Kaltenberg is the poor students' dirt-cheap tipple of choice... that sums it up!

It's normally the last Friday in August, I think - the same day as the Super Cup is played. That site at the top has been updated - if I've worked it out properly, then out of the teams definitely in the 1st round of the UEFA Cup, 13 will definitely be seeded. We, Tottenham and West Ham are in the group of 19 teams who are definitely in that round but are not certain to be seeded: however, we've got the 6th best coefficient out of those teams, and we would be seeded above Spuds or West Ham. Basically, to NOT be seeded, we would need 23 teams with a higher coefficient than ours to either come through the UEFA qualifying rounds (or Intertoto), or be knocked out in the 3rd qualifying round of the Champions League. 32 teams will come in from the UEFA qualifiers (bear in mind that includes Intertoto teams like Villareal and Newcastle), and 16 will come from the Champions League. As far as I can see, there are 16 teams in the Intertoto and early UEFA rounds with a higher coefficient than us. That would mean that, assuming they all made it into the 1st round proper of the UEFA, we would need to hope that no more than 6 teams with a higher coefficient than ours are knocked out of the 3rd round qualifiers of the Champions League. I hope I'm right after typing all of that!

Like a lot of people on this thread, I grew up watching all the great Italian teams in the early 90s, so it's sad to see Serie A in such a bad state. The good news for them is that this surely gives them a pretty unique opportunity to really purge the league of corruption. I hope that the Italian FA has the balls to punish any guilty clubs (they set a precedent with Milan and Lazio in 1980; you've gotta hope they follow it). I'm expecting G14 to stick their oar in sometime soon - they'll make a few noises about how much they condemn this kind of thing blahblah but they're a pretty shameless organisation and I can see Juve trying to drum up support within the organisation. I'd love to see them drop into Serie B (or lower) but I've got a horrible feeling they've got enough friends in high places to ensure that they only get a slapped wrist. What's good about this is that it will hopefully make a few other clubs in other countries nervous - I hate to say it, but it's hard to imagine that this kind of thing doesn't go on elsewhere. It's UEFA and FIFA's duty to ensure that the action is decisive enough to make others think twice about match fixing - otherwise, when the first bad decision goes against us next season, we'll start to wonder...

Me too! What was up with that Sven impression he did? Methinks Tel enjoyed the hospitality suite a bit too much before he went on air...

Remarkable fact of the day: Rovers have now qualified for the UEFA Cup in each of the past four World Cup years (94, 98, 02, and now 06). Hopefully we won't have to wait until 2010 to win a game in it.

Just in case anybody's still worried about the Boro situation, UEFA's own website is reporting that we'll definitely be in the UEFA Cup next season, so hopefully that's settled.

If it was anyone other than Steve "Loyalty" Bruce, I'd agree it was a stitch-up, but the whinging Geordie deserves it.

Just out of interest, have those publicity-shy porn barons spoken to the press yet? It's not like them to stay quiet for so long.

Only problem with that is that Amo would probably strain his groin picking up the bat.

Funny how this Hughes-to-Newcastle rumour has come out just as the barcodes emerge as our closest rivals for the UEFA Cup...

As someone on that ref forum says, if a whole load of qualified referees can't come to a consensus about the rule, given all the time they want to think it over, something must be wrong. Oh well, the ref probably knew that if he didn't give the decision, Rick Parry would pull his usual trick and throw a tantum until he got his own way.

What's that, £13 a game? Very tempting that. If I only had a way to get up to Ewood every other week...

I went for Nelsen because he's been so consistent. No surprise to see Bellamy running away with it though, but I am surprised that MGP only has three votes to date.

Let's hope the authorities let us do the same thing forty years on... I'd forgive Roma for selling us a crock if they let us have Totti.

Ronnie Clayton?

Using the highly scientific method of playing Pro Evo 5, I have Rovers to beat Liverpool 2-0 with goals from MGP and Bellamy. That's foolproof, that is. Whoever loses, though, will blame it on a sinister, possibly London-based, conspiracy.

Riiiight.... so progressing to the last sixteen and the semis respectively in a competition that Spuds have qualified for once in fifteen years means nothing, because the 'Sold Out' signs haven't been bothered? There's me thinking that being 'worthy of the prize' is about winning games and stuff; this is the first season in Premiership history in which Spurs haven't been plodding around mid-table. What a load of crap. I can't believe that Spuds are still up there. It wouldn't bother me missing out on the Champions League to l'Arse, because they're a genuinely class side, but Spurs are overrated and seem to rely on occasional flashes of brilliance from Robbie Keane and generous refereeing. It would really annoy me if they got that Champions League because I've seen nothing from them that suggests they're any better than us. In fact, with their run-in, they should be grateful for those flukey wins over us and West Brom, because without them they'd be lucky to scrape into the UEFA Cup, that competition plagued by lesser teams from the Grim North.

Martyn was in the 1st division in '94 wasn't he? Arse!

How's this: Ugo Ehiogu, Sol Campbell, Alan Shearer, Ryan Giggs, Gary Speed, David James, Ray Parlour, Nigel Martyn, Roy Keane, and I'm totally at a loss for the last one.

Man U equalise through Saha.

3-1 Newcastle.

Man U should have had a penalty, but the referee said Ronaldo dived. Bloody typical that the only time that happens it affects us.

It's still early days for Derbyshire, but I remember Defoe had a similar strike rate when he was on loan at Bournemouth. Comparing him to Defoe is maybe a bit far, but as DMTP said, he's obviously too good for League 2, and we've seen plenty of highly-rated prospects drop down into the lower leagues and not make anything like that impact. (JJ - perfect example of this)

Spuds are 1-1 now. They've been battered all game apparently and scored with their first attack. When is their luck going to run out??

Steadinho scores at Everton!!