Dunn's fee was undisclosed. I think you can be pretty sure that the amount actually paid reflected the contractual circumstances and that Big Sam had done a good job in nailing BIG CLUB before we exploited the situation. All this £1.5m and £2m talk is the bluenoses covering their embarassment- sure we will pay it if I make my debut as centre forward in the Cup Final and other equally unlikely things come to pass. We'd have been a bit stuck had we waited until summer given the Reid and Savage injuries.

Rovers say Benni not for sale or somebody close to Rovers said something like it in such a way that Andy Neild could quote the Man U programme notes which first hit the press days ago. Quality journalism!

A hattrick each in the semi-final and the final will silence those who doubt if he's be good enough to play for the Mancs. I think Rovers are in a win win on Benni in the last eight or nine games of this season.

We are playing Man U so this is inevitable. Here's hoping this story gets recycled in May (and twice next season and the season after and.....) Sparky knows he is going to have to do something spectacular at Ewood to push the claims of Queroz and Keane off the OT succession planning agenda.

There is only one interesting question about McLaren. When will he be sacked?

Guardian calls for Bentley to replace Lampard

At the risk of the little'un ripping us apart in the SF, I think SWP now is mostly good news for the opposition when he is on the team sheet. Lennon has not developed the way he could and should have this season. Bentley is much the better footballer of the three- the other two would be pretty ordinary if you took their blistering pace away. I am not much of a fan of Jenas- name any England squad over the past 40 years that Jenas would get into other than the current set-up. Dyer would get into some of the squads provided he had a lobotomy. I think the criticism of Derbyshire's pass is way over the top. Typical "he's only a Blackburn lad" thinking.

Not annoying, just dull and boring

It was an inch perfect pass threaded through at exactly the correct pace. I must admit I was surprised that Derbs was capable of playing such a great ball. I didn't say he was world class but I am not going back on what I said about the pass.

First time I've seen the Routledge goal and all I can say is what a world class ball from Derbyshire for all the "high class technical finish" guff about the tap-in. Brilliant to have two Rovers on the score sheet in such a high profilr u-21 game. I think all the worries about us losing players this summer are being over-done. I believe the contractual positions are pretty tight and the fees would have to be humungous. Bentley knows what it is like to be at a big 4 and I doubt he'd want much more of that before he could be 100% sure of being first choice starter. On that basis, there is no vacancy at any of the Big 4. Why go to inferior coaching regimes at Spuds and Newcastle? Thank goodness Martin O'Neill is starting so slowly at Villa. Who else is there to be concerned about? After all Lucas resisted the pressure to go to Barcelona and Milan.

Agreed neekoy. I noticed one worrying feature of the West Ham game- the number of times a Benny flick hit his West Ham marker. I guess they had worked out how to position the man on Benny so the flick got blocked rather than found its intended target. My feeling is the Rovers need to build their game plan a bit more around Benni like they did for Bellamy. With Bellamy it was all about quality balls into channels- with Benni it is quality balls to his feet (more difficult).

Derby are reported to be interested in Kuqi.

Details of the Liverpool take over. So another bunch of Americans march in and dump the interest burden of the debt on the club and wrack up a half billion balance sheet debt over time. The difference is, the Liverpool purchasers have backed the borrowings with personal guarrantees and are no where near so shaky as the Glazers. The interest Liverpool are paying is a relative paltry £21m a year. I still do not see how Arsenal, Liverpool and Man U are going to get UEFA licenses when the indebtedness rules come in two years from now. Obviously, UEFA are going to have to drop that idea and Michel Platinin will be very accommodating.

Read Foxx's link above and wince- he bust his scar against Citeh

Sorry for being silly enough to back the Mokoena extension. PS I did despair of the Axe in one or two games but the lad is now very solid. Well done Aaron for coming good.

The RSA report is very sensible on the subject of drugs. End this stupid prohibition now!

Strange how this has all gone quiet- not. Big Sam has the Daily Mail on his tail.

Big Sam lines himself up. Sam is right on every count here. Hopefully, England will lose in Tel Aviv and we will be rid of the dreadful McLaren sooner rather than later.

Well thankfully we don't have to watch many English players in the Premiership. Even by the standards of a poor manager, that was rank bad from England.

Is that the visual equivalent of the drummers' drumming (in quality of content and impact)?

What is the confusion? Its a squad game- every top Prem team has 5 international or near international CBs on its books. Rovers have just sent two youngsters out on loan, parted with Matteo (and McEveley and Neill who can play CB at a push) and have Ooijer out for the season. Our centre back list now is Nelsen, Samba, Henchoz, Zura and Todd. Ipso facto Todd stays. If Ooijer were fit, Rovers would probably have taken the dosh.

Things getting a bit hysterical here. Lucas did a damned good job for us whilst a Rover and built us a following down under. Was absolutely straight with the club about his contract and has gone where the money is. We were all happy about players coming to take Jack's wadge in the early '90s before we became a major footballing power so we have no grounds for complaint. We should just be happy that we not only got about three times as much for him in transfer fee than I would have forecast us getting, we have also got a replacement who on first appearances makes us a stronger better balanced team all round. It was also reassuring to see Liverpool get their transfer tactics all wrong and not for the first time either. If Rovers had handled the transfer market as badly as Liverpool have in recent seasons, the highlight of our season would be the derby with Accy Stanley. Sickeningly, the Bellamy deal was just about the only thing they got spectacularly right in the market and that was more by mishap (Cisse breaking his leg) than planning.

Agreed and also echo John's comments. It is not the complete deal until we see whether Warnock is capable of full concentration and awareness throughout the season in the way that Neill was not. Based on yesterday's showing, if Warnock keeps that up (and Chelsea will be a massive test compared with playing Luton reserves) and doesn't cause five or so silly goals to be conceded in the next twelve months we have got the better of the deal. When you add that he doesn't look as cynical as Neill always did so the card count should drop and that he is three years younger, then Warnock for Neill could be a massively good piece of business.

Man U's financial results. Profit after tax tripled to £32m but operating profits scarcely budged so the Glazers had spotted some tax efficient wheeze the old board was not using. That said, the £12m profit on the Obi settlement has saved a lot of red faces at the Mancs. The refinancing upped debt from £580m to £660m and cut interest costs from £92m to £60m per year. Most of last year's interest bill has effectively been rolled up into increased borrowings. No doubt the lending structure is now optimised for the next few years as opposed to being structured to be sure of securing control. However, 9% average interest says the lenders still see this as a more than averagely risky deal.

Not a good sign. There would have been doubts about Hughes/Neville after Sparky told him to shut up in no uncertain terms. Given Neville's spokesman-like status at OT, this is probably more than just a gobby player having his say. As the Glazers are cash strapped, Sparky will come a darn sight cheaper than most alternatives as well.