Championship clubs are back in pre-season training. This sounds like a rumour but trading will take place. Flitty to Wigan? http://www.wiganathletic-mad.co.uk/news/lo...=TMNW&id=164269

I think Sven is not brave enough to change things around and he sometimes picks players on reputation not current form. England sit back too much when they get into a lead, it is just a matter of time before quality international opposition get and a chance and take it. One thing that really baffles me is a constant use of long ball to give the ball back to the opposition. It is even stranger to deploy that tactic when Heskey is not playing. As for replacment, I think Curbishley would do an excellent job.

Wouldnt say Terry convinces me yet, but he will get better. Also wouldnt say that marking at set pieces is the best. Even though there is only so much Sven can do in this. It is down to players concentration. Cant just rely on Beckham as the only outlet, the amount of pointless long balls are not going to create much. Still takes a good free kick but thats about it. He is not the player he was, Ferguson realised that over a year ago. Sven would never have the guts to drop him or anyone else who he plays on reputation.

Bad decisions are part and parcel of football. It wasnt just long ball in the Portugal game, it has been a trademark of Sven's England reign.

Terry had his arm on the goalie, doesnt matter if he was looking at the ball. Referee didnt have his best game, but England just didnt do enough to win the match, they offered no real attacking threat Fact is he is on a long term lucrative contract, so it is too expensive to get rid of the long ball merchant. Doesnt he realise that producing a boring team, who struggle to keep the ball is not going to win tournaments.

His record looks good, but England havent actually come that close to winning anything. Brazil with ten men, an average Portugal team, playing the lad Powell from Charlton. Probably would of been Chelsea manager if there wasnt a photo of him walking into his house. Secret talks with Chelsea, but mind you the cash he gets paid for the England job I would probably stay for a bit as well.

Can't trust the man. She is not his wife anyway, he will cheat again. Anyway I would of stuck with Ulrika, her skin colour is not orange.

Dont know why so many of you have time for Sven. He is slimey pr**k who gets paid far too much. His calm manner must be inspiring for players especially when they are getting tired. I dont trust the man and it doesnt surprise me that he has cheated on his wife to be Nancy. England should play more attractive football with the players they have got then at least they could go out for tournaments in style.

Think Stead and Jansen up front would be good for England. With Rooney playing behind.

How can you have your captain if is not going to be first choice? Flitcroft is not guaranteed his place in the team, on the other hand Ferguson is. Bit stupid having your captain sitting on the bench or the stands dont you think.

good move as Flitcroft is not definite starter. Remember Ferguson having a go at Emerton last season when he wimped out of a challenge- leads by example

Apart from last season I would say BRFC in GS reign have played more attractive football than a negative England team. Not only are England over-rated but it surprises me how difficult they find it to keep the ball. A lack of balance has never been fully addressed by Sven and he seems to take the option of 4 central midfielders who get in each others way. No penetration down either flank isn't the way to go and eventually England would come unstuck. I feel for English fans as it seems the whole nation gets caught up in all the hype that the media gives to the national team. Rooney has done well, but good defences wont back off him like Croatia. Show me videos of his woeful Everton performances of last season again... Anyway, this is from a Scot who is looking forward to seeing Ferguson and Fletcher leading us to the World Cup Finals.

England didnt pose any attacking threat after they scored. All the football was being played by Portugal, it was a matter of time before they scored. Referee must of thought Terry impeded the goalie, bad decision maybe but he was in the way. England looked tired tonight and looked short of options and seemed inept at keeping the ball, again simply not good enough.

A team that lacks balance was never going to win the competition. Having 4 central midfielders just doesnt work. As Rovers fans we should realise this by now after last season...

Once again, England simply not good enough. True maybe dubious ref decision but any team has to offer more of an attacking threat than England did. Beckham is currently in the team on reputation, Owen doesnt really offer much either. As for the penalty spot- same for both sides. Problem is people get too hyped up when England win a game, so when a loss comes a long disbelief and amazement is common. JUST NOT GOOD ENOUGH

we are not buying him anymore as we went for the older, cheaper option. Interesting article nethertheless- http://msn.skysports.com/skysports/article...1140505,00.html

Souness has bought players who he has worked with before for Blackburn. But you can only say they have all mostly been a relative success. Players who he knows well or about have been bought as well. Tugay and Friedal are good examples of players who he knew could do a job in the Premiership. Barry Ferguson will soon join them as one of our best players. Also he showed their was no old pals act with Harkness in Division one- he didnt think he was up to it so he was sold.

I know where your coming from rover6- just think if we dont have much cash then De Pedro is probably a good option. Quality left footers are rare, but at least we know we have got someone of proven pedigree. As for the panic buy, maybe not a panic buy but I think GS did not want to get caught out again and miss out on buying left footer this summer. As MGP didnt materialise, next on the list was De Pedro. As with the age of him, well unless you have much cash then it is unlikely to get quality in around the ages of mid 20s. Building a team with a small budget is about getting short term solutions and backing it up with players coming through the youth system. I am sure Souness does not enjoy doing a Redknapp and wheeling and dealing around free transfers, the club finances dont allow him to do anything else. Expect Matteo to join if he lowers demands then no more in-comings until Todd and maybe others go.

for all you Souness doubters/haters, you cant deny when it comes to persuading players, attracting them to the club- that he pretty much gets his man. Of course anyone who takes a look around our facilities will realise they are class but the manager is a major pulling factor for us.

Everton interested in him.... “He’s one of a number of players we are interested in,” Moyes told the club’s official website, www.evertonfc.com. “We are keeping an eye on his situation.”

Article could be bullsh*t but makes sense Celtic being after a centre-back. Article also suggests he will go there as his family are 'celtic mad fans'. They will offer more cash for him as we are only trying to take over his contract.

Celtic in for Matteo according to News of the World...

I can understand that people are getting negative vibes from the signings we are making. You have to understand that with a budget of £4 million that the majority of it will go on a left sided midfielder. The signings of Dickov and Matteo who do improve on what we have as well and both have shown they can hack it in the Prem league. After the signing of Matteo, I suspect the next arrival will be a left midfielder. Then after that, we can assess the money we have then maybe an 'exciting' free or loan maybe. Fact is, next season it looks like we will be a much harder team to beat and we will have a more workman like look to our team. As teams like Charlton have shown, that combination can work in the Premiership.

Heard Martin O'Neil last week talking about his transfer plans. Basically he seems to have a similar strategy to ours. He will bring in players who have been there and done it on short-term deals. This will supplement the youngsters he has coming through. Talk is that Celtic's budget is not the biggest. Most of his budget will go on Larsson's replacement. Its about bringing in players who could do a job- Dickov and Matteo will provide that. Nethertheless, all that we will be doing is replacing Yorke and Todd with those signings.

I would think he will go through an extensive medical- sure we will know of any major problems there guys.