David Gold should realise what I, and others, have been saying for some time. Steve Bruce is not a good manager. His record of buying poor strikers for very inflated fees is only matched by his apparent lack of tactical nous and motivational skills. I think they are dead certs to go down, with Pompey. West Brom will battle their way out again I reckon.

I normally agree with most of your posts Philip but in this case the statistics were not really relevant. We could (and would against a better striker) have been 3 down in 10 minutes. Villa clearly had a game plan to close us down as quickly as possible - especially Neill and Gray. Bentley couldn't handle it in the centre as you say but for me it was the switch of Reid inside that started to give us the platform. For those that don't rate Savage, as far as I'm concerned the facts are there to see - we would have lost that game without his endeavour in the middle. The defence was completely undone by Kevin Phillips dropping off between the back 4 and the midfield, which pulled holes in it until Reid got in there. Thankfully, Hughes spotted that and made the change

Probably because he's a master tactician, offering valuable insights into the ebb and flow of a game, and of course, who and who isn't a proper footballer and a proper man.

Just got back. Must be karma for last week. Villa should have been 3 up in 10 minutes. Villa pressed us like we press other teams. I noticed that they also pushed up very quickly on Gray and Neill, which is the way we start most of our play. Switching Reid back into the middle shored it up a bit and gave us the platform to get back into it in the second half. I said we should have tried to sign Phillips - he's a very clever player. Thankfully, O' Leary thinks Baros is better than Angel which, combined with Brad, is probably why we didn't lose! And our goals looked suspect - can't wait to see it on replay

Hmm - that' what the Sky website says too. But during the game itself Sky showed possession as 65% Rovers with 10 minutes before our 2nd goal running at 86%!!!!

Gray got done for pace on the last goal but frankly it could and should have been cut out by Neill who stopped tracking back with Mido when he reached the 6 yard line. I don't think people realise that part of our increase in attacking threat has come since the switch from Matteo at left-back to Gray. He may not be the best defending full-back but he gives 20 times more threat going forward than our alternatives in that position. The first 2 goals were very unlucky. The team played well today - even though it was a defeat they should take heart from this and push on. Let's be frank, if we play like that at Brum, Pompey and Sunderland we'll come back with 9 points - so we need to keep the momentum up.

Jeez - the archives of this messageboard are full of your contrary and contradictory views. For example, these were words you used about the attendance problem in the past "Not surprising really in view of the dire "entertainment" served up at Ewood last season" You were also very vocal about our tactics at away games when we played 4-5-1 and ground out draws. Now apparently the entertainment is second fiddle to the result. Make your mind up man.

Again, the point being made is that the cheating and diving that DOES go on simply makes it harder for refs to judge the above correctly. If you retrospectively review games for cheating and diving, with the threat of points being docked, it would soon be eradicated from the game because managers would make damn sure it didn't happen. And if you think it's hard to tell then watch Soccer AM platoon every week...

Lucas Neill is a football genius! Where can I get the T-shirt!?!?

My MOTM today was Sav. He was superb at keeping Arsenal out of their stride and he offered something going forward too. Honourable mentions to just about everyone else. On the constructive side, Sergio Peter has all the attributes to make it - the only problem at the moment is his inexperience - not knowing when to pass and when to hold. That will come with games. And finally, what a team we would be if 3 or 4 of our players were mentally quick enough to spot Bellamy's runs!

As far as I can see, the point everyone is making on here is that it is the cheating and diving that means referees cannot distinguish between genuinely malevolent and dirty challenges, and those that are nothing of the sort. The problem is people who just shrug their shoulders and say that cheating is part of the modern game. What kind of attitude is that?

Well as someone who sits in the family stand I quite like where it is now thank you very much And if the lower BBE was full to bursting every match I could see your point. But it isn't. And for your info, the kids really get into it and sing a lot. Okay, it sounds like the munchkins from Wizard of Oz...

I've been saying for some time (years) that the win-at-all-odds mentality and pressure will be the ruination of football. Whatever happened to the Corinthian spirit? You hear things like "show me a good loser, and I'll show you a loser". Well, frankly, winning at all costs isn't winning if it involves anything other than skill, effort and determination, and perhaps, a touch of good fortune. The only way to get the fairness back into the game is to make it harder to cheat and to make it unprofitable to cheat. How do you do this? Well, some suggestions, some easy, some hard, some radical 1) Shirt pulling. Everybody laughs it off but it's cheating. What about a footy shirt like the England backs shirts - skin tight and nothing to get hold off. Alternatively, shirts designed to rip easily - so if pulled it has little or no effect. 2) Players faking injury. If the Alan Smith injury shows us anything, it's that real injuries are obvious. Play should continue around the injured player (and physio) if necessary as it does in rugby 3) Diving. If Sky can edit every game down to an hour in less than 3 hours, each game can be assessed by a panel for diving, play-acting, cheating and general wussy behaviour. The panels should consist of a doctor, an ex-professional from the 80's and in all probability a rugby player. And teams should be docked points if found to be doing it. Frankly, all the FA needs to do is inform clubs that they will be doing this and they probably won't even have to - because the managers will then regulate themselves. Anyway, looney tunes rant over Who's our left-back at the world cup likely to be - cos I don't fancy his chances against Messi...

That kind of incompetence in any normal industry would result in a sacking frankly. He said it 3 times. Once when it had happened - fair enough, was difficult to see. Once when the reply showed his left leg buckling under him at a strange angle - very obvious it wasn't the ball! And his final time of saying it beggared belief - when they were putting the air-support on his LEFT leg and pumping it up, right there on screen, he still said his right leg. FFS the man is a fool

Yes, I do actually. In fact the central midfield of Flamini and Fabregas, whilst young and undoubtedly talented, are suffering from the crisis of confidence that the rest of Arse are suffering. They lack a real leader, it's easy to get under their skin (Sav!) and I can see Tugay competing well. Pires and Freddie are wide players so he probably won't have to, and let's be frank - they disappear too when the muck and bullets are flying. Knowing my luck though they'll probably roast us now...

Not true in my opinion. Tugay ran the game, was always available for a pass and was always looking for an attacking ball. It's not his fault that most Rovers players had off nights - MGP, Reid in the first half, Sav. In factour attacking threat came mostly from Gray and Neill. Thank God for Bellers - we might have lost that last year. I agree Tugay needs replacing because he's getting on, but the fact that Rovers had more attacking play later in the game was nothing to do with Tugay coming off and everything to do with Sunderland leaving gaping holes just about everywhere as they tired and huffed and puffed for a goal. Tonight was a poor game but we got the points - Sunderland will probably sack McCarthy at some point when frankly, tactics and formations are irrelevant if your players just aren't good enough, and with the possible exception of Arca, every man-jack of them isn't. I defy even the "Special One" to win games with that shower

Sounds exactly like a certain Mr Kidd if you ask me...

I wonder if they need someone to carry the Lucozade crates? I only want a 3 year deal and I'll settle for £2k per week and a PSP (gotta have something interesting to do whilst the matches are on... )

There's an interesting table on the back of the guardian sports pages today. It's the number of fouls/booking for each team i.e. how many fouls they get to commit before someone gets booked. If Fergie's correct then we should be at the top and Utd at the bottom. As it is, Birmingham are the luckiest side with 12.5 fouls/booking and Bolton the unluckiest with 7. We are near the foot with 7.6 whereas Utd players are on 8.3. Obviously not that simple but worth throwing back at the next Utd fan who spouts off

Deluded bunch those Geordies - they reckon Bellers might go back - link

It was a superb night but I'm undecided between last night and VE day against Newcastle in 95. Last night in terms of how we played I think

Fat Sam - Newcastle or England!??!

Hands up who, before the season, would have said that we would - Play Utd 4 times and W2 D1 L1 - Not have our best striker available for 2 of the games and still score a total of 8 goals, against arguably the 2nd best team in the league - Make a muppet of the "best England centre half since Bobby Moore" (not my quote) There was a bloke next to me who hasn't been for ages - hopefully that performance might put maybe a thousand on the gate for the next home game

Nonsense. Stats on Sky Sports show 24 fouls Rovers vs 20 fouls Utd. 3 yellows vs 2+red. What he doesn't mention is how often his players, particularly Ronaldo, blatantly cheat and con the officials. What a sad little man.

Didn't want to start a new thread so this seemed the best place. Just heard about Karren Brady, and whilst I don't agree with the way Birmingham conduct their business, I'd just like to wish her all the best and good luck next week. Get well soon.