Bentley was playing fairly central today. He is much stronger physically this season. In a couple of years he will be an excellent central midfielder in my view. He moves well off the ball, a bit like Tugay.

When they were talking about Bentley prior to the Man City match on Sky, Savage said 'not bad for £500k'.

Steve Mclaren was at our Bolton and Arsenal matches recently. In both those games, Bentley did not play well at all. I would say Warnock has an outside chance as he has been playing really well (as well as in those matches Mclaren was at!).

I would go for Bellamy. Just his sheer pace makes other teams scared. There is not much in it though, as they are different types of players and have different qualities. Overall, the departure of Bellamy has not really affected us because Benni has done so well. On injuries, it has been more our inability to play a settled side which has disrupted us (particularly in the first half of the season). Whilst we have had injuries in 2007, they are long-term ones so we have been able to have some continuity.

It will be interesting to see what happens with Nonda. Hughes raves about him showing quality everyday in training and says he just needs more confidence to replicate this in matches. He has not fully convinced me yet but a lot of foreign players do not settle properly until their second season. He also annoys me when it appears like he is not trying, by this I mean running around. However, that is just his natural demeanour. I am sure another Prem league team will take him if we don't.

I actually win £1,000 if the McCarthy bet comes off. A friend came in on the bet with me, so £500 each. Still a long way to go though.....

Really feeling for Lucas tonight. We have really suffered since his departure and Warnock does not seem half the player that Neill is. NOT

Manchester United are set for a summer clearout with Kieron Richardson, John O'Shea and Darren Fletcher heading out of the club. Owen Hargreaves and David Bentley are expected to join.

West Ham fan said to me, have you just lost your best defender? I said no, we we have replaced him with someone much better............ and we have Hughes.

Really good news. And as I was saying yesterday Steve Bruce is an idiot!!

Reid's injury gives the Axe an opportunity to make that central midfield spot his own. :ph34r:

You can tell he is saying it in a snide way. I just don't like the man or the club he manages.

Steve Bruce really is a ****. "I would expect now that the personal terms will be thrashed out. That is not going to take long so I expect he will sign for Bolton. "I kept reading that Blackburn were going to make a counter bid. We had received nothing from them but they have been in contact in the last hour, but I think it is too late. "Dunny has already decided he is going down the route of signing for Bolton and in any case Blackburn still haven't met our valuation of the player.

Brownie - did Neill have anything positive to say?

Will Dunn ever have the stamina to be a central midfielder. We sometimes had to put him on the right or left wing because he would never track back and lacked the energy to play box to box. When he has been fit for Brum he was also put on the right wing because he had the same problems.

Reid injury

It would just be horrible if he got back to form with Bolton. He can make goals out of nothing and those players usually cost a lot of money. Of course he has to be fit to do so.

As people have said previously, if he had been playing for a "higher profile club" he would have got more recognition. It is a real pleasure watching him play and I would happily travel to watch his farewell game (whenever that may be, hopefully a few years off yet).

Chelsea are actively looking for a right back, he could be an easy option for them. Doubt it though but would not really surprise me.

Steve Bruce said it himself on Friday night, he is a quality act but he has just never been fit for a decent amount of time. That must be the reason....

I think Newcastle will go for him, as they made an attempt last summer. Roeder was saying yesterday that they are actively looking for new defenders and Neill will fit into their budget.

Man City linked with Dunn today in the Sunday papers.....

Your right guys..... Was a bit dazed earlier on today!!

Of course you are not going to say you have millions upon millions to spend but Hughes comments below suggest the purse strings are going to be as tight as ever. “We sold Craig Bellamy for £6m in the summer and didn’t spend that much but we still don’t have a lot to go at.”

Sparky wanted him back in the summer but left it too late. I am sure any deal which will be done will be done a pay as you play basis. You can put a negative slant on it if you want but this really is a no lose situation for the club.