He wasn't scoring this much for us.

When Wenger wants a player, price doesn't matter. He's just selective and smart about who he goes after.

With Thommo to boot.

Randomly.... Solid point...I agree about Gudjonson and maybe Drogba. But those other players would have to want to go, and presumably the only way most of them would leave is if they were frozen out of the first team. I guess we'll have to wait until Adriano, Gerrard and Ashley Cole arrive in the summer. Terry doesn't strike me as one who would ever go abroad. Duff had his chance at Liverpool. Arsenal have shown they are not 'big' spenders in the transfer market, and won't be until they move to Ashburton Grove. What clubs would Lampard and/or Robben agree a move to? Chelsea, whether by media frenzy or reality are becoming the most biggest and most fashionable club in Europe. Now this may be a short term phenomenon and it could all change very uickly if something were to happen with Roman, but surely if he pulled his investment, those players because of the debt they have accrued (amd having aged by then) wouldn't be sold at those prices. All of this is dependent on them being dumped by Roman and no longer being the force they are, like some people are suggesting will happen. If that is the case, I disagree that they wouldn't get value for them. There are only 2 who I'm giving huge number on, based on other players who have been bought lately (compare Eidur to Beattie, compare Terry to Boumsong, etc.) Oh, and Arsenal proved they aren't big spenders yet in the transfer market when they spent 20 million on Reyes.

'Ah, there's the rub!' Good call Fife, that was suggested in the pub after the game. Oddly it was also suggested by the commentator on the TV here.

He'd be good in the 4-5-1, or the top of a diamond.

ManU, or Liverpool would buy Duff in a heartbeat. Arsenal, ManUnited, Newcastle or one of the big Italian clubs would buy Terry just as quick. At least half the Premiership clubs would buy Gudjonson (if Beattie sold for 6, he might even go for more). Drogba would go to Spain or Italy. Lampard would go to one of at least half a dozen clubs. Robben could pick his club. As for salaries, how often do you hear a player reject a move because of a salary cut? Yes, it happens, but not that often. Remember, Beckham was making more in Manchester than he is now.

Leeds and Chelsea are 2 completely different monsters. First, Leeds did not actually own most of the players they had to sell. They had basically used those players as collateral for the loans they took out to buy them. Any money received went to the companies that made the loans, not to Leeds. Also, if you look at most of the players Chelsea has been signing, they are younger players who have years ahead of them, not older players who's values will be nothing (a la Andy Cole) in a few years. That shows that he is in this for the long term. He's building up a squad for the future, and I think Mourinho has shown/said that he wants to keep the squad relatively small, so the spending probably won't continue at this rate. Oh, and you can't tell me that Duff wouldn't go for at least 10 mil, Lampard for 15 or so, Terry for another 10+, Drogba for about 8, Gudjonson for 5 or more, Robben for about 20 at this point, etc. Plenty of assets there.

To beer or not to beer - Shakesbeer

That sentence sums up why he can be arrogant. And he doesn't have a clue what a relegation battle is with any clubs he's managed from the sounds of it. It must have been a different thread, but I remember someone writing about the comparison between him and Clough, and how off that was. The one who made the comparison was Clough himself not too long before he passed.

The difference is the Prem sends different clubs to Europe every year. Yeah, the first 2 are always the same, but the 3rd and 4th are always different. And if 2 only went in, a couple seasons recently ManU wouldn't have made it, unlike Scotland where the same clubs are 1 and 2 every season.

In that case how can you know Churchill was a great PM? How can you know Hitler was worse than Saddam?

Am I the only one who thinks that if Lucas was the one who let Robben make him look silly, Brad wouldn't be getting all of the blame for the goal like he is?

To be honest you never know with these things, I always vote on the basis that the best I have ever seen play for Rovers. So my next vote will either be for Sutton or Jansen, in this case Jansen. Shearer got my vote because I had the pleasure of seeing him in a Rovers shirt, if I had become a Rovers supporter within the last 5 years though, then I would have voted for Jansen first up. So you never know with these things. Then I guess we should rename the squad to best 10 in Eddie's lifetime, instead of best 10 EVER.

Arsenal is one of 5 clubs still in the Champs League that wouldn't have enough players to qualify. The interesting part about that is the 25 squad limit that is being proposed. In college football and basketball, they cut the number of scholarships each school can have. At that point, the powerhouses were no longer able to stockpile, and you've had more mid-major teams (think town clubs), be able to sign players they normally wouldn't have had a chance at getting, and they can now compete with the major colleges.

You just need a bigger country! The NFL has some bizarre television rules, but one of the good ones is that a game cannot be seen in the home marketplace unless it has been sold out 48 or 72 hours in advance (I forget which).

My quick 2 cents, as I watched the replay (not knowing the result): Todd was made to look a fool by Robben on the goal, but that's not the first and won't be the last he made a defender look bad. Brad still should have saved it. Outside of that, the TEAM (including fullbacks) defense was great, I wasn't even sure who their striker was for certain stretches. Matteo is terrible going forward, but that's not why Hughes has been playing him, and we've been much better defensively with him in the lineup. Thompson was terrible. He should have been substituted much earlier, but then the substitution pattern (or lack thereof) was awful tonight, and not for the first time. I think someone should be reminding Sparky that he can use 3 subs, and doesn't have to wait until the last 10 minutes. The other midfielders: MGP provided a good spark, Emerton had one of the worst matches I've seen from him this season, Savage did a good job getting into people and pushing the ball up to other players and I thought that Mokoena did a good job protecting the back, and he had some nifty short passes. The ending reminded me of Bolton, just hoofing the ball up and hoping that a Rover gets it, which did not fill me with confidence. Rennie was TERRIBLE. After the Petrchech (the way the commentators were talking, you'd think that was his name, all one name) and Dickov collision, it took Rennie a while to even blow the whistle when the players were going at each other. Also, was I the only one who noticed that Petrchech got the ball, Dickov knocked into him, went up on his knee like everything was fine, then all of the sudden was falling over like Fred Sanford clutching his chest when the whistle wasn't blown right away? It was as if he was playacting to get Dickov carded.

won mine 3-1. Playing the demoted team first in the league this week, do or die time.

I don't think the bullox part had anything to do with the date you picked!! (I'm the second to tell anyone that marriage is a bad idea - my wife being the first!)

He's pretty good on FM in a few years!!

I'd like to see Van Persie and Rooney go at it, as they likely will in the future. A couple of talented thugs.

It's on live here, but I'm working dilligently today (OK, I'm at work) and will probably catch the replay in 5 hours.

I must say, this should win funniest post of the year!! I've heard some great excuses in my time, but our one final appearance consisting of matches on Thursday a couple times a month (ending up with bubkus for the season) is why we couldn't win 3 competitions against far inferior competition. I'd love to see Jose try that excuse if he ends up winning nothing this season in 4 competitions against far superior opposition than Celtic face in Scotland.

I'm with you. Except I'll be rooting for Hearts!!

I'm thinking we keep it close and in about the 85th minute, Stead nicks a cheap goal that kick starts his season. That being said - a defense with 18 clean sheets in the Prem against our strike force?