It is no secret that Sam has wanted Benni out. It seems the weight issue is going to be the way of forcing the issue. Forcing him in for extra training after two games in three days seems excessive even if fitness issues are of concern. A parting of the ways will probably be best for all concerned to prevent any bad blood developing and causing issues with team morale.

No just crap!

Obviously you did not watch the first half yesterday as he was the main reason Dunn was a spectator for the first half. As I commented on the pompey thread earlier today there was one instance in the first half when Dunn was on a run and the Axe committed a foul to prevent a shooting opportunity. Should have been booked. Now compare that with Pompey's goal and wonder if O'Hara would have had as much space if an Axe type player was wearing blue and white. Rovers tactical change at half time meant that the Axe's contribution faded in the second half.

The problem is Benni is not physically enough and cannot play the lone forward while Sam feels Dunn would neglect the defensive midfield duties needed for a central or wide midfielder so we can't play 4-4-2. Sam thinks the only solution is to play either off a strong front man.

No but we need to raise money to invest in the squad. Selling Jason would not raise enough money to buy a penny chew.

Other point to bear in mind is that when Benni is in form usually we see the best of other players such as MGP. He draws oppostion defenders and creates space for others. A strong player such as Da Santo with Benni creating space for Dunny to run into the space. Sam won't allow three forward players with little defensive options though. Plus with Benni in the team then there is no excuse to sell him in January meaning no cash to spend unless he sells his other saleable assets either Samba or Robinson.

plus our defence is leaking goals so all three areas are weak. This does sound logical.

Both Jason and Benni are prone to stand still and whinge when a move breaks down and are slow coming back on side, but there are times that Benni is caught off side when trying to pinch a few yards on the last defender. The problem with this is that the midfield is just a split second slow in picking a pass. It is not a new problem as Andy Cole had the same issue when he was here. The fact remains that our midfield is just not good enough. But to be fair if any of our midfielders were quick enough to supply that sort of pass they would be at a higher club than us.

No surprise though is it? He has been trying to leave every time he has not been in the first team

To play that role you have to move around the pitch and run at people with the ball. Neither of which are Benni's strong points. To get the best out of Benni, he has to be playing off a front man poaching goals.

Could we not send Roberts with Benni's shirt.

It is quite clear that Big Sam has no intention in playing him so we may as well get him of the wage bill. But I agree to lend a proven goal scorer to one of our relegation rivals does seem a bit silly.

It was on Football Focus last Saturday saying he was rejoining City's first team for training last Monday so by now probably injured again.

Which makes Roberts' % even better as he missed his one penalty of the season.

Yep misread - Just edited my post. Sorry

Yes they did. But at the end of the day, a penalty is still a chance that has to be put away, ask Mr. Roberts.

All this proves is the forward play last season was so poor. The % proves that the two forwards compared favourably, surprising for Roberts as all anyone remembers are his misses of last season. We need to create more which makes Sam seeing midfield as not a priority seem a bit odd

Yes....we should have took to the streets, demonstrated, rioted. Fans aren't bothered who is captain so long as whoever is gives 100% on the field. Even though Neill wanted to leave he never gave less than 100%. It is the manager's deceision who he make captain and Hughes thought that Neill was the man for him. As captain he led the team to a European Finsih and cup semis so why should the fans not tolerate him.

Neill acted professionally, he never gave any false promise of playing for Rovers the season after. He also told the truth which fans did not like. If Ooijer is going back for double his wages then fair play to him as he has done everything professionally.

No he has not given any assurances to the fans then bogged off a week later like the two player mentioned.

If Benni had the work rate to match his ability he would never have been within 50 yards of Ewood's home Dressing Room.

Not bad for someone last week was desperate to get away [according to the Daily Mail]

Why don't the mail just say 'Every player wants to leave Blackburn' then they can save themselves some column inches

The only time we've seen evidence of this was last season against Man. Utd. and it did work very well. But I think that was a case of catching Utd by surprise by playing a 6ft+ forward against a 2'3" left back. I don't think it would work if surprise element was taken out by playing every week.

It was good to see Benni used correctly IMO. He has never been a player who chases lost causes so to have him doing another forwards running was never going to work. It just made him look lazy. As a front two, Roberts and Benni have always looked the best combination for Rovers. Sure RSC is a good player but to me he does not gel with any of Rovers' other forwards. This was fine whilst he was scoring goals but this season he has not. Benni also appears to gel better with Pedersen as well where RSC played better with David Bentley. It was just a shame that the four of them could not play as a complete attacking unit. If that had happened as it was hoped at the beginning of last season then Champions League would have been a possibility.