The argument that he was better three years ago is irrelevant (unless you have a time machine), the argument is whether he is good enough too play for us. Which he definitely is.

I disagree, 75% of the time his performances make him a liability.

One good performance doesn't change the last 6 months.

It doesn't matter that he is out of shape.

The best players are often enigmas and Benni is just that. He can create out of nothing, having a few extra pounds isn't going to affect that.

Yes it is, hence two years ago he was a much better player and scored 24 goals.

If this bloke got in shape he could easily be as effective to the team in a similar way that Okocha (sp) was for Allardyce as Bolton.

Whilst he's not in shape I still believe he is a drain on resources.

Yep. Too many 'past its' and too many 'never gonna bes.'

He's just too fat and slow to get in the position to take the chance.

If you'll pardon the expression, we literally have to put it on a plate for him.

Why release him when we can sell him for money?

It's a case if agreeing to disagree as I completely disagree with what you've written about McCarthy and the fans attitude.

What on earth are you trying to point out?

It is very simple. I don't care why he is too fat, but considering he trains two hours or so a day I suspect it's because he's taking the ###### in his spare time through over indulgences and from what I've heard, partying.

The end result is he's too fat to make a significant contribution at this level. Why fans try and hide this away is beyond me, probably just another excuse to heckle the manager, but in this scenario, Allardyce is spot on, and could in fact be much harsher on McCarthy.

Not strictly true, the guy is 32 now and isn't as fit as he has been but I'm sure the lasting footballing memory of Benni will be being superb in a Porto team that won the Champions League, I think most players would be happy with that sort of career.

As for him being a bad player now, simply untrue imo.

I disagree. I'd forgotten about that until you posted it, but he wasn't pivotal enough to be remembered for it, rather people will remember that he was up front for that team should they choose to try and recall it.

Not many great players are key men in a Champions League winning team in their mid twenties but playing for Blackburn Rovers by their late twenties.

No no, he hasn't scored as many as he is too fat to play in the Premier League.

It's that simple.

Benni McCarthy has been rubbish since his second season in England.

He's going through the same cycle MGP went through. I always slated MGP for his lack of contribution aside from his stunning goals, which were always going to dry up. For years I was constantly ridiculed/told I was this and that because people let him live of his first season for about 3/4 seasons.

McCarthy is a bad player now. Yes he has good control/skill levels, but he is fat, slow, not particularly strong and doesn't score even nearly the amount of goals he used to.

Andy Cole was far better at his age, and McCarthy is no better than Yorke was at 32. People hated Yorke, but he was never big and fat was he.

I have no idea where all the love for him comes from, maybe it's his past pedigree, which i find peculiar as his footballing epitaph will read 'UNDERACHIEVER DUE TO S*** ATTITUDE.'

If Allardyce gets £3m for McCarthy, it's up there with him getting £17m for Santa Cruz.

But if I was the manager I wouldn't be happy if after 12 months a player still hadn't reached his target weight.

I find that unbelievable and can only occur if the player doesn't give a ######.

If we had a wide range of other potential goalscoring options available to us then I could understand Allardyce forcing the issue here, but when we have nobody else capable of putting the ball in the net and no option to buy anyone who just might be able to then it does strike me as ridiculous to get rid of the one man we have who can definitely score, given the chances.

McCarthy hasn't exactly shown himself capable of scoring goals since his first season.

Quite simply, he's fat and past it.

I agree with Allardyce over this. McCarthy is all talk, if you can't get yourself in shape to do your job you aren't worth having. His performances in 90% of his appearances are average at best.

Bye Benni.

Did you get your two free shows from the Backspacer CD?

Indeed Simon. You should check out the Austin Heights show, something I had to purchase once hearing Perry Farrell joined them on stage to do 'Mountain Song,' one of my favourite Jane's Addiction songs.

I like Muse, and saw them live at Leeds Festival. I have no doubt big Muse fans would love to see them rocking it out in a stadium, but as a casual fan I would always prefer to see that kind of band in a more intimate (arena) setting.

I always think it takes a really special, creme de le creme band to pull off a stadium gig well. Unfortunately there are only a small handful of these in the world right now, so bands such as Greenday, Muse et al are getting these gigs. That isn't a criticism of those bands as I think they are both good bands, but when I see those, along with some of the other acts doing stadiums, it makes me wince a tad.

Ah right lets pick out 3 performances (2 of which were against dire just promoted sides) and brush off the rest of the games we have played?

Please explain how 4-4-1-1 can be positive? At all

Please tell me who this target man is who fits into this role?

Please tell me why we are in the relegation places with one of the worst away records in the country and also one of the most shocking goal differences in the league.

Yes clearly 4-5-1/4-4-1-1 is working a treat.

This post is beyond belief. This season there had only been two games where we have not got the result we would probably have expected before the game; West Ham at home and Sunderland away. We picked up a better result against Villa than most would have predicted, and by all accounts, most people around here will tell you a point is the minimum we should have got at Sunderland.

The truth is our team isn't that good at the moment, certainly not a brush on what it was a couple of seasons ago. With that in mind, the win all the games we would 'expect' to is a fine achievement, and like when Hughes first took over, we'll have to build the team by buying a new first teamer a season.

People always twitter on about the negative football, and it's pathetic because it's all born from pre conceived opinions about Allardyce, which people are unwilling to change. The football under Hughes was not great, and was all built around being hard to beat. There is not much difference between Hughes' and Allardyce's systems/tactics, the only difference is the players, something Sam can't be blamed for, not for another season or two.

McCarthy, for the past two seasons has been ABSOLUTE @#/?. Awful. I wish we'd have sold him after his first season. He has a decent goal return, but an awful lot of them over the past couple of years have been penalties.

He should not be in the team, and I would prefer Dunn playing off Di Santo every time. And, like it or not, that combination is working.

Everyone is concerned about the away performances, but the results are as expected. I think the performances, when push comes to shove, are down mostly down to our general low quality of player compared to the top teams (a few years ago our team had a few players who could get in their teams, not any more), as opposed to the system they are playing.

Anyone who thinks Benni McCarthy is going to improve the fight and influence the result when the going gets really tough is on a different planet, as he's never done it before.

Why is it our team is 4-5-1 with Dunn in the team, yet would be considered 4-4-2 if McCarthy was in it, despite the fact they would both play in the same position?

I suspect if Benni were in the team, it would only take three or four games before people started calling for him to be dropped.

Yes, he is our best finisher, but the harsh reality is he hasn't played well over a prolonged period since his first season now, and nothing will alter that. Considering he is now three years older, and a good stone heavier, I don't see that building a system around him is worth while.

If it were Hughes easing in a new, young £6m striker at McCarthy's expense, or if it were Hughes overseeing Dunn's phenomenal form, which is keeping BM out the team discussions like this wouldn't exist.

We will be fine this season, so would I prefer for us to be building the team around a 32 year old, or a 20 odd year old? I agree with a previous poster that, once we get through these first couple of years with Sam, we will be punching the heights Bolton did under him. Like it or lump it but I suspect the board will have similar sentiments, hence a few people are going to have to start reasoning with some of Sam's methods, as they are tried and tested at the highest level.

Dino was a naughty naughty boy for not telling Souey his first name. Greame should have spotted he didn't have a rats' tail, but still....

I managed to flog a spare ticket, have you tried sticking it on Gumtree? Is it a decent seat?

Who's going to Pearl Jam a week on Monday?

Can any of you guys shed light on the new Metallica album?

A 'oui oui' or a 'non non??' Or, of course, a 'comme ce comme ca?'

Jamie Carragher is a waste of bones and oxygen.

Truely, truely embarrassing.

common lads, lets make ewood the noisest loudest ground in the country again.

We cannot allow ourself to become silent like most other grounds around the country nor can we dwell on the loss of our drummer.

It's time now to start raise the roof and start making Ewood the loudest ground in the country again.

We have to try to get people in the Jack Walker to start singing as well.

Very inspiring, but it's a pity you didn't post it 12 years or so ago.