Oh well Mexico, Portugal and Angola. Im sure the top two will be pleased. But Iran can prove a couple of critics wrong next summer. Other than Portugal, we got exactly the group we wanted. Only Poland would have made it better for us.

Who was Iran with?

I dont think anyone thinks we will be relegated without him, but we can throw away any faint European hopes and probably stick to mid to lower table...

Worst possible news for any Rover fan. We are screwed.

Oh well, it was a matter of time. Everytime he fell in games, Id fear the worst. Shame. Now we are screwed. No striker to put them away. And with the critical phase of our season coming up...Just a shame...

You are Argentine? Wow. Didnt know Rovers had so many diverse followers!

Germany is my pick to win the thing. Wait and see...

So whats the best and worst groups for you guys? Best case for us would be : Mexico Togo or Angola Poland Worst would be: Brazil Ivory Coast Holland

Lets see how many people are represented there, obviously lots of the English here, but lets if others are there. Iran is there, so we will be there! We got shafted as the North American teams are grouped with us instead of the South Americans like before, despite Asians outperforming Africans last time around and 4 new African nations qualifying. So where is the logic? Oh well, got a feeling we might meet England...

To be honest, my second reaction after seeing one of the angles on Sunday was that there was a slight flick of the arm from Todd, slight but real. I think the club has seen it now and Todd has let us down big-time.

Watched the game. Utterly disappointed. There is such a thin line between winning and losing. Against Charlton Emo scored in the 1st or 2nd minute and we went on a romp. Had MGP scored as early as that from the 6 yard box or his cross crept in a couple of minutes later, everything could have been different. Obviously, the red car effectively ended it for us. Mind you the commentator said it was April-May 2003 when we last came from a goal behind to win in the league! 2 mistakes for me by Sparky. Firstly, starting Bentley ahead of Kuqi when Kuqi's strength and body would have kept their defence busy for sure. Secondly, I think Zurab should have come on immediately after the red card as we were all over the place after the red and couldnt settle down, especially Reid. Not happy with Friedel for the first goal. He didnt need to come out. Delighted he dropped Savage, only as a wake up call for the guy! Hope we see the real Robbie now. Neill had an assured game for me in general. Bellamy faded away big-time. Reids passing was nervous. Tugay looked a class apart until they started closing him down. MGP had a poor game for me. He is out of form in my book and Im a big fan. I would consider dropping him, maybe give Peter a chance? His set pieces have been awful during the last few games. Effort present, cutting edge missing. Again vindicating calls for a central striker to come in January. My 2 cents are that we shouldnt be thinking of top 6. But to 10 is much more do-able and we should be happy with it. Bottom half would be disappointing. Cant see a relegation battle myself. Hope Im right.

coming back from 2 goals down away from home against any team is a great feat!!!!

I think we went the whole of last season and this without winning any matches after going behind. So possibly the Fulham game.

Nowhere showed it where I was. Woke up at 6 in the morning before work to check the scores and I was shocked. Even moreso that we came back from 2 down away from home. I cant even recall the last time we came back from a goal down to win, let along two! Amazing. Lets hope we avoid United or Arsenal in the next round. Ill take a home tie against any of the other sides.

Just feel no confidence about this. A defeat. Ever since the draw was made I thought so and the big win at home made me even more sure for some reason. Lets hope Im wrong.

No way 17 points.

Yes full strength by Charlton especially now that they are out of form.

Gray offers so much more going forward.

fantastic posts and bottom line is it ALL probably depends on our next few games. like i said earlier 12 points should be a decent enough minimum target for us from the next 18 points.

I would go out on a limb and say that November has been a good month for us, not cause we only got 4 out of 12 points, but we went toe to toe with the big boys and if we keep Bellers fit, other teams like us will be a bit worried. We attacked Chelsea and Arsenal away from home and not just by speed but by good passing and good football. Im a happy Rover. Lets just not throw it away against lesser teams over our next few games. December could make or break this season.

we could yet make Europe. dont forget he said no to a Champions League team this season (Everton). its not as home and dry as any Champs League team, doubt he would join Wigan for instance. Now lets look at the big teams: Chelsea would they want him? No. Arsenal? Probably not. United? Doubtful. Liverpool? Possibly between all the "big" clubs. Newcastle? Not as long as this regime is in power. Spurs? Hmm...Possibly the biggest worry for us. But he is like Keane and Defoe, so I guess not.

I think we have to win all 4 home games.

I think we got the minimal expected out of the 4 games. 4 points is a decent return considering 2 of the teams were the top 2 of last season and we gave both of them as good as we got. The difference in our season being a success and failure will depend upon the matches against the other teams up and around us. Now we got 5 games left for the half-way stage and during that time, I would have thought we should be looking at at least 12 or so points.

To be honest, it was another good performance from us. The result was more than harsh. On another day we could have got at least a point. We knocked the ball around brilliantly and with some confidence and fast one touch passing. The difference was that we were not clinical, whilst Arsenal's superior quality in the finishing department told. Bellamy was brilliant again, and I was quite impressed with Reid too. MGP looked better in the flow of the game than he had for a long long time, but his set pieces were awful. Savage's defensive side of the game was good, but his offensive side had a lot to be desired for. Biggest bonus for me, Thommo looked good when he came on for Emo. I am disappointed with the 3-0 scoreline, but I believe if we put the level of performance we have had against Arsenal, and Chelsea against most other teams, then we will beat them. The question is can we replicate these performances?

ART 2 in Middle East.