That was supposed to be more of an open question to other overseas members rather than suggestions from me...I've been away from Blighty for less than a year and still have people who can do errands for me. Was thinking more of what longer-term ex-pats might want.

It's a shame if that is true...or rather it is a shame if that is true and they are correct in thinking so. I'd have thought this board covers almost the entire range of Rovers fans in some way surely? I've noticed there seems to maybe be a bit of bias toward members with a history of posting but that is what you expect...after all you don't walk into a pub for the first time and expect everyone to hang on your every word. You have to build up a certain degree of familiarity usually. Relating to that...how will that work in the ISA? There has been mention of everybody's view being equal to another yet the only names we have heard are of brfcs messageboarders so far. It'd be interesting to know if any kind of timetable has been thought up for the next few months or so. Finally...overseas members. Could we have some idea on what may be available to them? I'd expect this kind of project would be especially of interest to them as, personally speaking, I have to enlist the help of family to get Rovers gear sent out. Rovers news is gathered solely from the internet or occasional chats (on the internet!) with friends. Is there any idea for a newsletter? Or furthermore some kind of help for when overseas fans come back but need help (say) getting tickets (like Paul does with the shirts but must be time-consuming). The ISA seems to be an excellent reference point for local Rovers fans and a good oppotunity for a meeting/p1ss-up so what can drag the ex-pats in? That is...as opposed to just continuing to be members of this messageboard and getting all the news on here. Any ideas? Not trying to shoot you down at all, quite the opposite...I would just be interested if it could be of help to someone like myself who is not only out of the country but off the beaten track as well and solely reliant on the internet at the moment for Rovers news. Overall...good idea but any chance of some suggestions of how you lot (who met to begin this) are expecting it to pan out?

Don't know about you lot but I reckon AESF has been on more crusades than Richard the Lionheart by now. As for Rooney, well he doesn't come across too well in the media and did after all allow himself (presumably through bad advice and being too dumb to expect the flak he received) to be manipulated by The Sun to appeal to those still resentful of the Hillsbrough coverage so maybe that is what AESF is getting at with his 'traitor to the city of Liverpool' remark. As Souness found out when he sold the story of his heart operation when still Liverpool manager to that paper, the bitterness runs deep in the city to the old 'current bun' tabloid. The media image of Rooney isn't too pleasant at times, particularly his constant harassment of referees, yet for some reason I doubt Wayne cares too much as he contemplates another luxury break or another expensive sports car.

So let me get this right...you want Rovers to go out and get the likes of (say) Bellamy, Alan Smith AND Nicky Butt while simultaneously budgetting to finish in 17th place? What for their next trick? Fitting square pegs into round holes? If we get the likes of those into the club with their huge wages then we'd most likely need to finish at least in a European spot.

Same as me - snap! Not too sure what DavidMailsTightPerm means about the Zenith Data Systems Cup though...we'll be saying we won the Milk Cup in 2002 next or something! The 1987 Full Members Cup final remains one of my favourite memories as a Rovers fan. Up there with many subsequent days including the Worthington Cup victory mentioned above. Worst moments...losing to Chelsea 2-0 at home in the play offs first leg at Ewood in 1988 at the end of a season that included our longest-ever unbeaten run and which seemed destined for promotion. Even the relegation in '99 was easier to take than that.

Fans renewing that early would take all those things into account. So to be honest I would have to answer "no" to all your questions, especially as fans would get four extra home games for their money if we did go down. As for happygilmore's comment that "It’s a shame we always criticise but never give them any suggestions", I'm afraid that is utterly untrue as we must have had literally dozens of good, bad and sometimes frankly bizarre ideas and suggestions put forward on this site. The problem is that it seems that the Rovers board, other than flogging their dead horse of a tenner/fiver-a-match policy against the likes of Charlton or Fulham, have not seemed to have anything new at all to improve our support recently. If someone thinks our club is not being run well in one area then they should criticise and speak out, it comes from caring about the club and wanting better. Yes, some people are never happy except when they moan but others are just worried that our levels of support at games is declining drastically and the club are either not taking it seriously enough or don't seem to be coming up with anything that is tackling the situation. At least trying something that falls flat on its face shows that they are still willing to try something new.

Didn't Norwich and West Brom have their season tickets on sale before the end of the season? If they can do it then why can't we? It makes sense to start selling them when football is still being played and people are still wrapped up in that football experience. Stick them on sale in the summer and the next season seems very far away. There's little immediacy to buy them as people are busy lounging around on Balearic beaches or creasoting the fence or something. Apart from anything else it will get money into the club well in time for the summer transfer dealings or at least the club can stick the dosh into the bank and get some interest on it earned over the summer months. Releasing them for sale when people are scraping together money for their holidays can't be the best time to release the details of next season's prices surely? Besides...if the Claret and Blue neighbours from down t'road can manage to start selling their season tickets in April then why can't we? We could at least give it a try one time and see if anything is achieved.

In that case, I apologise. I work in Asian football and it does get annoying when the English press can't mention an Asian transfer target without talking about shirts and tv deals. Hopefully, the profile of Asian players is beginning to rise and maybe we'll be able to move away from that kind of thinking. The media talks about making millions in Asia and somehow it has become accepted as the truth but there has been little evidence of it so far. Talk of 600 million people watching a City-Everton game because of Chinese players was just false. Nakata at Fiorentina and Nakamura at Reggina are two of the most famous Japanese players but have hardly set the world on fire or earned their clubs lots of money. Signing Park will make Man U the most popular foreign team in Korea, taking over from PSV. Two Koreans play for Eindhoven and have done for over two years, and I can honestly say that I have never seen a PSV shirt in all my time here. Of course Man U are a much bigger club and it will be big news in Korea but if the club is expecting millions of Koreans to sign up for Man U TV to watch games that will be shown at 2 am wearing the shirt, they are in for a shock because it won't happen. As I said before, talk of cracking the Asian market by signing PArk, is a bit far-fetched. Chinese and Japanese fans will have no interest in a Korean player moving overseas, just as nobody cared in Korea or Japan when Sun Jihai went to City. 321941[/snapback] Excellent post and says much of what I think but haven't had the gumption to put down. Although...leave clarey alone - she was just joking! As for Park not being related to marketing opportunites...we will see if United go on a South Korean tour sometime or not. Park is a cracking player make no doubt but United wouldn't be much of a set-up if they didn't exploit his popularity in his homeland. As for media reports about Asia...well, some people believed the crap about Rooney being "bigger" in Asia than David Beckham...anyone with a brain (and, let's be honest...eyes) would know why that could not be possible. Yet it is reported by some crappy journalists back here as gospel, despite the nearest those people getting to Asia is their weekly trip to the local curry house. Personally I'd like Rovers to sign a Chinese player as it'd help my South China Rover s Recruitment bid along more than just a bit. They only seem to support the big teams unfortunately (bit like back in England) unless I threaten to expel them when they suddenly discover an affectation for Rovers. Despite that, of the football fans on the main university campus here they are divided along the lines of United, Chelsea, Real Madrid and AC Milan unfortunately. I'm trying to big up Rovers and, as a second choice, Barcelona but it's tough. Doesn't matter where you go...TV dictates who the big clubs are. I've got big hopes of Barca cutting into the popularity of those facist Real smug-istas but as for Rovers...come on Sparky gives us something to shout about.

Are the floating fans that lazy they cant walk to the ticket office! 322909[/snapback] Yes, obviously. That's the bloody point! If they weren't we wouldn't have to bother talking about having an office in the town centre at all.

Cheers krillin that works a treat! Never again back to IE!

The original thread is now on the Messageboard Gold Forum here. Which is probably a good thing as it had been going for over two years and was a bit bloated. I'm currently reading the new Flashman novel, Flashman on the March by George Macdonald Fraser, a series of books I never tire of boring people by praising. Other than that I finished A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson which was a surprisingly easy and interesting read seeing as most books about Science see me departing iun frustrated boredom after a couple of chapters. On another note - does this site still have a deal with the amazon UK website? Maybe links can be posted to recommended books on that site so this site will get a little portion if anyone decides to buy. Never mind if it's not possible or doesn't work like that, just a throwaway idea for a little bit of extra cash for the site.

Greame Le Saux has announced his retirement from playing football. Most famous moments include a title win at Ewood and scrapping with Batty. Another link with 1994/95 disappears... LE SAUX HANGS UP HIS BOOTS Ex-England defender Le Saux retires Not that he should feel too sad, after all...it wasn't so long ago that the members of this very brfcs website voted him as the 'Greatest Left Back' that the club had ever had.

Scotty, you modest guy you. 1. Scotty (40 points) 2. bob fleming (42 points) 2. greggyk (42 points) 4. American Rover (46 points) 4. Tango (46 points) 6. PABBY (52 points) 7. Kremmin (53 points) 8. Blackpool_Rover (54 points) 9. Philly Rover ® (55 points) 10. Baz (56 points) 10. JAL (56 points) 10. laughatthedingles (56 points) 10. The1mattjansen (56 points) 12. ptholt (57 points) 12. nellybc (57 points) 14. rebelzero (58 points) 14. Quack (58 points) 16. benhben (60 points) 16. RevidgeBlue (60 points) 16. samtheozzy (60 points) 19. AussieinUK (61 points) 19. den (61 points) 19. The Dart (61 points) 22. Alan75 (63 points) 22. Seggie (63 points) 22. Tooting Rover (63 points) 25. Cookiemonster (64 points) 25. frosty (64 points) 25. RovertheHill (64 points) 25. tcj_jones (64 points) 29. LeChuck (66 points) 30. CAPT KAYOS (67 points) 30. SouthAussieRover (67 points) 32. moose (70 points) 32. owenrilla (70 points) 32. philipl (70 points) 35. Roaming Rover (71 points) 36. Lathund (72 points) 36. tsnuf (72 points) 38. hanks (73 points) 39. American (76 points) 40. vyeo (77 points) 41. roversmum (83 points) <-- though a lot of those came from picking Rovers first 42. Parasyte (85 points) 43. Wafflewag (88 points) <-- see roversmum above 44. Tom Pringle (104 points) <--just look at his table for an explanation Also congrats to Scotty, PABBY, Tooting Rover and LeChuck, who were the only ones to correctly predict Rovers' final table position. Roll on next year... so that we can make more predictions. Hey...what happened to mine?

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You aren't the only one worrying that the future looks tough. Too many people seem to be thinking that all we have to do is play good football and they will come back in droves. Sure, it will help a bit but we seem to be witnessing somewhat more than just a temporary decline I believe. We've gone over the reasons a million times on here but the simple fact remains that not only have our attendances fallen but that even before then, we were getting enough in to compete near the top. It's also worrying that some seem to be saying that splashing out on big-names will do the trick. We have to bribe the supporters to return as they are no longer going to support the club through thick and thin, this despite being in the Premiership. To echo GAV - "I fear for our club i really do." It was tough enough when we averaging over 25,000 but now we can't even rely upon that.

People have lives to live though and other things to do than watch 22 blokes kick a ball around - not every Rovers supporter will be as committed as the next. Every club has those that come every now and then. The problem is that those type of supporters no longer seem to be coming at all. After some seasons of going up or down we are now treading water. That isn't going to bring the fans back. Personally I think we are witnessing something more than just supporters being turned off by negative football. Blackburn's support is declining (for various reasons) and unless we do something to address that it will become more difficult every season to remain in the Premiership.

Nuclearsox and Scotty - you seem to be building up a collection of fine match previews. Keep up the good work, excellent stuff. Er....whoops....forgot this was your first one...hope you continue posting mtach previews in the future...and er...so on...hmmm....

I know we are going back through the years but I think you're giving us a little bit too information there! NEXT WEEK ON MEMORY LANE - Paul remembers his first ever hard-on and thanks Cilla Black for it!!!

Yet more mindgames from your man Ferguson today. Apparently...we aint got 'the bottle' to win the title...but United have been there and done that. Well Ferguson, we'll soon see exactly who it is who has 'bottle' in our ranks. We need a hero and we will get one...and they'll have 'bottle'. I'd luv it...just luv it...if one of United's players 'bottled' it on the final day to let us in. In fact if any of them did that then I'd welcome them at Rovers and say...go on, win a cup for us and show you only bottle it when playing for the Red Scum. Anyway...wishful thinking but we need a hero. We need a man with bottle.

Nah..that'd be sacrilege...in fact it'd be like "taking the most beautiful girl you've ever seen to a plastic surgeon, and asking him to put a penis on her." If indeed that thought has actually been er...thought yet. Anyway - that Oasis - cracking new band eh?

I cant name too many specifics, but comments about us being ungrateful, his refusal to acknowledge us, his comment about how winning the FA Cup with Newcastle would mean far more to him than the Prem with us did, there's been quite a few things, I've always got a negative vibe from him. Blackburn fans were ungrateful; the booing on his first return was ridiculous for such a great player, regardless of the circumstances of his departure. Marcus Bent got a standing ovation on his first return to Ewood yet Shearer got booed and 'Judas' shouted at him. I'm not a fan of booing players at the best of times, mainly because it just seems so childish. "Oh look! There's Shearer...let's all go booooooo a lot. That'll bloody teach the big fat knacker" Hardly revenge on a Shakepearean scale now is it? As for his comment about winning the FA Cup with Newcastle, well...winning the FA Cup with Rovers would mean more than winning the title with Newcastle would to most on here. It was (and I remember the quotes) more of a case of him saying how much of a Newcastle fan he was rather than putting us down. So...anyway...time to forget the petty squabbles and the delight he seemed to take in scoring against us and remember the good times. If only for one day.

What quotes T4E?

How could we have come to a gentleman's agreement with Birmingham? Surely we'd still be looking for a gentleman among them now if we'd tried that...

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If you think Tugay is up to being an integral first team player, I am afraid you are wrong. I don't think that... I do think however that if Hughes was to get rid of Tugay and bring in an "integral" first-team attacking midfilder who subsequently didn't' perform or who got injured, that you would be among the very first people to criticise Hughes for his lack of foresight and prior planning in letting go a subsequent possible replacement. for however so short a time as was needed.