I agree with KSB re Souness tactics. There were very successful clubs in the '70s and we were a very successful '70s club for three seasons in the naughties until Souness' ego bit in and chewed everything up. As for ER suggesting Newcastle was a smart career move.... Yes it was but boy did we and Souness get very lucky. The bumbling fool that is Fat Freddie had an ego problem of his own and fired the most successful manager of Puke (like that one!) since the 1950s on the back of four dodgy start of season results. He was so full of his own brio that Fat Freddie thought he could snap his fingers at anyone and they'd join the fun fair that is St James' Park. Probably seven rejections later he rang Ewood and found a Chairman who said "no but we won't stand in his way- you have our permission to talk" which was a change after the industrial language he would have got from BIG CLUB and Souness was as happy as a man who has woken up with a bigger willy. Rovers' trousered the £1.3m and we couldn't believe our luck whilst Souness' ego went to the stratosphere. Souness making sure he gets the £3m pay-off when he is fired by Fat Freddie. In all seriousness I cannot see Newcastle losing in the FA Cup so there is a decent chance given he wasn't fired yesterday that Souness will be in charge when Rovers go to Newcastle at the end of the month and an even better chance that there will be a monumental list of injuries whilst Fat Freddie dithering over firing Souness is making things rather tricky for them in the transfer market. I just hope Shearer has beaten the Milburn record by the time we go there. That said, my hunch is that even Fat Freddie has learnt from the serial humiliations when he tried to replace Sir Bobby. Souness' length of tenure is probably determined by the negotiations going on with Phil Gartside, the Bolton Chairman, if the rumours are to be believed.

The bits at the bottom of this article are priceless! The latest goss from the entertainment emporium that is St James' Park is that Souness has offered Bowyer + Faye + £5m cash to Charlton for Danny Murphy. Well he did pay £8m for Boumsong and £7m for Grabbi so why not?

Sullivan has gone public and said players won't sign for BIG CLUB because they don't want to join a relegation battle. Bruce and Dunn- the local story.

Coming 4th in the Prem is a recipe for a nightmare draw in the third qualifying round of the Champs League as Everton found out. Good point Rev although the second half looked bad from a Rovers point of view primarilly because the football quality of the side had been so high in the first half.

This thread will be closing soon if the Sun is to be believed. Fat Freddie is going to sack him today. Whilst it is hard to feel sorry for someone like Souness, and some of the injuries might be down to bad training regimes, the current injury list at St James' Park would stretch the credibility of a hospital soap opera. Ay least his successor will have a ready made excuse- "the players I inherited weren't fit!" Just so long as the guy who said that on first taking over from Souness isn't asked to say it a second time. Roeder taking over today with Big Sam the eventual replacement according to the Guardian. Latest news from Tyneside is that Fat Freddie will get rid of Souness if he hears of any more falling out with players- now there's an invitation! Souness meantime is trying to sign Anelka.

You weren't the only one going over board Greggy but what are you going to do with a sacked section of cracked underground piping which burst an hour before the game was postponed?

Nice to see the FA want headlines about Halsey being a biased referee dragged up so long after the event. Have to say that Ryan's comments are absolutely accurate though but that won't be an acceptable defence- he shouldn't have said it under FA rules. Surely this is a fining matter and a warning as to future conduct rather than a suspension?

I was astonished to see the gate figure after seeing all the stands looking well-occupied from every Sky camera angle!

The stats actually show a very even second half- the fact we feel we almost lost it just shows what a come down from an excellent first half it was! ...and yes I believe we play Bolton when they will be five players light for the African Nations Cup. I'd still expect a typically Big Sam inspired performance though.

jim on the wind-up again. Nelsen caught the ball with an amazing chest dip although the way he executed I can understand the ref giving handball and the free kick which Pompey scored from. First half we were sublime- chasing everything and brilliant passing. MGP had his best all round half I've seen from him, Savage caused them all kinds of problems, their defence will sleep on the coach back with Dickov nightmares and Reid was supreme- on the first half a valid replacement for Tugay. Two things stuck out second half apart from the Rovers' lack of appetite for more goals: Kuqi was the cause of many move break downs with poor control, wrong passes and bad decisions- Sutton would have had a field day out there tonight. O'Neil of Pompey is an amazing player. He simply neutralised Reid and Savage and not many midfielders will do that. Zura had a particularly effective game and he was badly needed in that second half. Emo's attempt at scoring from that set-up from Bellamy at the end was woeful- no awareness that he had to meet the ball and change the angle. As it was, had it not been blocked, Emo was passing the ball to Westerfeld with an empty net looking. Good three points and the table looks sweet!

Well the deal has been done and the Russian is buying Portsmouth according to the BBC. Probably will have a motivating effect on the Pompey players tonight unfortunately.

That Guardian "report" has the look and feel of a fit up job by a reporter who: a) I haven't seen a by-line for before, knows diddly squat about Rovers but an awful lot about MGP and Spurs, and c) has been touched up by someone with an agenda.

Ask a philosopher!

Some positive vibes about how Rovers have prospered as a wake is preepared for you-know-who. David Pleat does the autopsy. Souness has been so lucky at Newcastle with results when he needed them that Shearer is just certain to score today to get Millburn's record.

I would rate Jewell above 'Arry and Boro's squad above Pompey's... but Pompey are a Premiership outfit and like any Premiership outfit, well capable of beating us if we don't get our mindset and tactics right. On that basis, Hughes isn't like Souness so whilst I'd hardly say I've reached the point of expecting a win from every game, I've certainly reached the point of expecting a good performance every game and tonight that should be enough for three points. Here's hoping!

The home page news article by Alan says it all- Jansen is a Rovers' hero. Not to build hopes or prolong the agony but the following is worth considering: - Matt always has excellent PR (his brother-in-law has very good links) but even so its needed the dramatic image of him ripping up a £500K contract to get the story placed in the media. - no doubt that amount is what he would have been earning in the next six months had he been playing. As he's not, he isn't earning. - the PR story puts Matty firmly in the shop window at the start of the January transfer window; note he specifies wanting to go on loan to a Premiership club (loan from whom? - the Rovers obviously) to get a contract for next season. - I am absolutely certain Matty would have gone in for training with the lads today and will continue to do so until something is sorted out. I had wondered whether Matty would get a chance against QPR in the same way MGP kicked started his Rovers career at Cardiff last year.

There's an asian Rovers fan on the official board who confirmed that they were singing about a "town full of pakkies". Whilst he did not seem particularly bothered about it and nobody has made a media issue out of it, I hope the Wigan Club get it sorted out.

Interesting stats Ricky. I was looking at it a different way and coming to a similar conclusion. Villa, Fulham, Everton and West Brom are grouped together just above the relegation places. They've all got around 20 points at the half way stage of the campaign which suggests 17th place and survival could well be around 40 points this season following the last two seaon's survival number being around the mid-30s. On that basis BIG CLUB need 27 points from the next 19 games- double their current haul- or 7 wins and 6 draws from the next 19 games. Possible but unlikely with their current squad plus injuries and Jarosik rumoured to want away back to Chelsea or somewhere better on loan.

Just been announced that Owen is to have surgery which means he's out until April. Nothing on Given's hand yet- they have to wait for the bruising to go down before they can X-ray. Rammage limped off with a hamstring as well. Other than Birmingham or Burnley, couldn't happen to a better bunch.

Rovers and Bolton subject to Premier League inquiry. Undersoil heating is a Premiership requirement so we could be in bother. That said, for a Premier League spokesman to describe trying to avoid long journeys for fans then saying of Newcastle v Charlton "we got it a bit wrong..." No doubt, if Rovers and Bolton connected the caterers' fridges to the undersoil pipework, saying "we got it a bit wrong" wouldn't be accepted! Talking of long journeys, Ross County postponed their game yesterday one day before it was due to take place as there was a risk it would not be playable. Their reason- the visitors were Stranraer (average home gate 500) and the Dingwall-based club thought it would be unfair on the visiting supporters not to call it off if there was a risk of postponement! Well done to the SFA fixture boys for coming up with that one on 31 December then. The English Leagues resisted Carlisle v Torquay over the festive period so what prompted the Scots to schedule the longest journey in their leagues...

Injured again unfortunately. I'd like to see him get a run for Brum so we can assess whether he'll be worth picking up- Brum relegation is looking increasingly probable.

Great win and the ref's decisions went for us today! Really pleased that Reid finally got a howitzer on target.

The bet is safe- crowd of 20,000 at Wigan and Rovers took well over 5,000! Gibson out! (before Vinjay says anything)

He's scored the second for them as well!

Another opening goal for Jon Douglas for Leeds. Perhaps Leeds will make the move permanent?