If we play the best eleven players we have available in their correct positions, we have a chance. Friedel or Encks if Friedel is not 100% fully mobile Neill Short Matteo Gray (who has a point to prove after Beattie fooled him) Thompson Ferguson (is he suspended?) Tugay (the way Arsenal play, he will have the opportunities to ping his passes especially as the rest of this Rovers midfield line up are class players who Wenger cannot safely leave in space in the way he could ignore Douglas, Emerton or Flitcroft knowing they can do little damage) de Pedro (Arsenal is the sort of game he will show his class if he has the character to do it- surely he is fit by now? Plus he is hustler when we don't have possession) Stead Dickov sub I would use- Gally for Dickov after he has been yellow carded/run himself into the ground. This is a side with passing flare and enough ability to get up and at them to disrupt an Arsenal side who will have moments of anxiety given the significance of the match. (It is also a side plenty good enough to finish in the top half of the Premiership) However, Souness will no doubt delve into the drawer marked paranoia to find obscure tactics, formations and positions trying and failing to come up with something he thinks can defend against an Arsenal side averaging 4.5 goals a game. On that basis, our record 8-0 thrashing by Arsenal is in danger never mind Clough's Forest record.

Agreed Tom Pringle. Plus (and this is opening old wounds), would Andy Cole have scored receiving a waist high cut back standing on the 6 yard line the way Dickov so cooly did yesterday?

dan-mark-furness. Try talking us through Dickov's goal without using the word Emerton. That pull back alone would hav been worth three points B'Ut F'Or D'Urso. I am amazed that D'Urso has not ben hung out to dry by the Sunday papers. But there again, it was the Rovers who suffered so I should not be that surprised really. One thing which has not changed on reflection. The last 20 minutes at St Mary's was the single worst display of refereeing I can recall in over 40 years of watching football. It even beats the late Gerald Ashby's howler against the Mancs.

Incredibly frustrated. In Souneess' favour, he has clearly brought to Ewood Park a very capable and potentially exciting squad of players. Despite that ludicrous selection, we played really well against Southampton. Against Souness is the fact that he sent out a selection which was even more bone-headedly wrong than last week's starting XI. If fit, Neill should have started. Matteo did better on the left than we could ever have expected and allowed Gray free attacking room, but please get de Pedro match fit! Flitcroft was as anon. Utterly crazy. (PS I have some soggy chocolate medals- do those count?)

Utter D'Isgrace How that man can ever officiate another Prem game ever again beats me. Surely the numpties from Fanny Alam in Soho Square will happen to watch the Sky coverage of the last 5 minutes. "that was never a penalty. Short was jumping for the ball and doing what all defenders do to protect themselves" "the referee has booked Ferguson again (over footage of him waving the yellow card at Ferguson who is looking dejected and disgusted in equal measure) so that means he was sent off". Interesting to read post match that he says he confused Ferguson and Tugay--- EH???? Can Toogs challenge the booking he received as D'Isgrace carded Fergie? To the game - abysmal selection second game running but I thought we played really well first half and controlled most of it. Nissa excellent, Yorke well-motivated and only split second wrong on his offsides, Gray great. Thought Short had a few dodgy moments and he unfortunately shares the blame with Emerton for Phillips (oops I'm on my own inside the 6 yard box onside with the ball under my feet) goal. Neill looked good when he came on- why not there from the start and Dickov was fantastic. I am still lauging/crying at that penalty decision (and the four bookings and the penalty not given for Beattie wrestling Dickov) so losing doesn't hurt much at the moment. Sure it will when we only have two points at most from our opening five games.

Well, if we are going down the road of forecasting Rovers will win a penalty (with D'Urso in charge !?!), I'll forecast we miss it and the game will end 0-0. Oh dear, the beeb will have no more "interesting" facts to include in their weekly write up about the Rovers.

The Guardian are reporting that Sturrock will be sacked if Southampton lose to the Rovers. Apparently does not have the respect of the players and Rupert Lowe is ready to get rid of him quickly. Makes Saturday lunch time a bit more interesting.

Everything is going Arsenal's way at the moment. Assuming they stay unbeaten at the week-end, the Rovers game will be the one to break the record unbeaten run of Clough's Nottingham Forest. Not making a prediction, but Rovers are as likely as anyone to break rsenal's record.

Glad to see Vince O'Keefe getting a mention even if we cannot vote for him. Graham Moseley was at Ewood for only a brief spell but he pulled off the finest save I have ever seen from any 'keeper at Ewood whilst playing for Brighton. A Noel Brotherston corner was met by an unmarked Joe Craig on the six yard line with a bullet-like downwards header towards the corner. Moseley, who had stayed on his line showed the most amazing reactions to clasp the ball with a diving save. The groan which went round the Riverside and the disbelief amongst the Rovers' players said it all- we were going to lose that afternoon and duly did 0-1.

To the contrary 92er. John Filan is an example of an excellent keeper who is currently performing brilliantly at Wigan but who scarcely has rated a mention on this thread. Ditto Adam Blacklaw, Alan Kelly, Shay Given and Paul Bradshaw, all of whom also gained international honours whilst with the Rovers. The fact these players get so little mention is testimony to the exceptional quality of the keepers the Rovers have had over the years. Certainly ahead of any other club playing in the leagues we have been playing in. As for casting my vote, I cannot decide. Terry Gennoe for being a really nice guy, Jim Arnold for being a crowd pleaser the 18 months he was with us, Roger Jones for sticking with the club when clearly capable of being an outstanding Div 1 keeper, Tim Flowers for his bottle, Brad for the World Cup and that remarkable 02/3 season. Sorry guys, sitting on the fence on this one- they are all magnificent!

Well done den- the pm worked! Excellent pre-view again. We can't all be comedic double acts but I would say Saints' Ken has made a pretty good assessment of the Rovers. With Niemi in goal, this is going to be a big test of whether Rovers can kep on scoring goals at last season's rate. Both clubs made dodgy starts to the new season, with dodgy first halves using dodgy tactics dreamt up by dodgy Scottish managers. Thankfully, we weren't the ones playing Villa. Has 1-1 draw all over it but if we cannot improve on Saturday's 1 in 4 ratio of getting shots on target, Southampton will get all three points. Sticking with 1-1 whilst still feeling optimistic.

It seems that the players were as confused as the fans (judging by the posts on this MB) by yesterday's first half line up. So two points thrown away by a Souness tactical mess and not appreciating how far away from Prem fitness de Pedro is. However, last season, we would have lost that fixture at Ewood. So one point gained through Souness seeing it wasn't working and changing things around at half time- particularly for spotting the Baggies were lying far enough off our midfielders that Tugay would have time and space to work some magic.

Just watched Sky Sports full 90 minutes of the Rovers WBA game. Souness lost us two points today and boy did he know it from his reaction at the end of the game. Whatever the formation was and wherever people were supposed to be playing, we had three central defenders, two left backs, another left footer further up the line and no right back. No wonder we were one down at half time. Second half we looked more like a football team but still a rather disjointed one. Neither side looked Prem class. Some random observations: Neil Clement can still hit them. I thought Brad looked very leaden footed for their goal. That said, the wall failed badly. de Pedro was not match fit according to Souey so it was a rank bad decision to play him. From the Sky camera angle on the gantry, Ewood looked very empty. Were the crowd hiding? Tugay is sheer class. As is Fergie. Keep them together. Sky Sports stats showed Rovers had 64% possession and more than twice as many goal attempts as WBA. Unfortunately for chances on target, both sides had the same number- 3 each.

Good call but no way will we score three tomorrow nor will Spuds beat Liverpool- that is a banker away win. Also Watford are too poor to beat the dingles.

Have you read page 1 of this thread? Sorry, I was still chuckling at Scotty's preview so I missed it! Good to see the pessimism- makes me feel much better!

Very concerned nobody has predicted a Baggies away win. Even the Baggies boards don't seem optimistic. Have to say that of all the opening day fixtures, our's is the one which looks the most likely to produce the not very surprising "shock".

1 Chelsea 2 Arsenaal 3 Liverpool 4 Man U 5 Villa 6 Boro 7 Newcastle 8 Charlton 9 Rovers 10 Birmingham 11 Norwich 12 Bolton 13 West Brom 14 Spurs 15 Fulham 16 Southampton 17 Everton 18 Palace 19 Portsmouth 20 Man City

Brilliant! As for the game, the Baggies are not the "just come up for relegation" cannon fodder most pundits would take them for. A lot of money spent, some canny signings and a shrewd manager in Gary Megson. This is a desperately important fixture for the Rovers as I struggle to predict where we would register our first win if we don't beat WBA- the opening fixtures are so tough. The Baggies will be going all out for a first day result so expect something closer to a cup-tie rather than an ordinary Prem game. I think win,draw and lose are equal probabilities. I'm going for 2-2 in a very entertaining scrap.

Alan, very much my reaction but perhaps some hard decisions are being made now that the lads are back in pre-season training: - Nissa is getting a welcome extended run but by all accounts is still making errors. In the Prem, that will mean goals conceded, points lost - Flitty is hardly showing pre-season. Perhaps physically and mentally not up to it - ditto Tugay (one of my favourites) - Neill doesn't seem to have solved his problems from last season - ditto Emerton - no surprise that Short will not be able to play 38 Prem games The lack of feel good has probably far more to do with these clawing realisations amongst the fans than anything else. Yes, it can be argued that Souness is being reactive. But if he is reacting to the fact that his midfield looks like it will have a soft under-belly again, trying Matteo as holding mid-fielder is very sensible as was looking at a central defender as mobile as Moore used to be. If he is reacting to big question marks on the right (the interest in Finnan as a more than adequate fall back at right back), again totally right. If he and the Board have reacted to a financial headache as much as a football/morale problem in replacing Cole with Dickov, they have done the right thing. If the way they are handling Dwight Yorke produces either a more motivated player or some half a million transfer income, again, its the right thing to do. Either outcome seemed totally impossible ten days ago. You could argue that only the big clubs can set out a strategic plan and not be driven by reaction but I doubt it feels that way at Arsenal this morning if the Spanish Radio report is true. Don't get me wrong, I remain deeply sceptical about Souness and a few rubbish results coming from tactical ineptitude will certainly exhaust my renewed patience. But at this stage, we have a team which in reverse order of importance - has not had any nasty pre-season results, - avoided the drop by 11 points despite a massive under performance, - includes de Pedro and a rapidly getting fit Ferguson I feel justified in retaining some optimism and I do not want us rushing out to sign any old fifth choice striker.

For what it's worth, Nissa is a very talented central defender with a worrying concentration/confidence problem which threatens his career. Very senseible to give him an extended run in the pre-season games. He will sort himself out and get rid of the howlers (not today by all accounts), or He will do Ok and be a reasonable replacement when two of Amo, Short and Matteo are injured, or We sell him to Birmingham City ....Amo needs as much practise as he can get coming back from injury, Matteo needs to play in his new team so sticking him in as defensive midfielder will show us whether that is an option but allows Souey a proper look at the Nissa/Amo combo. Well that's my theory....

Just tried connecting to chat but got rejected- not enough parameters. Well, that's me told! Good to see Souness using the pre-season sensibly for experimentation. I'd expect a combination of Stead, Dickov and (please somebody save me from Coventry!) Yorke will prove a right handful for the PNE defence if there is anybody left in midfield to pass the ball to them!

Interesting to see that Todd has been given squad number 24 whilst Danns, Donnelly and the other youngsters on the fringe of the squad are without.

Thompson, Douglas, Jansen and Gally all started the game at Morecambe suggesting they will have a bit/no part in procedings at Preston. Having opened the door to Yorke at Stockport, Souey has to give him a run to see if he can continue doing a job. Quite often, there is an agreement tht a certain number of first teamers will play when these pre-season friendlies re greed so I wouldn't read too much into this. Thus far, Craig Short has not featured much. Presumably he is being carefully prepared for the new season. Nice to see the young Bruce starting in the centre of the defence.

Enjoy the bananas. How are the joints developing?

Issuing squad numbers, withdrawing them because some players want to do swapsies, reissuing them....hmm Who was saying something about everyone having a boss? Either Lee was too quick with some priviledged info or the former residents are back at Brockhall.