Wrong. Look at it again. There is no contact between Friedel and Diouf. What Diouf does, after he has gone past Friedel, is very cleverly put his right foot behind his left calf, causing him to trip up. A nice piece of skill and one that he has obviously worked at in training.

Threatening violence ? Um, is this legal ?

I was disappointed with Rovers' reaction after Bolton scored last night. The search for an equaliser seemed to consist of long high balls aimed at no one in particular with no attempt to spread the play wide and get in decent crosses. Needless to say the Bolton defence lapped it up and their keeper was not troubled.

At the risk of stating the bleedin' obvious, how about a winning team playing attractive football ? We were doing that a few seasons ago until the manager got rid of all the best players.

Interesting. The story yesterday was that talks had been postponed until later in the week because Williams had flu. Now we learn that Rangers and Rovers were in fact talking yesterday, presumably in Williams's absence. It's still my hunch that Ferguson will be a Rangers player by Friday. Last night's match showed how much Ferguson will be missed when he leaves and that Savage is not a replacement.

Well done to Gary Speed for his honesty. The Bolton midfielder said: “I’ve just seen it (the TV replay) and no, it doesn’t look like a penalty. "It’s amazing, Diouf got it, he never gets any fouls. That obviously wasn’t a penalty. Blackburn won’t be happy but we’ll take it. “Sometimes you get them, sometimes you don’t but that’s only our second or third penalty this year. It was probably a poor game to watch but we are happy with three points.”

Sam Allardyce tonight apologised for the behaviour of El Hadji Diouf and promised to discipline the forward as a warning to other diving players who con referees. "Diouf clearly dived for the penalty, allowing us to score and win a match that we did not deserve, and I just won't tolerate that sort of thing at my club. It has to be stamped out of football. "I apologise unreservedly for his behaviour to Mark Hughes and Blackburn players and supporters who must be very upset at losing a game that may be crucial to their chances of avoiding relegation. "Of course I shall be contacting the Premier League and ask them to hand the point back to Blackburn that we gained by default and I shall also be asking them to make an example of Diouf. "It has been a very bad night for football." Of course Allardyce said none of these things, refusing even to condemn his player for what was clearly a dive. Football is a sick sport.

Agree with that. No one to put foot on the ball in midfield.

Cheating Diouf TRipped over his own feet for penaltyy

....because he has played his last game for the club. He will be back at Ibrox by Friday, if not before. There's more chance of Hell freezing over. And this is coming from a Rangers season ticket holder! Murray will not up his bid and sell us short on this one. There's going to be some very unhappy Gers fans this weekend. To be fair Dada...Jim is involved in the newspaper industry and has time after time on this site correctly predicted what is going to happen in transfer stories, even if Jim is a complete cock in every other regard...and he is. Thank you.

....because he has played his last game for the club. He will be back at Ibrox by Friday, if not before.

That article merely confirms my view that Rovers will be happy to sell as long as the price is right. Rangers will find the money, nae worries.

It's worth taking the young offspring for comments such as "Have the players had a wee before they come on the pitch ?" and "What do they do if they want a wee during the game ?" and "Are they playing football or rugby ?" and "Why is the referee bald ?" and that was in 1935 !

Disagree. Hughes said today: "Rangers have not come in with anything like a realistic bid and it is very difficult to say which way we can go with it. We will be speaking to Barry and his representatives on Monday and maybe then we will have a clearer picture." My reading of the situation is that Rovers are waiting only for a better offer, probably this weekend, and Ferguson will be on his way. Williams, for all his faults, knows that keeping an unhappy player at the club against his wishes is in no one's interest.

Harry Harris is one of the few who really knows what he's talking about. He got his first big break on the Mirror when he got hold of Robert Maxwell's personal home number and (that only about 3 people knew) asked him for a job. ..... What happened was Maxwell was so impressed that Harry had got his number he offered him a job on the spot - at (for the time) a ludicrous salary of course. Harry is one of Fleet Street finest, the author of such literary gems as ...."Bethlehem, birthplace of the legendary Jesus Christ" .... and "from my hotel room overlooking Mount Everest".

Dear den, I really am struggling with your words "decent striker" and players such as Paul McKinnon, Sean Curry and Paul Round in the same sentence. Would reiterate a previous message about David Speedie; without him we would not have achieved promotion in 1991-92. Watch the video of the season - he was truly phenomenal. Suppose it has to be Shearer because he would probably be a candidate for an all-time England XI. The way he left the club was still disgraceful however. And Garner to play alongside him because he had the virtue that the likes of Shearer, Ferguson and Savage all lack - loyalty.

This week's prize award for the daftest comment. With the millions in funding available to them from a variety of sources, this lot are on easy street compared with the boards of the 1970s and 1980s. Poor old Bobby Saxton wasn't allowed to use the club telephone until the afternoon when the GPO charged lower rates. And Jim Smith used to bring his own (soft) bog roll to work because the club had the shiny paper (and cheaper) Izal stuff !

I was waiting for someone else to aim the first barb at this player but I agree: on the evidence so far I have not been impressed.

..... because they've unsettled our player ? Some would say that is what we did to Birmingham over Savage.

Lovely stuff Scotty. Journalistic talent there - obviously wasted at whatever you do for a living. Diouf is starting to show what a good player he is so we need to keep him spitting distance from the danger area on the right from where he delivers a very good cross. Big job for Matteo presuming he plays. Bolton will have regained alot of their lost confidence from the victory over Arsenal so I expect a hard game. 1-1.

All the above is irrelevant. Ferguson's wife is unhappy away from the extended family in Scotland and, as we all know, if you want peace and harmony at home you have to go along with the wishes of 'er indoors. The club should let him go before the end of the month for as high a fee as possible. As I said previously, if Rangers really do want him they will come up with the money.

Arrrrgggghhh ! Two different players entirely. How can Thompson - the original headless chicken - perform a holding role in midfield ?

Stupid comment. There's nothing to be gained in keeping an unhappy player at the club. Witness Savage at Birmingham. Rangers just need to tweak the price upwards a little (taking into account the money we still owe Rangers) and he will be gone. It's sad because a Ferguson/Savage midfield would have been excellent. The club must move on though and seek a replacement for Ferguson (which Savage is not).

Your first sensible post in weeks. Congratulations.

Right yet again. It was obvious from the start.