Eriksson and Still called into see the FA. A bit dfifferent from Mike Newell who asked to go to the Compliance Unit. Incidentally, isn't McLaren a part-time employee of the FA?

I don't know whether this belongs here or in the Souness thread. Anyway nufc.com provide this gem of a report: Dead man walking Newcastle 0 Blackburn 1 It's a fraction over 16 months since Graeme Souness walked into St.James' Park as Newcastle Manager in waiting, taking a lofty perch to watch his former charges from Ewood Park soundly beaten 3-0 by a John Carver-marshalled Magpies side. On that day in September 2004 we called the Blackburn side led by perennial caretaker boss Tony Parkes "a dispirited rag-bag of an outfit that slouched out to line up against us." Now in January 2006 the boot is firmly on the other foot, as the fans who cheered the departure of our Manager from Lancashire predicted his imminent exit from Tyneside from their Level Seven seats. This time it was the home side who were bereft. Bereft of confidence, lacking anything approaching good fortune, perpetually hamstrung by injuries and now, perhaps fatally, deserted by their fans. The pre-match build up had been punctuated by a plea for unity from the Chairman and a desperate call to arms from the Manager. Neither cut any ice with the rank and file. And this time the good fortune Souness had enjoyed in recent home games deserted him. A 93rd minute penalty miss from Gareth Barry salvaged a point against Villa, then an extra time leveller from Lee Clark did the same against the smoggies. And of course with the dark clouds beginning to form against Mansfield, up popped that man Shearer to take a share of Wor Jackie's record and divert attention away from an unsatisfactory display against a side who could be playing in the Conference next season. Today though there was no late solace for Souness. And with the usual touch of farce and folly that seemingly dogs this club at every turn, the crucial goal came from the hand of a player Souness signed for Rovers - after having seen his nimble footwork and long-range shooting prowess. Morten Gamst Pedersen netted with 15 minutes remaining via what TV replays confirmed was a hand - helping Shefki Kuqi's goalbound effort into the Leazes net. Of course this is nothing new; Blackburn having won here by the only goal of the game in December 2003, thanks to Paul Gallacher's punched- in effort at the same end of the ground. So, let's just set the scene. Almost 50,000 Newcastle fans in their own stadium, a player one goal away from breaking the club's all-time scoring record and fifteen minutes left to turn things around. What followed was deeply depressing and deeply predictable. The players were unable to lift ourselves from the rut that we'd slipped into after a bright opening to the first half - and worse still, nobody seemed to believe that we were capable of doing so. Souness sat rooted to his seat, his cohorts around him equally motionless - aside from the usual Dean Saunders mime show. And from the stands came nothing - no boos, no great walk out, but no attempt at lifting the players. Had it not been for the "Taxi for Souness" and "sacked in the morning" taunts from the travelling fans it would have been eerily quiet. In the end Souness and his side were condemned by the sound of silence. Forget the Sky-hyped protests of charver children outside SJP after the game - the real story was the air of resignation that settled across the ground during the game. People simply don't believe Souness; don't believe in his tactics, his rhetoric or his purchases. To nobody's great surprise the promised return of Emre failed to materialise, despite the claptrap in the Friday press conference. As ever the defence looked flaky and shaky: big name acquisitions Boumsong and Babayaro found wanting both technically and in terms of commitment. Quite simply, they didn't look as if they gave a clumsy, hit shift + 8 again!! what the score was. And once again the £10m Spaniard barely featured - one early shot clattered against the 'keeper and thereafter a handful of forays down the left that confirmed he cannot take a man on to save his life. His withdrawal though saw him spark into life, as he raced down the player's tunnel with a purpose that had hitherto been lacking from his afternoon's output. It's the injuries you know - we have a sick list, so all bets are off. Never mind that what we still put out on the park is an extravagantly-paid, expensively assembled side who have international experience and pedigree but who are playing listless, lifeless football that us breeding apathy and indifference among supporters of the club. To give Souness a penny to spend in transfers or even in sanctioning wages (Gregory Vignal aka the French Craig Moore) would seem like a vote of confidence in the management that was conspicuously missing from the Chairman's pronouncements this week - where he failed to mention the words "Graeme" and "Souness" but included "Europe". A televised embarrassment at Whaddon Road may see the axe fall on Souness, if Freddy can reign in his fury for that long. It seems that the only thing keeping Souness in post is a lack of suitable candidates to succeed him and an unwillingness or inability to pay the large severance fee that was negotiated in 2004. Souness should never have been here in the first place but he wasn't going to turn the job down was he? He knew he was on to a good thing and if it all went pear -shaped then he would get a bigger pay -off than Blackburn were about to offer him. Once again we find ourselves in an impossible and self -imposed situation. The mood of the fans seems to provide ample evidence that we have no future under Souness, but what lies ahead with him gone? Quite simply, who in their right mind would come into this madhouse and attempt to work with the current administration? Your guess is as good as ours, but the view from the stands today suggests the current incumbent has had a bellyful - something that is patently obvious from what his dispirited team is serving up. It's debatable whether anyone else could achieve any less with what's at his disposal. Yes, talent is missing - but so apparently is heart, desire, pride, organisation and motivation. Be sure of one thing: the so-called big hitters who are crocked certainly won't be rushing back to bail us out of the crap in the closing months of the season. No, the only thing those missing players will be rushing to do is phone their agents and tell them to seek pastures new ASAP. And in all this two more words were never mentioned: "Craig Bellamy". Perhaps the symbolism of the Welshman returning to his old stamping ground to inflict collateral damage on us would have stirred the Chairman into action, or at least wound home fans up. But instead he was left to reflect on what his reception on Tyneside might have been - and doubtless glorify in the success of his current employers. PS: The final insult was perhaps provided by the Saturday evening Sky game, when a Steve Watson own goal gave the mackems a 1-0 win at the Hawthorns. In our present predicament, that was a good result for us, keeping the Baggies as it did from moving with one point of our lowly fourteenth placing.

It seems highly likely that 27 January will be the date on which the Rovers accounts will be in the public domain. For those of you who are impatient, here are a few thoughts about the club's finances ahead of when I can post a full analysis. My guess (and a view I've held for a year now if anyone wishes to check my posts) is that this year’s numbers will in most respects not be that much different from last year’s results which showed a loss after player trading of around £5m. The club probably budgeted for crowds to stabilise at the 24,000 fgure they had dropped to following the previous season’s 26,000 but as we know the haemorrhaging of support from the club continued. Thankfully the FA Cup run would have helped cover that problem to keep the accounts relatively rosy. However, that has not stopped the Walker Trust continuing to support the club very generously and in last year’s accounts, it was announced that the Trust would look to convert £14m of debt into new shares in the club. This is in addition to the annual £3m and other advances which have added up to an average £5m a year injection into the club both when Jack was alive and since his death. This £14m vote of faith in the Rovers can be turned into cash by the directors as a new borrowing opportunity if they wish to take it- in other words, replace that debt the Walker Trust is turning into shares by new debt. However, any banker looking at the club today would see a decline in gates from 26,000 to 19,500 over three years and would inevitably assess the club’s credit worthiness based on a continuation of that downwards trend. The Rovers are certainly not good for another £14m but there is space for more debt as I have explained. With the club now already having one point more than the 33 points which the 18th club accumulated last season, relegation is not an issue for Rovers this season. The fear of Championship football and contingency planning for it presumably dominated the previous two seasons’ transfer plans. Moving to the next level is now the agenda of the day and that refinancing of old debt is the reason why I feel that the key issue for buying a striker this January is much more a challenge of finding the right one who is available than it is a question of financing the transfer (within reason). As Hughes has said, his challenge is not making mistakes with transfers; he is not saying he cannot buy players. If Ahn gets precious about a trial at Ewood, he can stick on the subs bench at Metz. John Williams has in effect said the playing staff in future will comprising first eleven players mostly transferred in who will improve on what we’ve already got whilst the squad members will come from Academy graduates. I guess that the club’s financial modelling foresees eleven players earning between £1m and £3m a year with an original total transfer value of £20m or so and 14 squad players earning £250k to £500k each. This would broadly maintain the salary levels of two years ago whilst giving the club the ability to compete at the top end of the non-Champions League clubs for its first eleven. However, the drop off in gates is now hurting the club another way as it very directly hits the Rovers’ ability to pay transfer fees. I estimate that the cumulative loss in income since the 26,000 average gates of three seasons ago must be upwards of £5m now. What would we give to have £5m available to snap up a striker on Monday morning? And how can the people of Blackburn look to the Walker Trust for cash when they are not willing to go along to consume the product they are trying to provide? The other black cloud but this time with a silver lining is our dependence on Cup performance. The £2.5m or so the club was reported as pulling in from the FA Cup run last season must have made a critical difference to last year’s financial numbers. The League Cup run this year will not have been anywhere near as lucrative as the FA Cup until we drew Man U in the semi-final. But the trading performance for 2005/6 is critically dependent on Rovers not losing both the next two games (Man U and West Ham). If we lose those two games and the Premiership gates remain depressed then the £3.5m gain in place prize money for finishing in our current 8th position will be significantly offset by the reduction in Cup income and loss of gate receipts from league games- a sobering thought which again equates our attendance performance to free funds available for transfers. Again, the Bank Manager could well say, let's see if you reach Cardiff and are still in the FA Cup before I extend that £x million line of credit. Sorry for quoting Mark Hughes in the Lancashire Evening Telegraph last night again: "My ambition is to go as far as I can, and take Blackburn as far as possible. "We have got some way to go and hopefully we will get there quickly. "Then we will need major investment to go to the next level. "The club will have to decide how far they want to go. Chase the best or stay where we are?" This clarity of thought and in speaking his mind is the greatest gift he could give to Blackburn Rovers Football Club. Mark is saying that his target is to manage a club in the Champions League and to do so soon. He has already transformed the club from one which has been worried about relegation to one which is chasing UEFA qualification on three fronts (perhaps only one front a week from now). But to be a Champions League contender requires a quantum shift upwards from the current financially and managerially well-run club the Rovers are now. That is the major investment he is referring to. Whether the Walker Trust (if they sell Flybe) or somebody else is in for that particular ride is the £100m question.

They've done a good job in clearing it off the Sky and BBC web sites so far... My guess is that Sven's lawyers are screaming sub judice. Whilst its not in the main football pages, it is in the UK News of the BBC and Patrick Barclay is quoted at length on Sky.

A quick look at some very unrepresentative web sites: - Pompey fans are sure its them - Boro fans aqre having a party, they are so pleased its them. - Newcastle fans don't believe its their club - Spurs fans are worried - Arsenal fans think its Spurs - Chelsea fans think that if Abramovich was so smart that he made £7bn without being accused of corruption, he's hardly going to fall to Sven and the NoTW - Manc fans are having a row between those who call RFW "Sir Alex" and those who call him "Ferguson".

Jimmy Greaves seems to have a positive view about our chances from a Today interview earlier last week (as well as some views on Bobby Robson and Newcastle): "There was a wonderful sight in the week, Bobby Robson beaming down from another well-lit stage, another job before him- more success, no doubt. The night before he had delivered a marvellous speech in hounour of Bryan Robson at The Savoy. He was up at 5.30 the next morning to get a flight to Dublin to be ready for an 11am press conference. Sharing the stage with Steve Staunton, he looked bright and breezy and ready for the challenge of helping the Rep Of Ireland to the next European Championship finals. This is the man who led Newcastle to fourth, third and fifth in the Premiership in his final three seasons in charge at St James. This was, of course, having guided them clear of relegation when he first arrived in 1999. His reward for this- the sack just a handful of games into last season. The result- Newcastle finnished the season 14th their worst ever Premiership finish and blew their chances of winning the Uefa and Fa Cups. And now turmoil, once more swirls around Tyneside. What is it about Bobby Robson that makes people act so swiftly and repent at such leisure? The FA, Barcelona and Newcaste have all done it. Still he beams that smile, bounces back and once more embraces the game he has given so much. As for Newcastle, well, you cannot help wondering if they are getting what they deserve. Five managers in the last 10 years is hardly the stablitiy on which to build any sort of power-base. Yesterday things just got worse as the bickering at the very top continued. Chairman Freddy Shepherd is not happy Newcastle's poor run is being blamed on injuries. After giving manager Greame Souness a healthy £50 million to add to an already strong squad that under Bobby got 4th 3rd and 5th you can understand why. In return, Souness hit back yesterday claming it was not an excuse but a "fact" that they are not winning football matches beause the do not have their best players. In the meantime, Souness continues a fight with the local media due to the criticism he has recieved. Never a good sign that. Particularly in a part of the world where the fans lap up every word those in charge of their hopes and dreams utter. Today, Souness faces his old club Blackburn where he left 16 mouths ago to take over at St James Park. It is only a rumour that the sound of champagne corks could be heard popping as he drove away from Ewood Park. To be fair, he did get them up and win a League Cup there but he also put them in danger of the drop. Mark Hughes in contrast has done a marvellous job, having saved them from relegation last season, Rovers are now a top 10 force and 90 minutes away from a trip to Cardiff and the Carling Cup Final. Do not bet against them doing a job on Man Utd next week in the Semi Final second leg. Souness is someone who seems to attract confrontation whererver he geos, He clashes with players on a regular basis and nothing ever seems to be his fault. A bad result today and chairman Shpehrd may decide that it is in fact his fault. Then he will go, and someone else will come in and the circus wil go on, if only they where not so swift to sacking Sir Bobby maybe things would be different." -Jimmy Greaves talking to Neil Custis-

The News of the World story and the video tape of the meeting. There was a live on air slip on Sky Breakfast that suggested Portsmouth is the struggling club and McLaren is the big name manager.

Just out of interest, has anyone got Souness' comments after Gally's goal the last time we won at Newcastle?

I think we have reached the tipping point where it is more likely than not that Sven will go before the World Cup. Furthermore he will be unemployable in the UK which means that one big hitter will not be available when the Manchester United and Newcastle jobs fall vacant. This is how the most read Sports pages- the Telegraph- are covering the story. English football is going into melt down and the consequences from the ability to lure foreign players using complicated tax structures to the amount the broadcast rights can command are now under question marks. It could be a bit like the shooting in Sarajevo in 1914. Sven cannot retract his legal case against the NoTW without losing all credibility. The NoTW have used some more of his slack jawed comments (the fact that Atholle Still was with him probably increases the likelihood of more gossip with the fake sheikh rather than decreases). This time, they've used the stuff which they know they will not get pilloried for- last week's exposee rebounded badly on them. In looking to their own popularity after last week's mauling, even the NoTW probably don't know quite what they have set off. They have said that Managers and clubs were named- the pressure for those names to come out in public will be immense. Watch for it all popping up on the internet on short lived sites (not this one please). The FA either haul Sven in for questioning or get very publicly hauled up for double standards. They cannot question Newell, Hulse and Holloway but make an exception for their own employee. Surely, the Police and the Premier League will be interested in the tone of Stll/Eriksson's remarks and perhaps the NoTW and their fake sheikh face a subpoena at some stage. The NoTW must have more from Sven's trip to Dubai which hasn't gone into print- its the NoTW style to drip this stuff out. As the Telegraph comment, this whole sting cost them £100K+ and they will not have recovered much of that outlay yet. Atholle Still will be a busy man this morning. Who knows what might be going into shredders in the football world today? The last week in brief.

Enemies of the State.

First of all let me explain what a rolling contract is. What happens is that every day you wake up it is extended by another day. So yesterday Sparky's contract expired on 21 January 2007, today it expires on 22 January 2007, tomorrow it expires on 23 January 2007.... and so on. Secondly, the issue is how you interpret the word "then" in the following quotation: "My ambition is to go as far as I can, and take Blackburn as far as possible. "We have got some way to go and hopefully we will get there quickly. "Then we will need major investment to go to the next level. I read that as Hughes saying that AFTER we have got to where he wants us to go in the short term (good league placing/UEFA Cup is my guess), we need major investment to go to the next level (regular Champions League is my guess). However, it could be meaning "IT FOLLOWS MY LOGICAL SEQUENCE" that we need major investment to go to the next level in which case it is not dependent upon achieving the next step. I think my AFTER interpretation is marginally the more likely as Hughes went on to say: "The club will have to decide how far they want to go. Chase the best or stay where we are?" The operating word is WILL. Had he said MUST NOW then your version would be correct. Incidentally I haven't disagreed with the net penny argument- when you see my analysis of the accounts you will see that it could be said that the club is in the middle of reorganising itself to give Hughes a rather pretty net penny which would be consistent with John Williams statement that the only transfers in will be of players to go straight into the first team because they are better than our existing players.

That is really putting the cat amongst the pigeons- the FA have very publicly interviewed Mike Newell, Rob Hulse and Ian Holloway. They have no option but to ask Sven to substantiate this irrespective of how it came out. It's a case of writing the three names in a sealed envelope and seeing if they are the ones if Sven's names are revealed but I got my three in no time flat! (with a first reserve). Sky's coverage doesn't name names but is sufficiently specific for me to change my mind about one of the corrupt ones. How the rest of the World is reacting to Svengate.

There is a difference between 16 and 18- the age of Rooney's England debut. Shearer scored a hattrick in the First Division (proper) on his debut against Arsenal! Sure this kid is very good but he isn't yet a Pele, a Whiteside, a Shearer or a Rooney. This World Cup is coming a year to early for him. He'll be the grand old age of just turned 21 when the next one comes round!

This must be all Steve Bruce's Christmases come at once today. Sunderland are winning at the Baggies. (Stead hasn't scored)

Yes he is on a rolling contract. The Walker Trust are already stepping forwards for the Rovers as you will see with the analysis when its posted. Unfortunately, the decline in attendances since 2002/3 has probably cost the Rovers some £5m cumulatively- just think if the Rovers had that available to spend now. However, I expect that Dickov's injury will inject real urgency into the club's decisions IF there are strikers available of the calibre we need. That is far more likely to be the deciding factor in signing strikers than transfer funds availability. I've read through the transfer thread and I struggle to think of the name of a single striker who is genuinely available at the moment beyond Maxi Lopez (£100K a week) and perhaps Ashton if we pay £8m. Reading the LET article, it is worth quoting Sparky as he is always very careful and precise in his selewction of words: "My ambition is to go as far as I can, and take Blackburn as far as possible. "We have got some way to go and hopefully we will get there quickly. "Then we will need major investment to go to the next level. "The club will have to decide how far they want to go. Chase the best or stay where we are?" In other words he is not calling for transfer funds right now but I bet he is saying back me in getting the targets I have already lined up for the summer. My fear is that without Dickov, we will pay for lack of striker cover when we go to Old Trafford and Upton Park. Prolonging our Cup runs is vital to our financial well-being this season. Protecting our 8th place and perhaps pushing up one or two places of course will help but getting the cash from the Cardiff final and another round or three in the FA Cup will make very significant differences to this tear's numbers despite going down to what looks like at best, an average gate of 20,500. PS Revidge, I completely disagree with your two posts.

Some pretty scary stuff about the future of US passports and UK data surveillance. Every week there are stories of thousands of data records being stolen from places like hospitals where hard-pressed under paid clerks are just trying to shuffle the paperwork. HSBC leaving thousands of unshredded papers in the skip outside a central London Branch was a good one as well.

We don't really know how good this kid is. Nor do we know whether his future development will be consistent with his precosity. I haven't heard any comparissons with Pele yet and that is what you've got to be talking about if you are taking a kid of 17 years 3 months to the World Cup. You are being a romantic dreamer Shillito.

Never mind the fans' behaviour, Newcastle have the highest number of fouls and disciplinary points of any club in the Prem. Might as well start 10 a side to save the ref the effort of waving the red card.

Arsenal have done the deal to buy Walcott. Whilst the headline number is £12.5m, it is £4m certain and the rest subject to... Walcott's coach speaks about him. His comments about Academies in the UK are a bit worrying.

Emre is being reported as recovered from his hamstring and fit to start tomorrow. But will he finish tomorrow...? Apparently both Todd and Matteo are likely to be unavailable through injury.

Just in case anyone thought Abramovich isn't planning on making a profit from his Chelsea involvement. Note the bit which says Stamford Bridge is worth £500m. He has turned the world of football upside down yet he has probably not yet achieved net outgoings of £500m on his Chelsea investment.

After Rob Hulse backed up Newell now the QPR Manager and former Chairman. In all probability this will die a quiet death but if stories start running with this regularity, surely the League/FA will have to do something.

Actually it says Parker is a remote possibility for being fit in time for the Cheltenham FA Cup match a week later. Bramble and Emre are considered possibilities for Saturday. Frankly, I feel relatively indifferent about them playing given Souness' track record of rushing players back before they are ready. That's obviously the case getting Carr to play three weeks after a hernia operation- it is no surprise he now needs another one. A fully fit Bramble would struggle against Dickov's harrying and Kuqi's strength would unnerve him but he is a physically strong lad. Facing the likes of Savage, Reid (in all probability) and Todd is hardly ideal convalescence for Emre no matter how classy he is.

Killer's preview

No transfer spending for Bruce. The list of all his purchases makes interesting reading.