they felt the team was going in the right direction. Problem for McClaren is he may well not qualify and he's not done anything revolutionary so of course everyone's on his back.

He was certainly head and shoulders above the rest of the team in the first half and the spaniards couldn't keep track of him. The problem was that the rest of his team seemed not to be able to cope with his movement and crossing either. Pearce said straight after the game that he was outstanding but if you look on the websites today ( i don't know about the newspapers) it's all about Lita saving the game. Yet another example of the media bias against us?

Heard the commentator say there'd been some disagreement between Bentley and the previous under 21 set up but since the same guy said twice that Ashley Young had signed for Spurs in the transfer window perhaps we should take that with a pinch of salt.

I don't fall into any camp with regard to Dunny. I genuinely would like to be proved wrong and for him to be a brilliant signing. There's something very likeable about the guy and I know he genuinely loves the club. I won't be looking for every mistake he makes BUT I really do think there is far too much expectation on fans part of a sudden return to form and performance levels that we cannot realistically expect, certainly in the short term. The optimist in me says he'll be a good signing but I am the world's greatest pessimist and I can just see it all going pear-shaped.

I still remain very wary of this signing. I think the weight of expectation on his shoulders might mean that he fails or tries to do too much and gets injured again. I'm certainly not looking forward to his starting tomorrow and hope that if he does get on we're already winning. I can't get caught up in this local hero worship. I'd love to see him do well, but I just can't believe he will. Hopefully I'll be proved wrong.

Couple of yards is an exaggeration but probably offside still.

Didn't Birmingham have loads of injuries last year that led fans to call into question their training routines? We are not just fit but one of the fittest teams around and Hughes always complains when players miss any of preseason because that's when you really build up the reserves of strength that get you through the number of games you have to play. Dunn has not trained with a squad of players for some time - most of the work he was doing appears to have been general fitness stuff and rather than rush him in and have him fail or break down Mark Hughes is erring on the side of caution and I for one agree with him.

I don't blame Lucas for going - only for the lies and self deception. We wouldn't like his going to West Ham any more if he'd told it like it is, "I'm going for the huge wages," but we might have respected him a little more for telling the truth. As it is he just digs himself a deeper hole. And as for the fact that West Ham appeared to want him more well, of course they do. They're desperate and Liverpool are not. They may not have the best team in the land but they aren't the ones in 18th place either. If he can't see that or won't admit it to himself then he's got less brain than I credited him with.