The time for sacking or resigning was in the pre-season. We're locked in with Souness now, and I'm confident he will get the job done. My line of thought on Souness is... with most other management candidates, we could have a bad spell and be in relegation trouble, and not find a way out. Souness however, always seems to have something in reserve... some savvyness, that gets us out of the poo when we need it most. So, I've learnt to be patient with Souness, because I know, eventually, he will get the results we need... and that includes late spurts to get Rovers into sixth and the Eufa cup...

You've got more than one of these?

I didn't think Short was a Souness signing... if you are complaining about him taking up a spot that a youngster may fill, he does so on merit.

I agree Tris. People don't do the math on these loan deals. They can be quite costly. For instance, say the club has a cap on the wages it will pay, or if not, pick the highest paid player at the club, and use his wages as a benchmark. Well, anything over that, over the course of the year, and you are looking at money that could fund a transfer for a player. The player would sign a contract of minimum of two years. There might be sell on value in it for the club too, for the right type of player. If the player starts doing well, you don't have the danger of losing him mid-season, as Rovers have done themselves on many occassions (Mahon anyone. I wonder if Ipswich supporters curse our name. They might consider the recall cost them a place in the Premier???). IMO, too much credence is given to the loan deal.

Very much so. Me and my brother were furious at how it belittled the great tournament. We made many a mock re-enactment. The keeper dived about 5 metres out of her way to give her a open goal too... terrible

Ah... that's much better that's my bit done. I recommend PayPal for those overseas members who may have too many barriers to sort out money orders, as is the case for me here in Taiwan.

The Donate page has a PayPal link on it. This is the ultimate solution for me to get some donations in. Paul, have you had a chance to relinquish the PayPal account from Lee's control. As you may recall, the last time I tried to donate through it, the payment bounced, so to speak. Just a suggestion, if PayPal is not an option, it would be a good idea to remove it from the "Donate" page, as this page is now prominent again.

Mate... you, sox, and a cast of many others keep me coming to the board. Your posts, especially the humorous ones, are highly entertaining. I hope that you don't dwell on it enough that it affects the quality of your material

And I have to say, my opinion on the Campbell goal has changed about a million times over the rest of the tournament. But after viewing the Portugese keepers attempt at stopping the Greek goal, I feel there is a similarity there that should be noted. Basically, that keeper places himself in terrible positions, and then tries to make up for it by diving as if fouled. And I now feel that the same thing happened with the Campbell goal. His movement felt the same. If you look at the Greek goal, he is out of position, steps out into the back of a group of challengers, then dives whilst backtracking, knowing he has no real chance of making the saves. Did anyone else notice the similarity there?

Me! Loved it! The portugese ponce has obviously been pumping iron recently cos (like most body builders the motivation is vanity) he has been whipping his shirt off at every opportunity to show how manly he is. Then he cries like a baby cos they got beaten. Andy Townsend shares my view about how to nullify his skills "dont ever watch him...... just watch the ball" It does work. I disagree totally over Ronaldo. I felt he came out of this tournament with a lot of respectability. Take to one side that he plays for the scum, the guy played with real skill and determination. He was one of the tournaments best players. The commentators kept banging on about Portugal's golden generation missing their chance. But in Ronaldo and many of his younger team-mates, I definitely feel they've got a side of the future.

Thanks Lathund. Those photos are conclusive. Not a goal... although Sol deserved it for that gigantic leap. He's a class defender. Perhaps the best in the world, IMO.

I can't believe the topic of this thread has been changed to "Stolen by the Ref"... full whinge mode on now My first impression was that it was a fair goal. The replay suggested that it was a 50/50 decision for obstruction of the keeper (absolutely no foul). But someone said it earlier, this is not the way to lose gratiously.

It has to be said that, if Beckham is in the team on reputation alone, so is Figo... he has been no better than average for quite a while now.

Don't really know, but for the sake of your Italian associates, they best not draw "two all" after regular time.

Perhaps a "who can gob the furthest" contest???

I've just come back from the pub in Taipei, after watching this game. I've nothing against Gerard, but I don't see how his performance anything especially good. Granted, he ran with the ball a lot, but he didn't exactly hold onto it, or give good passes. He was average for mine. I also lamented the self-imposed brick-wall Cole gave himself. He's a good player, and shouldn't be afraid to take it to that corner section of the field, whip in a cross. England won well though, so I suppose that point is a little empty. Forgive me if there are any mistakes, I am not altogether sober atm.

He's currently with MickeysNo1Fan in the Brockhall bushes trying to get a glimpse of his idol. Hope he's not taken the horse and cart. May take him a while to get back to post his comments.

Can't wait for Le Chuck's comments

thanks nuclearsox

See, it's all in the reading. That's the first time I've read that comment from Williams, and immediately I was heartened. I read this to mean that the club has sorted itself out financially so that a relegation isn't going to wipe it out, unlike some of the recently relegated clubs that weren't so prepared. Look, do a quick analysis of the league over the years, and you will see that apart from a core group of clubs that can be traced back for quite a number of decades, relegation will eventually catch up to the rest. Previously, it wasn't nice, but wasn't *the end of the world*. Now it could be, without careful planning. I don't care for this ambition. IMO it's an inflated, unrealistic one. Lets see how far we can catch this wave and just *stay* in the PL, without compromising ourselves to catch the next wave, when we fall off this one.

There was. By a German hooligan in Montreal. Sorry

We'va avoided relegation, and that's another season in the Premier League. That is a huge achievement. Achieved through the managerial skills of Souness. He brought Stead in, and had the fortitude to back him to excel in the PL straight away. One thing you have to do as a Rovers supporter, is develop a stomach for the fight. There was/is always a danger of a relegation scrap in one season or another. I am adamant that if Souness had been replaced at the points everyone was calling for it to happen, we would not have had this turnaround. And I believe it is exactly as I said, GS knows how to get that vital result when it matters, and understands a team, that was by all evidence, in considerable mess, better than anyone else. I hope he stays. I will understand if *he* makes a decision to move on, but the club definitely owes him a lot (not that he's every made a big deal about it. He really comes across as a noble gentleman), and shouldn't dare make the move themselves.

It's to early to say that he's got it all sorted out, but I just have to say that this win is typical of Souness. When the chips are down, he makes the bravest decisions, gambles if you will, and scrapes out wins and much needed points. It's one of my biggest praises of him, he's a real manager, using every means available to him to get the best out of the team. Perhaps it will only be, or more appreciated when he leaves, but he is one of the best to ever manage Rovers, and only that single great achievement by Dalglish shades him out of the best in my book. He's in a firm, but fond second place in my book.

It's been hard to read the attitude of the creditors on this, but the following point seem to lead to the conclusion that they are in agreement with the go for broke attitude of the Leeds board, banking on avoiding relegation in hope that the ship can be righted without administration in the summer. They've given Leeds quite a few extensions on their repayments, when they could have forced administration then and there. That seems to me that they've decided it is in their best interest to choose the lesser of two evils, that being that administration now would almost certainly be just as bad for them as for Leeds, and that they are willing to gamble on Leeds staying up as well. In which case, this ruling seems to change nothing. Birch must be doing enough to satisfy them that he is doing enough to a) give them a fighting chance at avoiding relegation in the event that Leeds do avoid administration, and that they can't force administration (defeating the purpose of a)), that his team can continue to satisfy them in sorting out the mess in the post-season.

I feel this is the problem. He's over achieved, and now the level of expectation from elements of the club (including from what I am increasingly coming to believe, a set of supporters that are more cynical about their club than any others in this league) is too unrealistic. I believe that Souness's comments about avoiding relegation being the milestone were exactly the level of expectation he had. I agree with that level of ambition. But he became a victim of his own success. In our first season back, avoiding relegation was exactly what we were trying to do by mid-season, even with Duff and Dunn making regular starts. Not putting them down at all, the former is obviously an outstanding player, but I do recall many moaning on this mb about Duff's performance. Souness bought Cole into the club, and 10th and the league cup followed. Suddenly we became a club in Europe, and everyone upped their level of expectation. Last season, Souness again made avoiding the drop the milestone, and was criticised by many for lacking ambition (including RevidgeBlue, quite forcefully). In my opinion, it was the right level of ambition. Again he made some astute signings, and we made 6th and Europe again. Souness has been consistent with the avoiding relegation milestone, and he set it again this season, despite last seasons 6th placing. He's in the process of achieving this milestone with the club, and we stand a good chance of making it. Yet everyone wants him sacked now. Or thinks he's hit the wall. The club has hit the wall. It is pushing to maintain the up'ed level of ambition, and that means it has really made itself financially vunerable. A transfer won't occur if the club cannot offer the player a good Premeir League wage, and yet we all feel that we need to keep bringing players in. To me, it's not just about the playing staff at the club. There is more to it than that. I will be brave and say this. Imagine there was no promotion out of Division 1. Then I would expect Blackburn Rovers to be consistently challenging for the first division championship. With a good level of support, and the annual cash injection , it would be an acceptable level of expectation. It just so happens that you get promoted into the Premier League if you are successful in that division. In my opinion, clubs of our stature should use the extra cash to adjust the existing player wages, and no more. Any additional progression should just be treated as a bonus. I think Rovers were tracking on this path, until our sudden success got us derailed. Charlton and Fulham appear to have followed the same path, and are only now climbing into the upper reaches of the league. It will be interesting to see how they will handle it. Admittedly, if Charlton pull of Champions League placement, that would be an incredible achievement that might set the club for many years in the PL. Anyway, I've waffled on here. The main point is that I will be brave and say that I would rather see Rovers on a sound financial footing, bouncing up and down between PL and Div. One, then over-extending in some forlorn belief that success can be maintained. Oh, and also, that the only con I can place against Souness is that he is perhaps too ambitious for this plan of action.