Amen to that. Has your source heard the rumour that Michael Gray may be Brum-bound as part of the deal ? And after Martin Taylor and Dwight Yorke and Gray, are there any more lame ducks Steve Bruce would like to take off our hands ?

Accident ? Don't rely on the Daily Mail for your information. Daniel Yorath died while playing football with his father in the garden in 1992. Unknown to everyone, he was suffering from cardiomyopathy, a hereditary disease that causes a thickening of the heart muscle. Daniel, 15, had just signed for Leeds United. Cardiomyopathy is among the biggest single cause of sudden cardiac death among young people. The Yorath tragedy was followed by the deaths of Ian Bell, 16, who had just signed for Hartlepool United, John Marshall, also 16, a junior international who died the day after he signed for Everton, and Jason Erics, 17, a member of the Tottenham Hotspur youth team. More recently, Marc-Vivien Foe, 24, the Manchester City and Cameroon player, died of the condition during a live televised international match in June 2003.

I refer you to my previous statement of the 12th, m'lud. "Whichever way you look at it, losing Ferguson would one hell of a blow to Rovers' chances of staying in the Premership."

I'm hearing more on this too. Very worrying.

Another thought-provoking article from the Guardian but I think they are wrong in this case. English referees are basically honest and isolated cases apart (the Peter Swan/Tony Kay 1960s Sheffield Wednesday scandal being the most notorious), so is English football.

Thoroughly enjoyed the Guardian article. Fair comment in my opinion.

Interesting views from Mr BlueNose. I said earlier that I thought Everton might take advantage of the Savage impasse but, to be honest, the more I read and hear about him I'm not too bothered if we sign him now. It should also be remembered that, at 30, Savage is more susceptible to injury from an all-action style of play that depends on extreme physical fitness and without which he would not be half as effective. Agree absolutely about Dunn. A locally-born gem tossed away by an ignorant pleb of a manager.

Don't hold your breath. Benitez has signalled his intention to play a load of youngsters at Turf Moor tonight.

Do you like anything or anybody connected with Rangers ? Even that well-known left-footer, Maurice Johnston ?

To judge from the Birmingham statement and Karren Brady's comments today, I have the feeling that Birmingham would rather sell Savage to any other club than us. Watch Everton snap him up from under our noses.

Some observations from yesterday. Rovers are a transformed outfit to the one Hughes inherited to September. They are fitter, faster and stronger and should escape relegation though hard work alone. Ferguson is the linchpin of the team and must not be sold, but the team badly lacks creative spark in midfield. Hopefully Savage can provide that and do Flitcroft's defensive duties as well. Stead is lacking confidence, retaining possession when he should release the ball and laying it off when he has time to turn. A goal for him in January 2005 would give him a tremendous lift and would be better for the club than signing a new player. The low turnout will not have been helped by the fact that ticket telephone sales were closed all day Saturday and Sunday. With a match on the Monday, who made that nonsensical decision ? What did Neill do to earn the man of the match award ?

Savage says in the papers that it takes him 2 and a half hours to get to his parents' home in Wrexham. And that's a man who owns a fleet of sports cars, including a Ferrari. So where does he live - Penzance ?

Better than Dickov and Cole would have been keeping the Cole-Stead partnership that was working fantastically well at the end of last season. One of the big disappointments this season has been the decline of Jon Stead. Is the departure of Cole the reason ? - the two events are not unconnected in my opinion.

The key to Charlton's success is not their potential supporter base but the appointment of Alan Curbishley and their ability to keep him for more than 10 years. Curbishley's mild manner and relatively low profile means he has not been lured away by one of the so-called "big" clubs and has been allowed to build Charlton into a successful club over the long term. Having said that, they have not a won a trophy. I'm hoping Hughes is of similar calibre to Curbishley and that he will also be at Ewood for many years. We have had too many managerial changes. I'm also hoping that we are not grooming the next ManU manager.

Eh ? I doubt if the population of the entire South East is 20 million unless you think they are all potential Charlton supporters. Charlton are in the SE London and attract supporters from that area and north Kent. I don't know what that catchment area is but I would hazard a guess at about 1-2 million at most, certainly more than East Lancs. It's a poxy horrible area anyway. Catchment areas are meaningless in my view. Hull, Plymouth, Brighton are examples of towns/cities with large catchment areas yet their football clubs have rarely been successful. Rovers can certainly compete with the likes of Charlton/ Southampton/ Fulham/ Portsmouth (all with larger catchment areas) on gates of 20,000 - 30,000 provided the club is managed properly on and off the field.

More quotes from Savage today citing his wish to be nearer to his ailing parents in Wrexham and practically begging Rovers to come and get him.

True, but we ought to have ambitions to be a well-managed top-ten club, perhaps like Charlton. Either way, the board's decision to allow Souness to replace a class act like Cole with the artisan Dickov made no sense.

That match was in the 1968-69 season, the season City won the FA Cup. We lost 4-1 but Jimmy Fryatt headed an equaliser and we had them rocking for a while. The crowd that night was frightening - I remember it swaying back and forth on the Riverside. The Health and Safety people would have been apoplectic.

Dickov makes the most of his limited ability as a relegation scuffler. His goals so far this season do not hide the fact that the club's decision to offload Cole was idiotic.

Rovers under the cosh - it's all Bolton now.

This one is obvious. Bolton, on the crest of a slump, to return to winning ways with Kevin Davies scoring the winner.

Victory is a good result; a draw is not.

Opportunity missed. Weak Newcastle team, other results went our way and three points would have put daylight between us and the rest.

Andy Todd 2-2

I needed a good laugh today and that statement provided it. Thank you.