I thought Boersma left because of player discontent? It seems like Souness can't win sometimes. Some people just can't read. I didn't blame anyone for his departure, just stating it as a matter or fact and as a possible underlying reason for the slump in performances this year. That's rather provocative, and uncalled for. I was querying something, raising a general point of interest, not attacking you. Fair do's. On this subject though, I mentioned the departure of Boersma as one of the indicators of things beginning to go wrong particularly, as it would appear, it came about thru' unrest in the camp. I have no idea as to what happened behind the scenes, but I would like to think that Souness wholeheartedly supported his long-time coach who had been with him for many years at a number of previous clubs, but in the end it seemed that player-power prevailed.

I tend to agree that, assuming we stay in the premier, on current evidence it looks like we are in for a difficult time next season, the only saving grace being the quality of teams promoted from Div 1. But expect West Brom to be in better shape this time (and they didn't really get turned over by many teams last time round). I think that will be the same - with or without Souness - and he may or may not start getting most things rights again. It is difficult to see right now who we know with some certaintly we could get who would be an improvement on Souness. Last season tended to flatter to deceive. Many pundits considered our defence to be dodgy last year, but the difference was:- (1) Brad was Superman for a year, and probably made the difference of up to a dozen goals against; (2) The significant goals contribution from midfield which made up for the lack of goals from the forwards - both Dunn and Duff scored important goals which were crucial to the outcome of a number of matches. All these are missing this year, hence the falling to earth with a bump.

I thought Boersma left because of player discontent? It seems like Souness can't win sometimes. Some people just can't read. I didn't blame anyone for his departure, just stating it as a matter or fact and as a possible underlying reason for the slump in performances this year.

Probably Souey's nephew. Once again this is degenerating into a dumb war of words between those who think Souness is god and can do no wrong, and those who thing he is a stubborn arrogant wazak who is completely useless. Souness is no different to anybody else. He gets some things right, he gets some wrong. He is good at some things, and less good (or even bad) at others. For 2-3 years, things went with him and he got most things right, and so most of us were well pleased with him. While he got most things right, we were happy. But now he isn't getting so many things right, we understandably are not so happy. The disturbing thing I think is that for a while now he seems to be getting progessively less and less right, and that brings criticism from us in what we believe he isn't very good at (tactics, consistent team selection, fair treatment of players, etc.). For me, signs of things starting to go pearshaped were the signing of Yorke and Souey's stubborn continual insistence that the Yorke-Cole partnership is proven and (in spite of no signs of it ever happening) is certain to come good one day (since shown to be rubbish), his public crucifixion of Dunn, and the departure of his long-time right-hand man Phil Boersma. Boersma's departure has been discussed before but I think it is probably the biggest influence on our poor form this year - without his trusted right-hand man to call on, I think Souey is being let down by the quality of his backroom staff, and this should be the first thing to be addressed this summer.

Gresko was originally a midfielder at Inter Bratislava and played left midfield at internatonal level. Can't think of anyone else at Rovers with better left midfield credentials.

Douglas was picked to play out of position on the left, ahead of Gresko who I think has actually played left midfield during his career. Tugay was fit and came on for Flitcroft. Todd has had a really good season - but as a defender.

ok 4 out of the first 5 ARE due to injuries. todd playing in cm was due to our bare thin centre midfield and many said he played pretty well there too. dunno about these cb's playing in attack... How come? We don't have a left midfielder to get injured. Todd was seemingly picked ahead of 2 proper (and fit) midfielders - Douglas and Tugay. And both Taylor and Baggio have been brought on to play in attack.

How about these then:- (1) Right back playing left midfield; (2) centre back playing left midfield; (3) centre back playing central midfield; (4) central midfielder playing left midfield; (5) forwards playing back in midfield; (6) central defender and defensive midfielder coming on to play in attack

Gaining promotion, 2 decent premier division finishes, a cup win, and bringing a few years of stability to Rovers are real achivements that can not be taken away from Souey, they are there, and they will go on his CV. On the other hand, it could said that, given the quality of the 1st division squad he took over and the generous financial support he has been given, many people might expect any half-decent manager to achieve something similar (OK , perhaps the cup win is a bonus). I have mixed feelings on Souey, and we haven't really seen yet how he can perform when the going really gets difficult. Generally I don't like dismissing managers part way through the season. The next few months will be a real test of Souey's managerial credentials - we will be able to make a more rounded judgement on his managerial achivements come the summer.

Many things happen in football that you just cannot predict or plan for. I can't help but feel that either (a) the rot will continue so that by Xmas things are really desperate; or ( for no apparent reason and quite out the blue, Rovers will suddenly go out and unexpectedly thrash someone (maybe even a win over a top 4 club). Whichever one happens, Souness will get the blame/credit (whichever is applicable).

I will admit that Souness is not my favourite person. I dislike a number of things about the man, but that does not mean that he has not been, and can't continue to be, a good manager for Rovers. As far as I am concerned, there are a number of things Souness has brought to this club that we should be grateful for. But let's not get carried away. Nobody's argument is helped either by over-inflating or by totally dismissing what he has done, by adopting a blind optimism oblivious to problems or by promoting knee-jerk over-dramatised reactions. To my mind, Souness' most important achievement is the ongoing stability, including his contribution to financial stabiltiy, that he has enjoyed during his time here. As far as I am concerned, restoring stability and morale provided the foundation which enabled everything else to develop. In my view, what we have enjoyed over the past 3 years could not have been achieved without this ongoing stability. If things begin to go wrong, that inherent stability, togetherness and morale is tested, and it needs to be strong in order to see things through. If things happen that upset that stability, then the ship begins to rock, and I believe that has been happening over the past couple of months. It is up to Souness to take the right decisions and to act in the proper manner to restore internal stability and morale, and I believe on-the-field improvements will then follow on from that. None of us knows of course what exactly goes on behind the scenes, but from the outside it seems that, unfortunately, at the moment he is not doing it. However, as long as he can take an objective look at himself, he should be intelligent and experienced enough to know what needs to be done, and I am confident that he will ultimately do this. It would be folly to repeat the mistakes of the past to take a knee-jerk reaction to destabilise things and to make the ship rock even more (and even sink) by dismissing him at this time - the best time for any inquest, if any is required, is at the end of the season. As I have said, I ca't see that Blackburn would attract anyone any better at the moment.

One good thing that Souness has brought to this club is a period of stability when it most needed it. It would seem that well-earned stability is now in danger of being threatened, and I think part of that must be down to some of Souness' own actions. However, as I have posted elsewhere, I am not for sacking Souness now just as I was against sacking Roy Hodgson at the time; and I also expect that under Souness' leadership, the season will end satisfactorily. However, I would like to see Souness change his ways, learn from his mistakes, accept that everything is not necessarily everybody's fall except his own, eat a bit of humble pie occasionally, and to lead the team in a responsible manner and by example. Getting rid of Souness now would be a mistake, and we are unlikely to be able to attract anyone better or of a higher calibre anyway.