Not turning up for training is something you would expect of a Sunday player, not a supposedly top-class professional. . McCarthy quite frankly is taking the pi$$ out of Rovers. Anyone backing him and using this situation as a stick to beat the manager is not a true Rovers supporter.

McCarthy is still on the Rovers payroll and should be hit with a massive fine for his behaviour. More interesting is West Ham's role in this, probably instructing the player to stir up trouble to secure his move. Fantastic build-up for the Wigan game. Thank you Benni.

Alternatively, Benni is clearly a headstrong very obstinate man who doesn't 'knuckle down' even when he is being unprofessional. Personally I'm sure that, if I had a Champions League winners medal, I would looked at myself when being gently chided in the press by a manager who has always given 100 per cent his entire life. Obviously he will go and I don't see why Allardyce's criticism in the press about his fitness, work-rate affected the player one iota iota, psychology of the individual and all that.

The cleaners at Ewood have always been hard-working, conscientious ladies in my experience although I did spot a speck of dust behind the aspidistra the last time I was in the boardroom.

Classic McCarthy last night. Good ball from defence played up to him but because he never looks along the back line he was caught offside. He's scored some good goals for Rovers but my main memory after he's left will always be him being offside time and time again. He's also a lazy so-and-so. Rooney showed the previous night the sort of shift a top-class striker has to put in.

Hands up all those who think McCarthy constantly wandering offside because he cannot do basics such as look along the opposition backline, failing to make runs into gaping holes in defences and generally looking as if he could not care less, is "fantastic to watch".

McCarthy has only himself to blame for his lack of match time this season. He returned to the club clearly overweight after a summer of excess, was plainly unfit at the start of the season and since then has shown little inclination to buckle down and work for a living as Allardyce rightly demands of all his players. In these straitened times McCarthy is a luxury Rovers cannot afford. Time to move on.

Exactement. Poor professional with a poor attitude who does not look after his body properly. Au revoir et bon chance Benni.

The Champions League is a bore. But the old European Cup with knockout ties in every round was a fantastic, exciting competition. Looking back, the 1970/80s with Uefa Cup in Tuesday nights, the European Cup on Wednesday and the Cup-winners' Cup on Thursday were halcyon days for European football. Sky TV has much to answer for.

What happened to David Dunn....didn't he used to play for Rovers ? Also, 1960s players Alan Bradshaw and Ian Kendall ?

Um, how about Villa ??

Some furious defending of the indefensible by our convict cousins of their countrymen but it doesn't wash. Average player earning a ludicrous wage, just like most of the rest.

Chelsea made Barcelona look a poor side over 180 minutes. Not for the first time Ferguson has been exposed tactically.

Ferguson has to take the blame for that debacle; he picked the wrong starting team and United had no game-plan. Barcelona worthy winners on the night but they were lucky to beat Chelsea and only in the final thanks to a Norwegian referee.

Mike Ferguson dribbled round the entire Villa defence and walked the ball in the net. 2-2 draw if I recall but might be wrong. Remember seeing Harrison coming out of the bookshop at Sudell Cross and get in his brand new VW Beetle. Stylish chap and good player for Rovers - strange running style with his head going backwards and forwards.

The rain helps to make England a green and pleasant land .... and is one reason why it's such a wonderful country. Another reason being our PM Gordon Brown of course

Remember also Hughes was one misplaced header (by Pedersen) from taking Rovers to the FA Cup Final.

Unlikely because salaries on local papers are so poor. Sounds like Andy Neild is getting out before Johnston press goes belly up.

Agreed. Where were Newcastle in the table when they sacked Allardyce - 11th or thereabouts ? And where did they end the season under Keegan and how long is he likely to last at St James's next season ? Allardyce was badly advised going to Newcastle but the likelihood he would have made them into a top six club within 2 seasons. Whether that would have been good enough for the imbeciles who run that club is doubtful though. You're wrong about Ince. I don't want him anywhere near my club.

I'm sure the ladies on here would be pleased at Sam's appointment too. Regarded as a bit of a pin-up so I'm told.

So you would rather watch a losing team than a winning one ? Bizarre. The notion that all games involving Bolton under Allardyce were "boring" or involed "one-dimensional" football is nonsense too. I recall plenty of exciting games on MoD involving the Trotters under Allardyce, and they usually ended with victory for Bolton too. Rovers under Allardyce would be no more "boring" or tactically sterile than they were under Hughes; they would be hard to beat and they would continue to get up the noses of the southern media and the likes of Wenger and Benitez. Good. Just how I like it.

One more than you, apparently. This campaign against Allardyce is nonsensical. What would Rovers fans rather have - an entertaining 3-2 defeat or a 1-0 win ? Professional football is a results business and the club cannot risk appointing a manager who may or may not provide "entertainment" but takes the club down to the championship. Steve Coppell anyone ? My preference would be McClaren but Allardyce would do a good job for Rovers.

BECAUSE HE LIFTED IT FROM THE DAILY SIEG HEIL

The difference is, Mr Silly Billy, is that the Clough misfits weren't nasty violent yobs ; the last thing that bullyboys-dirty-northern-@#/?s-the-club-the-media-loves-to-hate Blackburn Rovers needs on its books is the most reviled footballer in English football. Please engage brain next time Gordon.