I know that people won't be able to read them but there were two articles about the Rovers this week on Korea's biggest portal site - attracts something like 40 million hits a day.

The first was written by an English writer -you can see the English version below the Korean one. The translator had problems with the words "unfashionable outfit" and at first thought it meant that people didn't like the blue and white shirts.

The second is done by a Korean.

Mark Hughes and Blackburn -above our imagination

Blackburn Rovers - a typhoon that has already started

Most of the comments below the articles are very positive.

The Poles apart, one of the saddest thing about this thread is SAR's silly sayings and the fact that he seems to be serious.

It wasn't a penalty.

Australia came really close and it was a horrible way to exit the World Cup.

I've just returned from the game. Graham Poll was his usual self- all flamboyant gestures and poor decisions. Korea are officially my "hate" team now. Not only did they spend the entire time trying to get a Togo player (any Togo player would do) sent off, but they played the worst and most negative football of the world cup so far. At the start, the neutrals were quite evenly split, by the end, there wasn't a neutral in there- all of us were supporting Togo. That said, Togo were poor!

There's room on that hate list?

I was at the game and the first half was terrible, I have probably seen every Korean game for the past five years but that was the worst they have played.

Not quite sure that they played more negative than any other team as they did have four strikers on the pitch in the second half- played much of it with 4-2-4.

Advocaat messed up with his first-half tactics and formation - he changed things at half-time and the second half was better.

Korea played out time at the end but after never winning an overseas World Cup game in five previous tournaments - a lack of ambition as the clock ticked down was understandable.

I talked to Ahn after the game and he said that he was never offered a trial by Blackburn. He had two concrete transfers -both German and a trail with a Scottish club but nothing from the Rovers.

I'd be interested in that KJ

I'll be at the game too, possibly dressed in a Toga!

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OK Steven, I'll see what I can do.

In Cologne from the 8th - 14th, going to Frankfurt for the England game on the 10th but no ticket

Going Kaiserslautern for the Australia v Japan game on the 12th, and back to Frankfurt on the 13th for the massive Korea v Togo game.

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I'll be at the those games too.

I know that Korea-Togo isn't the most glamorous of fixtures but it should be great - lots of Red Devils -they are great to watch and be part of.

If you like, I can try and put you in touch will some Korean fans, they are so friendly and will be delighted to 'adopt' a Blackburn fan for the day and party all night. You could have a great time.

MGP is known as 'Man U Killer' in Korea and the ladies love him.

So our three friendlies (maybe) and first three games of the WC are...

South Korea (TBC) in Australia (was announced at least one in Oz)

England (TBC) in London

Holland - June 4th - Rotterdam

Japan - June 13th - Kaiserslautern (1st Game of WC)

Brazil - June 18th - Munich (2nd Game of WC)

Croatia - June 22nd - Stuttgart (3rd Game of WC)

Looks very good... Im hoping to see at least 4!  

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I don't think South Korea will go to Australia. The team has a 6 week tour in Jan and Feb planned for training camps and tournaments in UAE, Saudi, Hong Kong and the USA. The clubs are not happy about it and want it reduced. Can't see them going to Australia as well.

I was talking to Dick Advocaat this week and asked him about rumours that he had applied for the Blackburn job a year ago.

He said that some former Rangers players were telling the club how good he was and that he'd be great for Rovers.

"Tugay, Amoruso were telling Blackburn about me" he said, "and the other fellow - midfielder -what's his name?"

"Ferguson?" I said helpfully.

"Yes- that's it. Ferguson - especially him."

It sounds like this game was pretty dire. I would have settled for a point before the game, because City have been playing well this season. It would have been nice to bring the form we should against Charlton into this game, but it wasn't to be. At least we didn't lose and we are ahead of Newcastle. The day was made better by Celtic beating Rnagers 3-0. Some great goals, some dreadful defending and it was a pleasure to watch Japanese star Shunsuke Nakamura at his very best. He totally destroyed Rangers, with his passing and his ability to go round players. There's a player that we missed out on!

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Don't think Rovers or any Prem team went in for Nakamura and don't think we'd have got him if we had. Celtic really pulled out all the stops to get him, still, it would be nice to see him at Ewood.

I'm not sure he will.  One of the main criticisms levelled against Glenn Hoddle was that he couldn't relate to players of lesser ability than himself.  I think Roy Keane would probably find that a big ask, especially if he learns his trade at a lower level club

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I don't know - seems that Keane has a problem with people who don't give 100% on the pitch rather than those with no talent - not a bad trait for a manager. Personally, it'd be great to see him at the Rovers for a year or two but can't see it.

I also think he'd make a decent manager too.

A little known fact I think, but Urs Meier refereed at Ewood Park in 1995.

He officiated for the Rovers-Legia Warsaw game in the Champions League - the game when Shearer missed a last minute one-on-one that would have taken us to the quarter-finals.

Don't often get the chance to watch the Rovers but because of Park Ji-sung, saw the game.

Proud, very proud. The Korean press were saying this morning about how this game was Park's best chance to score his first goal - 'weak team, weak defence' they said.

Should have had a couple by half-time but played really well

Once served Mark Atkins with a video during my short spell at 'Variety Video'.

When I took my A-Levels at Blackburn College, a shell-suited Chris Sulley was taking some sports management exam.

Saw most of the team staggering out of Blakeys around 5 pm one afternoon just before Christmas 1994, Jason Wilcox almost got hit by a car and they went to the pub across the street (FJ Nichols?)

Well I guess it is time to concede the Ashes are on their way to England

Well played England, through excellent bowling, Flintoff, luck and umpire decisions going your way you have deserved your series win.

They really have proved they are a good team on their own soil and I will be the first to admit it

See you in 2 years, we can't wait

Now back to the footy for me

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You couldn't quite do it, could you Neekoy? Decent attempt though, maybe you'll get better as you have more practice.

As for being the first to admit that England are a good team, you're hardly the first , many Australians have been saying so for a while now - usually with more and wit than your good self

I can't believe that some people are questioning Matt's value and input in the first season back.

He was in a young team that until April was in the bottom of three and in serious danger of going down but still fought his way into the England squad but missed the game thorugh illness.

As for not scoring against the big teams, that season he scored against the top two -Liverpool and Arsenal as well as the WC final- but such an argument makes little sense anyway.

For a club like Rovers-every game is a big game -his goal that season against Ipswich, Rovers' relegation rivals was more important than goals at Arsenal and Liverpool.

There was always more to his game than goals anyway.

I don't think Lee Young-pyo will be joining Newcastle as suggested by PaddyK, for the simple reason as they're not in the Champions League and they haven't actually bid for him.

The only club to have made a bid is Monaco and they are negotiating with PSV.

Lee would like to come to England but I'd be surprised if he gave up the chance of CL football to do so.

There's nothing wrong with enjoying a new life in a new country but constant sniping and belittling of the old country smacks of insecurity, as well as being rather boring.

It will always be known as Ewood.

In Blackburn, the biggest nightclub in town is still known as 'The Cav' even though it must be 20 years since the name changed to Peppermint Place or Utopia or whatever.

Even the kids who go there now and have no memory of the Cavendish still use the original name.

Though play has stopped for the last ten minutes as some home fans threw some scary looking rocks on the pitch

South Korea only need a point in Kuwait but are already two up in the first half.

Speak to clubs like Man City, Everton and Fulham who have had Chinese and Japanese players, and they'll tell you that they've made nothing from overseas deals in terms of shirt sales and the like.

Most shirts in the far east are fakes as it is!

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I'm involved with the Peace Cup - an eight team tournament to be held in Korea in July, Spurs will be there.

Florentina were also invited but as they wanted TV rights to their own games- the invitation was withdrawn.

They were invited because as Nakata plays for them, the organisers hoped that would increase interest in the competition in Japan.

When negotiations were still ongoing however, the Italian said the being paid to appear in the tournament was the first time they had made any money in Asia because of Nakata.

Little bit more research.

According to the Asian Footbal Confederation -last summer's Asian Cup final between China and Japan drew the biggest TV audience in Chinese sporting history with 18.5% of the population, or around 250 million, watching.

The game was a huge deal in China against bitter rivals- everybody in China was talking about it for the week preceding the game, it was the biggest thing in Chinese sport for years so I doubt that 150 million more people would watch City-Everton than the biggest game in Chinese football history.

Prior to that, the most watched game was China-Brazil in 2002 with around 180 million.

Both games were played at 6pm (i think, or early evening anyway) on Saturday evening- not at midnight like the fabled Everton-City game.

I didn't say that Man U were interested in Park only for football reasons - just that it's tiresome when the press and ,yourself obviously, cannot seem to imagine an Asian player moving to an English club on the basis of talent alone.

Is it a coincidence that Man U are signing him soon after Glazer's takeover? I have no idea but Park's performances in the CL raised his profile around Europe before Glazer came on the scene and it was always going to be this season or next before he moved to Spain or England.

Newcastle and Spurs and a number of Spanish and Italian clubs showed interest but PSV and another season in the CL seemed more appealing. Man U could be a different matter.

As to Man U not needing a player like him at this time. Are you sure? Keane, Giggs and Scholes are not getting any younger and Park can, and has played, in the middle, as an attacking midfielder and on the wing.

400 million people didn't watch the Everton-City game- it's a myth.

After googling, I saw reports ranging from 750, 600,500,400,300, 140 and more. At the time, the Chinese press were laughing at the British newspapers coming up with such nonsense.

I was only jokiiiiiing!

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.