Thought Todd had an excellent game today. He seems our most reliable defender currently. Neill was sloppy and Jay got caught out a number of times. It will be interesting to see if a return for Gray is on the cards. Reid is getting better and better and will contribute goals as he has a decent shot on him. Ferguson controls the game for us, no need for Tugay as they are too similar. Thompson showed us what we have been missing. Gallacher is a clever player. It is a case of getting a more solid defensive unit as I think we can score goals- easier said than done.

As long as we dont get a sending off we will be ok.

The results today add more spice to the game tomorrow. Feeling the pressure, someone earlier said this game is similar to the Everton home match last season, agree with that- we need 3 points. Anyway, going to get drunk now to try and forget about it.... or more likely talk rubbish about our plight.

He gets a lot of stick on here Nixon but a lot of his stories regarding Rovers have appeared to be true. Remember the £10 million story to halt the Rovers decline- thats what Souness thought the board would give him before the end of the season. However the directors went back on this as they assessed the situation in the summer. Nixon (who is Scottish) now works as a freelancer was close to Souness in that they have known each other for years. I am not sure in any accuarcy of the Rover related links that Nixon has. However he has reported the Savage story around 3 times already so you can assume that Hughes wants him.

Last summer- Souness watched him against Tranmere, I think in a cup match then found out the asking price at that time- they wanted £4 million.

We were close to signing Cahill but did not have enough money!

Souness press comments today about life at Newcaslte so far and playing players out of position (for those who care...)- from PA News. “I realise this was the only big club open to me to manage. “I had half a chance at Chelsea before Jose Mourinho arrived, Arsene Wenger can stay at Arsenal for as long as he wants, I couldn’t go back to Anfield and as a former Liverpool manager I was never going to get the job at Manchester United.” Your job is, will question if certain players are playing in the right position. “I would suggest in the last four games that maybe I’ve learnt something I wasn’t learning before because when you’re winning, you’re so reluctant to change anything, aren’t you?

Start putting Flitcroft in your line-ups. He is back and will be involved on Sunday.... great!

He will be on nice, high wages as well. Clearly a Souness panic buy when he thought the MGP deal was off. Going back to our wingers- I am wondering if the thinking behind having Reid on the right is to protect Lucas Neil better. On the left Jay doesnt seem to push forward that much, probably due to Emerton's constant forward runs.

Just to sum up Rovers related performances on this match. Emerton looks in fine form and willing to try anything at the moment. Neill did well nothing special though. On MGP, scored a goal but as said earlier pushed off the ball all too easily. Possibly a reason why he is not featuring for us at the moment. However some nice touches but was a difficult game for him. I like the runs he makes at the back post, seen him do that in previous matches and it can be a useful position to take up. Also, wish we got Cahill- he looks excellent and was the best player on the pitch.

They are combining well down the right. The whole team seems to be playing with a lot of confidence. MGP just scored from a free-kick, think it was meant to be a cross, not sure though.

They had a laugh about it after though! 2-1 to Australia now- Emerton still playing well, Neil quite good. MGP- still looks lost and weak...

Emerton's confidence looks sky high at the moment. Trying a lot of things in the match so far, some working some not. One good run. MGP helped in the Norway goal, nice pass- he gets pushed off the ball far too easily, looks a bit lost at times.

On the decision itself its upto the manager who his backroom staff are. The board will always support the manager on issues like this. Hughes feels Parkes qualities are working with players of first team calibre not developing a nucleus of young players from reserve team football to being able to handle first team action. Pity no role for Tony at academy level but I certainly under-estimated the mess the club was/is in. Fundamental changes were needed are they are happening.

Le Chuck- I posed the question to the Sky Sports's Gulilem Balague recently. It seems you like others on here have this false impression of De Pedro. He said that De Pedro has always been an over-rated player who looked good in flashes in the World Cup. To suggest he has been good or a star for Spain was incorrect. He also stated that the only offer he had since January was our one in the summer and the wages he is getting always ensured he would come to us. He summed up by saying he thought De Pedro was too slow to make a meaningful contribution in the Premiership.

I fell into the propaganda about De Pedro when he first joined. However from what I have heard he will never make an impression in this league. He is acutally enjoying the English way of life but he is unlikely to fit in our team especially in our present situation. He is a decent passer, crosser of the ball but that is all he offers. I dont see why not for now put Reid on the left as he played well there in his days at Millwall.

Looking for forward to seeing Gally lead the line tonight for the Scotland Under 21s. Hughes has told him he will be watching so there is a good incentive for a decent performance. Then after it will interesting to see MGP play for Norway again, seen him a couple of times and seems to play well for his national team. Could be a opportunity to impress others for him as well... Also the Australia team looks quite good- should be a good match.

Interesting stats they were giving on Sky's Monday night football. Newcastle have the joint worse defensive record in the Prem with ourselves. The presenter when talking to a Newcastle fan made the point that it must be bad if its the same as us.

Blackburn striker Jonathan Stead will not be making the Under 21 trip because of an ankle injury, he was substituted at half-time during the 1-1 draw with Manchester City at Eastlands. Rodney Marsh's view- http://www.skysports.com/skysports/article...1159830,00.html

Well you anti Dickov's- do you think we need him now?? We are not a top five team so I think we can say he is proving to be a good purchase. Of course there are still doubters but I must say I question how much you people actually know about football. Ask most managers and they would take Dickov and they would take him, even just to have him in the squad alone- but of course we have people on here who have managed businesses before...same thing. Sorry a drink fuelled rant but seeing the performances he is putting in makes me proud for him to be a Rover

Penalty... Am I dreaming- come on boys!!

Saturday afternoons such a depressing event these days. 4 games until Xmas and the signs are bad, very bad.

Just saw an interview with Parkes- he looks very sad, shellshocked and angry about the fact he read it in a newspaper. He said its just not Blackburn Rovers and he thought they could never act like this. Says he will try to stay in the game and he has no axe to grind with anyone at the club.

I can undertstand why Hughes is doing it. It is not about which side I am on, if its in the best interests of the club I will back it. Along with others the way it has come out and been handled is appalling for Tony. It is a disgrace in the way he has been treated not a disgrace that Hughes has sacked him. I can see what Hughes is trying to do and all I have been doing here is saying why he has done it- if you look at one of my previous posts I pretty much predicted the reasons why he has gone before they were made public.

Hughes has a lot in common with Souness. He is a winner, ambitous and aggressive as a person. However as we saw on the pitch he can control himself in his actions(apart from a few times). I feel the decisions he makes are balanced and measured. He recognises that we have one of the best academies in Europe and he wants to get more out of it. Also think Eddie N would of had some input on this from his background. Remember Henry Winter saying prior to Hughes taking the job here that he is regarded as a very intelligent man and whichever club gets him will benefit.