Has Dunn even been playing well for Birmingham, when he has played? I think that this is something that Hughes would obviously have to think about, before even thinking about the remote possibility of re-signing him.

Like getting injuried.

No we shouldn't sign Dunn, the guy has never had a regular run of games for Birmingham or for us. His fitness has always been a problem and he done nothing for Birmingham, that would convince me that he is good enough to play in the Premiership in the near future. We don't have much money to spend in January and I'd hate to see us blow a lot of it on him.

That's a sweet bit of business on our part. We paid something like £500,000 for him and have just sold him for £2.5 million. You can't argue with that. Good luck to him, I never liked him as a player, mainly because I didn't think he waas good enough for the Premiership. But you could never question his commitment and he scored some important goals for us. I think that the Championship is his level and he'll do well for Palace. He's one of those players, who scores you the goals to get your team out of the division and into the Premiership, but then is replaced by a better option, much like Darren Huckerby.

He wouldn't solve any of the creative problems that we have IMO.

Under half I'm sure and even then he was by far our best player.

I think that we started off badley by selling Bellamy, especially for only £6 million, which is far too low an amount and one that should never have been written into the contract. As good a player that he is, we should have been signing McCarthy to partner Craig, not to be our number one striker. I was happy when we signed Roberts, because I thought that he would give us a physical presence up top, but with more class and more of an eye for goal. I don't think that he shown up too well so far though, which is a shame. Adding the likes of Ooijer, Jeffers and Nonda has increased the size of the squad, but we needed other players who would increase the quality of the squad as well. This is where I've been left disappointed, I don't think that the team has moved on at all from last season, if anything you could say that we have gone backwards, because we have lost our main creative player and goal scorer in Bellamy. Other teams like Portsmouth were able to bring in players like Campbell, Kranjcar and Mendes, while West Ham got Tevez and Mascherano and now they have far better options than we do. I really think we've missed a chance to push the team on and it's not because of the players that we have bought, because I actually think that they are good signings, but it's the players that we didn't go for, namely a left back and creative midfielder, which has left me disappointed with our dealings this summer.

I would much rather have kept Kuqi than Jeffers, if I'm being honest. But when you get offered £2.5 million for Kuqi, then you take it! I think that Nonda, McCarthy and Roberts will be our three main strikers, with Jeffers and Gallagher being used in cup games and as substitutes. Even though I'm happy that we've signed Nonda, I still can't believe that we didn't sign a creative player.

When it's written down like that, it does put it into perspective how well other teams have strengthened. Fans of other teams may look at us I think that we have done well signing the likes of McCarthy and Ooijer and they would be right. However when you see how poorly we have started the season and seen where the team needs improving, it's irritating when you see nothing done about it. I don't think that we have improved as a team at all, just added to the size of it, which needed doing. I think that this summer was our chance to really add quality to the team, after the wonderful season we had had and this year, with greater quality make a push for fourth or fifth. Losing Bellamy was a massive blow, because we really needed to hold onto him and bring someone like McCarthy in to partner him. The team is roughly where it was last year and with West Ham and Portsmouth strengthening like they have, it will be very difficult to maintain our position. As for Nonda, I think that it could be a good bit of business provided that he can stay fit. He's got a good goal scoring record and if he could rediscover his form, he could be a surprise package.

I always wanted us to give him a chance. He did well in the reserves and youth team and it was worth seeing if he could cut it in the Premiership. The main issue with him was his size and he if had been bigger then he may have had more of a chance with us, considering how fast he was. I hope he does well at Wolves.

I'd like to see our midfield like that in the next match. Pedersen needs to be benched and hopefully this will encourage him to actually do something when he's on the pitch. I hope Tugay can improve the team when he returns, but lets not expect him to change everything by himself. As someone has already said, signing Tugay to another year and not bringing in another creative player, is just papering over the cracks. Tugay won't be able to play every match, so we need to have another quality player for that position as well. In truth I'd rather have a creative midfielder who can play regularly and have Tugay on the bench, providing competition for places and adding another option to the team.

From what I've read, it seems like Rovers did well to frustrate Chelsea, not giving them very much and as such they failed to create much going forward themselves. Emerton sounds like he has done well at right back and with Neill at left back we look a lot more solid. Ooijer sounds like he had a poor debut, but he'll get better and could form a strong partnership with Nelsen. Bentley seems to have played well, but where is his best position? In the centre or on the wing and as such does this affect Reid, who was arguably our best player in the second half of the season, and his place in the team? Pedersen offered little again, but there's nothing new there. He scores goals and can deliver a good set piece, but apart from that he adds little else to the team. Up front sounds like a concern. I was happy when we signed Roberts because I thought that he was excellent last season for Wigan and hoped that he could bring that form to Rovers. He hasn't yet, but there's still time, but he needs to improve. I'm disappointed that we lost today, because I thought that we could have won this game. Chelsea are an extremely limityed team, for all their players and money.

I'm glad that Emerton has been played well over the last two games. It would nice to see him playing well further up the pitch though. However, I still see Neill as our number 1 right back, but hopefully this will give him confidence and he'll be able to perform better when he plays on the right wing.

When I look at the Chelsea side, the thing that strikes me is the fact that they have so little width in the midfield. Makelele and Essien are probabaly the two holding midfielders and Ballack and Lampard are just ahead of them. Wayne Bridge will provide width on the left, but I can't see Boulahrouz doing the same as he isn't a natural right back. They may look to Kalou and Shevchenko to run the channels and provide crosses for Lampard and Ballack breaking from midfield. This is something we need to be aware of. The need for a left back is made even more obvious when a right sided central defender, who can cover at right back, like Zurab is forced to play there. However, I wouldn't be surprised if Neill were moved into that position. We need to get going from the very start, don't let them play, put them under pressure and see how they handle it.

That looks like a tricky first tie against FC Salzburg. Looking at their team, you'd have to say that the likes of Linke and Kovac are the standout players, while they have the ability to leave Lokvenc and Vonlanthen on the bench. I take it that this is a two-legged match and whoever wins the tie, will go into a group with the other teams in the group who win their tie? So we could be facing the likes of Schalke, Sparta Prague and Hearts?

I'll be happy if we can win a game or two at least.

Hopefully against Chelsea we can get our first win of the season. Middlesborough showed that they can be beaten, even with all their big name players. Hopefully the addition of Ooijer to the team will make us stronger at the back. I'd like to see Reid moved to the centre of midfield and Emerton starting on the right. Rovers 2 (McCarthy & Roberts) Chelsea 1 (Drogba)

A lot of people seem to have turned on Andy Todd. He was our best defender a couple of seasons back and he did well last season. Has taken a sudden downward turn?

It sounds like we played well, created some chances, with Roberts guilty of missing most of them and then sat back for the final period of the game. It sounds like creativity from the midfield was missing again and this is something that needs to be address now while we still can. It sounds like MGP went AWOL again, but what's knew there? The guy scores a lot of goals from midfield, but does little else.I'm glad McCarthy scored though, that's what he was brought here to do and lets hope it's the first of many.

I'm surprised that Keane is willing to work for Quinn after the bust up in the World Cup four years ago. I thought that Quinn was one of the players who was against Keane. It will be interesting to see how he does. He will bring passion to the job at least.

It's good news that he will be able to play. Without him it probably would have meant that Mokoena would have marshalled the defence which would have been awful.

I'm in Richmond Virginia at the moment, going to VCU, but this awful result has gotten to me over the Atlantic. It seems like creativity in the midfield is one of the main missing parts in our team. The sooner this is sorted the better. Our defence will automatically improve when Nelsen returns. I still think we need another striker. Outside of McCarthy and Roberts, we lack any quality in reserve. If we could have signed Pongolle as well, then I would have been happy. We have to do much better and that starts on Wednesday. This is the 2nd season in a row when we have started badley.

I would have accepted Emerton going to Boro for the right price, but £800,000 is just insulting. He has never lived up to his reputation, whether or not he has been played out of position. But I think that he is a decent squad player to have, he's an option from the bench or to start and if we weren't going to get decent money for him, then it would not be have been a good idea to sell him. Who would we be able to buy for £800,000 to replace him? I hope that he has a good season.

Well done to Steven Reid, it's a great honour to captain your country. He was fantastic for us last season and hopefully he will be even better this season.

Exactly. What else can he say to a supporter whoaskes them he is going to stay? "Na mate, I'm tired of Blackburn, we've just qualified for Europe, we are a team on the up, with one the best young managers about, but I'm going to join Spurs who can offer me so much more." The photos were great. It's brilliant to see Benni in the Rovers shirt at last. I had the same feelings when I saw that picture of Aaron Mokoena, jumping through the air and missing the ball. Lets hope he doesn't have to play at right back too often.