Rovers have confirmed the signing of Simon Vukcevic from Sporting Lisbon. The paperwork has been completed in time for the attacking midfielder to be available for tomorrow's game against Everton. Vukcevic will have SIMON and 29 on his shirt. View full article

You may recall some time ago members of this site submitted a number of questions for our Championship winning keeper Tim Flowers, who is Saturday’s opponents, Leicester City’s goal keeping coach. Well this afternoon I had the pleasure of a long and lengthy conversation with Tim, when I submitted your questions. I edited the questions before hand in to subjects to avoid duplication and have transcribed Tim’s replies accordingly. Please excuse any spelling or grammatical errors, but it’s been an exciting day chatting to one of my all time Rover heroes. EVENTS AT ROVERS Posted by: Blueboy How does it make you feel to know that when you had the game of your life in 1995 against the geordies at ewood park - that a grown man was crying, 12,000 miles away in Australia because he knew that we were so close to the pinnacle of the worlds greatest league? It’s always fantastic to find out that you’ve contributed in giving back something to the supporters. Posted by: bellamy11 Does he feel the Newcastle game on VE Day to be the best of his career? That’s a tough one, it’s difficult to say whether it was the best in my career, but it’s one that will live in my memory. I’ve played in a lot of games throughout my career, the memory of the Newcastle game being more about how crucial it was that we didn’t loose, than how I played. Posted by: Jordan (Does he feel the Newcastle game on VE Day to be the best of his career) If not what was the best moment of your career? Best moments, Anfield knowing we were Champions, getting my cap to play against Brazil and the Worthington Cup Final with Leicester. I had a Championship medal then getting to a Wembley Cup Final was a real bonus. Very few people get the opportunity to play in a Wembley final, so I was very fortunate. Posted by: DP Sky recently awarded a save of the decade award to Peter Schmeical. Do you think they completely forgot about the Newcastle VE day game or what? (the one that springs to mind for me was the stop from Ruel Fox near the end) Football is a game of opinions, everyone has different memories of events and judge things differently. Posted by: Radaghast the Brown What was the first thing to enter your mind when Redknapp's free kick flew past you on championship winning day? (I'' understand if the answer is a little too 'colourful' to print (As an aside, thanks for the memories, Tim ) Oh, I could sense the worry from the fans behind me, kept thinking that after all the work that season it was slipping away. By rights we should have won the championship before going to Anfield and nearly threw it away. I kept sensing the crowd reaction, then the roar when the United result came through. In some ways I was glad that we lost, because of all the rumours that Liverpool were going to hand us the Championship. Posted by: colin That Collymore goal. Was the divot created by Tim to mark the centre of the goal or was it just created by normal play? I should have guessed that question, I used to mark the pitch out. Because the Darwen end doesn’t get as much sun, it gets muddier and a groove had developed in the pitch. EUROPE Posted by: Parasyte After the championship win, how dissapointed were you with the European venture? Very disappointed, Al, Micky Newell and myself had been on holiday that summer, and we were looking forward to the European games. Then loosing Kenny was a big blow. We were in a decent group and Spartak Moscow were a very good team, and we nearly got a last minute draw against Warsaw, which might have got us through to the quarter finals. TEAM & PERSONALITIES AT EWOOD. Posted by: Exiled in Toronto What really happened between his pal Shearer and Sutton, which resulted in Al not passing to Sutty in the last 3rd of the championship season? That’s new to me, us players never noticed anything, they were the perfect double act, you only have to look at their goal total in the championship season Posted by: DP The championship squad at Rovers was renouned for having a great team spirit. What went wrong? There was nothing wrong with team spirit, but heads do drop when your loosing. After Ray left, Tony took charge and we dug ourselves out, if there hadn’t been any team spirit we wouldn’t have. Posted by: laughatthedingles what was it like to know jack walker personally? what was he like? I cant say I knew him personally. But he was a magnificent man. He attended every game travelling from Jersey home and away, and it wasn’t because of his position at the club, he just came to watch the team. He was a normal bloke but very powerful man. When I joined the club, I called him Mr Walker and he told me, that if I didn’t call him Jack, then I might as well ###### off. We had some great nights out with him, he had a trick flicking coins into a glass, don’t know how he did it, but he used to bet us, how many he would get into the glass and won every time. Posted by: Exiled in Toronto What were his views of the Rovers managers he played under? Kenny and Ray were magnificent. Roy Hodgson was a brilliant coach, and I learnt a lot from him. He had variety in his coaching and I’m trying to remember and use them now. Posted by: Exiled in Toronto What does Tony Parkes do? He worked closely with Ray coaching the team and his commitment to the club kept us up after Ray left. Posted by: colin Do you keep in touch with any of the Rovers' players from 1995? Al and Micky Newell. And I see Bill Mac everyday at training. I also see Mimmsey as well, as he’s also a keeper coach. At Wolves. I bump in to some of the other lads at games. Saw Jason at Leeds the other day. TRANSFERS Posted by: philipl He was frequently linked with a move to Old Trafford before he came to Ewood. Any regrets? I was never linked with United, but Liverpool came in for me at the same time as Rovers. And I didn’t need much convincing on which club to join as soon as I talked to Kenny. Posted by: Radaghast the Brown Was there any truth in the rumour that Celtic were interested in you before you joined Leicester? Celtic….Not that I know of. I was playing in the second string, when Kidd put me in the team to play Oldham a week before the start of the season. Martin O’Neill was at the game, so I guess he’d been talking to Rovers and wanted to see me playing. Next day I signed for Leicester. LEAVING ROVERS Posted by: Hasta In your opinion was the curtain brought down on your Ewood career prematurely? Posted by: Dr Rich Do you feel you deserved to lose your place to John Filan when you did, especially considering the fact that with all due respect to John, he's hardly been a massive success since? Posted by: Seggie Do you feel any Bitterness towards Brian Kidd for Ending your Rovers career prematurely? Posted by: colin Seriously, and sorry, this one may smart..... You seemed to go from being a championship-winning player to Stockport County's reserve keeper in a very short time. Do you feel you should have been in the big time for longer? (Good luck Tim, you were good.) Yes, I believe my time at Rovers was brought to a premature end, and that’s with no disrespect to John Filan. Managers have their opinions, so you have to accept it if your not first choice. Leaving Rovers was hard but there is never any point in hanging around if your not making any contribution to a team. PERSONAL Posted by: Nayef why did you decide to become a goalkeeper? As a kid I played striker and centre half, but my best position was in goal. I was determined to be a professional footballer, so when I was 12-13 I concentrated my game on being a keeper. I started playing for a Sunday league team and Wolves signed me from there. Posted by: Modi If you had your career over again, would you prefer to have been a goal scorer instead of a goal keeper? No, I’ve had a fantastic time and loads of fun along the way. Posted by: cn174 When you was a youngster which goalkeepers were your role models? Liverpool were the team in my youth and Clements was the keeper to model on, then I signed for Southampton from Wolves, and Shilts another of my heroes was there, which was a great experience training with him. Posted by: roversismylife & cn174 What was the best or most important save that you have ever pulled off? Great keeper for us. Tough one, the Newcastle game was very important for the team, so maybe during that game. Posted by: Parasyte If David Seaman wasnt such a good GK in his day, do you think you would have made a bigger impact on the English game as a whole, and not just your international career? Another tough one, I don’t know. Stepping up from the reserves to the first team, you have to have a run of games to establish yourself. It’s the same at international level. Something I never had. I got my 11 caps over a 6-7 year period. Posted by: ihatethedingles & Seggie What was your worst moment in a Rover's shirt? That we didn’t consolidate our position after the championship, looking back we should have strengthened the team and didn’t make an impact. If you look at the other clubs they have strengthened their squads after winning trophy’s. I didn’t like leaving Rovers the way I did either. Posted by: The Dart Does he think more ex-professionals should become referees? The laws are difficult these days and refs have a bad time, every thing they do is monitored by tv and from supervisors. If players want to be refs, then good luck to them, there would be less bookings if players were refs. Posted by: AlanK What was in Tim`s BOTTLE this Xmas The first Christmas that I haven’t played, so was able to have a bottle of wine with my Christmas dinner, Would have preferred to have missed the drink though and played against Al and Newcastle on Boxing day. Posted by: laughatthedingles Is it true you will need/already need/have had a hip replacement ? (My sister might be able to sort a cheapen out for you!) was this just caused by football? I have my operation in June, They sawed off a top of my leg, installed a metal peg into the bone. The peg is capped with half a metal ball, about the size of a tennis ball. Then it’s refitted into the hip. It will take about a year to get right. At least I don’t have so much pain now and can wellie a ball again. As for your sister, thanks for the offer, give Alan her telephone number, in case I need another op Posted by: laughatthedingles when are you coming back to rovers?? (Thank you for everything you did "england's number 1, england's, england's number 1" ) SATURDAY Posted by: Seggie What does it feel like to have the record for the fastest Red Card for a Premiership Goalkeeper? Thanks for that, it was against Brian Deane who is now at Leicester. He keeps reminding me, he says I wasn’t fast enough so why did I bother. I broke my big toe in the tackle, so it’s recovery coincided with the 3 match ban that I picked up. Posted by: Crunching Tackler & laughatthedingles who would you say are the 3 toughest opponents you've faced? So many, Al, Sherringham, Ferdinand, Ian Wright always gave me a bad time at Southampton, but not at Rovers. Teams, Brazil and Italy, Posted by: laughatthedingles who was the best player you have played with? Al, Matt le Tiss, Lennon, Heskey. Posted by: rover6 Who was the best centre half you played behind? Colin, Henchoz Adams, Palister, oh and I better say Ruddock, or he’ll beat me up Posted by: Crunching Tackler Can you see yourself ever becoming a manager? Don’t know, but I wouldn’t rule it out. I’m currently enjoying my role coaching the keepers, but I’m also doing my UEFA coaching badges. Posted by: 1864roverite which pies he rates as the top 5 Sylvia the cook at Rovers made some good pies. Barnsley pies where ok as well, they used to bring a big tray of them into the changing room. GOALKEEPERS Posted by: Tim Southampton Rover With the increase amount of foreign players playing in the Premier League, do you think England will struggle to produce world class goal keepers like we have done in previous years such as Shilton, Seaman and yourself? Posted by: Big A Only a small number of Premiership clubs have English goalkeepers now. Do you think this trend will continue to the detriment of the national team? No disrespect to non English keepers, but with limited English keepers getting premiership experience it doesn’t help. However there are a number of good English keepers about. Posted by: cn174 The day after Higuita did the scorpion kick in the England v Colombia game did you try it in training? No I was never that supple, Not even with the new hip. Posted by: 92er How do you evaluate Brad Friedel-strengths and weaknesses? He has confidence, has a huge frame, can kick a mile, makes great saves and I don’t see any weakness. Posted by: Parasyte Buffon and Kahn - both always said to be the best GK's in the world. Who would you say is better and why? Would have to say on current performance Buffon. He’s young and a top class performer. Posted by: Seggie Who is the Number One Premiership Goalkeeper in your opinion? There are a number of good keepers in the premier, Friedel, Given at Newcastle, Niemi at Southampton and I was impressed on how Howard adjusted so quick to the premier league. Posted by: modes98 What tips would he give to a young keeper who wants to improve his game? *my uncle was in Tim's year at school in kenilworth* Work hard, be determined and practice all the time. If possible get a coach. When I was a kid I used to practice on my own, kicking a ball against a tree or wall then diving to catch it. Posted by: Crunching Tackler whats the best thing about being a goal keeper? You get gloves to keep yourself warm in winter. And a tracksuit bottom. Posted by: Crunching Tackler What do you think is the most important attribute for goalkeepers? Stopping the ball. Keeping calm, concentration. Good foot work is very important in the game now. Posted by: Crunching Tackler Whats the best advice you've heard? Always work at your game. Take notice of experienced players and coaches. Upton my coach at Wolves always stressed work ethics as did Mike Kelly at Southampton, who coached me in to becoming a premiership and international keeper. Copyright www.brfcs.com 2004. View full article

After failing to agree new terms with the club, Benjani has left the Rovers. It is understood a number of Championship clubs have shown an interest in signing the Zimbabwean striker. Rovers goalkeeper Jason Brown has joined Aberdeen on a two-year contract. The Welsh international's career was restricted to 16 games in six seasons at Ewood due to the consistent form of Paul Robinson and Brad Friedel. View full article

Rovers completed their preparations for the start of the 2011-12 Premiership season with a 4-1 win against Kilmarnock this afternoon. Despite a Grant Hanley own goal within 10 minutes, Rovers turned the game around with goals from Dunn (penalty) and Roberts within two minutes. Rovers went in at half-time 3-1 up after Roberts scored his second from the penalty spot. New signing Goodwillie came on for Roberts in the second half and capped his debut with a goal, to make the final score 4-1 to the Rovers. View full article

Rovers have named Duncan Robertson as their new club doctor. Forty-nine-year-old Robertson served for over twenty years in the army, specialising in sports and exercise medicine, before becoming a club doctor at Derby County, Aston Villa and Chelsea. View full article

Rovers striker Jason Roberts has signed an extension to his contract that will keep him at the club until the summer of 2012. View full article

Substitute Brett Emerton's injury-time strike gave Rovers their first away win of the season. Rovers took the lead in the first half, thanks to an own goal, when Blackpool's Charlie Adam headed into his own net. Blackpool substitute Matt Phillips equalized 5 minutes before the final whistle; however, Emerton had the final word with a low left-foot shot into the corner. Blackpool 1-2 Blackburn (HT 0-1) Phillips 85 Adam (og) 20, Emerton 90+3 View full article

Blackburn's Jake Kean, out on a month's loan to Hartlepool United, was praised by United manager Mick Wadsworth after the young keeper helped Hartlepool gain a point in their 0-0 draw against Brentford yesterday. Northern Echo Match Report View full article