Glad some of you disapprove. Leaves more room for me and my friends.

Eagle and Child in Leyland is under new management. Beer is good. All day breakfast (2 eggs, 2 sausages, tomato, bacon, beans & chips) for £2.50 is excellent. It's closing for one week for refurbishment soon. I'm not sure when.

Parched peas and treacle toffee were expected standard fair around the bonfire on Nov 5th, always made by the local women, i.e. my mum and my mates' mums. The cockle man would come into the pubs in the 1970s with basket on arm selling cockles, prawns, mussels. I once bought a bag of mushrooms from him. The first time I ate raw mushrooms; delicious.

Michael Winner is, and has always been, to me an absolute t**t. He makes my flesh creep. He's like the PC brigade; totally obnoxious yet commands some sort of power. Big 'eaded tit. How come we cannot get rid of these types of people and stop them from interfering in our lives?

Even at Murrayfield?

They'd have been better off waiting for Phil Brown to be sacked.

I noticed a player for Germany's women's football team named Peter and checked out Sergio on Wikipedia. No wonder Rovers got rid. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergio_Peter The last paragraphs are thus:- It was revealed by Blackburn Rovers on 2 January 2009 that Sergio was expected to sign for Sparta Prague within 24 hours.[1] and the move was completed that very same day.[2] Sergio failed to make impression in his first months spent with Sparta and now he only plays for the reserves. The team assistant manager Martin Hasek said that the main problem is Sergio's poor fitness condition. Till the end of April, he just appeared in one game, being substituted after just 45 minutes. In summer 2009, Sparta Prague released Sergio Peter for his unprofessionality. [edit]

Yes, Jim. When Ferguson was with us he thought our big rivalry was with Bolton and was disappointed when there was a poor derby atmosphere.

I hope Barry is looking forward to the intense rivalry and unbelievable atmosphere of Brum's local derby against er Stoke? Wolves? Oh no. It's Coventry and they are in a different division.

I've just finished Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. It was a paperback hanging round the house so I thought I'd better read it in case I ever get on "Who wants to be a millionaire" or become a member of a team challenging the "Eggheads". I've never seen a TV series or a film but had heard of Heathcliff and Cathy. The narrator is a Mr Lockwood but for most of the book he gives the narration of Nellie Dean who at one point gives a narration to him of Isabella. Confused? If you are feeling cheerful don't read this as you will finish up miserable and if you are feeling down don't read this because you'll become suicidal. I feel sorry for the schoolchildren who are forced to read such stuff.

That's precisely what I'm getting at. "He has to send the player off". This should not be the case. Referees should NOT have to go by the letter of the law.

Watched both games which I enjoyed. Arsenal were the poor side and the other three were superb. I just get frustrated that the beautiful game has been damaged by silly interfering instructions given by the powers that be to the officials. For example, Fletcher's tackle last night. The ref should have given a penalty (as he saw it) but NO card. Yellow cards should be for persistent fouling or a one-off bad challenge (in old fashioned terms "a caution") and a red card for violent conduct or a really cynical foul. Refs are not allowed to use their own judgement. And they should give EVERY foul they see, such as shirt pulling, arms around an opponent etc. It's time we had goal-line technology, video replay by the fourth official, and time-keeping taken away from the ref. Chelsea should have scored a second tonight to make sure and should have been awarded a penalty instead of a free kick in the first half. All other penalty shouts were dubious. However, all credit to Barca. They remind me of Man Utd with their never-say-die attitude. It'll be a great final to watch in Rome (on the telly, of course).

Wish we had Joe Haverty on the left wing now! Yes, Mike Harrison had huge thigh muscles, took a mean penalty kick, but I still remember his back pass to an out-of-position Fred Else when the ball rolled ever so slowly into the goal at the Blackburn End towards me.

Well found, Hannah. It made me chuckle as well.

I've just listened to an hour-long interview of David Dunn on Radio Lancashire. What a great interview. Dunny came across very well and explained many things including his time at Ewood under Hodgson, Kidd and Souness; his move to Brum and his time there under Steve Bruce. He spoke about the great camaraderie among the team that Souness had and how they would run that bit extra for each other; mentioned Janson, Duff, Flitcroft, Gillespie, Taylor, Curtis as part of all this. Talked about the present Hughes regime and how preparation is so meticulous; it's now treated seriously and not like a bit of fun. He also mentioned people who came up to him, a lot of them saying negative things to him. This was before he went to Brum. Anyway, I have a greater respect for footballers as a whole, and Dunny in particular, for giving me an insight into the money world of ordinary people who have footballing talent. I'm now convinced he DOESN'T eat pies!

Wow! A top six spot! I'm chuffed as a maggot. Does this mean I have to predict next year's qualifiers for the UEFA Cup from all over Europe? Thanks to Philly Rover for doing the sums.

I also had Liverpool to be top. It's amazing how many had Newcastle to finish in the top six or seven. At least I had faith in Reading doing well, predicting 14th. (well, better than most others predicted)

I can’t believe how many of you haven’t got a good word to say for Lucas Neill. Fancy booing the captain of Blackburn Rovers for several games. Shame on you! Who do you think you are; Burnley supporters? Lucas has been a good servant for us. He’s never let us down. He’s always played like a true professional even in the latter days. Mark Hughes knew this and trusted Lucas as captain. And I trust Sparky’s judgement. Does it really matter where he has gone to? If someone offered you a raise of 25K per week I’m sure you’d refuse! I think not. He came to us from Millwall in London. Maybe it’s a case of wanting to return to “Bright Lights” for his social life. At least West Ham let him know they wanted him whereas Liverpool didn’t seem bothered. I say good luck, Lucas. Thanks for all you’ve done for us.

First time I've seen him and I was very impressed. I would like to see more of Derbs, Peter, Gally, Jeffers and Mceverly; Also Bring Taylor back from Crewe. Today Matt Derbyshire played the second half in the right midfield position and had speed, skill and zest. The only criticism was he didn't seem to be hungry for the ball from throw-ins. That might sound double dutch, but I want to see more of him.

Surely David Platt started his career at Crewe Alexandra.

It's quite clear over several months that things are not right on the training ground. Week after week we hear the following problems that the team have:- 1)Cannot defend corners. 2)Cannot defend free kicks 3)Cannot defend throw-ins 4)Lose concentration (Which, incidentally, I don't believe) 5)Don't pick up loose opponents when defending 6)Keep giving the ball away 7)Can't take good enough corners 8)Don't take scoring chances And watching them at Ewood is frustrating because they are so slow at turning defence into attack. Crystal Palace with Wright and Bright some years ago springs to mind as an example of how it should be done. They haven't played well all season IMO. Much as I like Hughes as manager, I think it's about time he realised that something's wrong in the tactics part of the training. Get it sorted, Sparky. If your backroom staff can't do it then change some personnel.

Well let's pick him!!

I bet you Marcus Bent gets the winner for them:-(

Jay McEverly, co-commentator on Radio Lancs for tonight is making good sense; talks a good game.

All we need is a Rovers goal. Cummmm ONNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!