Some rumors are circulating within the press this morning that this latest spell of unrest is down to Chelsea re-igniting their interest in Benni. It's recently been confirmed that Drogba will definitely need an operation on his knee, which, when they decide to go ahead with it, will keep him out of contention for Chelsea for a not insignificant amount of time. Drogba has, also, already been confirmed as playing in the ACN (in which McCarthy won't be involved), from mid January, to possibly mid February, depending on the Ivory Coast's progress. Combine this with the doubt over Shevchenko's future (a move abroad as early as January has been mentioned), and suddenly Chelsea's attacking options are left looking decidedly threadbare, leaving them with only two designated first-team strikers to choose from - Salomon Kalou, with just three goals this season, and Claudio Pizarro, with only one.

Reidy's currently on BBC radio Lancs until 8pm if anyone's interested.

Benni heading for Old Trafford? Apparently this article was sourced from The Daily Sun, South Africa's biggest selling tabloid, so I'd assume that it's wise to view it with a fair amount of scepticism. The link with Man United appears to be fairly speculative, but the report of a €7.5m (£5m) release clause does seem relatively plausible.

Another vote for Mark Bright. Not only is his voice incredibly irritating, but he also adds nothing to the commentary by way of insight or analysis. His contribution seems to consist solely of providing a voice-over to replays, whereby he'll simply describe everything that's already just happened in the most tedious way imaginable - whilst on occasion, purposefully lifting the pitch of his odious voice in a attempt to convey excitement. Yet another terrible pundit, as, unfortunately, the vast majority seem to be.

Not sure if this is a re-post, but it's still rather amusing if it is...

Nice piece on the admiral, in the LT - Ryan Ready To Rumble

Apparently he played for 70 minutes in the Rangers friendly. Things are looking good! (fingers crossed).

Agreed. Ooijer is certainly playing very well at the moment. I'd quite like him to stay on as captain until Nelsen comes back, although that's obviously pretty unlikely given that Neill will undoubtedly, although rather bafflingly (considering he's pretty much out the door), get the arm-band back as soon as he's fit again. As for the £2m we paid for Ooijer, the LET ran a story a while back and mentioned it was actually £1.6m, which does seem like a much more agreeable price for a 32 year old, but is still a bit of a bargain given the way he's starting to play for us.

Premier League to submit proposal to Fifa for use of video technology

Penalty for Spurs. Red card for Tugay. 1-1

Tugay!! Another 30 yarder! 1-0

Worst burglar ever

The Beeb aren't the only ones... http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,280-2446606,00.html http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2002390...6520265,00.html

No idea how we're going to cope with Agbonlahor's pace - especially if Gray's at left-back today. Hate to be such a pessimist, but I can't see us getting anything out of this game. 2-0 Villa.

Good game for Ooijer too. Very solid performance. I lost count of the number of blocks and clearances he made.

Penalty for Blackburn. Jeffers to take it... SCORES!!

Sav, MGP & Nonda all fit and start tonight. Gray starts and Todd doesn't even make the bench

3-1 to us.

2 penalties COMPLETELY wasted. Utterly tame efforts from McCarthy & Roberts. So disappointed. I HAVE to forget about this as though it never really happened... Time to concentrate on the forthcoming F1 race methinks...

J. Roberts to take the pen - MISSES!! FFS JESUS CHRIST. Kevin Nolan sent off!

Penalty Blackburn!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Missed from McCarthy - ANOTHER GODAMN PENALTY!!!!!!! YESSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!

OMG. Roberts should've just had a pen.

0-1 Bolton Campo.

27,662 to be precise

Aaaargh! Ball was (just) over the line - should be 1-0 Blackburn. FFS! Diouf just clatters Emerton in the penalty area. Should've been a pen.