What?! Hughes is allowed to pick his own back room staff. He can't allow sentiment to come into it, he has to pick who he thinks is the best man for the job. There ain't half some twaddle talked on this MB!

I wonder whether you'd get the job if you turned up in Stone River Island Dungarees (or whatever), A £35 Paul Smith T-shirt (with the slogan "Please fleece me, I have more money than sense!") and a Burberry check cod-piece you'd get the job? What a load of bull. People are impressed if you look smart and talk smart, and have enough spare change from your clothes shopping to get them a beer in!

I don't buy designer gear (not the labels worn by hooligans anyway), but neither do I shop at Burtons or River Island! If you're prepared to look around you can find some decent gear without having to pay through the nose for it. I didn't realise Blackburn was sufficently affluent for hoardes of young lads to go around dressed in identikit designer gear? I'm sorry, but it does smack of snobbery.

Really? Because I thought that a lot fo designers actually did work for High Street chains? I doubt people buy designer clothes to be thrifty, more a case of them wanting to flash off.

Maybe these dudes have Stoneman's Disease, where your joints ossify and you're frozen in a standing position? Dunno about Burberry, but I wore a bilberry on my head last week - everyone thought I was a fruit. Be warned, people are very judgemental.

What?! Dunn can only be 2 years younger than Ferguson. David Dunn is a fat perpetually-injured big-headed delusional git. He couldn't learn if he was playing next to Pele.

I voted Latheron, but am prepared to tactically recast my vote in favour of Forrest to stop Sherwood getting in.

Hmmm ... including Forrest has split the vote and could result in Sherwood creeping in! Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

I've got no problems with that either. It's natural.

So you assume people are happy for you to stand up in front of them unless told otherwise? How convenient!

Something that's never made sense to me either! Maybe it's some deranged way of saving tax-payers' money. Although surely the economic cost of dealing with these people once they've reoffended is greater than the cost of keeping them locked up. To say nothing of the emotional and social costs ...

Vote Sherwood for a lack of imagination and an inability to see past your nose.

Time to lock the thread?

This sounds like being back in the playground. "But sir, SIR! It's not fair, 4B are allowed to stand up, why can't we? Oh sir!" Being selfish just because other people are getting away with it and you don't want to miss out is still selfishness. Just because a lot of burglar get away with nicking gear, does that mean you're going to go on the rob as well? The only time I stand up is when there's a moment of genuine excitement (not often with Rovers) and people in front are standing up. That's just natural.

Didn't you hear? It wasn't with them today!

Jay potentially cost us 2 points this weekend. The other Jay definitely cost us two last weekend. Maybe we should sell, or is it only bothroyd who feels our wrath?

Hughes has already said he knew what he was taking on, he knew it would be tough. So if he fails then he is the man to blame, no-one else. If we're going to play the blame game how far back do we go? Do we perceive that it's a domino effect? Should we blame Kidd, Hodgson, Iley, Bob Saxton, Jack Marshall and a few others?

Burnley.

He can kiss the Queen's ass for all I care. Is kissing the club badge really such a betrayal? It's such an empty gesture, it means nothing at all. I doubt it means any more than: "Whooppee, I've just scored, that's another win bonus." What a quaint, old-fashioned (perhaps some would say, naive) view you have of footballers and their morals. I fear one day it will all become too much for you and the latest bird-roastin', drug-sniffin', badge-kissin', bling-wearin', money-flauntin', rootle-tootin' footballer misdemeanour will leave you in a state of moral apoplexy.

It's a pretty big "if". It's so frustrating ... and typical Rovers. If that performance level can be coaxed out of the players 75% of the time we'll be OK. We should be OK. But can they now put it out regularly? And will it be enough in a crowded lower half of the division. Rovers ... bad for your health!

I don't think Brad, Jay Mac (although apparently poor for the reserves), Short (although becoming a trundler), Nissa (despite poor form/ confidence when he's played before), Emerton (ditto), Ferguson (no rider there), Reid (despite taking a long time to find his feet), Tugay (now losing it), Dickov or Boothroyd are poor players. The problem is that the side does have potential. But there are way too many qualifiers in the above. There's a number of players who simply have to be replaced by close season: Tugay and Short (and that's just from the team that started), then some players need to maintain the improvement shown against Liverpool (no comments about who this is), additionally Jonny Stead needs his confidence rebuilding. In summary, for me at least, it's clear that the squad has some dreadful players in it (mainly defenders), some good players in the twilight of their careers, some pretty good players and some enigmas (Jansen/ Emerton). What we're painfully lacking is players proven at the highest level, and this needs to be remedied ASAP.

Dont think we've heard anything about Harry Healess yet. Thought he was a defender! Captain of the 1928 Cup winners, he has a blue plaque put up at Higher Croft I think.

Yes, I think we'd all do well to follow Jan's example and not be obsessional about Souness!

OK, who's voted for Atko!

I'd suspect that that is the likely hypothesis. Souness does get the hump a little bit if he doesn't have enough funds to play with, no doubt he'll get plenty up at Newcastle, all on credit. More power to JW's arm, as far as I'm concerned.