anus?

Scott Parker who can't get into Chelsea's first team would be ideal.

No  -For many years it was the biggest crowd I had been in.

I went to that game with my mates. We stood behind the goal on the end nearest the town centre. I was amazed that there were groups of Rovers fans and Wanderers fans all side by side. When we won a corner we all clapped but others were deathly quiet and when they won a corner others were cheering and we were quiet. It was quite weird.

Sam Allardyce was playing in that match. Roger Jones was magnificent for us.

The following day's football headlines read "33,000". There wasn't a space to be seen on the terraces.

The referee had a poor game, letting lots of questionable challanges go with no yellow cards.

The ref had a good game. Two physical teams were allowed to go at each other without (as it turned out) a lot of malice.

I hate refs who want to card every tackle.

Whatever you like. What about a greatest ever club benefactor poll?

2 horse race.

John Lewis and Jack.

three horse race.

Wasn't there a Lawrence Cotton in the early twentieth century whose money helped win two league titles and build the riverside stand?

Am I the only one who thought that Spurs played really well. Rovers were the poorer side except for the opening period of the second half up to when Spurs scored. We tried our best but lost to a much better side.

Let's have a break over Xmas and come back to it in January.

I tend not to go on the computer much during Xmas/New Year.

We have eight quite wonderful left wingers in the poll and I haven't voted yet.

It's time to vote.

Here is a message to all the spotty faced ones. You know how us old geezers keep harping on about Clayton, Douglas, Eckersley etc.??

Well..........You've seen a player in your lifetime who (IMO) is as good as (not better than, but as good as) Bryan Douglas.

Yes, Duffer is as twinkle-toed as the great Duggie.

It is a pity that circumstances have dictated that he could not spend more of his career with the Rovers.

Because of his quality I have to vote for him. He is truly the best left winger (note the old fashioned position name) that I have ever seen play for Rovers.

Just checked the stats. (Based on league games)

Damien Duff

184 games, 28 goals

Wilcox

249 games, 31 goals

That works out that Duff scored 1 in every 7 games and Wilcox got 1 in every 8 games.

Yes that means duff did better on that front but I would like to see how many assists each had.

Just look at your recordings of the great seasons of the Jack Walker era and see how many goals are created and scored by Wilcox. It is quite amazing.

He was never fully appreciated by the crowd and was, IMO, the most under-rated player of that period.

Burscough Bob ; the left wing wizard.

Bobby Langton was born in Burscough, Lancashire on 8th Sept 1918.

He joined Rovers from Burscough Victoria when he was 19 years old, initially as an amateur, soon turning professional in Sept 1938. He contributed to the promotion winning side back to the top flight of the 1938-39 season scoring 14 goals in 37 appearances.

He was a very fast left winger who could cross a ball from every angle. He liked to cut inside from time to time and unleash a shot like a cannonball. I remember one of his goalbound shots cannoning off the forehead of John Charles, the Leeds United centre half, and bouncing on the roof of the Darwen End. The crowd stood in awe as Charles just shook his head instead of collapsing poll-axed. (This was in the 1950s.........I’m not THAT old).

As well as being a winger, he liked to go into the centre forward’s spot to score goals . He could dribble too.

Wartime disrupted everything but after playing for Glentoran in Ireland as a guest and thrilling the spectators there, he made a total of 42 wartime appearances for Rovers scoring 7 goals.

After the war he scored 5 goals in 70 games between 1946 and 1948.

When Rovers were relegated to the second division Langton was sold to Preston North End for £14,000 in August 1948 where he scored 14 goals in 55 games.

In November 1949 Bolton Wanderers bought him for a club record fee of £20,000.

He scored 16 goals in 118 appearances for the Trotters. He played in the 1953 FA Cup Final.

He returned to Ewood aged 34 in Sept 1953 to be part of a well-remembered forward line of Douglas, Crossan, Briggs, Quigley, Langton.

Although age had slowed him down he had lost none of his guile and still thrilled the Rovers fans.

In those three seasons he played 105 games scoring 33 goals.

He was capped for England 15 times; seven of those whilst with Rovers.

My father-in-law reckons he was better than two other great wingers McLeod and Harrison in that he was more skilful than just sprinting down the touchline and crossing the ball; but that was in his young days, not the fifties.

So Bobby was fast, a good dribbler, a good crosser, liked to get into the penalty area and score goals, had a rocket shot and took the penalties. Also he got capped for England in the heyday of Matthews and Finney.

Brotherston, Sellars, Wilcox, Duff - we've not done bad have we? and that's just in my time.

And before them were Wagstaffe, Harrison, McLeod and Langton.

That's another four in my lifetime.

Well done "Soupdragon". Excellent first post and I agree with a lot that you have said.

Come on some more of you "messageboard readers only" and vote for Jimmy Forrest.

It' absolutely scandalous that Sherwood is now in the lead.

Greatest ever midfielder my a*se!

When Sherwood was injured and our two midfielders were McKinlay and Flitcroft we were awsome. As soon as Sherwood was fit again he replaced McKinlay and the team faded.

So much for "greatness"!

The team faded when he was virtually an ever present and we won the Prem ? or was it the season he won Fan's Player of the Year ?

It was after the championship season when Billy McKinlay was with us. I can't remember which particular season, and I haven't access to records at the moment.

It' absolutely scandalous that Sherwood is now in the lead.

Greatest ever midfielder my a*se!

When Sherwood was injured and our two midfielders were McKinlay and Flitcroft we were awsome. As soon as Sherwood was fit again he replaced McKinlay and the team faded.

So much for "greatness"!

Nah, Jimmy Forrest. C'mon 5 FA cup winners medals! No Rover will ever do that again.

No Rover will ever captain us to the Premiership title again either...

That's a very rash statement.

Before Uncle Jack took over I would have said," Rovers will never win the league title again".

Who knows when another rich person (be he Russian or other nationality) might fall in love with our club and pump his billions into us?

Haven't voted yet. I'm torn between Forrest and Latheron. My heart says Latheron but my head says Forrest.

I think I read somewhere that the player who influenced the 1912 and 14 champions was Danny Shea rather than Eddie Latheron.

Must go with the statistics

FORREST for me!

But then a close runner up to O'Mara would be Barry Endean, who Furphy again scandalously swapped for the incomaparble Eamonn Rogers.

Eamonn Rogers was too brilliant a player for third division football.

There was no way Rovers could have kept him once we were relegated.

Martin Britt, anyone, for worst Rover?

Here's a snippet about Healless taken from "Things about Blackburn Rovers" by Harry Kay, published in 1948.

" Harry Healless is a native of Blackburn, and he was the only Blackburn man in the Cup winning team he captained in 1928. He first played for Blackburn Trinity, and then for the Rovers as an amateur in 1914-15, becoming a professional in May, 1919. His last league appearance for the Rovers was against Chelsea at Ewood on December 31, 1932, and his last match with the Reserves was at Stoke on April 15th, 1933.

Harry was one of those footballers who did not develop early; in fact, far from being a star in his teens, he was unknown. When he became a professional for the Rovers he was a centre forward. He played in six other positions. After a period as leader of the attack he went outside right, and later he was right full back, right half, centre half, left half and inside right. In those various berths he was usually good but seldom brilliant. Eventually he became centre-half, and, when big "Billy" Rankin came from Dundee, Healless moved to right half.

During his long career with the Rovers, Harry was capped by England twice.

His capable generalship often pulled the Rovers through when things seemed to be going badly against them. He could last through the most arduous game, and the team often derived encouragement from the fact that he never seemed to tire.

In summer he likes a game of cricket, and was one of the leading batsmen in the Alice Street Wesleyan team, who played in the Blackburn Sunday School League."

I know this is a bit late but what the heck!

The problem is that in the old days there were no midfield players ; only wing halves and inside forwards.

Wing halves were defensive and play-making grafters who were box-to box players but not generally goalscorers.

Inside forwards were attacking play-makers who were expected to score goals as well as creating from midfield.

Here are my choices in each category:-

Inside Forwards:- 1) Roy Vernon 2) Eddie Latheron 3) Jimmy Forrest 4) Eddie Quigley 5) Peter Dobing 6) Eamon Rogers 7) Albert Nightingale 8) jointly Roy Isherwood and Eddie Crossan.

Vernon was terrific in most games he played. Quigley could hit a ball harder than anyone else and sprayed pin-point passes around the pitch. Dobing was absolutely brilliant on his day which was about four games a season. Rogers was another really good player, skilful; Eire international.

I think he lives near me but I've not seen him. He tends to keep to himself.

Wing Halves:- 1)Ronnie Clayton 2) Harry Healless 3) Mick McGrath 4) Barrie Hole 5) Graham Oates 6) Eric Bell 7) Ken Knighton 8) George Sharples.

Enough has been said about "Sir" Ronnie.

Healless, captain of the 1928 cup-winning side. When I was a little boy my dad pointed out a tall (as I thought) man outside the Nuttall Street stand wearing a long brown overcoat and a trilby(?) hat. Dad said "That's Harry Healless" and I just gawped. I was too shy to go up to him. Besides he didn't look like the man holding the cup in the photo I'd seen in the book.

Hole was a really good player and so was Oates but the latter played in a lower league.

It DOES make a difference.

Defensive Midfielders:- 1)Paul Warhurst 2)David Batty 3)Nicky Marker.

I remember commenting to my mate during a Rovers game that in my opinion there were only two "world class" players in the Rovers team; that is, players who looked comfortable on the ball and could "do" things with the ball and "knew" they could do things with the ball. One was Shearer and the other was Warhurst. Shame Paul's career didn't go as it should've; two broken legs for a start.

Attacking Midfielders:- 1) Tim Sherwood 2) Duncan McKenzie 3) Simon Barker 4) Scott Sellars 5) Gordan Cowans 6) Tugay joint 7) Dunn, Berkovic, Ferguson joint 8) Parkes, Flitcroft

Others who I cannot place in any category:- 1) Mark Atkins 2) Stuart Metcalfe 3) Howard Kendal joint 4) Micky Speight and Nicky Reid.

BTW - no-one REALLY believes Atkins was one of our best ever midfielders, do they?

was pivitol in us winning the premiership - Id say so

And I would say that Den is absolutely correct. No way was Atkins pivotal to our winning the championship. He played a part at best.

I wouldn't class Atkins as a great player. The "pivotal" man to us winning the championship was surely Shearer.

But having said that I remember sending Mark Atkins a "Sorry you've gone" card to him at Wolves, and on it I told him something I'd perceived which was :- when he was out of the team we didn't win but when he played we did.

Be interesting for a statto to check that out.

Ronnie was a Preston lad, not a Blackburn but Preston were not willing to sign both him and elder brother Ken.

The Claytons lived in Penwortham near Preston. Both Ken and Ronnie were given a trial by Rovers.

There is some story that Mr Clayton, their father, insisted that both brothers were trialled and if Rovers wanted one, they had to take the other as well. How true this is I don't know.

What I DO know is that Ronnie was being given a trial and he was playing right-half in front of David Gray. My dad was watching this trial and David Gray was constantly shouting instructions to teenager Ronnie. My dad shouted "David, leave the lad alone and let him play his own game."

A chap came up to him to thank him. It was Mr Clayton, Ronnie's father.

Both Ronnie and Ken played for Rovers as wing halves for a short time but Ken faded and Ronnie progressed to captain Rovers and England.

Colin, what a fantastic presentation of the reasons we should all vote for Super Atko.

Mark Atkins was fair to middling as a young right back. I remember the game v Sheff Utd when they were pumping the ball straight down the middle and Rovers defence couldn't cope.

Then Atko was moved to central defence and was a revelation. Every time they hoofed it forward Super Atko headed it back. I can almost see the surprised look on their faces; the faces of the Sheff Utd players that is.

"Jet!... I can almost remember their funny faces".

That brings me to the Dalglish era. The chap sitting in front of me always referred to him as (I thought I heard) "JET" So I always referred to him as "Jet Atkins". Later I learnt that it was "Chet".......Chet Atkins.....some guitar player..pop singer?? ( Gosh, I sound like mi grandad.)

Dalglish only kept two of the players he inherited........Jase-the-ace Wilcox and Jet Atkins

both of whom were fit for the job.

What a strange list. Two names that caught my eye for different reasons were Latheron and Nicky Reid.........Chalk and cheese. Not that I'm old enough to have seen Latheron.

My father was born in 1902 and watched the two championship-winning sides etc. and always raved about Eddie Latheron. Dad died in 1965.

My father-in-law who is now 80 told me recently that when he was a boy in the early thirties, he came home one saturday from Ewood and his grandad said "How did Latheron play?" Of course Latheron had died in World War I. Silly old goat.

But that question brings an image into my mind of a face gleaming with expectancy. I've heard it since and seen that expression with "How did Douglas play?" and "How did Finney Play?" The obvious answer expected would be "Brilliant as ever!"

So Eddie Latheron must have been a VERY special player and fans favourite.

I'm tempted to vote for him alongside the legendary Ronnie Clayton.

My proper judgement for Hughes will emerge when I see what he produces when the transfer market is avaiable...

Forget the transfer market. It IS possible to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. Just look at David Moyes and Everton.

So I'm expecting Sparky and his team to have us out of the bottom four by January.

If he doesn't produce, then I'll start to doubt.

This is the ideal game for Sparky to experiment with the younger lads.

We're going to lose anyway so why not let them have a go.

No point experimenting against the likes of Norwich City. Those points are too precious to lose.

I agree, Jim. I'm disappointed to see Mike Ferguson get only one vote.

He was far better than Ripley who IMO comes next down the list.