My thoughts exactly. It's a legacy from the Souness (him again) era. The players' mindset is still to avoid relegation, make sure their £1 million plus salaries are protected for another season and then mentally switch off and go through the motions until they go on their summer hols. Not good enough Mr Hughes.

I've met McClaren several times and he is one of the few genuine "nice guys" in football. His problems at Middlesbrough are only temporary.

In a desperate bid to raise cash for their failing investment, it would appear the Glazers are prepared to sell the Old Trafford name to Middle East sponsors in the same way that Arsenal's new ground is to be called Emirates Stadium. A sponsorship deal worth £56 million over four years is being lined up and to appease irate United supporters, the ground would be called "Old Trafford supported by Qatar Airways", or something similar. Now, I would not like to see Ewood Park renamed for historical and sentimental reasons but in the cut-throat Premiership all avenues for additional revenue should be explored. So how about it for Ewood.... the Tommy Ball Stadium ?

John Williams says in his annual report that "the club must try harder and we will" to address the decline in gates. He could do worse than spend an evening in pubs like the Horden Rake and ask the locals why they no longer atttend matches at Ewood Park. He might learn something.

I didn't think my old memory was playing tricks. Scroll down to Sitcom Sequel. Good old Guardian eh ?? http://football.guardian.co.uk/news/thekno...,594032,00.html

Colin, it didn't take a managerial genius to turn Rovers around. Any supporter with a bit of football nous knew which deadwood had to be cleared out and Souness had the great fortune to inherit Jansen, Duff and Dunn as they were approaching their peak. In Souness's favour, in addition to promotion and the League Cup triumph I'll never forget Rovers' performance at Celtic Park when we played some of the best football I have seen from the men in the famous blue and white shirts. However, the manner of his departure, and the state he left the club in, left a sour taste, hence the continuing opprobrium. Souness was a controversial player and he caused strong feeling among supporters in his managerial career. I think he rather enjoyed it.

Wrong there, me old fruit. Lenny Godber was a Villa fan. Reasonable effort though. 7/10

Oh joy of joys. Couldn't happen to a nicer man. The arrogant git.

Read and enjoy Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson accused Blackburn Rovers of playing a poor brand of football in which “they foul all the time” and slammed referee Phil Dowd’s decision to send off Ferdinand. Ferguson said: “Rio did it twice in two minutes while their centre-back Andy Todd committed about 10 fouls in the first half and was not punished." "It says a bit about how they play. I could not honestly defend them. If you look at the stats, it was foul after foul" On the incident which left Savage on a stretcher, Ferguson added: “Rio says he hasn’t touched him so I will just have to see the video.” Ferguson added: “Tonight we didn’t get what we deserved. They (Blackburn) didn’t really play any football at all in the first half and they were just surviving yet they were 3-1 up. “We equalised, then there was a schoolboy error at the back between Rio and Van der Sar and the penalty was harsh... the ball was just going straight to van der Sar and it was a soft penalty from the linesman.” Blackburn boss Mark Hughes revealed Robbie Savage had been left with a badly gashed shin after a late challenge which earned Rio Ferdinand a red card. Hughes said: “I have not seen it again but I thought at the time it was possibly a poor challenge. “But thankfully Robbie is going to be okay, he has got a badly gashed shin but I think it shook him up more than anything when it happened.” Hughes hailed hat-trick hero David Bentley, who marked his first match since making his move from Arsenal permanent with a match-winning display. Hughes joked: “I was just saying to David he should have saved that for his contract negotiations last week and he may have made more money. “He is a young man with a great future, he has had a great night and I hope he is going to have many more for us. He just needs games at this level because he hasn’t had that many and he is getting better all the time. “He is doing a job for us because obviously we are missing key players up front and have done for some time, but David has gone up front with Shefki Kuqi and really had a go.” Hughes is now targeting an even greater prize for his side as they begin to push towards the major European places. He added: “It was a fantastic night for us because we showed real desire and commitment and were very positive from start to finish. “They were always going to throw everything at us in the last 15 minutes but we withstood that and for us to do a double over United for the first time in 75 years is a fantastic achievement and fully deserved. “Our league form is as good as anybody’s and we have got to sustain that for the rest of the season. If we can do that we could get even greater rewards at the end

Don't be silly. Ferdinand was England's outstanding player in the 2002 World Cup. Nights like tonight remind me why I still love football and Rovers despite all the heartache they continue to bring after 50 years of supporting them. Well done the lads and well done Mark Hughes.

First league double over United since Second World War.

Bentley scores !!!

Rovers really under the cosh.

Congratulations to Rovers fans for the superb support, particularly in the first 45 minutes, though not to the yob behind me who smashed two seats when United scored. The atmosphere was the best I have experienced in a long time, though the second period was more subdued, as if we knew the inevitable was going to happen. Saha caused us all sorts of problems and made the difference in the second half, though his goal certainly looked like a sliced miskick from where I was standing. I very rarely shout at referees but Mr Poll needs to take a hard look at himself. The penalty decision was ludicrous. Disappointed but not too down overall because you cannot expect to beat United without a forward line. The injuries to Dickov and Bellamy really hurt us. Imperative that Hughes lifts the team for the West Ham match. Going out of both cups in a week would be hard to take.

Looking at today's back pages, it's obvious from the collective line of the national press that Fleet Steet's finest have got their heads together and decided that they do not want any of the English candidates as the next England manager and that Hiddink is their man. Allardyce, McClaren and Curbishley may well decide that if they do not have the backing of the press from the start then all the hassle that goes with the England job will not be worth it. Apart from £4 million year of course.

Taylor has his attributes but I don't think the FA would risk more controversy by appointing the Hull City manager instead of three Premiership managers.

Ooops, philip missed the stupid button . O'Neill would be linked with every top job going were he available yet he started at Wycombe Wanderers. They all begin somewhere. The "irony" is Taylor may get the job by default because of the inadequacies of the other English candidates.

Peter Taylor's only qualification is he's English. Like Allardyce, Curbishley and McClaren, he would hardly be an inspirational appointment. The FA would be ridiculed even more than usual if it appointed Hughes. There's alot of xenophobic nonsense being spouted at present by Gordon Taylor in particular and alot of leading players. The best qualified man for the job in terms of experience, coaching skills and standing in the game is Hiddink.

Frightening thought: United will have twin strike force tonight of Van Nistelrooy and Rooney. Ours will be Kuqi and A N Other (if he's not injured). We don't stand a chance, do we ??

My thoughts too. Eriksson looked a relieved man at yesterday's press conference, as though the weight of the world was off his shoulders at the prospect of leaving. If he could find an excuse to go tomorrow (one more revelation by the Screws should do it) I'm sure he would, and the FA would not be against him going now either. There is still five months to go until the World Cup finals. The problem is the FA want Hiddink and he is contracted to the light-fingered mob until after the World Cup. What price McClaren to take temporary charge in Germany ?

Frantic telephone calls are being made in Football League headquarters this very minute with instructions to tonight's officials to make sure United get the benefit of any marginals decisions. Allegedly.

Press conference called for tomorrow monring when it will be announced that Eriksson is to leave the England job after the World Cup with a £3.5 million payoff. The remaining two years of his contract were worth £9 million but Eriksson has agreed to accept the compromise settlement after the recent NoW furore.

Does not the A56 also come into Manchester from the Cheshire direction, through Altrincham ?

As near as possible, in a safe place and not too expensive !

Now then, approaching Manchester on the A56, which is the best way to go ??