I think we need a big clear out this summer, and possibly to bring in a left back, a right back to compete with neil, a central midfielder and two strikers. I'd also look into the possibility of letting Emo go, if we can find a replacement. Out: Amo Gray Matteo Thompson Tugay Gallagher-I honestly don't think that he's cut out for this level Ins: Halls-haven't seen enough of him but sounds promising Parker Keane or Bellamy And then a second striker; maybe Tristan or Pandiani As for a left back I really don't know-Ball is too injury prone and has proven nothing for years so I think he should be a no go. I'd also be tempted to let Dickov go. He's done all that can be expected, but unless he can sit on the bench week in week out then i'd say let him go and use Stead to compete with the new guys.

The fact is he brought on Emo instead of Stead, which was a very poor choice. We needed two up top in the second half if we were to equalise. The disturbing thing is, that if we go 1-0 down against a team (rare recently I must admit) then you know only too well that we aren't going to score. Similarly if we go 1 up then it's more than likely that we'll hold on and win. Hughes cannot really address this until the summer-but he can start now by replacing Dickov with Stead. My mate joked to me yesterday "you need sparky to rip of his suit and get on the pitch" he joked, but I was intreagued by the prospect!! I seriously think that Dickov needs a few weeks off, because he's offering us very little at the moment-especially at home. The test for Hughes will arrive after the Utd game, when we play the smaller clubs. Will he stick with 4-1-4-1 or will he revert to a 4-4-2. I think that when you pull Mokoena out of the holding role then we will concede quite a few more goals. So it should be interesting. I'd be happy to stay with this formation, providing that Stead plays instead of Dickov. Finally, I said after the Everton game that Thommo looked like he was back. How wrong a man can be. He was absoloutely woeful-embarrasing even. I'm not usually one of those "he gets paid all that money and still he cant cross" but my god I found myself saying it yesterday. A guy trains everyday and every single one of his crosses sailed over the bar-bring back Emo honestly. I wouldn't push any panic buttons-lets just get the Utd game out of the way, and then we can pick up the required points.

I feel so sorry for Jansen that it's untrue. Not that I know the lad, but I think that this time away from football is the reason as to why Hughsey couldn't pick him-even over our free scoring strikers. He obviously isn't in the right frame of mind mentally, and I just hope that this isn't the end of his career as a professional. It's a crying shame-so much talent.

A great point and well earnt. We may not be pretty away from home but were resoloute and give nothing away-and I mean nothing!!! Watching the game, you felt so safe that the scousers werent going to score-Brad could have had the night off. We did offer no attacking threat-but were not there to make friends, were making sure we survive, which we surely are now. If we sign a creative midfielder, and maybe one or two strikers then I seriously think that we can finish top 6 next season. As somebody mentioned, I honestly think that the board will be tempted to splash a few million this summer to see how far we can go.

I obviously agree that a striker needs to be a top priority, probably even two strikers to be honest. I also think that we're pretty desperate for a decent left back. Nissa is doing as well as can be expected at the moment, however we could do with somebody who can defend and get forward when the opportunity presents itself. I've got be honest, there aren't many quality left backs around-but lets just hope that Sparky unearths one. Finally, as others have mentioned it's pretty evident that we need a creative midfielder, as our lack of goals can hardly be solely blamed on our strikers.

Great result and performance yesterday, and it should mean that about another 6 points is required-but with many of the bottom guys to play we should be fine. We never let Everton get going, and I think we proved that they're nowhere near as good as 4th place-however as people have said it is true that Arsenal etc would have struggled to beat us yesterday. A few mentions, Nelsen was immense again-what a buy, and Stevie Reid must be given a run in centre mid so that he can establish himself in the first 11. Finally, for the first time since his two year spell on the sidelines I thought that we witnessed some of the Thommo of old. Lets just pray that he goes on from here because if he does weve just saved ourselves a good few million. He should definitely replace Emo for a few games now. Great result, and lets have the same on Sunday!

Sat in the directors box for the game, but have never seen such a negative pile of crap like that for a while!!! Second half was bad enough, but the first half we were simply non existent. One plus point was Nelsen, he was awesome and as others have pointed out he had to cover for others' mistakes-even Todd on a few occasions (such as when he tried to take on Job in his own area!!!). Thommo was awful, and Mokoena was very poor-his passing was woeful, and as yet I havn't really seen anything for him to warrant being the "south african captain". Yet again Emerton flattered to deceive, a few good crosses were all he could muster despite him being a very quick player. Finally, if you play 4-5-1 and go behind with one inexperienced striker on the bench then you are screwed. It was so blatant that we werent going to get back into it, we didn't even muster a decent chance in the whole game. It would appear then that by not getting a striker in during January that we have shot ourselves in the foot, and dragged ourselves back into the dogfight. At best we should play either Stead or Gallagher upfront alongside Dickov, but I've got a feeling that Hughsey will either play 4-5-1, or go for the Dickov-Jemal partnership against Norwich. We must win next Saturday, but at the moment i can't see it happening. I may be being over negative, but even West Brom have banged two more in than us this season, 21 goals in 26 games is pathetic.

I'm going to this one, but I'm afraid I won't be sat with the boys, because I know Boro's chief exec's daughter. Should be a good game, and I think that we'l scrape a draw. Boro 1 Rovers 1

There's no way that we should be tempted to offer Emo as any part of the deal. This season he has been way better, and on his day he can match anyone. On the other hand a straight swap for Ferguson would suit both clubs.

As Roverthehill has pointed out, the d-man and robben up against Matteo is fairly ludacris, thus matteo must have the best game of his career to even come off the pitch with a shed of pride. I don't know why, but I just feel that were gonna somehow nick a point against them. They werent up for it against Citeh, so why not against us?! Rovers 1 Chelski 1

Good result as I had feared for a much tighter game than that. Bournemouth proved how tough playing lower league opposition can be so this was a professional performance from the boys. One thing though-if Hughes didn't give Stead a start against these boys in an effort to get his confidence up then he'll never start him in the prem. Expect us to get a striker in on loan and perhaps Stead to go to a Championship club on loan.

I can almost guarentee that we won't win comfortably. We never (Fulham apart) win by 2 goals or more and this trend will continue until we can find some added creativity and somebody to bang them in. I'm going for a hard faught: Rovers 2 Colchester 1

Going to this one and really looking forward to it-unless it pelts it down with rain (no roofing!!!). I'm confident that we can nick a win here, I'll go for: Portsmouth 1 Rovers 2

I predicted 1-0 to Rovers against Charlton, so can I make it two in a row? Like most, I think we should rest a few-maybe Dickov, Fergie and Emerton. I think we'll win this one without too much hassle: Cardiff 1 Rovers 3

A few players need to be rested. I'd drop Reid,Matteo and Stead. Possibly bring in Gally, Mceveley and Thommo/MGP. I reckon Rovers can nick this 1-0.

Poor performance, but I suppose we shouldn't dwell on it too much. However I've never seen such poor marking in my entire life by Emerton. He just completely left him and watched as the smallest player on the pitch nodded it in. Shocking from a supposed proffesional. Big, big game tomorow where we must take all 3 points.

I predicted 2-1 to Rovers, but 1-0 will do nicely!!! Great result for the boys, and lets hope we can push on from here and get a few more wins before our tricky February period.

I'm a big fan of Brad's however some of his goalkeeping this season has been pretty poor. Against Baros and Dyer for example he seems to just stay back on his line. Now correct me if I'm wrong but isn't a keeper meant to narrow the angle?! Also Dyer's finishw as pretty poor, Friedel got a touch to it but should have done alot better. He makes some great saves, and he is still a quality keeper but I'm afraid he's way past his best.

I've got a sneaky feeling about this one. Although it'd be good to see MGP get a run out, I don't think that'd it would be a wise move against a rough opposition like Bolton. I expect Thommo to come in for Reidy and maybe Gally in for Stead? I really think that we'll nick it-I'll go for: Bolton 1 Rovers 2 Okocha Ferguson Neil

Apparently Thommo was the major factor in us getting back into the game! Not a bad result, but draws aren't getting us out of danger and believe it or not, S'hampton and co will start to win a few soon-so must we.

He did lamp Gillespie that time aswell remember!! Looking forward to next Sunday, I actually have a sense of optimism about the game. As I've said in another thread, their defence is woeful at best. We havn't scored for a fair few games now, and if we don't bag a couple against them then we really will need to bring in two new strikers. Hopefuly Shearer imparticularly and Bellamy will be injured, and the fact that Butt and Bowyer are out all points to a Rovers win for me. Rovers 2 Newcastle 1.

After watching the highlights it was very encouraging to see Rovers out play Everton-who despite their performance are third in the table. The defence looks very solid at the moment, and it makes you wonder why Todd hasn't been a regular ever since he joined Rovers. The worrying thing is that although we outplayed Everton we failed to really test Nigel Martyn, which is a worry. Although our strikers couldn't hit a barn door at present, we must not look past the lack of creativity in the midfield as a potential reason for us not scoring enough. As others have pointed out, Fergie scored 16 for Rangers in the season before he joined us (poorer standard of football I know) but if we could get in Savage for example then it would allow Ferguson to be more attack minded. Did any one see Gillette soccer special yesterday? They said that Savage wouldn't want to come at all because we're too small a club for him-God how Marsh and his pals annoy me. All in all, a point isn't bad, but we must beat Newcastle now on Sunday, and believe me if we can't score against them then we may aswell start planning for Div 1.

Surely on recent evidence a striker is now the priority. I do admit that we're also pretty desperate for another central midfielder, however to turn these draws into wins we need someone who's going to get 7-10 goals before the end of the season. I don't believe that any of our current crop are capable enough of doing this. Also if any cash is left after the purchases of a striker and a midfielder, how about trying to snap up a left back? The curse of our left backs seems set to continue with Gray, Mceveley, Nissa and possibly Matteo now failing.

I don't think that we can turn these draws into wins without a decent striker though. We havn't scored for a fair few games now, and to be honest it doesn't really look like we are going to (granted I wasn't at the match). I'm afraid we need a Cole like purchase to get us out of this mess. On the plus side, our defence is looking very solid at present-it's just a shame the boys can't do the job at the other end.

Everton are as stingy at conceding goals as Doug Ellis is with his chequebook. It will be a tight game, with neither side giving much away, however I'd go with either 0-0 or 0-1 Everton.