There has been far more evidence published previously than was brought up on last night's program yet very little was actually done about it. The only reason this program made headlines was because it was hyped up as a BBC primetime broadcast, yet it was something a limp wristed affair...maybe they couldn't show much of their evidence? Craig Allardyce brought up his solicitor pdq during that phone call, I expect others would have done so too. Either that or it was a truly abysmal waste of a documentary. It's pretty obvious that there is some corruption in the game and bungs get paid, everyone knows it goes on...it would be worrying if it was widespread. Yet there has been little desire by the FA or the Premier League to appoint any individual or task force that has powers to actually go in and do something about it. So it is very difficult to get any proof whatsover. Often the proof comes from outside the country, George Graham's downfall was brought about because of a Danish journalist rather than anything the FA did. Part of the new Labour government's manifesto mentioned the wish to clean up football and to appoint an outside regulator to govern football...but once it got bogged down in the Wembley fiasco under Ken Bates and the even bigger fiasco of the 2006 World Cup bid they kind of gave up. Will this lead to an indepndent body with the power to actually examine how much money is going out of the game and where to? Wouldn't bet on it.

This has come up before but it still leaves me perplexed...why do Rovers have to get an agent to try to get rid of some players, such as Hignett? Why can't Rovers themselves see if anyone else is interested in players they are trying to offload? Instead the transfer involved paying Jon Holmes at the SFX agency and then the guy Rovers turned to, Monaco-based Mike Morris, wanted a £75,000 cut too. Why are Rovers paying out so much for what seems such a straight-forward transfer. Unknowns from abroad I can just about understand but getting rid of Hignett to his former manager Dave Bassett...why does that require the involvement of (plural here as well, not singular) agents? It's not as if Hignett was an unknown quantity in the English game.

It should also be remembered that it was Neill's agent that came out to the press and told all and sundry that Lucas would not be signing another contract. It would be in his interest to push for a transfer so maybe Lucas is more open to the idea of staying at Rovers than his agent has implied. Everybody in the game knows it goes on but the FA and the Premier League prefer everything to be hushed up and hate the idea of any outside interference in their affairs. They are closed and have been related to Square Mile instutions in the early eighties before they were forced to open up their affairs to more outside scrutiny. It's a shame the program didn't dig up more as most will now just be swept under the carpet, as per usual. Is football corrupt? Of course. Does anyone care? Not really, they just want their team to have the best players.

Davies without doubt. Grabbi wasn't the best but he did try, didn't have a big hand in sending us down and wasn't out boozing in Preston (Squires nightclub was it?) with Omar Konde not long before the match that sent us down. I'm baffled as to who would cite Nathan Blake as worst ever signing - not the best, but not too bad either and scored some goals in our promotion season. Remember quite a few he scored, including one at Gillingham after we'd won promotion. So, not a hero but hardly deserves to be lumped with Davies and Grabbi. As for 'cheaper' awful buys - Simon Grayson, Steve Harkness, Darren Peacock (a rip-off free transfer!), Per Pederson and, at £5.3million, Christian Dailly, were all awful.

We could have used "Duff...Duff Changes Everything", especially if he came on as sub, but he's gone to Newcastle so that's no use after all.

I don't think it's the case that lowering prices across the board will bring many more people into Ewood...my previous points have been more along the lines of how putting Cat A+ ticket prices on Sunday games against those teams who don't bring so many fans (such as Chelsea) is backfiring. Ultimately though the club on the whole is charging as little as it can while also trying to bring in revenue. There are some little things the club can do (as have been put forward) but in reality nothing will really affect the overall situation. However, I do think it is imperative that pubs are made to stop showing foreign broadcasts of games. It would bring a few more back to Ewood (stop them getting their football kick for next to nothing at the pub and some would come along at least every now and then) although hundreds probably rather than thousands. Even this will only be a short-term measure however until all games are shown on Sky/Pay per view etc. Tickets for English football matches are too expensive but that isn't the fault of Rovers - it's the greed of the Premiership as a whole.

If we win by two goals and some of the other games today go for us then we will be in the top half! Then we'll all be going "so much for the crisis then!"...and the same posters worried about relegation will be expecting a champions league spot again! However I'll be happy with just the three points... 2-1 Rover!

It'd be a lot easier if they just stop moving for a while!

If people like reading about adventure and extreme climates then an excellent writer to try is Fergus Fleming. All his books are superb. The best was probably 'Barrow's Boys', which follows the expeditions sent out by Sir John Barrow in the nineteenth century to try to explore Africa, Antarctica and the Arctic. Mostly the tales end in gruesome deaths but they are fascinating nonetheless.'Ninety Degrees North' tells the tale of the fight by many countries to plant their flag on the North Pole, a pursuit that lasted for centuries involving a host of nations and many thought it couldn't be done. Another very interesting read...includes lots of death, losing toes to frostbite and how people over a century ago put themselves in situations where they had to survive at temperatures of -50 and more...and that's without taking the windchill factor into account Garrincha: The Triumph and Tragedy of Brazil's Forgotten Footballing Hero by Ruy Castro is also recommended. On the back cover is a quote from Pele - "Without Garrincha, I would never have been a three-time world champion"...and this tells the rags-to-riches tale of a boy who really did come from a dirt-poor village. Garrincha was seen as being so simple that when other players negotiated their contracts they used to say "Hey...who do you take me for? Garrincha?". The poverty he grew up in was, in a way, his making as his managled legs - one knee pointed inward, the other out - meant he could bamboozle opposing fullbacks. The background was also his downfall as his later years were spent in alcoholism and fathering, it seems, countless kids and having the reputation of being hung like a donkey. Which makes the reader feel all the sorrier for the goat the country hick 'lost his virginity' to!!! An excellent book about a great player who really did have a life so messed up that you couldn't make it up! I'm currently reading 'The Sea' by John Banville, last year's Booker winner. It's excellent so far but as it is very small probably won't last for long.

Where Are They Now - Blackburn Worthingto Cup Winners 2002 Article from Square Football which doesn't actually say where most of them are... If he'd read this board he'd actually have known!

It can on penalties... It sounds unlikely but if any team can do it in the hardest way possible...it's Rovers!

It's all to play for says Hughes So says Hughes to what used to be the Lancashire Evening Telegraph (why is now brought out only in the morning?). However as it's European competition I think it's all over and we will go out. It's easier to think that way knowing Rovers and if we do go through then it'll be a nice surprise. If we don't then I can still shake my head from side to side and with a wry grin on my face mention that "I told you so didn't I"?

So is Ooijer the one we are going to blame for everything this season? I thought we had already agreed on Lucas....

I can just imagine the scene... Rafa - You just have to sign your name here Lucas...actually forget that, you're a footballer, an x will do... Neill - OK Rafa but just let me check BRFCS.co.uk... Rafa - Hmmm...I forgot once again...but aren't you Australian? A dot will do in that case... Neill - Hey! Wait a minute you dropkick! There's some bonzer things they've been saying about me in BRFCS bay...no thanks Rafa, I'm a vegemite and Rovers man after all. Rafa- but Lukey... Neill - No chance you flamin' gallah!

Maybe we could get Scotty to beam it up... Sorry...I'll get my coat

Certainly not beyond me - if you wanted to think big then you would charge the same prices as Chelsea. Besides if Jack had really 'thought big' he'd have gone and bought United and left us where we were, however he was following his heart then, not just his head.

Fine. Congratulations in 'catching me out'. Silly me - still referring to the BBE price. Well done Jan. Of course it would have been more relevant to compare a West End production coming to Blackburn - would they charge West End prices then? All year? How much is an average Blackburn income? Half (at best) that of a Londoner? So, relatively speaking, they can't be that far off in terms of how it hits the pocket. Of course not...they have to work with their immediate surroundings. So...we were talking about the Chelsea game. It's been moved to a Sunday so not a good time for many. It's also on the TV. Should they really be making that an A+ game? Some people on this board are worried about the long-term future this will have on our football club whereas as others just don't seem to care. They're alright Jack perhaps? I'm not suggesting any of this is easy for Rovers but some steps could help... 1. Get Kids in, for every match, for a small fee. If it means losing some revenue then so be it as it can't really be that much in the scheme of things. 2. Some kind of more flexible half-season ticket to be looked at to help the problem that many people now have attending games. Not only with all the moved games but also with the rise of shift work that seems to have occured over the few years. 3. Tell the local pubs that they are only interested in chasing up landlords that broadcast the Ewood matches on foreign TV, as that is their sphere of interest. Away games aren't how they make money. Sure it may seem they can't do that but who cares? Money talks. It's in the landlords interest for Rovers to do well as that will get people in for the away games they show. 4. If the game is going to be designated as an A+ then make sure it is worth it. Chelsea at home on a Sunday when Rovers are already receiving extra Sky money isn't. Regardless if you can get into another part of the ground for £27 or not, if fans are used to sitting in the BBE or JW Upper or wherever they will probably wish to sit there again. Their friends might be there, whatever. They may well resent being priced out of their old seats, especially if they have had to give up season tickets because the demands of TV meant they can't attend more and more of the games. Do I think Rovers have looked into all of these and I'm saying nothing new? Absolutely. Yet they need to keep doing it. Thousands have left while we are a Premiership side - it is making it more and more difficult to compete.

Regarding the West End reference...that was meant to show that it was seen like a special one-off performance whereas football was much more regular and much more accessible to all. If the usual price is £55 then it is still under £20 more for what we expect is guaranteed entertainment. den was saying that it can't be compared to a West End show - the prices are no longer that different.

Actually I didn't know that about the Jack Walker Outer and you should know about bending the truth to back up your points Nice to you meet you Miss Kettle, my name is Mr Pot

£27 in the outer sections of the Riverside. To be honest that's even worse value than the £36 in the BBE! The facilities are poor compared to the other three stands and you also have to miss the last ten minutes as it says on the ticket* you have to be seen walking out at that time in full view of the TV cameras! * - Note...may not strictly be true. Yes but the point is it wasn't always this expensive to see it! When people are being asked to pay out the equivalent of the ticket price to a - you mention West End show or we could mention whatever else - every week then they start (rightly or wrongly) to expect better! Something like a West End show used to be a special occasion and you'd have got ten games in down the Rovers for that!

Who would be the one up front?

£36 for the Chelsea game on a Sunday which was to be shown on Sky was barmy. If supporters (ex-supporters, couch potatos whatever you wish to call them) are being priced out of the big games then they aren't likely to be coming back for the cheaper ones are they? The club often gets a lot of grief unfairly and often for things that are not its fault but some of their pricing policies this season are self-defeating.

When the admission price was no more than a few pints that may have been the case. Yet now when people are being asked to contribute what is a fair whack (twenty quid a game is it even for season ticket holders is still a fair outlay for ninety minutes of football) they might want more than dull fare served up in a half-empty stadium. Times have changed and so have the expectations of many supporters.

Between 50 and 150 grand for British Eurosport? I'd be amazed if it was that high...how large an audience would British Eurosport reach?

The speed of that was rather strange. The excuse given was down to the climate not being suitable for his ill daughter I seem to recall...I mean, it's not that bad in the North West is it? It was only about September at the time Whatever the reasons, it was a very quick turnaround in that transfer indeed. Two agent fees for the same player in three months? As you say, it meant Rovers ended up losing out on a very good player.