Den - you did say there was to be a greatest rover of all poll? Bob Crompton was never chairman of Rovers... ...he remains however the greatest Rover of them all. A lifetime devoted to the club and it wasn't just because he had to...he was truly a great player. No other player would get close to his number of England caps for half a century and that was only because they started playing loads more games in the fifties. If Crompton was cut in half he'd bleed blue and white, if Shearer was he'd spurt out a black and white combination stinking of Newky Brown Ale. Crompton (a former landlord of the Florence near Little Harwood) may have a Lions Bitter smell about him...but only because all of Little Harwood stank of the Lion brewery in those days. Crompton was at Rovers as a die-hard fan in the 1880s and was still there when he died in the 1940s, still managing his one and only club. Shearer was my idol but there's no way he is the greatest Rover we have ever had...we bought him from Southampton and we sold him to Newcastle. The man was great, ace, but never one of us. Still a Geordie. If we do have a vote for the greatest of them all I'm sure Shearer will win. Thing is...he shouldn't. As nobody on this board has ever given as much to Rovers as Crompton did. The man's career suffered, his health suffered..all for Rovers. I've gone on long enough about players from yore like Crompton and Forrest to bore both you lot and myself to death so I won't go on anymore on these polls (I'm going on holiday shortly as well so won't be around as much) but if there is a poll for the greastest Rover of them all...vote for one of your own. Vote Crompton. The man gave his life to the club...surely you can give him just one vote?

philipl - For what exactly? Name one thing that Viola has actually done that is illegal and back it up with more than just newspaper speculation and I (to nick a favourite expression from Cheeky Sidders) will give you a goldfish. Referring it to other industries isn't much use as football has constantly been seen as different and this includes, many times, under the law of the land as well. For everyone else looking scapegoats - This move was engineered by Ferguson getting Viola to act on his behalf. Ferguson may be a ned (whatever that is) but he isn't going to be led into doing anything he actually doesn't want to and to be honest I believe he did as much leading as Viola; they both stand to gain so why not? Seems that some Rangers supporters are using Viola as a scapegoat to keep any criticism away from their returning darling Barry and some Rovers fans are using him as they can't bear the fact that his client just simply doesn't want to play for us anymore. Viola isn't the villain in all of this, we all know who it is if we are being truthful, the star attraction who wants out. Anyone can say all they like (and most have on this thread!) about Viola, Murray, Williams, Eck, Hughes, Mrs or Master/Miss Ferguson...it doesn't matter. They are all supporting characters. The reason this transfer is going through is because of Barry Ferguson and Barry Ferguson alone, all the others are part of it but it's his decision. Obviously I'd have thought but why let that stop the conspiracy theorists? It's a sod you Rovers I want back haaimme to Glasgae...well fair enough, but let's not go all feeling sorry for the little turd, he's shatted us big time. It may sound like I'm bitter...I'm not, we'll all move on and forget about it soon though I won't be all cooey eyed over someone who just kicks a sodding ball about once a week. There are a hell of a lot of people in the world who deserve sympathy, commiseration and empathy. Some bloody family living in a mansion in Lancashire in a style the vast majority of the world cannot afford ain't gonna make my heart bleed just cos his whingeing wife (if it is true reason which I don't believe) can't wait another three months when there would be time to sort this mess out amicably without all this unseemly pressure and rush towards an immovable deadline. It coule be like swap shop today - Get the fools good out (Ferguson) and get some Real McCoy in (Bellamy if we can). Bellamy may be a tosser but so is Ferguson after his behaviour to Rovers in the last month...at least Bellamy has quality enough to back it up on a Premiership pitch. Good luck to Rangers in the future as I've nothing against them whatsoever...can't be arsed wishing Ferguson good luck though. In fact, can't even be arsed wishing him bad luck either. Good riddance.

Put it this way - we'd be a better team with Bellamy in than Emerton if you had to choose between the two. Keeping both would be better but it's a quality forward we need most.

If it requires Emerton leaving to get Bellamy then fair enough, we have Thompson coming back and Reid can do a job there. While it'd be better to have both of them Bellamy would make more difference to our team. As improved as Emerton is he isn't indispensible.

Bit melodramatic that philip and it could still go through if Rangers stump up the cash. They can still get the money if they truly had to, when a club is run by a man worth a few hundred million it is always possible with a bit of restructuring of their finances or even going into a wee bit more debt if they have to. After Ferguson was left out on saturday by Hughes despite being available I won't believe he isn't going until the transfer window passes, especially as Williams himself mentioned that talks were still ongoing. The comment from Williams about wanting 6million guaranteed is obviously a negotiating positon, he'd like something very close to that but may accept less. If Rovers truly, truly did not want to sell Ferguson whatever they would not have accepted the transfer request or mentioned any possible figures they'd accept. It's a shame he wants to leave but what can we do? Keep him against his wishes? Will that benefit our club as much as selling him now if an acceptable offer comes in and funding a desperately-needed striker. Ferguson improves our team and midfield but a quality striker would improve it more. Rovers can still end up in a better position if Ferguson goes out and a quality forward is brought in. philip - Maybe you are right and he won't be leaving but I wouldn't count your chickens just yet. The last day of transfer dealings are sometimes as busy as the rest of the days put together.

Wow...that is a very subtle dig at Souness but obviously not quite subtle enough. kennysuperbuyer is back and posting on threads about Dunn and Bellamy..hey, who need all those threads with no mention of Souness? After all they are just about Blackburn Rovers... As Radagast said..."who'd have thunk it"????

Savage has been talking again to the press, this time to The Sun. Maybe I'm being a bit harsh but I'd wish he'd belt up about the past and if he has to talk then start talking his future with Rovers. Doing his talking on the pitch would be the best course of action for Robbie. Savage hurt by criticism Savage: My hell is over The Sun link only has part of the story as to read the rest you would need to buy the paper but the story on the Sky Sports website link seems to have all the quotes anyway.

philipl - you seem to be suggesting that letting Ferguson leave for 4.5million would be letting him 'go on the cheap' when to be honest it's blindingly obvious to anyone who has seen him since coming to Rovers is that he isn't worth much more than that. I'd say 5million at best and that would be before all his wringing of hands/woe is me the poor wee Glasgy lad never been away from home rubbish. We'll do well to get that now for such a wee babby as Bazza... What we paid in the past do not mean we can get other clubs to be as stupid as we were when we paid over the odds. It would have been a bit like expecting Southampton to pay us back 7.25million for Kevin Davies when we offloaded him just because we had had the stupidity to do so. Ferguson is not the same hot property he was when we bought him either. Sure, he may be the same player but he has the lost a certain je ne sais quoi. Not sure there is a word to describe what he no longer has... Ambition? Potential (to be a great player in a major league)? Certainly he's no longer got any va va voom about him. Maybe he has just lost his mojo??? Dunno...but he's gone from a player who Arsenal and Liverpool looked at (among others) to an Average Joe who even Souey doesn't want now he signed Faye. Ferguson may be the same player he was when we bought him...but his reputation and standing aren't. That's why, in a competing field of one, Rangers can pay less for him than we did. You seem to have certainly convinced yourself that Rovers hold all the cards but I don't agree...if Ferguson leaves for less than we paid I think it will be proved that we don't. If we get back the same money then you are right...Rovers played their hand brilliantly. Can't see it though...I expect Ferguson to leave and for us to certainly get no more than 5million.

This thread begun with Tris bemoaning the lowest league crowd at Ewood since promotion. Last night was even lower than that; 20,056. That is an amazingly low figure for our local derby, even taking into account it being a monday night game on Sky. Our highest ever home crowd was an FA Cup tie in 1929 against Bolton so it is a big surprise it brought out so few. A dismal game and yet another poor home result won't help matters. Even on gates of 25k we'd still be getting one of the lowest amounts of money through the turnstiles but gates of 20k, if not addressed, will make it harder and harder for us each year to compete. How to get the buzz back into Blackburn Rovers?

The Sun - Hughes rage at diver Diouf From the article - Even Bolton boss Sam Allardyce admitted: “At the time I thought it was a penalty but I’ve now seen it from another angle and it obviously wasn’t.I don’t encourage any of my players to dive but if I have anything to say to Diouf about this, then it will be between him and me. “I’ve heard what Mark Hughes has had to say on it but if he is so definite about it not being a penalty, then he must be Superman. He must have X-ray vision to see it was no penalty from where he was stood in the dugout.”

....because he has played his last game for the club. He will be back at Ibrox by Friday, if not before. There's more chance of Hell freezing over. And this is coming from a Rangers season ticket holder! Murray will not up his bid and sell us short on this one. There's going to be some very unhappy Gers fans this weekend. To be fair Dada...Jim is involved in the newspaper industry and has time after time on this site correctly predicted what is going to happen in transfer stories, even if Jim is a complete cock in every other regard...and he is. Thank you. You're welcome. You've earned it.

....because he has played his last game for the club. He will be back at Ibrox by Friday, if not before. There's more chance of Hell freezing over. And this is coming from a Rangers season ticket holder! Murray will not up his bid and sell us short on this one. There's going to be some very unhappy Gers fans this weekend. To be fair Dada...Jim is involved in the newspaper industry and has time after time on this site correctly predicted what is going to happen in transfer stories, even if Jim is a complete cock in every other regard...and he is. If Jim says Ferguson will be a Rangers player by the end of the week then that is good enough for me. In a week or so we will see if he was right.

That article merely confirms my view that Rovers will be happy to sell as long as the price is right. Rangers will find the money, nae worries. That's the long and short of it. If Rangers find the money then he is off. Good riddance too.

If you think about it though riding a moped in a sensible fashion is in no way in itself a dangerous activity so I can't see how it could be included in the contract. True if some idiot drives the moped irresponsibly or another driver is at fault then it is a problem but an employer can't really restrict the freedom of movement of one their employees during their leisure time on the off chance that an unknown third party may feasibly break the law and run them down. It'd be a bit like saying they couldn't have their own flat should a burgler just happen one night perchance to rob it. Simple fact is that it was an accident and, so far as I have ever heard, Matty himself was not at fault. Mind you, riding without a helmet should have breached the contract but that appears just to have been myth and that Jansen was in fact wearing a helmet which actually saved his life. Skiiing is slightly different as it is putting the person skiing at the whim of the conditions underfoot or possibly overfoot should the weather suddenly change and it often has before. Perhaps I'm wrong though, merely speculating as to why skiing is considered dangerous as other things not. Almost certain that Jansen signed his lengthy new contract towards the end of the 2001/2002 season and before his accident. Unless he gets back into the first team regularly it should be bye bye Matty. The club has paid him a fortune in the last three years for very little return and seems to just confirm that the career of Matt Jansen since 2002 had become one of the biggest disappointments in the history of the club. So much better was anticipated, it's been a crying shame for both club and player. Especially as I'd say that Jansen was better than Duff at the time of his injury, sounds overblown now but I bet most of this board would have agreed at the time. Duff continued to progess though whereas, alas, Jansens was a future of regression. Talk about what could have been...

Rather bizarrely, despite being in 15th place we have actually lost less games than Liverpool, who are in fifth. If we win tonight we will only be nine points away from that fifth place. Outside the top and bottom four the teams are bunched up in such a way that a run of three of four wins will take a team away from worrying about a possible relegation scrap to be fighting for a European place. A win tonight alone would leave us just three points behind the top half of the table. Shame we have such a difficult sequence of games coming up...mind you, it's not so long ago that we seemed to raise out game against the top teams. Hopefully Hughes can take us Back to the Future over the next couple of months.

Well I can read it Pip and I'm further away than you! Try this....Confident Hughes throws Savage in at the deep end

Rodney Marsh is another pundit who doesn't believe we will win this one, predicting a 1-1 draw here. To be honest, have to say I agree with him. A passionate local derby would have been perfect for Dickov but I can't see any of our other strikers getting many. So, 1-1 with Savage scoring for us just because it would be perfect after all the brouhaha about him. With a shedload of yellow cards and a couple of sending offs as well. Interesting read as usual from Scotty and Sox.

So Savage is now saying that he will be moving to Cheshire when with Rovers and hence will be closer to his parents. Why didn't he just move to Cheshire anyway then and commute to Birmingham? Apparently his current home in Shakespeare's birthplace in Stratford-On-Avon was too far from Wrexham but why not just move as there's hardly much of a difference in travelling times between Cheshire and Blackburn compared to Cheshire and Birmingham? Those saying the board at Birmingham are the only people coming out of this whole affair poorly are wrong, no side seems to have been whiter than white in what has been a rather unsavoury fiasco. Savage bringing the illness of his parents to the attention of the press left a bit of a sour taste in the mouth. Still, Alls Well That Ends Well as that Billy Shakespeare chap once said and the whole convoluted sage does now seem rather Much Ado About Nothing etc etc bad Shakespeare puns blah blah and so on.

It's worked before, most notably when Dino Zoff captained Italy to the World Cup from between the sticks even though he was about 84 or something silly at the time. Even so, I'd also prefer the someone to have the extra little bit of authority on the pitch to not be the goalkeeper. I'd go for Todd until the end of the season then decide who of Todd/Mokoena/Nelsen/Savage etc would be the best long-term option.

The problem with keeping Ferguson until the summer against his wishes and playing him means we would have to rely on him giving his all, despite him seeming to have his heart residing somewhere in Ibrox. Ferguson is a good player but not a great one. The club could make an example of him and shove him in the reserves but what good will it do us? More money lost on the deal plus more wages paid and let's make no bones about it, Ferguson the club captain will be on plenty of money. It's not a question of coping without Barry Ferguson the player, it may more boil down to having instead to cope without having a sulking Barry Ferguson at the club, maybe not giving his all (would Viola and Murray encourage him to do his best for Rovers just to push up the price Rangers would eventually have to pay?) and, more importantly, keeping players out of the team who are dying to run around for the cause of the club. If a player is unhappy at a club and wants to leave then we have to get rid. The only measures the board could take against this (shoving the player in the reserves) would just lead to a financial loss to ourselves. Assuming it is Rangers that his heart is set on and that they don't have much money to actually splash around at the moment then maybe we should be looking at their players to swap. We don't seem to need too many more central defenders or midfielders as the quantity is certainly there if perhaps the quality is not. So, for these positions, maybe as part of the deal we could get new personnel to help strengthen... Left Back - Michael Ball, seemingly not wanted too much at Rangers. Once a hot prospect but injury has knocked him back time and again. Still only turned 25 a few months ago though and we do seem to need a left back if Gray is a little part of Hughes' plans as he has been these last few months. Right Back - Fernando Rickson. Reputation as a bit of a nutter but has looked decent whenever I've seen him. Dutch international with only six months or so left on his contract. Maybe those who see Rangers regularly can say more about him? Strikers - Dado Prso and Nacho Novo. Signing Prso seemed a bit of a coup for Rangers and we do need a quality striker. Could either of these be that man? Would they come here or would Rangers ever allow them to leave? Any other Rangers players we could sorely use who they may allow to leave? Ferguson wants to leave so it's all about getting the best deal for Rovers. Maybe we will have to take that in the form of players rather than cash though.

What's going on here? First it's alleged that Tris has taken over thenodrog's user name and now thenodrog has turned into Tris!

A slight difference though in the conduct of the players in those two cases, particularly when taking into consideration their service to their clubs and the length left on the contracts of the two players. Gravesen has never stated that he is unhappy at Goodison, just let it be known that he would be leaving for a better club in the summer (Everton knew this last summer but decided not to sell him to a German team- forget who- as they were worried they might need him for another relegation scrap!). Why shouldn't he after serving the contract he signed in 2000, especially as he has been a far better player for Everton than Ferguson has (so far) been for Rovers? Everton decided to cash in now rather than lose him on a free. However Ferguson seems to be serving Rovers far worse than Gravesen did Everton. Sell me or I'll be unhappy and not give my all. The difference between the two is that Gravesen has been a good servant to his employers and can hold his head high as four years of good service isn't bad in the books of any employer, if Ferguson and his wife really aren't actually willing to give it a proper go in the Premiership then he hasn't got anything to proud of with his time at Rovers. Just over a year they've been living in England I think it is - that's not giving it your best shot, that's cutting and running back to mummy. If after another year or so they are still unhappy then fair enough it isn't for them but to run back north so soon suggests they decided the challenge was too much for them. I'm hoping Ferguson sticks it out and lives up to his potential as a player. We certainly don't want to lose him now, in the summer at least we'd have plenty of time to look for replacements. Agree with Jim that if Ferguson really does want to go then the only issue to be resolved is the transfer fee. There's not much the board can do otherwise which wouldn't also damage themselves.

This Mokoena guy (nicknamed The Axe!) ain't exactly a softy. Quoted in The Sun today - “I was sent off against England. I had a couple of fights with Heskey — but they were sporting fights. When you play hard you put your leg where it hurts the most — no pain is no gain. " “There are some very good strikers at this level but I’m here to stop them from scoring.” Should get on very well with Andy Todd. BLACKBURN new-boy Aaron Mokoena — known as The Axe — has warned Premiership strikers he is prepared for a scrap.

Whether or not Rovers have tapped up Savage...big deal either way. Have Birmingham been whiter than white in their past dealings? You know they haven't. Another thing...if Sullivan gets the price he actually wants for Savage you can bet your bottom dollar that the last thing he'll be thinking about is any talk of 'tapping up', he'll be taking the money thank you very much. Money talks. It's still up to Savage to say where he wants to go. No side really looks stupid, it's just a load of stuff and nonsense which is part of the haggling process. It'd be nice if some (and, don't get me wrong, it's certainly not all) of the Birmingham fans could actually stop trying to rant on about what a 'big' club it is for one day of their life. It's very sad, just as when other fans try to do it. It's a bit like a bloke going around saying what a big knob he has. Funny how it's the ones who use it least who seem to brag the most! Just as how it's the most underachieving clubs whose fans brag the most about how 'big' their club is and yet their trophy cabinets are usually so very, very empty recently...Real 'big' clubs are too busy trying to win things to be saying how 'big' they are to all and sundry. Nobody seems to have come out of this affair smelling of roses and as I've said before Savage's behaviour is a disgrace coming so soon after signing a new contract and bringing his parents to the attention of the press as an excuse was a shocking move on his part. However...so what? That's what football is like these days. Money, greed, power battles...welcome to the Premiership. It stinks at times but it's the way it is now.

Not quite regarding Savage being dropped for this weekend Philip...Savage took the matter into his own hands by getting himself suspended for this game. At least, some Brum fans seem to think he engineered it to make sure he wasn't cup-tied... Regarding the press on his parents doorstep...whose fault is that? Robert Savage for bringing his family to the attention of the press that's who. Savage seems to be trying to have his cake and to eat it, to walk out on Birmingham while trying to appease their fans by bringing his familly into it. Ultimately though it doesn't wash, if Savage can travel from, say, Cheshire to Blackburn play football while being near his parents then why not travel from Cheshire to Birmingham? It's hardly going to make much difference is it? Make no mistake, Savage is doing the dirty on Birmingham after signing a spanking new contract with them, it'd be better if he kept a low profile than trying to justify his own selfish desire for a move. If a Rovers player engineered a move for himself in this way just some months after signing a long-term contract this board would be up in arms...and rightly so. From really hoping Savage would arrive this business seems to have left a bad taste in the mouth somewhat...and a resurgant Flitcroft may well make the move unnecessary. Maybe a wait for a couple of weeks to analyse our options may be the most prudent thing to do before before splashing out so much cash on a thirty year old.