Yes, good riddance to an unambitious little s**t. However, he was our best central midfielder, like him or not. We haven't replaced him. Unfortunately, the only other creative CENTRAL midfielder we have is Tugay and he's in the twilight of his career (and Thommo is NOT a CM) So, not only do we not have a strike force good enough to score prolificly in the prem league, we have nobody pulling the strings and creating the chances in the first place. I'm sorry, but if you think Flitty and Savage will do that then you're a sandwich short of a picnic

Just on the news earlier. Chelsea have spent £260m on transfers in the last 18 months, have a wage bill of £115m pa and last year lost £88m! Staggering sums of money and quite frightening really...

Well I went for one, as did my wife and daughter. But have you ever stopped to think that 3 games in just over a week is pretty expensive, especially in January? And frankly, out of the 3 this was the obvious one that was going to suffer.

As a matter of interest, did anybody else read anything into Ferguson not playing? I understood he was fit?

It was a disappointing attendance but hardly surprising given the 2 home prem games either side. Bags of room to spread out but no real atmosphere

Looking at Bruce's track record in signing strikers I'm not so sure we want him if Bruce does Stern John Clinton Morrison (£4.25m) Dugarry Emile Heskey (£6.25m) Dwight Yorke Kuqi In fact the only decent one has been Forssell and I'll put that down to luck

Frankly the thought of Duff or Robben running at Matteo horrifies me Like Ali vs Spinks, Tyson vs Douglas, we can only hope they are too complacent...

I virtually had a stand to myself Thought Nelsen looked pretty good when he came on, but despite the goal, and the fact that I don't really know West Brom and Norwich's teams, is there a worse full-back in the premiership than Matteo?

Well, taking it one point at a time. Yes we would have been better off against Bolton and although there were other things wrong the position Barry fills is the heartbeat of every team. Contrast that performance against recent ones when he has been playing. Secondly, unless you specifically know differently, Ferguson appears to have acted totally professionally. He may not have displayed any loyalty to us, and that in itself is very disappointing, but he has followed the correct route to get a move back to Rangers (and not anywhere else). Furthermore, on no occasion has he dragged this through the media that I am aware of. So, based on fact, there is no reason to suggest he will not be professional about it. Of course, he could do a "Bellamy" and prove me wrong. And no, I don't think we'll get more than £4m for him - but who you gonna replace him with for that much?

I think some people are missing an important fact in all this that our performance at Bolton confirmed. We need Barry Ferguson, or another player like him (sadly, Tugay is no longer that player). Frankly, we could buy Michael Owen but without someone to get hold of the ball in midfield, dictate proceedings and show a bit of guile, he would be picking on scraps. So whether he is worth £6M or not is irrelevant, it would cost a long way towards that amount to replace him. If the deal is dead, hopefully, he will be professional about this and play to the best of his ability.

FFS I hope the players don't read this site. Unfortunately, Chelsea can't be outplayed (with the possible exception of maybe Arsenal), and seemingly no longer can be bullied or worn down - although Bolton made a pretty good stab at it. Can't see us scoring so the only way we'll get anything out of this is to approach it like an away match. I'd stick 5 in midfield with Dickov up front and either MGP or Emerton tasked with supporting him. And then try and hang on...

Apparently, cheats do prosper... "Meanwhile, Bolton striker El Hadji Diouf is unlikely to face any disciplinary action following his dive in Monday night's Lancashire derby. The Football Association are powerless to take action against the Senegalese forward because the referee, Steve Bennett, dealt with the incident in the game by awarding a penalty. Bolton have also confirmed that they will not be disciplining the on-loan Liverpool striker" (from LET website)

Speaking of twaddle... A cheat is a cheat. And no goalkeeper should ever save a penalty, so any penalty save is a bonus. To describe it as bad goalkeeping that it went back to the taker just illustrates your lack of knowledge.

On the replay where ref Bennett is talking to Nolan after the 2 footed tackle on Sav, the camera shows the pair of them. Nolan isn't saying much and Bennett looks over to his left (where the Rovers players were stood) and to my lip-reading says "He's Going". At this point Nolan becomes very, very animated and clearly protests his case. Bennett then raises his eyebrows and shows the yellow. Who says refs don't change their minds?

Well, like it or not, tonights performance has confirmed a couple of home truths to some people on this site. Firstly, that Thommo, good as he is, is not a central midfielder who can command a game and pull the strings in the way a younger Tugay and Barry Ferguson can. So, perhaps we should think twice before wanting to get rid of Barry. Secondly, out of a pretty poor bunch, Dickov provides the most bite and threat up front. As for the rest - Mokoena (?) has potential but at the moment he seems incapable of directing his headers and tends to do a bit of an Amo - rush off out of position after the ball. (I dread to think what the pair of them would be like together). Confident that Mark & Mark will work that out of his game though. MGP seems okay but drifts out of the game too much - especially defensively. Savage did okay despite the t*t from Brum havinga dig. Never thought I'd agree with Steve Curry (Daily Mail) but he's just torn into Diouf on Sky Sports. Frankly, you'll only stop cheating like this by retrospectively fining the clubs or docking them points. Elbow, two-footed horror tackle, cheating dive - that will be the win removed and 1 point docked for each, or £100,000 for each. You'd quickly see managers making sure it is removed from the game.

Absolutely right. If Ferguson plays tonight then the result is bigger than any individuals on here venting their feelings at him. So the fans must be united behind the team. Of course, if we're 3-0 up then by all means let him know your feelings

I don't think blame should lie with clubs on this - you should look at the players. It is every club's right to make an offer for any player. Frankly, we could fax an offer of £1m to Liverpool for Gerrard - would it unsettle him - no. Similarly, Birmingham with Dickov. The problem here is Ferguson and Ferguson alone.

We should never do business with the current Birmingham regime again. They are amateurish, unprincipled hypocrites who prefer to conduct business through the gutter press. Never mind bringing the game into disrepute - frankly, I'm disappointed if we haven't instructed our lawyers to seek an apology from Sullivan for his slanderous remarks. As for haircuts, I'm with Brian Clough on this - short back and sides for all the players...

Very disappointing. What does this say about his ambition when the Premier League is acknowledged as one of the top leagues in the world. Is Walter Smith the Scottish Manager? I'll bet he's delighted that his skipper is going from playing against some of the world's best players week-in week-out, to only playing against a similar standard 4 times a year. "He'll be up there with Viera and Keane and Gerrard" my @rse. So, when the Savage thing and this is done, what will we all talk about?

Some t*t quoting random statistics certainly doesn't mean it's true. And so what if it is? I work with a wide cross-section of fans - Bolton, Man City, Man Utd, Liverpool, Everton, Chelsea and Arsenal. Every single one of them are of the opinion that a) Blackburn and Hughes especially have maintained their dignity in this matter and Birmingham, and especially Bruce and Sullivan, have come out of it with little or no dignity. All of the accusations from these people are based on hearsay and gossip - and if there was a shred of evidence I have no doubt that we would be in front of the FA on a charge. We aren't. Conversely, Sullivan is on record as saying he doesn't like the drive to Birmingham and would like to invest in West Ham or SPurs, and Bruce was taken to court by Crystal Palace for not honouring his contracts. These are both facts - not rumours. As for the big club, small club nonsense - yes, we are a small club, which makes our position and ability to attract players all the more remarkable. Unfortunately, you are also a small club, but you believe you are bigger than you are. If you manage another 4 or 5 years of progress, which would see you in Europe, then you might just be able to say it with conviction.

From what I can gather reading the various reports, Barry has said that he's happy here but would welcome a return to Rangers. An often used phrase in the job market is "never go back unless the things that led you to leave have changed" Don't know Rangers inside out but it doesn't look to have changed much? I like Barry, I think he's quality, but unfortunately if true, this shows a remarkable lack of professional ambition to me and we'd be better off with somebody who wanted to be here. David Dunn anyone

I'm sorry but you are acting like a statement from Mr Sullivan is fact. Hardly likely to stand up in court. In fact, if he thinks it is true and has the evidence, then let's see you in court. This nonsense about not taking it any further seems to me like he has no proof. So either put up, or shut the eff up and stop conducting "business" via the Sun.

Good post from Mr BlueNose. Shame about Dunny (and other good players we lost due to "differences of opinion"). But there's the point. Whether it is greed, falling out with the manager or personal reasons, players will always leave clubs - even their hometown teams. I keep hearing this accusation from Brum about Bowen tapping up Savage - is there any direct evidence of this? Or are people just putting 2 and 2 together?

I don't think they should. Football is fickle. Players look after No. 1, clubs look after No. 1., managers look after No. 1 (yes Mr. Bruce). But, if you are in the media every day for the last week accusing a player of putting his own interests first, telling him it "stinks" and is a "disgrace", then to clearly demonstrate the same behaviour is hypocrisy.

Birmingham have again showed their hypocrisy (and definition of loyalty) by cancelling Forsell's loan from Chelsea due to his injury. Whilst I would expect most clubs to do this, in the context of their comments about Savage looking after no. 1, and the fact he was a long term target of theirs for a permanent move, I think it shows exactly how they view their players, and they shouldn't be in the least bit surprised when they get the same treatment back.