We're flying from Brum Weds afternoon so can drop you off then if you can kill a few hours down there!!

Watched Keith Barker 'star' for Rochdale last night. If that's as good as we're producing down at th'Academy it's time to wind down the whole operation. He was pony.

The blue touch paper has now been lit.....stand back and watch the fireworks people!!!

What's everyone's tool of choice for the descent in to the hell that is the De Kuip stadion? I'm taking a 9ft x 4.5 ft sheet of material cunningly disguised as a St. George flag. Obviously I'll be using it to smother any unsuspecting Feyenoord fan that dares to ask me the time.

Trying to burn a compilation cd and can't transform the wma files from the CD to mp3 files that I can then burn. I've tried media player,real player and Nero v6.0 all to no avail and am losing hope. What program is the preferred one of MB members, remembering it's got to be ultra user friendly for me to have a chance of using it. Thanks.

More like the new cheap labour to clean the s***houses on matchdays.

You put your point(s) quite eloquently and put forward a decent argument but how many players let go by the academies actually go on and prove that decision ultimately wrong? I can think of no Rovers players that have done for a kick off, and there's no way whatsoever that David Bentley would be getting a starting place in the current Arsenal side. What you have to ask is, regardless of the system, are the players good enough for the first team? You'd have to say that the answer is, more often than not, no.

For all the great things Mark Hughes has achieved for us the blame has to lie fairly and squarely at his door. Not for the way we play, not for our fitness or tactics but for the fact he never got adequate cover in central midfield before the transfer window closed. At that stage Steven Reid was injured and although we weren't sure of the severity of the injury it should've highlighted the problems we would face should Savage get injured too. It was sod's law that he would and now the problem has come home to roost. There's no-one else in the squad who can do the job of either the aforementioned and as our game is based on pressure and setting the tempo we are struggling at the moment. Bentley and Tugay can't play together because neither of them can win the ball and Mokoena, for all his limitations is, well very limited (and that's being kind to him). I can see it getting worse before it gets better and the return of Savage can't come quickly enough but as I wrote earlier, it was a problem that could be foreseen and as such something should have been done when there was a chance.

I love it the way he goes to the furthest touchline when he knows he's about to be subbed to waste as much time as possible. Then he shakes hands with everyone on the pitch while ambling off!! It'll be a sad sad day when he's a Rover no more, one of my favourite players of all time.

Anyone know if 'The Music' are still together? Thought they were very much underrated andnever really got the same credit as more moderate acts such as Kasabian and Razorlight. 'Freedom Fighters' and 'Take the long road and walk it' are awesome tunes.

Rang the ticket office yesterday because there had been a lot of scaremongering about the availability of tickets and having to get the applications in early to avoid missing out. Anyway, after I said this to the lady on the phone she was at pains to tell me that I shouldn't worry and there would be 'no problem at all with availability'. Having said that, my application will be bunged in this afternonn.

Yes, they're his 'strengths'.

I'd like to be able to say to you that it'll get better but I can't. Just sounds all too familiar. Anyway, I'm not big on sympathising with Palace fans at the best of times, thanks for the 2.5mill bought us a slight improvement on Shefki in Benni McCarthy. Cheers. Small consolation for the play offs but it's a start.

Yes. Checked slightly at 1st bend and ran wide, chance was gone after that and to be honest, given the winning time, he'd never have won that race anyway. He'll hopefully get dropped down to A4 now, a grade he can win at. A big thanks is due to our trainer too who had two winners on the night at 4-1 and 5-1 and told us about neither. Top work.

8:35 on Saturday Jim. Got to be honest, I think he's got a real chance but as always it depends on how he traps and then if he avoids trouble. I can see him winning if all goes well, he's not got much to beat and I reckon you'll get a decent price too. I'll see you there.

Morning Jim. He's won 4 races now and has gone up the grades to A3 (which is the third highest grade strangely enough). He will be running this week on either Friday or Saturday but I'll know which later today. Will post on this thread when I know. You can find out more info on the dog by typing Ashanti Prince in the search here EDIT : Just checked the early race cards and noticed he's not running Friday so I've got to assume he will run Saturday night when you're there. Will confirm later.

Hmmm. The resources to spend 16 million on one player, 52,000 fans every week, big city club with huge global potential, opportunity of legend status even if he only wins the Carling Cup and the chance to showcase his talents to a bigger audience. Do you honestly not think he'd be tempted to leave Rovers for that?

Morning. We'll finish top ten, have a run to the ko stages in Europe, suffer exit at hands of Chelsea in Carling Cup and make quarter finals of FA Cup. Sparky's reputation will soar but will still not get the Man U job. Have a feeling there will be a vacancy at Newcastle soon and he may well be tempted. You will flatter to deceive up until xmas and then when your players realise where they are they'll bottle it and finish mid table. Still, it's better than you'd have hoped in the summer. Oh and Cotterill will probably fly the nest having 'gone as far as he possibly can' with the club.

Hotel Belga Herb. Looks a bumhole of a place but cheap (£27 p/night) and great location.

Who's on the 15:20 bmibaby flight from Birmingham to Amsterdam?

Trip more or less finalised, just sorting out airport car parking at Birmingham (£13.50) and obviously waiting on ticketing arrangements. By the way there are still very cheap flights from Birmingham to Amsterdam for those interested. Found a cheap hotel in central Amsterdam, the Hotel Belga, costing us £54 each for the two nights. Get en suite rooms and breakfast so we're quite pleased with that. I take it there'll be an informal 'meet' when we're all in the 'dam. I'll look forward to it.

www.bmibaby.com

Booked return flights from Birmingham to Amsterdam for 50 quid. A lot cheaper than the local airports as all the cheap prices were snapped up early doors. Fly out at 15:15 on the Wednesday and fly back in at 18:20 on the Friday. Good flights me thinks. Gonna stay in Amsterdam for the two nights and make the journey down to the stadium on the Thursday afternoon. There are trains every ten or 15 minutes to Rotterdam and it's only 22 Euro return. Only got to sort some cheap rooms for the 4 of us in the dam and we're sorted. Very happy days. Anyone any ideas on where to look for the rooms and is anyone from here on the Birmingham flight?

Sorry Den, on my way now.