philipl

Alan, that story is running in the Mirror this morning. The more I see of our management team the more impressed I become (and I know that comment is going to hack off our perpetual miseries). John Williams is once again proving himself a marvel in transfer negotiations. Gray was undoubtedly on huge wages and had been "found out" by Prem managers/coaching staff rendering him virtually unusable. Bruce has bought another Yorke off us. For all Gray's virtues, he can be turned and left on his derriere and probably 15 out of 19 Prem clubs have players good enough to be certain of exploiting that weakness to set up at least two goal scoring chances in a game. I would be rather surprised if the £3m "cash" figure does not include a trade of some of the more contingent elements in the Dunn deal.

I completely agree Blueboy but perhaps not so colourfully! Thankfully, no reports of Everton interest in the media this morning- yet! One piece of speculation which makes sense is that Rangers and Barry have been asked to wait until the summer so that we can get out of this season as a Premiership outfit. Then I would imagine it will be a re-run of the Dunn scenario as he will still have two years left on his current contract Barry will be offered a contract extension. If he signs fine. If not, negotiate the biggest fee possible- at least Rangers won't be able to play silly with the £2.5m outstanding as it will have been paid by then. This is going to turn me into a Celtic supporter- Rangers were too skint to put in a decent bid now and will be again in the summer if they don't have guarranteed Champs League football.

The Leeds nightmare is returning with a vengeance. Today it is reported that £7.6m was spent on agents' fees (£900K- not too bad in the circumstances) and wages just to get players away from Elland Road and off the payroll. Our own Dominc Matteo is one of the beneficiaries which is good news as I had wondered who was paying the old Leeds contract off when he came to Rovers. More to the point, the Sainsbury consortium have pulled out of negotiations "finally", Ken Bates wanted his £10m to give him 51% but nobody is playing with that particular bundle of fun and a local builder is left as last man standing in takeover/bail out talks with Krasner. Administration is now very likely. A ten point deduction will see Leeds perilously close to relegation again and with Forest surely likely to mount a charge, quite probable. Scott Carson will definitely be sold. I will ask again, are there any promising youngsters still at Elland Road we should go in for? The Leeds Directors must be desperate this morning.

I was utterly sickened when I saw that number. I just hope it is Birmingham talking telephone numbers to support Sullivan's ridiculous outburst which included the assertion that Savage had told them he had been offered £12k a week more at Rovers.

Still nothing on the Everton bid for Ferguson but the Everton boards are reporting that Petrov, Daccourt and Tongue have all turned down moves to Goodison.

Andy D'Urso is the ref. Cue another mind numbing penalty d'ecision and a d'isgraceful d'isplay of d'isingenuous d'ecisions from D'Urso. Changed my mind- we are going to lose this one.

I think that Rangers and their joke of an offer can be forgotten about. Unfortunately, Radio Merseyside are reporting Everton are about to put in a bid for Ferguson. What is for sure, Real Madrid have now made a formal bid for Gravesen. This is a big blow given we seem to have just signed Savage.

The Savage information coming out of Birmingham would tie up with the reported sighting of Savage at Brockhall today having a medical.

I wonder if this will hit the newswires unlike Murray's original statement on the BBC this morning that he had only offered £500,000 cash and wasn't going to raise his bid for Ferguson? RANGERS' FERGUSON VOW DELIGHTS ROVERS By Ian Rodgers, PA Sport Blackburn chief executive John Williams believes Rangers' refusal to increase their bid for Barry Ferguson is "fantastic news" for everyone at Ewood Park. The Scotland international, who left Ibrox for the Barclays Premiership club in a £6.5million deal just over 16 months ago, is understood to be keen to move back to Scotland with his boyhood favourites at Ibrox. The 26-year-old and his agent John Viola reportedly informed Rovers of that earlier in the week and, on Wednesday, Rangers made their bid in the knowledge that Blackburn still owe them £2.5million for the player. Rovers rejected that offer, with Williams insisting the player was not for sale. However, the Light Blues are adamant they will not be making another increased bid for their former captain. And the Rovers chief executive maintains that is "music to the ears" of all associated with the Lancashire club. Williams told the Press Association: "I have seen the quote from David Murray saying they would not be raising the bid under any circumstances. "That is fantastic news for us. I am delighted to hear that and that is the end of the matter. "It is music to our ears that they are not going to raise the bid - it is what all Rovers fans wanted to hear. "Barry is a genuine lad, who has always worked hard for us and will continue to do a good job for us. "We have only had Barry for around 18 months and, sadly, he got injured in the line of duty. "But I find him extremely professional as he was in his rehabilitation from the knee injury. I would be disappointed if he is unhappy but I have seen the mark of a real professional and I am sure he will continue to do a job for us." But Rangers chairman Murray insists the player must negotiate his exit from Ewood Park - or risk missing out on a return to Ibrox completely. Murray told BBC Scotland: "We are not prepared to spend any more. If the deal is not done a week before the window closes we will be signing another midfielder."

That's the same story which has been repeated verbatim several times over since it first appeared 24 hours ago. Ferguson himself has not said anything in public. Update in this LET report- Ferguson says he is happy at Blackburn but would move if Rangers bid for him. However, the LET got the value of the offer wrong and the suggestion that a second bid would be made wrong as well based on David Murray's BBC interview. Rangers have very publicly stated that John Viola initiated the whole thing. I know its not ideal but it gives Barry a lifeline back to the club, the players and Mark Hughes. He can argue its his wife, Savage argues its his parents- what comes around, goes around...

I am still genuinely shocked that Rangers actually had the nerve to offer just £500,000 in cash for the Scottish Captain! I wonder if that was a backwards riposte from Rangers to John Viola? The fact that Martin Bain more or less repeated John Williams' words could be a give away. I suppose if Barry submits a transfer request, this thing might run on but Rangers are hardly welcoming him with open arms by offering £500,000 in cash. Barry probably feels deeply snubbed by that £500,000 offer. The good aspect about the Rangers "deal" imploding so quickly is that this hasn't triggered anybody else to step in with a bid and Rovers have successfully shown steely resolve. It has also signalled to anyone else who fancies buying Ferguson not to even think of offering less than £5m. The bad aspect is that Viola is probably now furiously hawking Ferguson like a Glaswegian market stall holder with a dodgy load of tomatoes having now opened the doubt about Barry's commitment to Rovers.

BBC Radio Scotland- Murray says Rangers will not increase their offer for Ferguson. Well hopefully, that is the end of that and John Viola comes out of this as everybody's villain.

The noises coming out of Glasgow this morning seem to be pretty consistent. Rangers have either offered £3m or £3.5m. They do NOT seem to have included forgiveness of the £2.1m Rovers have still got left to pay. So they are offering Rovers a straight £3m loss on the player over 18 months. Rangers seem to believe Rovers' valuation is £5m but they are swithering even over offering that because, as the defeat against Celtic showed, they need to get in a central defender. I wonder if Amo will be played into the equation as the next best thing if they cannot get Ferguson. My guess is that nobody at Rovers has even mentioned a value on Ferguson- he is not for sale plain and simple. At the moment I would say it is looking more than unlikely that Ferguson will be going back to Rangers. The likes of Moyes and Souness must have looked at the Rangers offer and decided that it is so lacking in seriousness that there is no danger of Ferguson going and so are not rushing in with counter offers. Checking the newswires, I see the same story verbatim has appeared at least half a dozen different Scottish news sites - obviously they are short of journos who can write original copy north of the border. It is the one which headlines Rangers will up their bid and quotes both Williams and Bain saying a bid was made and rejected and that Ferguson is not for sale and concludes with Viola saying everything is up in the air.

I remember reading either 2nd or 3rd february.

I have been extremely disappointed that there has not been a closing of ranks amongst Rovers supporters to urge Ferguson to stay. Nobody is arguing about his class or that he is the heart of the current Blackburn Rovers team. The lad was just getting to show whjat he was truly capable of with two or three stupendous performances before the kneecap break at St James's. Since he came back he has been showing glimpses of that form but an injury like that takes some getting over psychologically as well as physically. I am very confident that with the astute management of Hughes and Bowen and the right moves in the transfer market, Barry will come very good for Blackburn Rovers in the second half of this season.

This report says the attempted move was cooked up some time ago and reveals why Rangers think they are in a strong position. Meanwhilst the Newcastle papers are following the story. Interesting how they seem to think £5m is the Rovers' valuation. Apparently there were moves recently to force strict disclosures on agent activities and payments initiated by the Football League but the Premiership big boys vetoed it.

I am absolutely certain that is the agent's game and it stinks. Rangers are as much the victims as Blackburn Rovers are. I think the all round cold language in this report on Sky says it all.

The Scottish edition of The Independent have just speculated that souness will make a bid. I am pretty confident Ferguson will remain at Rovers whilst Rangers are on their own bidding. Much less so when the question changes from stay or go to a choice between places to go to.

Paul, I don't know what the Ferguson deal was for sure but I am reasonably confident of the following: - the "certain" part amounted to £6.5m - of that, a little over £2m seems to be outstanding at the moment (remember Ferguson was bought after Chelsea had paid cash down for Duff and Rangers were desperate for liquidity so I would give that number a great deal of credence) - up to £1m more would become payable contingent on Scottish caps and Rovers' European qualifications I don't think any of that has been triggered. Nothing official has got out about what has been offered. My guess is that despite the Boumsong sale, Rangers are not flush (the £52m rights issue still left them £25m or so in debt). If, as I strongly suspect, John Viola has orchestrated this whole thing, then I expect he has unsettled Barry before going to Rangers and persuaded them to make a bid- quite possibly any silly number just to test the Rovers' resolve. If the £3.5m is true, then it is very cheeky. Rangers have been persuaded to chance their arm and of course it has been in nobody's interest to disclose formally what has been offered. Rovers rejected it without any "waste of fax paper hyperbole" (can't Brum afford a modern fax machine by the way?) and presumably Viola hopes the news of Rangers' bid will cause others to enter the fray. However, this might have been misrepresented. It could be £3.5m cash plus £2.1m debt forgiveness making £5.6m in reality. That would tally with some of the more serious comments in the Scottish papers over the week-end which were in the £5m to £6m bracket. I would expect that the key people at Rovers have decided a price at which they would sell but only three or four people within Rovers and the Trustees are in the know about it after the Parkes debacle. It will go to the full board as and when the bidding gets serious.

1) And your evidence of Newcastle coming into the bidding is what? 2) Ferguson has said nothing yet. Look at what Aberdeen had to say about what his agent gets up to. 3) I'd keep off the abuse of Ferguson as I believce we should be strongly communicating we want him to stay.

I completely agree MB- well said. Ferguson has not yet shown what he is capable of on a consistent basis. However, the combination of some shrewd work in the transfer market and Hughes/Bowen guidance and I believe we should have considerable grounds for optimism that a Rovers built around his talents would become a very attractive and effective force in the Premiership.

I don't know where the £5m number came from. Either Rangers have slammed in a new and seriously big bid in which case Rovers both have time to exploit the window and to make a few phonecalls of their own to other known admirers of Ferguson, or I expect Rovers to fight this one with enormous vigour. If Ferguson is going, it could be a great pretext for Rovers to say they were looking to pair Ferguson with Savage but now that is not possible they are looking elsewhere.

Some quotes from the Aberdeen Press and Journal of 29 November last year: Aberdeen boss Jimmy Calderwood has blasted Charlie Miller's agent, John Viola, for trying to engineer a move for his client. Miller is keen for a move back to the SPL and Viola had suggested he was being earmarked for a switch to Aberdeen. However, Calderwood has now hit back at these claims by suggesting he has little interest in the Brann Bergen schemer. ''It's a case of his agent trying to get him a move. It would be nice for John to phone me and tell me I'm interested, though,'' Calderwood told the Press and Journal. ''That's the normal thing to do. I've not spoken to John and I can't remember the last time we did speak. He's not got any of our players. "When Charlie is fit, he is a very good player. When he was mentioned last time it jogged my memory a little bit because you tend to forget about him being in Norway. "With no disrespect to Brann Bergen, I'm not sure how strong they are but if Charlie can't get in their team, he won't get in ours. "A fully fit Charlie Miller has lots of qualities but if I want to bring him here I'll say it myself, I'll not get an agent to say it.'' A possible insight into Ferguson's agent's modus operanda.

Good point. Interesting to see that Rangers themselves are indicating that John Viola initiated this thing (presumably to avoid tapping up accusations) and that Barry himself is not quoted - yet. If Barry remains tight lipped we stand a very good chance of holding on to him unless Rangers can find a decent amount to pay for him- at least what we paid- and I don't think they are that flush. Remember they still have debts of over £20m after the £52m in jection and they didn't get as much as they had hoped for. I am afraid it is only a matter of time before one or both of Moyes and Souness reckon Rangers have done a good enough job of loosening Ferguson from Rovers. At least in those circumstances we should get a very decent price for him. Great pity because I was really looking forwards to seeing Ferguson and Savage together.

These are rip off prices.