The problem (or a problem anyway) is that the season tickets are excellent value for money, certainly compared to the rest of the league...yet the club cannot decide when the games will be played. Not only will there be many games moved for Sky or the Uefa Cup, there is another factor which is that there seems to be a lot more people working shifts these days. In particular, four days on/four days off. It certainly seems to be a lot more than before. A lot of people can't chop and change their worktimes anymore, especially not if Rovers games are at continually changing times. I've no solution what can be done though , Rovers can't change when they play. They just suffer more than (it seems) the rest of the Prem.

As I said in my post it wasn't meant to be a go at you specifically, sorry if you were in the wrong place at the wrong time

The real worry is that if people stop going they stop taking their kids too. So in the long run it may not be just the one supporter Rovers are losing out on.

Good report from Scotty. The only really annoying aspect of the game for me is that we handed them their breakthrough on a plate. The first goal was vital...Ooijer made a mistake and that was that. Overall a heartening performance as we did compete with the champions...but you can't go just giving away penalties to teams like that.

While I agree that Rovers are the ones that suffer...is it a surprise that football is heading this way? We've had warning signs for years. Rovers seem to bear the brunt before other teams as we have less people to draw from and they are in a poor area. As do Wigan who can also expect large attendance drops this season. The way football is heading...watching the game on TV (well Sky, rather than foreign TV) means you are supporting the team financially. Without the Sky money we wouldn't have finished sixth last season or expect to challenge financially in the transfer market. The truth of the matter is that Premiership football has been gradually pricing out many people for over a decade. In a few years time every game will be available on TV and unless prices drop it will be in front of empty grounds. Through no fault of their own season tickets are not a viable option for many people. How many Saturday 3pom kick offs will Rovers have this season? Something has to give when there is less than 20,000 in the ground and prices are £36 (or £27 in the crap seats) and the game is free on TV. For most people Rovers are not more important than their family, or their holiday or their life. It's a leisure activity not a duty, attending for a reasonable price is a duty fair enough, being what they feel ripped off is not. I'm fortunate enough that when I attend Rovers the price doesn't matter so much as I don't get that many chances to attend. Yet we are talking about those who would be coming most games year in year out who are saying it is too much. The prices and continually rearranged kickoff times are making it a chore for many. When people like Cletus, Paul, ihateburnley and Capt Kayos (last season at Chelsea) declare that ticket prices are too much then the sport needs to listen. What really doesn't help is the foreign TV on in the pubs every single game offering a very cheap alternative fo which Rovers will receive very little. At least each Sky game earns Rovers a big fee. It's being going on for years...why hasn't something been done?

Hmmm....seems Slazburg won 4-0 on Saturday and are now four points clear at the top of the Austrian league. Now I know it is hardly the Champions League...but they are going to be a tough nut to crack and most likely will be full to the brim with confidence.

We'd hardly have sold out with lower ticket prices but even so, it begs the question...why make this, a Sky game moved to a Sunday against a team that rarely bring much of a following, into an A+ game? If, as some posters have suggested, all that matters is the income that Rovers bring in...then how can you blame the fans (or part-timers, ex-fans whatever you want to call them) that don't turn up? If they don't wish to be squeezed as much as possible then is it so surprising? Ticket prices are reaching breaking point...

Haven't you been saying Tugay is past it for the last couple of years though?

Make your mind up Eddie...£36 is either "a lot for 90 minutes" or people shouldn't "start to complain that the club is too expensive when it clearly isn't". What annoys me are people who don't go criticising others who don't go solely because they live nearer. It's a joke...as for people who "choose to waste their money elsewhere"...what do you know about them? What gives you or others the right to judge? Shall we all judge each other? We're supposed to all support Rovers, that's all. Sorry if it seems I'm having a go at you Eddie...I'm not, there are many complaining on here about others not going while excusing themselves. Seems simple to me...If you don't go, don't blame others for not going. Stop trying to claim the moral high ground from your ivory tower, to mix cliches. We all make a decision whether to go or not...doesn't make anybody's decision not to go more noble than another.

There is another issue to it...games are no longer arranged to suit fans, instead they are often shuttled around to meet the demands of TV. Certainly I know of many for whom a season ticket is no longer really viable as they have to miss games due to work demands. When this would have happened a few times a season it was acceptable...however it seems the majority of weekend games this season (especially if we reach the Uefa Cup group stage) will be moved away from the traditional kick-off time. So of course when they do come they will expect to pay more...yet for £36 each for a single game in their old seat when they have been messed around because of the demands of TV...it's a lot to ask. When people start REALLY questioning whether it is worth it...that's when the club has the problem. It's not Rovers fault that they are competing with big-city sides in the world's richest league...but then, it isn't the fault of the locals either.

While I understand making the Everton game an A+ fixture to capatalize on the 5,000+ Everton fans they get...I'm not sure about doing it for the Chelsea game. They don't actually bring that many fans do they? Add to that it being on Sky and it seems to be self-defeating. Seems a strange choice for an A+ match and rows of empty seats for the visit of the champions won't reflect well on the club or the area. Unless Lee can mention how many are expected from Chelsea?

The second Palace goal in our play-off defeat in '89...the third was bad but was just the final, expected, kick in the teeth after the punch to the balls of the previous goal. Nothing since was quite the same...a whole season down the drain in an instant...I was 11 at the time and nothing else has come near since to being the pits. Although the the 3-1 home loss to already relegated Forest in 99 came close...

Emerton played as a right wing-back often for Feyenoord which isn't quite a full back but nor is it quite the same as a winger. However, he could maybe be converted as an option should we have injuries again.

Yeah think he was...certainly seem to remember the name.

That was a similar challenge - cowardly, catching the player when they weren't concentrating on what the other person was doing but had their eye on the ball. Now I know it's a man's game but having a punch up like Bowyer and Dyer is one thing...but assaulting someone and taking them out and making sure there is no danger whatsoever to themself is another. Thatcher 'got' Mendes, like he did Summerbee before, yet if he'd had anything about him he'd have stood up to them. City are telling everyone Thatcher feels really bad about it...bit late now isn't it? Didn't look too cut up about it when he walked calmly away, seemingly irritated that he got so much as a yellow card for it. EDIT - According to the Manchester Evening News...On Man City's pre-season tour of China Thatcher elbowed an opponent who ended up in hospital with a punctured lung. That was only a few weeks ago. This thug seems to be either a psychopath or has mental problems. Get the police and the men in white uniforms in to check him out as I don't like the thought of him wrecking the career of one of our players! Certainly messed up anyway!

Derek Fazackerley is a coach at Man City...I'd forgot about him.

How exactly? We are taking about GBH. When do we ever see incidents like that on the field? Rarely that's for sure. This is a special case, I can't remember anything as blatant an assault/sucker punch as this on a pitch for years. Bad tackles are one thing...flying forearms from thirty yards are another.

The thing is...The referee didn't actually see the incident! Sure, he watched what he thought was a bad challenge but that wasn't the incident was Thatcher's flying fist in the face of Mendes. Just because somebody is watching a scene doesn't mean they can see from every angle. A club statement from Man City read...""The club does not condone such action and the matter has been dealt with internally by Stuart Pearce." Really? Is this the same Stuart Pearce who dealt with Joey Barton shoving a cigar in a young lad's eye by giving him a new contract?

That's 12.00 our time...unless you want to watch the "Live Rowing" on at 1.00 on Eurosport? It lasts for 15 minutes apparently.

Just to remind everyone that the draw takes place at noon (our time - 12.00BST) tomorrow. Other important dates coming up... First round first legs: 14 September First round second legs: 28 September and hopefully still of interest to us by then... Draw for Uefa Cup group stage: 3 October First group stage matches: 19 October Champions League and Uefa Cup dates.

Hope he's not myles worse than his predecessors. Sorry.

Sam - Are you sure that was Nathan Blake? I've never heard that before. Philly - Wasn't Paul Dalglish at Liverpool before moving to Newcastle. Don't think he ever signed with us. Cheers to rover_groo for his invaluable knowledge - even if I must admit I haven't heard of most of them!

It's not necessarily the case that they would RATHER watch it in the pub...just that a £27 (at a minimum) outlay for the least desirable seats to watch ninety minutes of football is a lot to pay for many in Blackburn. Or anywhere for that matter for those who have families or better things to spend it on. The cost isn't always just an excuse not to go, often it is the very reason. Having what seems to be every game on live in the pub in the Blackburn area is ludicrous when other authorities are stamping down. Not so long in the future all games will be on TV but Rovers will expect their cut, until that happens... Again I'll say that either Rovers go the whole hog by prosecuting landlords (not good PR...many landlords are struggling for customers in Blackburn just as much as Rovers) or try to see if the landlords will at least not show the home games. Den mentioned before that it would mean Rovers lose credibility on this issue by pursuing this line...while I agree it isn't ideal it is better than either doing nothing, which they are currently doing as the letters don't seem to have worked, or doing too much, which would be to prosecute all the landlords. The last course would not lead to guaranteed victory, this is still a grey area whatever may have been decided in other cases.

Somebody needs to take Todd to one side in training and teach him how to run...as he seems to have completely forgot. Maybe if we all shout ..."Run Toddy Run..." then he will, like Forrest Gump, burst out of his shackles and remember how to use his legs again...