Season previews in the national newspapers all differ, depending on whether the pundits involved know what they are talking about.

One in the Daily Mail said we had made ‘some good signings’ and had an ‘ageing squad’. Well we’ve made one loan signing and have a squad that includes Phil Jones, Grant Hanley, Steven N’Zonzi, Amine Linganzi, Junior Hoillett, Martin Olsson … So I suppose we need to be making plans for their retirements.

Then again, does anyone actually like the Daily Mail anymore?

It is difficult, as a fan, to know what to expect from any team, but particularly Rovers.

We’ve all grumbled at a lack of incoming transfer activity and a seemingly empty transfer kitty.

But look at the squad. It’s the same squad, pretty much, that held its own against the big boys last season and capped a solid season by beating Arsenal and Villa to finish in 10th place in the world’s best division.

Granted, we’ve no Di Santo, but what did he actually do? And Benni? Forget that fat waste of space. That’s £3million West Ham are regretting frittering away on an overrated tubster who appears to have no more desire to score goals or run.

I’m certain we’ll start the season with four strikers. Jason Roberts has admitted he’s likely to go, but why? When we are on the lookout for a new striker, why sell one we already have?

We’ve brought in Diouf and Kalinic will, hopefully, have a more goaltastic second season than his first. Hopefully he’ll have got over his fetish for hitting the woodwork in pre-season. I know I said it’s Rigters’s chance to shine but he really hasn’t shown any signs of doing that in pre-season.

And we’ve brought in Benjani on trial. I’d just like to point out that on July 7, I predicted Benjani would become a Rover, and it’s looking increasingly likely that will be the case.

Benjani could be a good signing for Rovers. He’s an ‘Allardyce player’, as if that phrase wasn’t overused enough … And has shown in the past how good he can be, hence ending up at Manchester City. Rovers have taken on players who have fallen from grace on a couple of occasions in recent years and turned their careers around. Maybe Benjani could be another …

It should be an interesting season in terms of young blood. Of course, all eyes are on Phil Jones and the impact he’ll have in his second season in the league. Sam has to be careful with Jones and make sure he doesn’t throw him in too often, too soon, when it is unnecessary. If it was me, I’d definitely be starting with Samba and Nelsen on Saturday, assuming both are fit.

Yoou also have to think this is a make or break season for Junior Hoillett. The pacey attacking midfielder has only really shown us glimpses of his potential so far, but he needs ot make a real impact this season or I fear it could be over for him.

Players like Olsson and N’Zonzi just need to pick up where they left off, in rich veins of form, while we can hope to see more of up and coming players like Grant Hanley, Amine Linganzi, Alan Judge and Aaron Doran. Although I reckon Judge and Doran may not quite make it and find themselves as top stars for teams in the Championship.

There’s also the young Michael Potts in the reserves, a striker with much to offer, who could be used to swell the numbers in the striker department.

Aside from youth, our midfield still looks good. As long as Dunn keeps up the form that had some touting him for a possible England call-up and Pedersen continues to perform well. We may also have the Iranian chap Teymourian who Sam has been looking at in recent weeks.

Having said all that, I’m still unsure as to how this season will pan out, so I’m going to stick with the predictions I made on May 27 and, as ever the optimist, I have Rovers finishing ninth …

1. United, 2. Chelsea, 3. Man City, 4. Arsenal, 5. Liverpool, 6. Tottenham, 7. Everton, 8. Villa, 9. ROVERS, 10. Birmingham, 11. Fulham, 12. Newcastle, 13. West Ham, 14. Sunderland, 15. Bolton, 16. Stoke, 17. Wolves, 18. Wigan, 19. WBA, 20. Blackpool.

See you on Saturday.

Although I haven’t reflected on the last few weeks on here, I have still been watching the Rovers, I haven’t thrown the towel in!

Things, although precarious, aren’t as bad as they seem. With a long way still to go we are in a favourable position and are not yet reliant on other results going our way.

Big Sam has firmly established himself at Ewood and the team do look like they have fight in them, although at times it would seem there’s more fight in a wet kipper. It’s this inconsistency that provides us with our only minor worry.

As I said though, it’s in our hands.

To use an old cliche, we’ve got 11 cup finals coming up and the previous two games were also cup finals!

I said on the way to the KC Stadium, ‘this is the most important game of our season’. We won and dragged our way back out of the bottom three.

Cue another ‘massive game’ last Wednesday and two dropped points saw us drop back in there. Leading us to another ‘most important game of the season’ tomorrow night at Craven Cottage!

It’s quite strange, I don’t know if it’s just the naivety of being a Rovers fan, but although we’re down in the mire it doesn’t feel that way and I’m not constantly worrying about the dangers we are facing.

However, the situation is very real. This has been reflected by a recent Sky announcement to screen three of our games live. Sky tend to avoid Rovers as much as possible because we aren’t the most widely supported side and often one of the less pretty to watch, however they have now decided to show our games against Liverpool, Tottenham and Wigan, obviously gearing up for a relegation battle!

Several members of the playing staff have come out to state their belief we are good enough to stay up, as has secretary of state Andy Burnham, although what it’s got to do with him is beyond me!

Pedersen’s recent revelation he wishes to sign a new contract also reassures me there is still a good deal of togetherness within the squad. Indeed they still seem committed to the cause and looked absolutely delighted after beating Hull. The lads know what they need to do and are more than capable of doing it!

I’m still quietly confident we’ll stay up. West Brom are gone, and travel to Ewood on what could turn out to be a crucial last game of the season, with Middlesbrough looking decidedly dodgy. Although Stoke (who we are also still to play at the Britannia) have nipped back above us they will join WBA and Boro in the Championship next season. But please don’t quote me on that come May…

If Rovers are playing in some far flung corner of the country then often I settle for Jeff Stelling’s expert guidance on Sky Sports, but I’ll always be having a Rovers fix of some sort.

Today is different. I’ve got Jeff on, but it’s not the same.

The good thing though is the fact us not playing today means pur game will be televised. The trip to Blyth Spartans is live on Setanta from 7:30 on Monday night, which is just as well as getting to the north east without using up valuable holiday time from work would be impossible.

With any luck Rovers will brush the Blue Square North division side aside with relative ease. To be honest, they are doing shite in the league, but that is never an indication for a game such as this as it is the biggest game in their club’s history and will probably see them playing way above their normal level.

That said, a professional Premier League side like us should not be troubled by this. We need to stay focused early on as that is when they are likely to try and come at us, when the crowd will be ‘loud’ (just how loud can 4,500 capacity be?), adrenaline and excitement is high and they are trying to make their mark.

If we remain solid and focused we can catch them out early on, after that their lack of Premier League fitness will begin to show and we will be in control and cruising. This is all very ideal scenario I know but that’s the way it should be!

Watching Jeff at the moment and the magic of the cup is very much alive. Already Stoke Shitty of the Premiership have gone out, losing 2-0 to Hartlepool United, much to the hilarious delight of Monkey Hangers mad Stelling.

Other surprise scorelines (at the time of writing) include:

Forest Green Rovers 2 – 1 Derby County

Torquay 1 – 0 Blackpool – Parkes doing himself no favours if he wants the manager job there!

Millwall 0 – 1 Crewe

Man City 0 – 1 Notts Forest

Fulham 1 – 1 Sheff Wed

Kidderminster still holding Coventry, who obviously smashed us 4-1 last season!

At least with us not playing it looks like a day of upsets, as is usual with the FA Cup

My prediction

I’m going to make a bold prediction here for Monday’s game. 5-0!

Often in situations like this a good cup run can turn things around, just look at 2002 when we were in dire straits, then won the cup and eventually finished tenth, a respectable position considering we’d only just been promoted back to the top flight.

Sunderland aren’t in the best of situations themselves, having slipped into the relegation zone at the weekend and are missing a few players, including £9 million keeper Craig Gordon.

Having said that it’s definitely not going to be easy. We are looking a pretty thread-bare bunch at the moment, and Santa Cruz, our only real goal threat unless Benni can start finding his form again, is still out injured. Add to that Vince Grella, the perennial crock, who is also sidelined once more.

I don’t anticipate a great match, I think both sides will be pretty cautious as neither wants to extend their winless runs (ours will stretch to seven matches if we don’t progress on the night!) so it should be pretty tight!

The form book is in our favour, having beaten Sunderland in our last four meetings, both home and away. The last time we failed to win was in 2002/03 when in fact we drew against them four times, twice in the FA Cup, the replay in which we lost on penalties.

Dan’s prediction: 2-0 to Rovers

We are now 8/1 for relegation, the same odds as Spurs who currently prop the table up despite their recent resurgence under the amazing Harry Redknapp. That said… Let’s see how this weekends games could see us end up. Worst case scenario of course:

Arsenal v Man Utd… Makes no difference.

Hull v Bolton – Bolton win takes them above us today.

Liverpool v West Brom – West Brom win takes them above us today.

Sunderland v Pompey – Sunderland win takes them above us today.

West Ham v Everton – West Ham win takes them from level on points with us to three points clear.

Wigan v Stoke – Wigan win takes them above us today.

Tomorrow’s games (assuming we have lost to Chelsea):

Villa v Boro – Boro, one point ahead of us, go four points clear.

Fulham v Newcastle – Fulham win takes them above us, draw takes Newcastle above us on goal difference.

Man City v Spurs – Spurs win sees them only a point behind us.

Now let’s have a look at a revised bottom half of the table if all those results happen that way (unlikely I know) (Please not this table also reflects a win for Fulham over Newcastle and counts goal difference as one better for the winning team/one less for the losing team in each case)

13. Sunderland 15pts gd -6

14. Fulham 14pts gd 0

15. Wigan 14pts gd -2

16. Bolton 14pts gd -2

17. West Brom 14pts gd -7

18. Rovers 13pts gd -8

19.  Spurs 12pts gd -3

20. Newcastle 12pts gd -5

Now that makes for worrying reading to me. I suppose, having been a messenger of doom I should now reflect the best possible outcome for Rovers come Sunday night:

(Again, all games that have a result finish 1-0 to the victors)

Arsenal 2-0 Man Utd (that’s the current score as I write this!)

Liverpool 1 – 0 West Brom

Hull 1-0 Bolton

Sunderland 1-0 Pompey

West Ham v Everton draw

Wigan 1-0 Stoke

Rovers 1-0 Chelsea

Villa 1-0 Boro

Fulham v Newcastle draw

City 0-1 Spurs

By my calculations. These results would be just about the best outcome for Rovers this weekend and would leave the full table looking like this:

1. Liverpool 29pts gd 9

2. Chelsea 26pts gd 22

3. Arsenal 23pts gd 12

4. Villa 23pts gd 6

5. Hull 23pts gd 0

6. Utd 21pts gd 9

7. Everton 16pts gd -4

8. Rovers 16pts gd -6

9. Sunderland 15pts gd -6

10. Wigan 14pts gd -2

11. West Ham 14pts gd -4

12. Boro 14pts gd -6

13. Pompey 14pts gd -7

14. City 13pts gd 4

15. Newcastle 13pts gd -4

16. Stoke 13pts gd -6

17. Fulham 12pts gd -1

18. Spurs 12pts gd -3

19. Bolton 11pts gd -4

20. West Brom 11pts gd -9

I think I’d prefer to see the second one… I must stress that too much must not be read into this as the chances of all those results happening in exactly that way (in either scenario) are slim, be worth a few quid in the bookies!

The Villa game produced a disappointing result. A game we could, and should, have won. If only Santa was available. That’s the problem. Without Roque in the side it’s difficult to see where the goals are going to come from. Fair enough, Benni’s hit two in three, but one was from the penalty spot. I do believe that, if partnered with Santa, the two could work wonders together if both have confidence and are fully fit. Fingers crossed for Sunday.

Was nice to see Warnock get on the scoresheet, and a cracking goal it was too, but Villa’s late first half equaliser was a shocking goal to concede. After that we ended up dead and buried, despite having the better of the play. Emerton’s lovely free kick in the end was only a consolation but reminded us of what the Australian is truly capable of.

Then we went to West Brom on Wednesday. I, as an optimist, saw this as our opportunity to get back to winning ways after four games without a win, three of which against opposition we should be doing better against. Unfortunately my optimism was misplaced and we came away with just a point, and were lucky to do that.

A penalty gave us the lead. Tony Mowbray whinged that it was harsh but it was a clear foul and the Geordie tosser needs to read the rule book. Then, after West Brom equalised and then took the lead, Benni was sent off for a second bookable offence. This was harsh. The referee should have used common sense and simply let the second incident, a dodgy handball, go. Luckily, super Keith Andrews was on hand to smash in a late equaliser and rescue a point.

This brings me on to my next point. Keith Andrews. A man who has had it all to do since he signed. Ince pinched him from MK Dons and immediately everyone moaned about us signing a League Two player bla bla bla. Give the lad a chance! He looks a decent player, full of running, hard worker, team player, good passer and has a good shot on him as well! I like him.

Well that’s the past dealt with, on to the future. Chelski on Sunday (Sky Sports 13:30 – or go to the match!) is going to be a difficult one. I can’t see us being exactly full of confidence. But there’s always a chance we could pull off a surprise. I’m not sure of any team news just yet but I believe Santa may have a chance of returning, and by God do we need him!

With any luck we’ll come out of this with a well earned point before the league and cup double header with Sunderland which can see us getting back to winning ways.

Dan’s prediction (Chelsea): 2-2

Don’t worry it’s still 0-0 so anything can happen.

Some very ominous sounding news, included in the starting eleven but not actually emerging was Santa. He made way for Benni McCarthy who, it would seem plays as a lone striker. Rovers going with five across the middle, MGP back in the side for the match.

The last few meetings with Villa haven’t been too fruitful for us recently.

I’m predicting 2-1 to Rovers.

Sorry for the short build-up piece, it just seems a little pointless as we have already kicked off!

COME ON YOU BLUES!

I jest, of course. I love seeing Newcastle having problems, mainly because of how they have an inflated sense of their own right to be successful. A big city like Newcastle should surely be challenging for world domination..?

As Martin Samuels said in January, Newcastle, you are not special!

Now then, onto today’s game. Newcastle have just appointed a new manager. A manager without any credentials whatsoever. A manager who has been out of the game since December 2004, when he left Nottingham Forest. A manager who, I believe, has a good chance of taking the Magpies down…

Rovers will not be playing against Kinnear, it will be Chris Hughton’s last game as caretaker with Kinnear sitting in the stands. However, I remain confident of victory in the north east.

Anyone who saw the cup match on Wednesday night will agree, Newcastle look rundown. Their dejected fan-base are not happy, the team looks poor and I can’t see any road back for them.

I’m going to stick my neck out and say we’re going to see the first flash of brilliance from a Rovers side under Ince. We were promised a new brand of flowing, attractive football when the Guvnor took charge. Today we will get that and it will see us through to a 3-0 victory!

Set up after a 4-1 thumping of League Two Grimsby, Rovers will know this is a game we should win. The Carling Cup is a competition that clubs like us look to as a possible route into Europe, a competition we indeed won only a few short years ago.

Everton are looking a bit troubled this season, having spent the last few years enjoying success under the excellent stewardship of David Moyes, they have started slowly and were on the end of that opening day shock at the hands of the Rovers!

Hopefully the game will see Carlos Villanueva given some more action, as well as maybe a few of the other fringe players like Simpson and of course Saturday’s goal hero Matt Derbyshire who surely deserves a start.

With Rovers in mixed form and Everton struggling I can definitely see this being a less than attractive affair but reckon Rovers will shade it 2-1. Although I have a funny feeling this one could go to extra time.

Ince will no doubt have one eye on Saturday’s game at another struggling side Newcastle where three points are a real possibility and, as ever, the league being the more important competition I expect to see a few key players being rested.

This could be the perfect opportunity to experiment with some of our younger players and maybe trying different formations.

What I will say is this. Get to the game! I was unable to get to Saturday’s game against Fulham as I was out of town for most of the day, returning late into the second half. I drove past Ewood and saw people in Rovers shirts, not at the game, but on Bolton Road, two minutes from the ground! The club is doing everything it can to fill Ewood Park, where else can you see Premier League action for £15?

So get down tonight and give the lads some support!