Another brilliant piece by Simon Barnes but nothing new otherwise: Eriksson will go after the World Cup.

Thanks.

Where is the best place to park near Old Trafford that is reasonably safe and not too expensive ?

Newcastle won't sack Souness because it would cost £5 million to get rid of him - money they do not have. And Souness won't resign - he made that point again after Saturday's match - so the impasse will probably continue for some time yet. Just enjoy the spectacle as the club limps along and slowly get dragged into the relegation fight.

There's no love for Eriksson among the tabloid hacks - viz the Screws hatchet job. The question is why should the FA act - it is not in its interests to do so. If England somehow win the World Cup all will be forgiven anyway.

Quite right. philip is barking up the wrong tree as per normal. The FA will bide its time and the storm will blow over as the World Cup finals approach. Eriksson will leave of his own accord after England have been eliminated in the quarter-finals.

No read all of this thread but why did not Rovers include a clause in his transfer that he could not play against us today ?

You have too much spare time.

United dominated the match tactically and physically. Rovers will be happy with a draw and will have to play much better at Old Trafford.

Savage and Kuqi both should have scored. Cracking game.

Ferguson is quoted in tomorrow's papers as definitely fielding his second string players tomorrow night. The insinuation is that even if United lose the first game, he thinks his first XI will be able to turn it round at Old Trafford.

Wasn't at Upton Park but was on the Riverside for the replay: cracking night in a nightmare relegation season. The draw was not kind to Rovers: West Ham away is a very difficult tie.

Souness was lucky in that inherited top-class young players such as Dunn, Duff and Jansen. Hughes has won nothing yet but he saved Rovers from certain relegation under Souness last season. Souness has become a rich man by being a managerial failure. Enough said.

Very, very lucky lucky. Pompey should have won.

And another escape. Rovers determined to let it slip.

Another escape. Todorov should have scored.

Moi. Rovers sitting back far too much in second half.

1-0 pompey

I'm worried about this one (I worry about every game). Redknapp is a good manager and the feeble performance at Arsenal apart, his team are starting to show signs of improvement. They have not lost three successive matches at home and their away form will surely follow suit. LuaLua is a danger and O'Neil is in the sort of form that prompted Celtic to offer £7 million for him two years ago. After the euphoria of the JJB, a dull 0-0.

Just to reiterate how much Owen means to Newcastle, they have won only one game (against Sunderland) when he has not been playing and his goals alone have kept the club out of the bottom three. No wonder Souness was in a foul mood yesterday. Without Owen, Newcastle are sunk and they have no money for a replacement either. Should be fun to watch events at St James Park over the next few months.

Sunderland are so poor Rovers' academy team would give them a good game. An nice, easy 4-0 win. Ewood-bound Mark Delaney scored for Villa today.

Sorry if this has been posted elsewhere but how many tickets are Rovers likely to be given for the Old Trafford match ?

Not sure about that, I love my footy but last summer's Ashes contest was the most tense, nerve-wracking, ball-scrunching, squeaky-bum arse wrenching sporting contest I have ever witnessed. I aged 5 years in five weeks, which isn't good at my time of life. McClaren was livid with his team after last night's non-performance so Middlesbrough are nailed-on to give us a right hammering on Boxing Day.

1 SOCCER Middlesbrough Quotes HUGHES TARGETS FINAL By Damian Spellman, PA Sport Mark Hughes set his sights on the Carling Cup final after Blackburn striker Paul Dickov’s last-minute heroics at Middlesbrough earned the manager a semi-final clash with former club Manchester United. Dickov struck after Shefki Kuqi’s shot was deflected into his path with seconds of normal time remaining, to clinch a victory which was nothing more than his side deserved. “On the basis of the performance this evening, we have shown we are a good side and I think a lot of good teams would have struggled to match us this evening, whoever we played. The semi-final over two legs is a great opportunity for us,” said Hughes. “I thought we were excellent from start to finish. We dominated the game and looked really strong and powerful right through the game. “The only concern really was the amount of chances we failed to take. When that happens, you wonder if you are going to get a reward for your efforts. “But we kept going and looked really strong in the latter part of the game and thankfully got the goal that has seen us through.” Hughes was delighted with the performance of midfielder Robbie Savage and played down suggestions the Welshman he had been spat at during an exchange with Emanuel Pogatetz, after he had been booked for a foul on Adam Johnson. “The lad came up to him and shouted something at him and maybe something flew out of his mouth, but to say that he was spat on is possibly a little strong,” said Hughes. “We are not going to make an issue out of it. We wouldn’t want that to overshadow a great night for Blackburn Rovers because I thought our play was excellent this evening. “I thought he (Savage) was excellent. It was arguably one of his best games since he came to the club and his energy and his willingness to get the job done and the impact he had on the game - probably since he has been here, he hasn’t had as much impact as he has usually had in previous games in his career. “But that showed the level he needs to be at and hopefully he will continue in that vein.” Middlesbrough boss Steve McClaren was furious with his side’s display and told them so as their best chance of a trophy this season disappeared. “I’m very disappointed, very angry,” said McClaren. “We have limped out of the tournament. It was a great opportunity tonight and we haven’t taken it. “I can’t defend the performance, the performance was poor. We were second best to everything and it wasn’t good enough. We play (against Blackburn) again in five days’ time and we have got to be a sight better that we were tonight. “It was the strongest possible team that we could put out in our desire to progress, but we didn’t do it on the night. Credit to Blackburn, they deserved the win. “It was only a matter of time before they scored and it was a surprise that it took so long. It didn’t really give us time to react. We could have got out of jail, but Blackburn deserved it.”

Doncaster 2-1