I can only repeat what I said on the Walcott thread, and assume that either a) Sven has lost the plot or Knows what he is doing but is sticking two fingers up at everyone or c) Is a lot more confident than the rest of us that Owen and/or Rooney will be fit

I've no real problem with Walcott's inclusion, he is a total unknown to the opposition and might well be capable of causing an impact coming off the bench. Even people in favour of the selection though have to concede it is an extremely strange scenario. Sven admitted he has never seen Walcott play, only seen him in a couple of training sessions, and didn't even bother going to see him in a reserve game this morning, instead sending Tord Grip. Smacks of Sven's "big club bias" again. You get picked if you play for "the big 4" but not if you play for the likes of Blackburn and Birmingham i.e. Heskey, Jansen. What I am dismayed about is the make up of the squad which is totally unbalanced. Seven defenders NINE midfielders and only four strikers, two of whom may well not be fit, Rodney Trotter, who has nuisance value only, and one of whom has never kicked a ball at the top level! Why on earth do we need nine midfielders? It's difficult to imagine Jenas or Hargreaves bringing anything to the party unless the latter is required as cover at right back. Defoe and Bent should have been automatic selections as well as the 4 strikers actually chosen in view of the injury worries.

We could always plunder "Big Club" for their supporters player of the year - Damien Johnson.

Not the best match ever but a fitting end to a great season. Didn't realise until after the match we had won THIRTEEN out of our nineteen home games. Stupendous effort. And all that after winning about four in the whole of the previous two campaigns. Thank you Mark Hughes and the coaching staff.

The more I think about it, the more I wonder if this will destabalise this World Cup bid? I'm not a Sven fan, but I'm almost left feeling sorry for him. His authority has been completely undermined. He's going to be on the touchline with his supposed assistant, the next manager, sat next to him? How does that work? Why should the players take a blind bit of notice of Sven anymore ? What if he and McClaren have a difference of opinion on tactics for a particular match? If we have a great World Cup McClaren will get all the credit. If we bomb without trace, McClaren is damaged goods even before he starts. If it wasn't so serious you'd laugh. I suspect this farcial situation has arisen because the FA never originally thought they'd have to give McClaren the job.

Whe-hey! After a tortuous selection process it became apparent that the FA Chief executive Barwick favoured O"Neill, Dein favoured Scolari, Allardyce apparently interviewed best, so what do we get after interminable interviews carried out with farcial James Bond like secrecy? Rejected out of hand by eventual first choice Scolari and we end up with MCClaren who was the current manager's right hand man anyway! Brilliant, don't know how they do it! Despite his apparent lack of charisma, the hope has to be that without the opportunity to waste money, he can do a good job.

Thank you, thank you - once again I thank you! Must admit, wouldn't have predicted 6th if I'd known Bellamy would miss as many games as he did. With a proper pre season behind him he shouldn't be so injury prone next year. Let's just pray it's for us.

He might as well play. Not saying it's party time on Sunday but we're playing in flip flops aren't we? Be more support than the modern football boot anyway.

There were a number of really good performances tonight, in no particular order, Zurab, Reid, Gray, (Who the hell gave him 6.5?) Savage (immense) Tugay (until he tired) Reid. And yes, Neill. On the evidence of the last 2 games he's infinitely more comfortable at CB than RB. Don't centre backs fetch more money than right backs? Without criticising him overall MGP was quite awful on the night. He clearly needs a rest and the season seems to have been about 6 weeks too long for him. Look forward to seeing him fresh and rested next season. Peter on the other hand put in a stunning cameo. His flicked ball to Bellamy immediately after coming on was one of the best I've ever seen. Savage's reaction after the whistle was telling, having a character like that on the pitch and around the club must be a massive boost, what we've been missing for years. The main stars of the show obviously Mark Hughes and his coaching staff. We rode our luck in parts tonight but at the end of the season you generally end up where you deserve and so it was with us. We weren't quite good enough for 4th but then there's always next year...................

I'm getting sick to death of this Rooney obssession. You'd think we had no other players. Time for Sven to finally start earning his 5m p.a. But if he can't come up with a decent attacking formation with players of the calibre of Gerrard, Lampard, Owen, Joe Cole, SWP, Defoe, Lennon etc to call upon it's a pretty poor do.

Yes it can assuming reasonable management on the pitch and the Sky/TV money set up the way it is!

Without wanting to be being wise after the event it wasn't that unpredictable at all -merely a continuation of the form that got us out of trouble in the second half of last season. That's taking nothing at all away from Hughes and his coaching staff who must obviously be a top notch combination.

I think that's a fairly moot point really. Would Mourinho or Wenger fare as well at Bolton or Charlton as Allardyce and Curbishley?. Probably not. Conversely, given the money he's had to spend off Steve Gibson I simply don't rate McClaren.

That's a complete smokescreen imo. A few reporters outside his house so what?Managing Brazil must be far more pressurised. a) He probably didn't appreciate being offered half Sven's salary. b ) He probably didn't appreciate quite how awkward the speculation would make his relationship with his current employers. In any event he has by luck or design got a vastly improved contract to stay on at Portugal.

I think it's ridiculous to blame the Press for Scolari "resigning" from the job even before he'd got it . Blame for the whole sorry mess lies entirely at the door of the F.A. The root of the problem is the way they dealt with Sven. If they considered what he had done to be so bad they should have sacked him immediately. If not they should have backed him wholeheartedly, not reached a ridiculous fudged compromise allowing him to stay until after the World Cup. Ironically after taking exception to Sven discussing a job offer after the World Cup (albeit a fake one) the FA did exactly the same thing by pursuing Scolari who is currently under contract to Portugal. The breaking news must have been intensely embarrassing for Scolari who was on official business with the Portugese FA at the time. Added to that the news that he was "only" being offered 2.5m a year to Sven's 5m and the job must have seemed considerably less appealing. How could Scolari convince his current employers he was fully committed to Portugal? What if Portugal drew England in the latter stagesof the World Cup? And why should any foreign candidate be expected to take the job for less money than Sven? If the FA intended to include another international manager in their deliberations the selection process should not have occurred until after the World Cup. The make up of the selection panel is fatally flawed anyway. If we really wanted the best manager we'd have gone for Wenger or Mourinho but Dein is never going to recommend Wenger leave Arsenal. Dreading McClaren getting the job by default. Allardyce is the pick of the English candidates for me.

Heskey, god no, we already have one big useless lump incapable of finding the net more than five or six times a season. I can't see any point in spending several million quid to replace him with another! Wouldn't mind Forssel. (again, if he can prove his fitness)

Both bookings were harsh when you consider the amount of verbals referees get every week from players of the "big four" clubs with no action taken.

We're lucky we're not heading out to Germany without our TWO most influential figures. The over the top challenge Rooney himself put in on Terry just after they fell a goal behind was a disgrace and could easily have broken the Chelsea player's leg.

Bolton denied a blatant penalty on 74. Stelios brought down from behind right in front of goal with only Jaaskelinan to beat. For once the "big club bias" has worked in our favour.

Agreed. We have to try and get the three points we need on Tuesday night rather than sweating it out on Sunday afternoon. It would take a superhuman effort from Chelsea not to take their eye off the ball slightly.

Wouldn't call Bellamy a first division footballer by any stretch.

Spuds 1 Bolton 0 - 60 minutes.

Great result, the unbelievable events just before kick off clearly knocked all the stuffing out of both the Charlton team and crowd and made it little more than a training exercise for us. Notwithstanding that the performance was far removed from our largely dreary efforts over the last 4 games and the main difference for me was Pongolle. Even though he should have scored early on, we look a totally different proposition with him in the side, intelligent movement, slick flowing football and balls into feet. Reid had another stormer, hope we get him signed up to his improved deal asap. Vital three points, means we can have a real go on Tuesday night and if we field the same starting eleven I honestly think we'll win with Chelski having already clinched the title.

Good job our manager isn't Toshack, he doesn't even have a mobile!

I'll kick this off with Ronnie Rosenthal. Centre half Larry LLoyd. 2nd centre half Gary Gillespie. Left back Steve Staunton Only 6 to go! (Keegan) Struggling to think of a keeper.