WAS IT two weeks ago I mentioned football remained a funny old game?

OK -- hands up. On Saturday at 3pm who predicted that a point saving 93rd minute free kick would be enough to send England through to Japan and South Korea as Germany struggled to 0-0 at home against Finland? Nope, me neither.

Beckham apart, the less said about the performance the better. Have so many players of so much talent ever played so badly in the same game? The left side of the midfield seems a particular problem and on Saturday's evidence there is plenty of incentive for Matt Jansen to try to force his way into the reckoning before next summer. Assuming that is he can recover the sort of form for Rovers we all know he is capable of.

In my view the seniors were eclipsed by the young guns at Ewood on Friday night. After a so-so spell in charge of Forest, David Platt has done a surprisingly fine job since taking over from Mr Charisma, Sergeant Wilko.

From Rovers' point of view the night was an unmitigated success. Dunny revelled in a central midfield role and did more than enough to confirm that a midfield pairing with Tugay would be a viable and potentially very exciting option.

All credit to the lad for coming straight back in after a six-week lay-off and showing such a high level of fitness and form over the last two games.

The near capacity crowd was also rare for a match of this nature and must bode well for similar occasions being staged at Ewood again in the future.

Still with the internationals out of the way, on to the important stuff. If Boro decide to turn up tomorrow night, we've two vital home games to come this week. I hope this winnable Worthington Cup tie is accorded a little more importance this year than last season's youth team outing at West Ham. A place in the last 16 at stake, a UEFA place for the eventual winners. Not to be sniffed at at the current stage of our development.

On Sunday the West Ham game has a "must win" look to it even at this stage of the season.

I'm sure Glenn Roeder will be fondly remembered by many Rovers fans for his stunningly successful role as Chrissy Waddle's able sidekick in charge of Burnley a few seasons ago.

Indeed he seems to have continued in the same happy vein in East London. Team in a claret and blue shirt getting stuffed most weeks etc. Nothing wrong with that, let's hope his team keep up the good work on Sunday.

Finally, I thought there was mixed news coming out of the club this week in terms of transfer incomings and outgoings. The good news was the acquisition of Nils-Eric Johansson, a great signing for the club with far more potential in my view than several other options mentioned such as Martin Grainger from Birmingham.

The down side for me was lack of a new contract offer for Damien Johnson. I find it difficult to fathom why we would even consider simply letting a bright young international talent go.

Even if Souey reckons there are better options in the position, surely the situation should not have got to the stage where his contract is allowed to expire and we collect a nominal fee at best.

The situation smacks of the David May situation seven years ago. Another case of a home sprung talent not being given the same recognition as the one brought in from outside?