Here we go again. Another target for Chelsea, you just wonder how many is on there list and who’s next after this? The spending power they have can only be bad for them, although Mourinho said everyone starts with a clean slate come pre-season training. Never seen the player play before so I can’t say what he’s like. But if Mourinho has recommended the player, then he surely must be a decent player. Chelsea target Tiago

I’ve got mixed views on it. I think it’s great that Sky have done this because there will be some away games that I can’t go to. However it is bad for clubs, Sky are getting stronger and stronger. They have the power to do it, so let them. Anyhow, I’ll still be going to the games that I can make, watching it on the tele isn’t the same.

Well said. Anyone remember Flitty`s debut? Against Everton where he got sent off in the third minute or something by the idiot Winter. Roversmum pointed out, Flitty has been a great servant to the club since 1996. We went down to the First Division under Brian Kidd, yet Flitty was one of a few who remained at the club and got us out of the mess that we were in. However changes are needed and Flitty`s one of them. As harsh as it sounds, football isn’t just about how loyal the players are, it’s nice that there are some, but his wages could be used on another player etc. Best of luck to Flitty in whatever he does fantastic service he’s done for the club. I think that we have found the best possible replacement in Ferguson to take the captain’s armband of him.

Those people are sadly misguided IMO. What state would the club be in if everyone followed that example? What’s the point? Live Revidge said the club would be in a poor state if that did happen. Does that mean they’ll go every single away game? Probably not. I love going to away games because there’s a different atmosphere created, but I also like going to the home games because you see the same old faces every week. If they’re not renewing but want to go away games they won’t have priority in getting away tickets. I know more likely than not we won’t sell out, but what’s the point in fans doing that?

The majority of the England fans behaved well in Portugal when we were there. Credit should go to the FA and others for finally getting rid of the trouble makers simply looking for trouble instead of the huge majority in enjoying the football and having a good time. Uefa praise England fans

If you like having your strikers sent off it doesn't. I like Rooney as a player, but Smith is WAY overrated as far as I'm concerned. He'll have a hard time getting starts for Man United next season, even if they go with 2 strikers, he'll be 3rd choice. True but the point that rover6 made was that if Smith calms his temper down then he would be considered. Smith and Rooney sounds like a good partnership because there’s skill, pace and the physical presence from both of them up front. Owen doesn’t have the physical presence and that’s what he lacks. You need everything at international level because you’re playing the best. Rooney has it, Owen doesn’t. It doesn’t necessarily make Owen a bad player, because he has the pace and the ability to finish goals. The other night against Portugal when Rooney went off we were poor. Long balls kept being hoofed up the pitch and what for? There was Vassell and Owen, both who aren’t going to win every header, that’s where a player like Smith could come into. Or the other argument could be why didn’t Heskey come on? He’s big, strong and powerful and would have won a lot of headers. Personally, Heskey`s time in International Football is over. He hasn’t scored enough goals both at domestic level or internationally.

Of course we can drop Owen. Next year Alan Smith will be playing in the Champions League for Man U. If he makes a real impression and proves that he can score goals and control his temper, surely he should come in ahead of Owen. Rooney needs a more physical player alongside him who'll give him freedom to roam and receive knock-downs. Owen can't provide that. Good point made rover6. Smith has all the attributes to be a top quality striker. He hasn’t shown this yet because for most of last season he had to play in midfield for Leeds. If he starts with Ruud next season then they will be a deadly partnership. Both who are strong and physical. Drop Owen? Why not? If a player isn’t performing then he should be dropped. It doesn’t matter who the player is or how good they are. If the player isn’t producing the goods then they have to be dropped. Owen had a good World Cup and up to the point of when Shearer was around for England because Shearer was brilliantly strong and created a lot of space for Owen. This tournament Owen has been poor, I wouldn’t drop him straight away however if he fails to produce it in the World Cup Qualifiers then Owen must be in consideration to be dropped. Rooney and Smith up front, that doesn’t sound too bad.

I havent got all the answers, if I did I'd patent it. What I would suggest is that the loss of star players who entertained the public, didnt help. Exactly, that was our best finish ever for a very long time, yet a number of Rovers fans didn’t renew for what ever reason. My reasons for this are the sales of Duff and Dunn, probably, If not the two best players that have come out from the Academy Policy. I think, although I’m not absolutely sure is that didn’t the price of season tickets rise as well? Surely it’ll be another loss of 2000 for the season coming up.

92er – Where ever you choose to sit is entirely up to you. My opinion on it is that everyone watches the same game and I don’t mind where I sit particularly. The best seats I presume are the Jack Walker Stand, Upper Tier. I’ve never been up there but I have heard that it is a very good view to watch the game. £1000 for two season tickets does sound like a lot of money, however for the price of each game it isn’t a lot, it’s a very good deal. 92er – You could sit in another part of the ground and save some money, like I said it’s up to you where you choose to sit. Football today is a very expensive hobby and because of the expense has seen a decline in the attendances compared to fifteen years ago. I go to the Rovers, because I enjoy the football. I would like to be entertained but at times you’re not always guaranteed. I go because I’ve been going for many years and it’s a tradition. Every week there’s a game and I look forward to it. I’ve renewed and it’s cost me £210, considering the price of it, is it value for money? Definitely.

If you go on a casual basis that will mean that you’ll have to ring the ticket office regularly for tickets which could cause hassle. If you get a season ticket then you wouldn’t have to ring up. I know some people when they’re kid can’t go they take a mate. I know someone who’s said that they’ve used the child’s season ticket and said that the child has used his season ticket and already gone through, when really it`s his mate.

Well said rover6. In my opinion Beckham has always been over rated. I can’t see how he’s England captain and I can’t see why he’s in the team at the moment. Against Portugal if I was Sven I would have taken Beckham off. The Portuguese manager wasn’t afraid of taking his best player of, Figo. He was taken off and the substitution worked brilliantly for Portugal. Beckham isn’t a world footballer star; he’s a fashion icon thanks to his wife. As for the ref. Yes, he did make a lot of bad decisions. But after a lot of thought about it nothing’s going to change what happened. The goal should have stood and we should have been looking at a brilliant tie in the semi final. If we would have won, then it would have been great. But overall, we can’t defend for eighty-seven minutes and expect to win. Defiant Meier stands firm

The change of captaincy of the club I welcome. Flitty for me overall has been brilliant. He’s been here since 1996 and deserves something from the club. He was one of a few who stuck by the club in those dark days of the First Division. The change is about right, but it also suggests something of a strange relationship between Flitcroft and Souness. I can’t find a link but I remember somewhere before the Fulham/Leicester period that Flitty said something like, “not many get on with him, but we’ll stay up for the fans.” As a captain he wasn’t there for me. When we were losing, you need a captain to encourage others, especially the younger ones to rally round. He didn’t do that. Barry will, I watched a lot of him in his Rangers days. Especially the old firm games he made sure everyone was fired up before and if anyone backed out of a tackle he told them. He’s a strong, young and mature leader and I’m confident he’ll take us far.

Take your point. We did have a very poor season last season and of course there will be many season ticket holders who will not renew for whatever reason. I don’t think we’ll overtake the sales of season ticket holders that we have had, but I do think that the number will be 14,000 at the maximum come August. Personally, I think the announcement of Ferguson as the new captain is brilliant. We did do poorly last season, but why? Poor defending more than anything. But for over half the season we missed key influential players to the team. I’m sure that we’d both agree that if we had players like Ferguson, Thompson in the side for the whole season, our overall position in the league would have been a lot higher than it was. I think that the renewal deadline was too early despite the club’s brilliant effort in freezing the prices. All I’m saying is SIMON GARNERS 194 I wouldn’t be too surprised if the number of season ticket holders increased as we get closer to August.

In my opinion 10,000 season ticket holders is bad. I don’t know what the exact figure of season ticket holders but we were getting gates of around 23,000 for most games. But there will be a sense of optimism as the season gets closer to us. With the announcement of Ferguson as the captain, players like himself, Thommo, Jay and possibly new signings the amount of season ticket holders will increase. The question is can Souness make a big name signing to attract season ticket holders? I think he can, the club’s facilities are fantastic and at the moment the group of players that we now have available to really get going in August is surely a step in the right direction. But I am concerned about the current number of season ticket holders. I did renew but how many season ticket holders haven’t renewed so far? The club doesn’t have the financially backing that we once had and we don’t get huge attendances which doesn’t give us an awful lot of money from the turnstiles to possibly fund in a new player. I do know several people who haven’t renewed. Some think because we aren’t going to get better and others think that it isn’t worth it. I disagree the prices are brilliant for Premiership football. Some fans are still thinking that it’s going to be yet another season of struggling like last season; I’ll guarantee it won’t be.

It was on the Radio this morning saying that the Portuguese communities in England suffered heavy abuse and physical violence. It said that throughout the whole country around seventeen Portuguese restaurants were burnt down.

In my opinion there’s more of a buzz and you can sense the anticipation when England are involved in a major tournament because there is a huge majority who think that we can actually win it or go far. People unite together when England are on, because it’s our country. We’re all supporting the same team with a huge level of support behind the team. But another way of putting it is, would you rather see England win the European Championships? Or, would you rather Rovers won the League? Rovers win the league for me. I’m a fan and love both Rovers and England, however Rovers is my home town team and I would love to see Rovers have more success than England will ever do in my opinion, although it would be nice to see England win something in my life time.

I think it’s the right decision for everyone all round. Flitty has been a great player to the club and has given terrific service to the club, through thick and thin. This last season for me Flitty has lacked the qualities of a captain. Last season was a bad one for us. And at times I would have liked to have seen Flitty really have had more of a vocal role in the team. Barry is a good captain. He’s a competitive player and is a captain; he was captain at Rangers and really encourages other team mates. Barry’s one of my favourites in the Rovers team because of his style of play, loves getting forward and isn’t afraid of going in for a tackle.

I went down to the ticket office around two weeks ago and they said it was just under 10,000. I’ve renewed and I know that quite a few of my mates have as well. However there are quite a few who that I know of who aren’t renewing. Perhaps if we have a good start to the first half of the season then it could hopefully tempt others in buying a half season ticket for the second half of the season.

Agreed there ABBEY. As a fan I’d like to think that the manager would show as much passion as I would. Personally, I think Sven is a good manager. But he lacks that bit of aggression which I think some of the players needed from him. We didn’t perform well tonight and he’d be the first to admit it. But there’s times in games when things aren’t going well and he has to get them all fired up. John Motson said that Sven isn’t a manager who rants and raves at the players. But talks to them individually with Steve Mclaren. It’s not his personality to shout and give them a rollicking. But at times tonight I thought he should have been on the touchline encouraging them when they were looking tired. I can’t see him being the manager at Germany in two years time.

Devastating. I can’t actually describe how I feel at the moment. We didn’t play well enough in the game tonight. The midfield tonight was very poor compared to previous games. They couldn’t keep the ball and pass it about. Portugal’s midfield were able to keep the ball moving which therefore created numerous of chances. The start we made to the game was brilliant, a great little finish for Owen. Does show he only needs a chance and he scores. Portugal’s first goal was a very poor goal to concede from a defensive point of view. There were two England players on the far side with one Portugal player on the ball. Beckham for me didn’t get close enough to the winger which allowed him to get the cross in. Even if Beckham puts him under pressure, what would the chance be of the winger putting a good cross like that in? As for Terry, he should have defended better. He was ball watching and allowed the attacker to have a free header. I don’t know if anyone noticed but David James was telling Neville and Beckham before to get closer to the wingers. Rui Costa’s goal was brilliant, no stopping that I’m afraid. As for the ref, he was pathetic. These tournaments are about having the best countries from the continent competing for a trophy. The ref`s should be the highest quality and he wasn’t good enough. It just wasn’t the disallowed goal which I’m coming to; it was a number of fouls that he gave against us. Nothing wrong with the goal that Campbell scored. The goalkeeper stood there when Terry and Campbell jumped for the ball, not at the keeper. But the way how we kept battling was brilliant, Lampard scored a cracking little goal. As for the penalties, you can’t have a go at someone for missing if they have the nerve to step up in probably one of the most nerve racking situations, they deserve credit for it. Beckham missed his third penalty in a row. I’m not having a go at him but Beckham has to think why he’s missing them. The miss from him tonight was like the one in Turkey. The way he approaches it is wrong. I’m no expert about taking penalties but surely the more you lean back, the chance of hitting it over is a great one. But credit to him for stepping up. Beckham in my opinion hasn’t played well enough this tournament. He’s looked average and out of place. Hasn’t shown the qualities that he possesses in crossing a dangerous ball in. Vassell, you have to feel so sorry for him. His miss was just as bad as Beckham`s, but will be magnified as it put Portugal in a position to win it. I thought that Vassell worked his socks off up front, went on a good run, only to be fouled, certainly not the first foul in the game. Overall we battled well, but didn’t show enough quality to win the game. The turning point in the game for me was the substitution of Rooney. When he left the field we didn’t have the same look about us. That’s not criticising Vassell, but the persistent way of the long balls up to Rooney and Vassell wasn’t going to work. A special mention should go out to Sol Campbell and Ashley Cole, probably the two best players on the field. Defended brilliantly, Campbell should have had a goal to his name and Cole tackled Ronaldo brilliantly throughout the game. As for the ref, he should stick to making watches and chocolates, an absolute disgrace. A bit like RoverDrake. If you’ve got a point try and use it constructively, not childishly. Portugal break England hearts

No they didn't. If they did, they wouldn't be out. How can they? I’ve always said that Italy have got a group of big named stars who are very talented. But they have failed to play like a team. These competitions are for countries that play well as a team together. The Italians have played for themselves and not as a team. Teams like the Czech Republic do have some very good international star players, but the reason to success is that they have played as a team and that’s what has got them through.

No. Italy would win every time Could Frank Rjikard be the ref for it?

You’ve more a less said it there. I think England will be too powerful for the Portuguese. From what I’ve seen of Portugal there main threats are from Ronaldo and Figo. Our central defence pairing with Campbell and Terry looks solid enough and I’d expect them to cope with Nuno Gomes or Pauleta. The English midfield generates a lot of passing and movement, with Gerrard, Lampard and Scholes, finally, who are all a threat to score. Owen and Rooney I think will be too good for their defence. Owen ahs done a lot of running which ahs gone un-noticed. His off the ball running creates the space for Rooney. Rooney at the moment is on fire and I’m confident that he’ll score again. The hosts will have the home crowd behind them but with the huge amount of support we have, it won’t seem like we’re playing the hosts. Portugal 1 – 3 England.

It’s around that time. The lady behind the ticket office desk said to me that the swipe cards are being designed and should be delivered during the last week of July. But with the Lisbon friendly it’ll be interesting to test the swipe cards on the turnstiles.

It now looks a major possibility that Chelsea will make an offer for Rooney. Everton will want to keep him, however financially Rooney will be huge to Everton’s success if they want to keep him. No disrespect to Everton but Rooney simply isn’t doing it week in week out like he’s performing for England, which the only suggestion for this is that the players he’s with for England are far better than the ones at Everton. He’s Everton’s main asset now. If Abramovich is to offer say £30m or more for Rooney, Everton would have to accept it. I don’t care how good a player is, but today and how the transfer market has depreciated it can only benefit Everton in the long run. But seeing Abramovich, Moruinho and Peter Kenyon together it looks as if something’s going to happen sooner or later with Gerrard or either Rooney, or both. Chelsea want Gerrard