RevidgeBlue

Overall I thought this was the most enjoyable game of the season albeit the first 20-25 minutes wasn't very impressive. Yet again Rhodes proved the difference between the two sides with a very sharp finish. I just don't understand the criticism of him at all. As with the Blackpool game, Williamson was my MOM with Kane very close behind. I also thought Jones had a much better game than of late as well. Dann was superb in defence, Givet looked way off the pace at the start but got better and better as the game went on. A sterling effort from him. The three players who were substituted all had poor games I thought, King, Lowe and Best. Along with Marcus Olsson. Great cameo from Goodwillie when he came on, the sharpest he's looked since he's been at the Club. Surely deserves a start ahead of the very disappointing Best. Sadly the same couldn't be said about Dunn, looked overweight and sluggish when called upon for the last few minutes. I'm not sure, but we are certainly crying out for someone who resembles a natural LB. Have been since Warnock was sold.

Agree on both of those Jason, couldn't believe how well Dann played tonight, perhaps he felt more confident having Givet alongside? Only dilemma with Kane if we could secure his services is, how do you fit him and Henley into the same side? Could Kane play right hand side of midfield perhaps?

He must be in a bad mood because we won.

Apart from that I quite like Rog's team assuming we have to go with Morris due to injury concerns. I'd play Nunes instead of Pedersen though.

My concern over Givet would be as to his lack of match fitness. When was it he came in after a long lay off previously, was it Blackpool away? He was extremely poor as I recall. The younger Rekik is more like to be sharper fitness wise and centre back is his preferred position albeit he has looked poor at LB. I don't think there's much to choose between picking either, both represent a gamble. Anyone but MGP for the suspended CKR please.

I've only just seen this thread and am really shocked by the news. I didn't know Kelbo but from his postings he was clearly no fan of the current regime to put it mildly and my main regret would be that he passed away with us in such parlous circumstances. Like I keep saying though at least he saw us lift the title in 1995 (and later the Worthington Cup) . Not many fans of various Clubs will ever be able to say that. Best wishes to Ben and family at this difficult time. It won't bring him back but I hope it's at least nice to read what a well liked and well respected contributor Kelbo or Kelvin was on here.

I think the parachute money goes 16m/16m/8m/8m. So hopefully failure to go up this season would not prove terminal financially. Difficult to see how it wouldn't be if we didn't go up inside two seasons though. Maybe the thinking is we would still be able to sell him with two years cleft on his contract if we haven't been promoted by then.

Valid point. I'm not sure if Petrovic is actually desperate to leave but if not I would say midfield options of Murphy Etuhu and Petrovic with Dunn available for cameo 30 minute bursts nd cover etc would look very strong at this level. That said, the wage bill won't stretch forever. I would imagine we're also hoping Jason Lowe can step up. Although he did better at full back than his alleged natural position in midfield last season imo. Edit: Oops - edited.

Agreed Ricky. Whilst we should be solid enough in midfield if Murphy and Etuhu stay fit, I can't see there's anyone currently at the Club in the absence of Best who will find the net on a consistent basis. That said, if we could land Rhodes it would be a coup of monumental proportions. Left back was also our problem position last season fior me. It will be interesting to see if we can solve that as well.

Very good signing imo. The only slight concern is the length of contract being handed out to players like him and Murphy, which reinforce the importance financially of returning to the Premiership inside two seasons at the outside. We have been saying for ages though haven't we, the need for more experience. You certainly can't accuse the owners of failing to back the manager though imo with six signings thus far, and three former Premiership players having been persuaded to step down a grade. Whether the manager is good enough to deliver - that's obviously a different question entirely.

The McDonalds near the ground might go bust - the team should survive.

I just caught the end of that as well. Basically he seemed to be saying he had no intention of returning to Blackburn (the area) SSN turned it into a bit of a PR piece for him, inferring how he was out of favour at Ewood and should be allowed to leave etc etc

Whilst I'm a little uncomfortable with the idea of selling McCarthy I now think we need to get him out of the place asap. He's clearly keen to leave and if the move were to fall through for any reason I reckon he'd be no use to us whatsoever. Even less so than at the moment. We do however need to replace him as a priority. I am surprised his replacement hasn't been sorted out well before now as his departure has been on the cards for ages. There must be someone better long term than Beattie about as well. If it means spending a bit more in order to get someone who'll be good for the forseeable future rather than just a season or so then that's the direction the owners should be looking in. The priority seems to be trying to replace Belly for the same price whereas we should actually be looking for the right sort of player. That's if we want to flourish on the pitch anyhow.

We think it might be June 2011. Can you pay for him by the ounce please?

I thought it was Reid and MGP and Hoillet who were out of contract. Not Benni.

1.25m? They know where they can stick that. Trouble is, rejecting it will probably see more comments in the Press from Benni's agent about us being unreasonable on the asking price and Belly's weight balloon to 35 stone.

Imo if anyone makes an offer for him he'll be gone. Every time Sam is on SSN he seems to make a point of inviting offers by stressing we've not had any offers for him yet.

It was three years ago really.

Benni seems to be trying to ease himself out of the door here, a "back spasm" in the warm up on Monday night and a ludicrous swipe at the Villa player last night that could quite easily have earned him a red card. I would even go so far as to say he looks like he is trying to persuade Sam to offload him for peanuts. (Perhaps he wanted to go and watch the Africa Nations Cup as well with Diouf?) Unfortunately I'm not sure he's going the right way about it. Probably more likely to have the opposite effect. A few goals would be more likely to endear him to potential suitors.

Good final, a lot closer than the 7-2 scoreline suggests. Whitlock missed a couple of darts at doubles to win crucial legs and Taylor took out at least three 120 + finishes to win vital legs with Whitlock waiting on a finish. The 170 with Whitlock waiting behind on 40 being the most notable.

Whitlock/Barney was an unbelievable match. Whitlock has improved beyond all recognition over the last couple of years since he appeared in the other downmarket version of the World Championships. If he can keep that form up against Taylor it will be a good game, the worry will be that a lot ofr players go to pieces when coming up against Taylor and can't bring their best game to bear, and it ends up rout. Same thing used to happen in the 80's with snooker and Steve Davis.,

It's not an appealing prospect is it? Even if you think Beattie might be able to provide a short term fix.

Not quite sure which way to go on this. If Benni has consistently failed to meet weight targets and get himself fit enough that's his fault. Nevertheless dragging him in on his own at 7am seems a bit excessive, there must be better ways of going about it , like insisting he stay behind for extra work after the normal training is done. It does now look as though a parting of the ways is inevitable which could turn out to be a huge mistake given the paucity of our other striking options. What's 2m going to get us anyway?

Agreed. I'm not Benni's biggest fan either but with us struggling to find the back of the net I'm very uneasy with the idea of offloading our only half decent finisher. Really we should be doing the same as we did when we refused to sell RSC last January. We should be getting an additional loanee in or offloading some deadwood to allow the signing of Beattie thereby adding to our striking options not reducing them.