John

Ferguson said: "The injury is just the same. The hamstring is a bit tight with pins and needles. Blackburn have a game on Saturday so I will have to take that into consideration but when you go out on to the pitch you don’t think about it. You just do your best.

I am not saying what Fergie is doing is right or wrong. I do admire the way he is going about his business. His latest comments at Craig Burley sum Barry Ferguson up for me. We do pay his wages but there is a very passionate player who desperately wants to play for his country. Does not matter if they have no chance of making the finals. You have to admire Ferguson's passion and desire to play for his country. thenodrog- you can not change the way you are and he takes great pride in playing for his country. He would do the same for his club, its just the type of person he is. I am Scottish and would rather he saved himself for Rovers on Saturday but unless he really is struggling he will play tonight. I can only admire him for this.

Of course for our visit Hasselbaink and Viduka return to the Boro squad! Anyway, in my opinion we are going to rely on our midfield winning their battles in our matches until we see a change of personnel which cannot happen until January. We will almost always concede and are not prolific enough up front so much emphasis goes on our midfielders winning the battle.

Barry Ferguson has spoken to Mark Hughes about playing tomorrow night. Hughes understands Fergie's desire to play for his national team and leaves any decision upto him. Just adding that Fergie has a history of playing matches with the aid of injections. It looks like he will do so again on Wednesday. Would not suprise me if he does play that he will not turn out for us against Boro- this match really is win or bust for Scotland and it means a lot to him.

Azerbaijan U21 0-0 England U21 http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/i...als/3737138.stm Nigel Reo-Coker was sent off as England's 100% record in qualifying for the 2006 Uefa Under-21 finals ended. The West Ham midfielder and Azerbaijan's Elnur Abdullayev were red-carded after a flare-up which led to a 15-man brawl. England almost snatched victory when Jon Stead hit the crossbar and then James Milner and Glen Johnson had efforts cleared off the line. Stead had a 'goal' ruled out for offside after 30 minutes. England had won their opening three group matches in the battle to reach the finals.

For me Jim, Mr Bigley's death was a national tragedy. His story had gripped the entire nation. The story was the focus on the national media for a long time. Sadly for being used as the terrorists digusting propaganda pawn. I see a minutes silence as a mark of respect and for me and a hell of a lot of other people my respect, thoughts and prayers are with the spirit of Ken Bigley and his family.

Sorry if this has been posted already. Link to speculation on Gally. http://www.people.co.uk/sport/tm_objectid=...-name_page.html

Dont know if anyone mentioned it but GS has nicked our Goal-keeping coach. http://www.rovers.premiumtv.co.uk/page/New...~573388,00.html

Against ten men I know, but Palace look a good side. Seen them a few times now and they seem well organised, pass it well and up front they have a threat in Johnson. Whether they have enough quality, time will tell. It will be very tough for them. From our point of view, hopefully there are three sides who are as dire as the ones who went down last year...

No I like your posts- they amuse me. You amuse me, you are very weird.

One man makes a defence does it- especially when gettting changed every other game like he was at the start of the season. In fact I would love him to nut you, stop going on about him. For what it is worth your opinions are sh*t.

RoverDrake- everytime I read your comments you are harping on about Matteo. He is not that bad, will you shut up about him cos he is a decent centre back. You probably dont like the way he looks but he would give you a nice head-butt. David O Leary's comments on Matteo make you look a real pri**.

Could really do with a fit Thompson, missed him for a long time now. If Thompson is not available, which seems to be the case these days we do have to find a solution. Our best two in that position are Tugay and Ferguson. However can they work as a partnership? Might have to let Ferguson play deeper and Tugay can have license to move forward as he did well at the latter end of last season- we could try this at home maybe. If going for more industry, I always thought Douglas could be a ball winner in the centre last season. However peoples views on here seem to suggest he is playing awful at the moment. Have not seen him play this season so cant comment.

Not questioning Flitcroft's desire. He does try, but his body is not upto it. His passing ability is dire. Not sure we would get rid until end of the season though.

Good to see the board backing Hughes as he would not of come cheap, even for three months. The fact we can review the situation at January is a bonus. I think he will do well, he has class but also has a very high work rate which sometimes goes unoticed.

I know its just one game but Fergsuon looked out of sorts last night. Didnt seem to have his mind on the game, looked dreadfully slow. Put one good pass of note in the second half. Knowing how good he is, we are getting no where near the best out of him. As other people have been saying it was the type of the game when we needed our captain to be more influential.

Charlton's wide men were pressing and marking very tight against Emerton and Jansen. Would only put Jansen on the left if we are short in that area- we dont appear to be now. Jansen needs to play up front.

good move by Hughes. Can play deep and will add much needed creativity. Not a matter of ability but how quick we can get him fit.

Ferguson had a bad game- looked a bit sluggish as well. Not as bad as Flitcroft though who did put a big effort in. But his days are surely coming to an end. He is simply not upto the athletic demands to be a Premiership player. Considering he is one of our highest wage earners we need to get rid. I would rather see Douglas doing Flitcroft's role as I think he would do it better. I think credit to Charlton's midfield though who were always tight against us and constantly pressing our 4 players in midfield. It really was a physical contest for everyone of our midfield players. Also for our strikers who got fouled all night.

Probably didnt want MGP to get his legs broken. I couldnt see him having much influence in a game where Charlton players were happy to kick lumps in any of our players as soon as they got the ball.

My thoughts: Conceded from a set piece again, getting tiring. Too many off nights- Ferguson especially. Cant really judge Jansen from that, although some will. Flitcroft put in effort but really doesnt add much- not mobile enough for his position. Good individuals up front but lack of conhesion as yet. Not too worried as I think we can only improve under the coaching staff we now have but need to start getting points or doom mongers will mount.

Poor Douglas- I havent seen him play recently so cant accuarately comment. Always thought though he could do a messy job in midfield of being our ball winner. Well he is on a nice contract now....

I am sure Eddie will have his work cut out on the training ground. Will be interesting to see if they can stop Amo making the mistakes he has been making all his career.

got to remember by making 9 changes you cant expect a flowing team performance. Yeah we were poor, problem is with Short out now we have to find our best combination at the back. Just glad I dont have to do it....

Defending looked awful for all of their goals.