Times report below on the Boro game. Blackburn must be aware that it is only a matter of time before the Welshman is lured to a bigger and better – read “wealthier” – club.

And Eddie, Mark Hughes is the reason why you have high expectations, which is great!

Spot on Andy.

I like the way the Axe went storming in looking for a scrap after Brad got kicked in the head (after the penalty).

I thought the big man did ok today!

We still are knocking it to Pedersen aerially but it does not seem to happen as high up the pitch (compared to last season).

Newcastle are looking at ways to terminate his contract if he is found guilty.

No wonder Gary seems to have a permanent grin on his face at the moment!!

The Mirror are at it as well..... They had last started together for Manchester United but Cole and Yorke looked past it at Reading and their glory days now seem a distant memory.

Not saying get rid of Hughes. I just think we should have done better in some of the games we have lost. Fair enough when you play one of the big four and they 'turn it on'. It is just frustrating. Need to be careful though, as we seem to be saying 'on another day we would have won' quite frequently. We could run out of days eventually.

Just been looking through some of our negative results so far this season and its pretty depressing reading. Looking at some of the games we have lost (in all competitions). Cannot remember where I read it, but you do need luck during a season with regards to the timing of when you play teams. That is not just making your own luck during matches, but when you play certain sides. I accept we played pretty well in the Villa game, but it did not do our goal difference much good. Lost to Chelsea at home without (arguably) their two best/most important players in Terry and Drogba. Plus Cech off for a 1/4 of the game. Thats their spine missing. Lost to West Ham at home. They had a horrendous injury crisis when we played them (and still do). Hammered by Aston Villa at home, who themselves are currently going through a poor run of form. Lost to Arsenal reserve team/back-up players/youngsters in the league cup. Larissa.

I would find it quite amusing if someone bought him then played him in his natural position of centre back. I still have nightmares of him playing centre back for us. He was truly awful.

Eddie - please explain his comments earlier in the season when he said his head was turned by Chelsea's interest. Additionally, he said he was not focused, and that his heart and soul was not in our club. He said it himself for f**ks sake.

Think you are correct BP on the decent publicity we have had over recent months. Many newspaper articles and general talk on how good a team we are, how difficult we are to beat, how good Hughes is etc etc. People are texting me at the moment saying what has happened to BRFC and what has gone wrong. Fact is, we have played some ok teams recently, and if we can get another positive run going in the league, then things will be looking rosy in the garden again. Its just the manner of defeats (or inability to keep clean sheets) which has been most concerning.

I don't think the majority are saying he has not done well in his time here. Personally I think he is a top quality striker. However, earlier in the season he admitted it himself that his heart was not in the club. Then he got a kick up the a*se from Hughes. Following that he had a spark in his play, but seems to have stagnated again lately. Of course, there are other reasons behind his slump, but Hughes public comments on his form suggest something is up.

Eddie - I can see why you are backing up McCarthy so much. However, I think there is a bit too much bum licking going on. For example, did you question his effort earlier this season, when he said his head was messed up and his 'heart and soul' was not in our club. Who is to say his head is not messed up again at this moment in time (or for the past month or so). For me, there is no spark in his play the moment. There is something not right, and with Benni, it is a mental thing.

I think Roberts has a case to feel hard done by. However, he has been injured for the majority of this season (again). He got his chance against Fulham (unexpectedly) and took it well. But I can still see why Hughes (and me personally as well) would want Santa/Benni for the Villa game, then the following games. Roberts has just come to the conclusion that he will never start regularly for us. Which is fair enough on his part. But he would have got a fair chance in December/New Year and could have made it impossible (through his performaces) for Hughes not to pick him. I can understand it from his point of view, but slapping a transfer request is a bit of a knee-jerk reaction.

I think we have got to watch it with statements like 'ruining the harmony of the team/club'. We are just speculating and I know Benni is a popular member of the squad. Roberts could be the bigger problem in my view, bigger problem in the eye of Hughes that is. You could see Roberts slumped on the bench after around 60 mins tonight, as if he def knew he would not be coming on whatever.

Different approach would not work in my view. We have gone too far down this road now. Plus the fact we have k*ob heads like Wenger who keep making negative public comments about our club.

He is right though. Our reputation goes before us sometimes, this affects refs when giving us bookings. Plus the fact there was two offisde decisions which went against us (hence his hatred for refs is a combintation of reasons). Don't find it irritating. He is standing up for our club. He mentioned that our defending was unacceptable and that we are shipping in goals all over the place. What more do you want him to do?

Top managers say things in public for certain reasons on occasions. I am sure they say different things to players internally. Some call it motivation and some call it mind games. You will never get Hughes or most managers saying what they really think about their own team in public.

I think that it is a testament to Hughes and the job that he has done here, that we are ninth in the league (4 points off sixth place), and some are acting like we are rock bottom of the table and in a major crisis. Admittedly, our recent form has been shocking, but still a long way to go. Mind you, slightly concerned that we have a fully fit squad and we are struggling so badly. Last season, at least we had a major injury crisis to use as an excuse.

There was a point last season when I thought the Axe was developing into a decent midfielder. Sometimes he is unfairly criticised on here. I am now of the opinion that he is simply not going to be up to it. Possibly he can do a job for a lower Prem league team, but just not good enoug to start for a team with top 6 aspirations. Maybe I am not thinking right at the moment (sorry, lack of sleep) I actually think we would get at least £2-3 million for him which would be good business. Out of the players who apparently want to leave, I think we could replace him ok.

Hughes is still a young manager and he is making mistakes. I just hope he reflects on things. The key for Hughes is to not make the same mistakes again. Overall, we are still nicely poised in the league. However, we have got to be careful not to lose much more ground, or we will be leaving ourselves too much to do (for top six position). Will be interesting to see how he handles the so called unrest (and problem players) within the club.

Hughes was getting noticeably pi*sed off with MGP today. I can see Dunn being deployed there on Wednesday and when the time is right, Treacy will get his chance (really looking forward to seeing him play, as he is a class act).