If it's a Japanese film you want try 'Spirited Away' (Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi) by Hayao Miyazaki. It's animated but not just a kids film and is a classic. It's rated 51st best film of all time at IMDB...very high for a foreign film - Spirited Away. As for something like Constant Gardener...The Tailor of Panama is another Le Carre adaptation and although not has good is still an interesting film.

Oh for crying out loud... It's like Groundhog Day on here with you.

Was in Liverpool today so picked up a copy of the local rag (The Echo) and read an interesting piece about the Academy system which Rafa Benitez has criticised recently. Was pleased to see that the Rovers Academy was singled out for special praise by those involved in schoolboys football in Merseyside and particularly in comparison with Everton and Liverpool. In fact it seems that we have a good chance of producing some Scouse stars in the future a la Rooney, Gerrard (OK...maybe not in the class of those two) or Kevin Nolan. Link online is here - 'We're Losing Future Stars' Quote - ""I feel we've now reached a stage where we are losing outstanding players out of the city, particularly to Blackburn. Blackburn are always willing to work with the associations and schools." As with everything to do with the Academy...it will take a lot of time. The instant results demanded in the Premiership just doesn't seem compatible with youth development at all...never mind singling out the Academy system.

The question is do we really want people at Ewood who are only willing to pay £3? What would be the point of buying a season ticket when they are that low? Even saving the hassle of booking individual games wouldn't be worth it. I'm all for cheaper tickets but if they aren't careful then the club will completely devalue the perceived cost of seeing football at Ewood. The product will be seen as next to worthless if they go too far. Why should so many people who refuse to pay higher prices get in cheaply while the hardcore fans are shafted? Unless the club radically brings down prices across the board will it be acceptable and, by doing that, we must also realise they are gambling with the future of the club. Rovers cannot afford to get this wrong and just put the prices back up.

Good idea Jordan. Although if the club doesn't have someone (or it should be a few people) to check the messageboards which their fans post their feelings onto then we really are in trouble.

There are signs that, slowly but surely, the Academy is producing. No players that are any great shakes I agree but there are more involved in squads than before. We have some players who deserve looking at which is more than we have had for the last few seasons. I'm not suggesting they are Premiership standard...but one day some might be. That doesn't sound ideal but it is still a big improvement on what we were seeing a few years ago. Some examples are that these players can be used as cover. Why pay Matteo huge sums (and he will be on a hefty wage as all we did was take over his contract from Leeds) when someone like Andy Taylor can do so? For the saving in wages it should be worth it. Hughes considers them as adequate cover should we so need - Duo Recalled From Loan Spells Both Andy Taylor and Tony Kane have been recalled so as to provide cover. Andy Taylor seems to have impressed at Crewe from the (limited) amount of posts I could find about him from Alex supporters. Comments such as - "Heard a rumour we have got him for another month - does anyone know this for a fact?? Also seen something on the rivals board... Great if it's true!" "This is good news,pity we can't have him for the rest of the season." "No chance of that, it is reported that Birmingham City are interested in signing him." OK...it's only League One but "good" and "great" are undoubtedly positive signs. John Williams has mentioned before that the club only wants to buy players that can go straight into the team whereas the squad players should come from the Academy. It seemed a bit worrying at the time considering our recent output but there are some signs that it may come true eventually. Well...we can but hope, eh?

The guy will be gone in a few weeks most likely. No point rocking the boat now...keep him in the team and as captain while benefiting us. Taking the armband off him will do no good and might be resented by the other players. Neill seems a popular character at the club and it seems the players have no problem with his captaincy. Best to let sleeping dogs lie...won't be long now until the likes of Barcelona and AC Milan are duking it out for his services. When Lucas wakes up from that dream he'll probably go to Liverpool as they are likely to be the only big club to be in for him. Can't say I blame him really...we've had far more disloyal players than he at the club recently. Hope he doesn't slag off the club and the town when he leaves though despite the recent incidents...that would just show a lack of gratitude to the people who paid good money to support him for years. Like Stephane Henchoz did. And Richard Witschge. And...are there any others?

That's what I have done. I've been before to buy a scarf and they had none in. In the end I bought one from a guy who sells a load of Rovers memorabilia near the Aqueduct pub. I haven't been the club shop for the last few months as most of the stock was of poor-quality, cheap tat. In past years and prior to the involvement of Sports World I have spent a lot of money all told in there. How many customers have they lost through poor management and low quality merchandising? Funnily enough if it had been by Rovers then I would have forgiven poor standards (though not liked them) as the money does help Rovers. Now I feel no loyalty to it whatsoever and am more than happy to..rightly...criticise when standards are not maintained.

The most dangerous thing about this is the perception fans can receive. It seems as if the club can't be bothered anymore. It's too much hassle running a club shop and they won't make as much money. There is damage to the image of Rovers being a well-run club when the 'club shop'* seems so poor. This Sports Soccer is giving out a negative image of the club and it seems that Rovers can't do anything to improve the situation. * - Now, because the store is in front of the Blackburn End, on Rovers grounds and the club has spent years building up the location as a retail outlet...it remains the club shop. Nothing to do with Rovers? Wrong...they are making money from it still aren't they? Not having scarves or hats is just pathetic...what are this Sport World lot playing at?

Blackburn recall Taylor from loan

When was the last time we came from behind to win away in the Premiership? An excellent result and much needed before next week's trip to The Emirates Stadium. Only moves us up one place however.

Ut oh...

Oh great...are we back to the days of worrying how the teams in the relegation zone do? All we need now is for Hughes to pick three centre halves and three left-sided players in the starting lineup and it will be like the end of the Souness era! Hey, wait a minute....

Or 5-4-1 even?

We obviously don't have anyone other than Benni likely to score so why bother with two up front away from home? 4-5-1 (I guess it's that???) is a good decision for this game considering how woeful our recent performances away from home playing 4-4-2 again. Rather amazed Jay is in the side though. Pedersen in central midfield with either Gray or McEveley on the left wing?

If it's the scouting that isn't working does this represent scouts not doing their jobs properly or can we not compete for the better players the scouts find? If we can't compete...then why not. Jack Walker set up the Academy so we could compete for the best young players. We can't expect to beat Man Utd to the very best youngsters but we should still picking up a few more that can challenge for a first-team place than we seem to have been doing.

The changes have certainly worked wonders for our league form this season!

Our UEFA Cup attendances haven't been that bad when placed in the context of what other English teams have attracted at this stage. This season for our first three games we have seen... v. Salzburg - 18,888 v. Basle - 13,789 v. Nancy - 12, 568 Last year Bolton got - v. Lokomotiv Plovdiv - 19,723 v. Zenit St Petersburg - 15,905 v. FC Sevilla - 15,623 and Middlesbrough... v. FC Xanthi - 14,191 v. Dnipro - 12,953 v. Liteks Lovetch - 9,436 So the averages work out at (quickly checks calculator) - Bolton - 17,084 Rovers - 15,082 Middlesbrough - 12, 193 So are our Uefa Cup attendances poor? Well they are much higher than Boro's were last season and compare favourably with Bolton's attendances. Especially when we take into account that it was their FIRST ever European campaign and that, in Seville, they are the only one of the three teams to have played a top-class club from a quality league in one of their home games. So...our attendances haven't been TOO bad for Europe at least. Unfortunately we can't compete with the attendances of Newcastle and Spurs - two big city clubs. Spurs have been playing to sell-outs but then it is their first continental campaign this century and as for Newcastle...well, despite supposedly having the best fans in the world they are still averaging under 30,000 in the UEFA. So...the crowds haven't been great at Ewood but for a town club we aren't doing so bad. Now...the club just needs a few more at the league games!

OK well we wouldn't have spent that much on the Academy alone as that is assuming we made no money from sales of young players from there and also presuming that we would have spent no money on youth development whatsoever. Anyway...let's take £20 million as a ball-park figure... We probably spent about £20million all told on Andy Cole. We discovered by the end that he had been on £60,000 a week. Add that to the huge fee and what would have been a colossal signing-on fee for the then England international starter playing for the reigning champions. We were also desperate... So the choice would be - was the performance of Andy Cole during his career at Ewood worth sacrificing eight years of youth development? Even as a big Andy Cole fan the answer to that has to be NO. Actually I was tempted to use Kevin Davies or Corrado Grabbi as my example but that would have been like shooting fish in a barrel. Really my point was more that all of those excellent young players would most likely have been snapped up by the other clubs with the better set-up and academy rather than they would have come through or not without an Academy. That is a question we really don't know enough to be able to try to answer. It remains a 'What If?'.

Well...first I didn't mean anybody in particular but instead all those saying these players will never be good enough. To those people...they're kids so give them a chance (Matty, Nolan and Peter at least) and stop boring everyone by trying to be 'right' first. Last season Boro played a match with almost all the first team composed of academy players. West Ham's has produced a string of players. Their academies are producing. Do you think they would have all come through regardless? Well...we won't know for certain but without an academy I'd expect few if any would have come through at West Ham. Whether that means an Academy is essential I don't know but I don't think we should take a gamble of getting rid of the whole thing just to save a million or so a year which can be wasted on huge wages for the likes of Matteo, Amoruso or whoever. Even a player on supposedly low wages such as Mokoena will I'd wager be paid more weekly than all five of the youngsters on show on Wednesday. Yet Mokoena isn't Premiership standard either. At least the youngsters have another five years to develop. Now I don't like to call for anybody to lose their job but if a department in any well-run business does not perform consistently then changes will be made. If this continues...will Rovers make changes? Is the Academy well run? I'd like to hear from anyone who does know more about it as I've no idea if it is all just down to luck or something more fundamental. Or are Rovers as enthusiastic about it as they were with another (apparent) loss-maker in the club shop which they were happy to be off their hands? With all these takeovers meaning some of our rivals are getting richer and richer...we may have to rely on the Academy soon. Questions...who wants the Academy scrapped? Why? What would replace it? What do you think the repercussions would be?

The country has moved on from the days when kids practiced on the streets and spent hours knocking a ball against a wall. Other sports like tennis and athletics groom their athletes for years before they get anywhere. Football is now moved into the same sphere. Bringing up Ronnie Clayton or Bryan Douglas doesn't work. The landscape is different. Of course it would be better to not spend the money on the Academy and still get players but seeing as they will all already be at other clubs that seems like a particularly self-defeating approach. The foundations are in place for future stars to be brought through. Our Academy is showing signs of producing squad players. The likes of Peter and Derbyshire can only get better and it bemuses me to see people on here taking so much relish in seeing them fail and being able to write them off. Why can we give players bought by the club chance after chance after chance yet "supporters" will write off a 19-year old like Nolan on the strength of a debut lasting little more than an hour against one of France's top teams (OK, maybe not that good). Bringing a kid through takes patience and time but if we only get one local lad into the squad every few years then it is still worth it. What do people want instead of an Academy? If you want to save the full shebang then that means no youth team at all. Otherwise we may be talking about relatively little in terms of economy. I'm yet to be convinced that Academies don't work as such...just that Rovers aren't doing it well. Yet failure seems to be being rewarded by secure jobs despite continuing underachievement.

Strikers miss chances. All of them. Missing one chance does not mean he isn't good enough. Matty might not be good enough but it will take more than just one chance to determine that. Other than that I agree. The output from the Academy isn't good enough but who is doing something about it? Surely if it keeps failing to produce then a shake-up of personnel is called for. What new ideas are being brought in? New scouts? Or are Rovers just an easy option? It's a concern that there have been so many people disgruntled with what they see as favouritism and favouring those with strength rather than skill. Some might be explained by those wanting their kid to succeed but the volume indicates a concern.

It's much easier to be critical than supportive. Hence people writing off young lads just starting their careers on the basis of a couple of appearances. Mind you, Gally and Jay seem to have been given enough chances so the jury is out on them.

Maybe if we'd started booing him a few years ago somebody might have been bothered enough to actually pay decent money for him in the summer. Benitez seems to be looking at him as a bargain buy rather than someone to actually pursue with any real vigour.

We could have done with Johnson this season certainly to bolster the squad. Good player who never lets the team down and can play in a variety of positions. A real mistake of Souness to let him go so cheap. Not that he is anything special...just better and more reliable than squad players we currently have such as Matteo and Mokoena. No doubt a lot cheaper wages than Matteo as well.