Well done to the Aussies !!! Great game to watch (as a neutral) probably hell for the Aussies and Croats though. The last 20 mins reminded me of watching Rovers defense under Souey

1 Chelsea 2 Man United 3 Arsenal 4 Liverpool 5 Spurs 6 Middlesbrough 7 Everton 8 Blackburn 9 Bolton 10 Aston Villa 11 Birmingham 12 Newcaslte United 13 Manchester City 14 Charlton 15 West Brom 16 Portsmouth 17 Wigan 18 Fulham 19 West Ham United 20 Sunderland

Brilliant signing - I cant think of another striker we could have realistically signed better than Bellamy. It will be so good to see us being able to have another type of option up front. With Bellamy we have pace and direct running, and even with Kuqi we have someone to get on the end of a cross or get a flick-on - when was the last time we had either? As for the bitter Celtic, Everton, Villa and Brum fans well they are only jealous because as a town team we are punching well above our weight, and they are doing the opposite. The Celtic fan who comments about trips to Wigan and Portsmouth, well these 2 clubs would have more fans than all bar the old firm clubs in Scotland. I cant imagine a cold tuesday night in February at Motherwell, Inverness or Falkirk being exactly exotic either!

Lust for Life by Iggy Pop!!!

Fantastic Result!! Well played all the boys, but especially all the back four. Left Brad with very little to do considering how many long throws and free kicks notlob had. BTW why is El Hadji Diver allowed to keep on flopping over with no hint of a yellow card??

This is a real deterrent isnt it? We should have a system similar to finland where a fine is related to that persons income. Therefore the top footballers would be less inclined to do this type of thing, and the fine would be more realistic to the person involved.

I thought we played relatively well. We worked our socks off but lacked the ability to both hold the ball up up front and we also (worryingly) didnt look like any of our strikers would score. Charlton got more than they deserved from the game but got the run of the ball in both penalty areas. Overall though with that commitment and level of performance we will be fine as we should win more than we will lose especially against those teams fighting against relegation. Definately a penalty but same old story, also thought there could have been one in the first half when Chris Perry was hugging Paul Dickov.

Jog trotting Emerton was a fantastic dribbler (when you dribble, you spill!) when he came from Feyenoord, with two fungal feet. But now he struggles to find a melon in a cart, and has been a right poof this year. Anyone else want to translate? I believed Emerton do be about become a fantastic acts for us as he arrived at Feyenoord , and facts was not acting. Let's accordingly no matter get absolutely at , warns én other. Provided by: Norwegian Translator

2-0

1-0 Arsenal - Thierry Henry

1 Arsenal 2 Chelsea 3 Man U 4 Liverpool 5 Newcastle 6 Boro 7 Villa 8 Birmingham 9 Spurs 10 Charlton 11 Southampton 12 Bolton 13 Man City 14 Rovers 15 Fulham 16 West Brom 17 Everton 18 Palace 19 Portsmouth 20 Norwich

Maybe rovers have asked the LET not to reveal the triallist, so that other clubs dont find out who it is.

I was listening to Century Radio this morning and they where interviewing a guy who had been at the game yesterday and just flown home - he said the atmosphere both before during and also after the game was great. He also said that a Portuguese tv crew brought a group of approx 50 french fans into the central square and got them to start a few chants to wind up the england fans - who apparently did nothing than out-sing the french - responsible unbiased media?

Why was there a Jock there anyway?

Thats what i think too - a bit like the David Thompson and Steven Reid deals where rovers put the offer on the table - it was rejected then eventually the clubs came back to rovers to accept. If MGP now comes out in the press and says he wants to come to rovers then i'm sure it will still happen. Rovers are just playing a waiting game.

Friedel Berg Hendry Henchoz Le-Saux Ripley Sherwood Tugay Duff Sutton Shearer Subs: Flowers Garner Sellars Cole Jansen (1985-present)

Surely you should have added this to the Matteo thread.

There was something in the news this week that West Brom were considering smashing their wage structure by bringing in some player (I can't recall who) on a staggering £18,000 per week. This raises the very obvious questions - if £18k 'smashes' their existing structure, exactly how are they able to offer Andy Cole? Would he take a 50%+ pay cut? Or would Rovers have to do a Leeds and carry on paying part of his wages? £18,000 wouldnt be a 50% reduction in wages for Andy Cole I dont believe. Considerably less. Seen his wage packet?

Matteo will, if he signs, be a good signing for rovers - he versatile can play CH, LB and defensive central midfield - he'll be relatively cheap and is a proven premier league player - cant argue with that for me. I would sooner have him than pay £2-3m for Van Buyten who quite possibly may not be good enough anyway. As for Nissa - when he's at CH he does OK - no more no less - a decent player to have around the squad but hopefully not some one who'll play a lot of games.

Currently listening to Bowie

So is that good or bad then?

What constitutes loyalty prices?

According to Leceisters Official Website Paul Dickov has agreed to sign for Rovers

I actually thought MGP did quite well - got up alongside the forwards quite a lot, looked reasonably quick, put one just past the far post from a tight angle but admittedly hit one flitcroft-esque when had a decent chance. Whoever was playing RB for Wales seemed to have a bit of trouble with him. However Wales put out a side with only 2 premiership players (Bellamy went off injured again! ) and it was a friendly after all. Great to see Henning win his 100th cap - a remarkable achievement! Also when he went off Martin Andreson took over the captains armband - slightly worrying if your Norwegian I reckon.

I'm 25 me!