Rumour has it that ROVERS fans will be kept back in the ground for UP TO AN HOUR after the game has finished to let all the Burnley coaches and train travellers depart so bring a cushion!! I hope we wipe the floor with the Dingle Bumley Inbred T***s tonight!! Rovers 3 - 0 Burnley Emerton Gallagher Thompson

Premature I know but good chance of Rovers v Bolton semi-final at Old Trafford? How good would that be!! Can see Bolton beating either Arsenal or Sheff Utd in the next round and obviously we are the favourites to get through as well. We've been lucky in the draw so far like we were with the League Cup in 2002 so maybe this is our year. Unfortunately we dont have Cole, Jansen, Dunn and Duff to provide the firepower this time so hard graft, effort and a solid defence are our only weapons. Can't see past United to win the whole thing at a canter though given the way they are playing!

Can't see past another 0-2 victory to us, similar to what happened last time - maybe a nice goal from Savage just before half time with Pedersen getting clear towards the end and spanking one in the bottom corner. We pasted Norwich last week (who ran away with the Chumpionship last year) without even trying so if we play full strength and full speed I can't see anyone in the Burnley team who is good enough to stop us. Looking forward to the atmosphere more than anything tho - last time at Turf was stood right at the back so didn't get to abuse the Bumley fans that much but this time I thinks we're right at the front in the corner close to the Longside! Anyone know which way the seat numbers run and what numbers they go up to???

Team should be: Friedel Neill Todd Mokoena Johansson Savage Flitcroft Thompson Reid Emerton Dickov I've got a good feeling about this one but any success we have in this game depends on Dickov being fit - we need a striker up there who can hold up the ball when played into feet so we can get the midfield involved. Pedersen has done well but I dont think he's strong enough or has enough stamina like Emerton and Reid to compete with Robben and Duff. Any weaknesses they do have are down their right side and with crosses into the box so maybe Emerton on the left can do well. Also Makelele is susceptible to pressure when on the ball so Thommo needs to put pressure on him. I think Todd and Mokoena can control Drogba as a combinination but Lampard is the danger man and whoever plays defensive midfield (probably Tugay or Flitty) needs to be on their game. I think how well our full backs play will be essential, Johansson should play as he reads the game better, has more pace and is far cooler on the ball that Matteo who should be dropped. Neill has to improve! I'm confident that if we can defend well then we have a chance. Chelsea have been far from free scoring against sides who defend solidly against them. Like others have said I fancy Savage for a late free kick winner or a Todd bullet header. Looking forward to seeing Duff back at Ewood for what promises to be a tight but entertaining match! Rovers 1 - 0 Chelsea

Question is: will Andy Cole be subject to abuse next week if he warms up in front of the Rovers fans at Craven Cottage? The answer is no because he gave a lot of hard work and effort to the club and was instrumental in us staying up after we signed him and virtually won us the Worthington Cup. If there was any racist abuse yesterday if was as much Yorke's fault as that of the Rovers fans it would have only come off the back of the abuse connected with him being a lazy t**t for us and because he confronted his aggressors in a very arrogant manner. As it was, I was sat close to the incident and didnt hear any racist abuse and have seen the Sky pictures and there is no evidence of people making monkey gestures towards him - especially not the two main instigators who were making V signs at him. This was the case with most of the Blackburn End and in my opinion it is about a 1000 people against 1 idiot footballer and Yorke wouldn't have a leg to stand on if it weren't for the sensationalist view of the media. Yorke just needs to get over the fact he is now a washed up nobody whose career as a footballer has gone distinctly sour after his earlier successes.

If you watch Rooneys debut for Manure and Shearer's for Rovers you'll know that Shearer's two goals were a class apart. In his second game against Arsenal, Shearer scored a beauty, if only for the fact that the Blackburn End went mental. However, Shearer was about 2 or 3 years older than Rooney is at that point. Seem to remember big Al scoring a hat-trick for Southampton on his debut though didnt he? Shearer was the complete striker in his prime. He had pace, power, finesse great in the air, superb team player, great crosser, great leader. Rooney doesn't have all of these yet but im sure he will given time. What you've got to admire about Rooney though is that he just doesn't seem to care about anything else apart from scoring goals. For a start he ripped he United shirt before the game and after took it straight off, swapped it for a Turk shirt which he put on backwards and inside out. That shows he has no desire to look good, he just wants to play football. The look on his face after he had just scored his hat-trick was unbelieveable, it was like he'd just scored a scrappy goal for the reserve team, anyone else would have not been able to contain their delight at completing a Champions League hat-trick with a sublime free kick into the Stretford End! I dont think there will be much to compare Roon and Al when they are both retired but for now at least Shearer just edges it as he is still scoring European hat-tricks in his 30's!

Whats with all this support for riff raff like Mark Hughes and Mike Newell - appointing inexperience like that is just going down the same road as a certain Mr. Kidd and look where we ended up then. Hughes couldn't even mastermind victories against Azerbanjo and Northern Ireland, plus he has no full time club management experience. Mike Newell is managing Luton at the moment which says it all. Likewise Shearer. Sod setimentality, what we need is a manager with good technical ability who can or will possibly move the club forward in a new direction, someone with proven experience at the highest level. To me, if Gerard Houllier applies for the job then I can't see how the board can look past such an excellent CV. Ok so things went sour at Liverpool but it was mainly media pressure that forced him out, he was doing a top job given the level of competition he faced from Arsenal, United and Chelski. Football fans have such short memories which is why the Geordies didnt take to Souness as their board would have hoped. In Houllier we are talking about one of the most highly respected managers/coaches in Europe with a huge amount of top class Premiership, Champions League and International experience - unlike Hughes, Newell, Strachan, Walter Smith etc etc or whoever you care to mention besides Wenger, Ferguson etc I know most Rovers fans wouldn't warm to Houllier initially but why the hell not? He did a great job at Liverpool and won lots of trophies, he was France's technical director prior to the period where they won the World Cup and the Euro's and is a top class coach. He is the man for the job if he has applied, which by all accounts he has. Plus, the last two former Liverpool managers we appointed both won us trophies, our only successes of the last god knows how long years. Who is to say the next Anfield reject can't make it a clean sweep and bag us the FA Cup this season???!!! Allez Allez Gerard Houllier!!

Again there's a lot of unecessary criticism of the side as they played a major part in what was a thrilling game that neither team deserved to lose in the end. Fair enough England didnt play as well as they can do after Owen's goal but I thought Portugal played well above themselves and definitely looked the fitter team, understandable since they had an extra days rest. The formation denied England any space to pass the ball around and so often it went forward far too quickly for Vassel and Owen who aren't reknowned for their hold-up abilities. I think if Rooney had been on the pitch, a player who can dribble and who is strong and can hold on to the ball, it may have been different. Despite all Portugals pressure, up until Terry's mistake which let in Postiga, they were poor once they got to the 18 yard line, and didn't have any direct opportunities that went very close in the 90 minutes. England however had two close efforts from Owen and a great header from Sol Campbell. For all Portugal's pressure, the way they played and thier extra fitness - England still scored 2 good goals to their 1, and they were desperately unlucky that the referee didnt give it. The referee had a poor game, not only with the disallowed goal but was conned time and time again by Deco and Ronaldo who went down remarkably easily to the softest of challenges. When England players stood their ground in challenges against them, the ref automatically gave Portugal a free kick. All in all it was a poor display from a seemingly arrogant man with a s***e beard and crap highlights in his hair. With Postigas goal, England could have given up. But no, they kept on going and we should have been allowed to go 2-1 up in the last minute. Again a crucial blow but we still kept on fighting. Both teams attacked in equal measures in extra time, it was exciting stuff and England cannot be accused of being defensive here. Again, a crucial blow against them with Costa's thunderbolt strike after a fantastic run but England kept on fighting and got the goal with a cool finish from Frank Lampard. Simao went close for Portugal but Vassel had a superb run but was hacked down cynically by the defender and unfortunately nothing came of the resulting free kick. And then the penalties which are all about luck. Both teams missed one each in regulation but Beckham has a better excuse for missing than Rui Costa with the ball actually moving before he hit it. Both teams scored great penalties even though Portugals were slightly better placed. Ricardo's made a great save from Vassel and scored a wonderful penalty himself. Portugal went through. Unlucky. Beckham wasn't at his very best but he was no worse last night than Scholes or Gerrard. He's played a key part in some great goals for England agaisnt France, Switzerland and last night and has been great defensively. He's been unlucky with both penalties and even though he put a brilliant ball over for Lampard's equaliser, he and England have been unlucky in the penalty shootout. All in all England have been desperately unlucky in this tournament. To be playing Portugal the hosts in the first place is unlucky as we were better than France in the group, who should have lost two matches and be out of the tournament. We've been unlucky with Campbell's goal, unlucky with Beckham's two penalties and unlucky that they've come out on top in the shootout, as it could have gone either way. Hopefully England will come back stronger and wiser for the World Cup in Germany with the likes of Owen, Rooney, Gerrard, Lampard,Terry and Cole gaining more experience of international football and Beckham, Cambell, Neville and Scholes having one last go at winning a major competition. Every dog has its day and I firmly believe England's time will come soon.

England v Portugal promises to be a great game but there doesn't seem to be a great deal of confidence for England on the various football websites considering how well we played against Croatia. So who's going to win? Personally I think England will just have too much quality for the hosts. Portugal have some good players don't get me wrong but much of their good play ends when they get to the final third. Until Nuno Gomes popped up with a superb winner against Spain, most of the pundits have dismissed them as second rate, which they are. If we play the same way we have been doing we'll win. They couldn't cope with Greece's direct play and England play a quite similar game, as well as having better quality players all over the pitch. If we can stop giving away silly free-kicks in dangerous areas then I can't see us being outscored. I think we'll win by one or two goals with Owen stepping his game up and getting two and Rooney bagging his fifth of the tournament. For later predictions, I fancy Dave Becks to win the final for us against France in the last minute with a customary free-kick, in true Jonny Wilkinson style.

England put in a workmanlike peformance yesterday and they couldn't have asked for anything more, there's a lot of unecessary criticism on here. Out of all the sides in the tournament, England, Sweden and Germany have impressed me the most so far, in that order. What England did was something that Spain, Portugal, Italy, Holland, France and the Czech Reublic have all failed to do one or more times - win comfortably against inferior opposition. France were too arrogant and played too slow last night, they were so chilled out it was unbelieveable. ZZ has carried them through both their matches, if it weren't for his leadership and fight until the end, and France's impossibly good luck, they would be out of the tournament, simple as that. As long as France keep Desailly in the side, which they will as he is captain, they will not win Euro 2004 in my opinion. If England play high tempo against Croatia, we'll walk it. Their main threat is Prso but Campbell will have him in his pocket the way he is playing. What England have is a good team spirit, they aren't arrogant and know they need to work hard to win this tournament, even though we do have a lot of quality players. I thought all of the midfield four were excellent yesterday, we have the srikers to trouble any defence and the back four are playing superbly apart from James who still looks dodgy. It was pointed out last night on ITV that he is doing silly things to try and impress people. He has also stated that he wants to be goalkeeper of the tournament, which is stupid. For him to do that he would have to make several brilliant saves and save a few penalties like Friedel in the World Cup. That is NOT want England want him to be doing, so it is important that the defence protect him as much as possible. Thank God for Sol Campbell who is an absolute rock at the moment! COME ON ENGLAND!

Great signing but lets give him time to settle in - there's not been that many Spanish players in the Premiership and Jose Reyes didn't exactly set the world on fire for Arsenal this season. What he will do is provide balance to the side, and although I don't think he'll be brilliant from the off, he will prove a great signing come the end of the season. He's got a good deal of time to settle in England but lets not build the guy up too much before he actually plays some Premiership football.

Morph, the argument was with some bum chogger who said all of the most threatening and creative players in THE PREMIERSHIP are foreigners. Paul Scholes carries a huge goal threat in the Premiership (the fact cannot be denied) and along with Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, Michael Owen and Alan Shearer, they are the most creative and threatening players at their respective clubs, which basically ends the argument that the best, most creative players in the Premiership are foreign. Despite the argument being about the Premiership, Paul Scholes 13 goals in 61 games for England isnt bad for a midfielder and I would put money on him scoring at some point during this tournament. Even with his barren run lately, he remains England's most technically gifted player and fully justifies his place in the side.

I didn't think I was making statements, but was expressing an opinion. There is, in my opinion, a difference in being the second or third best player in the PL and being a threat. I'm not trying to criticize England but to make observations - Henry, Viera, Pires - name the English equivalents? By which I mean players who worry you when they have the ball against your team. The point I'm trying to make is England do not have threatening, creative players and that much of the creativity in the PL comes from foreign players. When Rovers play the major PL clubs it's the foreign players who are most likey to create the threat or set the pulse racing. If we're playing Arsenal, Chelsea, Man Utd, there are few English players who create the threat/buzz. You can be a very good footballer but still not a threatening, creative player. So what in your opinion constitutes 'creativity' or a 'threat' then Paul? LAMPARD carries a huge goalscoring THREAT - as he showed for Chelsea and against France. Seeing as he's also able to pick out a pass and CREATE goals, then surely he's also creative. GERRARD is even better at picking out a pass than Lampard, as he's shown with several pinpoint passes for Owen this season, does that not make him creative? You say you wouldn't be scared if Gerrard had the ball, well I for one would be fin worried if he got the ball and was running at a defence. BECKHAM surely carries a THREAT at dead-ball situations and can CREATE goals out of nothing with his superb passing and vision. SCHOLES is probably Englands most CREATIVE player with his little passes to get attacking moves going, his superb passing ability and huge goal THREAT with his runs into the box. You also noted that OWEN and ROONEY carry a significant threat so well done. Your opinion that the best, most creative and threatening players in the Premiership are foreigners is simply a view that you've formed in your own mind to explain why England lost the other night. But the facts simply don't back that opinion up! You're right that Henry and Pires are Arsenal's most dangerous players but Vieira? How many goals and assists does he get in a season? Hardly any is the answer. He's not an attacking or creative threat. Who is Chelsea's most creative and threatening player? Crespo, Gronkjaer? I don't think so, its Frank Lampard all the way. Maybe it's Duff but he's a product of and English youth academy, not a foreigner. Who is Manchester United's most creative and threatening player? I'd say its probably Scholes, and if not him then Giggs. Before that it was Beckham. All players I would not deem to be foreigners. You'd probably say Van Nistelrooy but he's only effective in and around the six yard box and not a creative threat in the ilk of Henry lets say. Who is Liverpool's most creative and threatening player? You cannot argue that it's not either Owen or Gerrard. English born and bred? Who is Newcastle's most creative and threatening player? Someone mentioned, maybe you, that Shearer worried you every time he got the ball so its got to be him. If not Shearer then maybe Bellamy or Dyer, its certainly not Laurent Robert. So there's the top 5 clubs in England and apart from Arsenal, all their best attacking and creative threats are either English in most cases or from one one of the home nations. So basically your argument doesn't weigh up. You don't just have to be able to run at players and have some skill to be considered a threat or a creative player, different players carry different threats from different situations and create things in different ways. Please reply and tell all the lovely people that you're wrong...

I'm not blaming the PL, I'm suggesting the real quality players in our top sides are not English Who were the second and third best players in the Premiership this season then as voted by their fellow professionals? I think you'll find it was Lampard and Gerrard. Don't make statements that the facts simply don't back up. As for England, there's been a lot of unfair criticism as Jim mk2 rightly said (makes a change). Having watched the match twice now, its clear that England didn't just defend for 90 minutes as a lot of people have said. The first half was quite even - both teams showing a lot of respect for each other with lots of men behind the ball when the opposition had it. England edged it with a goal, superb cross from Beckham and an even better header from Lampard. We started really defending the 18 yard line around the 60 minute mark which is to be expected playing against France, any other team would have done it. Even so we were dangerous on the break, as Rooney showed and he deserved to score, it was a cowardly challenge from Silvestre. As it is France, only won the game from to set plays, both of which were mistakes from us rather than superb play from them. Credit to Zidane though who showed his class with the free-kick. As for the substitutions, you can't balme Eriksson for that. Owen was doing nothing and Vassel showed his worth by getting two shots on goal almost as soon as he came on and putting himself in a great position when Rooney broke clear. With Rooney, he has tired and remember he had been booked so replacing him with Heskey was the right thing to do. Its easy to criticise in hindsight. He was caught out of position to be fair but even so Heskey made a genuine attempt to get the ball, it wasnt a cynical foul, and Makelele went down quite easily. Plus points are that we played well against some great players and a great team, restricted them to long shots mostly. It is only the first game and hopefully this result and the over exuberance of the French at the end will give England the hunger to do well and get to the final. We could get through with just a win and a draw in the next two game, which is well within our capabilities. COME ON ENGLAND!!

Ptholt, you're more than entitled to your opinion and you make some good points but surely you can understand that people who see Rovers play every week are more than likely able to make better judgement than yourself. I don't mind constructive criticism but mindless pessimism is getting quite boring on this messageboard now. I thought living in Portugal as you do or Canada as ExiledInToronto does was supposed to make you a more happy and optimistic person? Fair enough if you were living in a dingy terrace in Mill Hill (apologies to those who do) but you dont! For the Dickov and Souey haters - I ask you this - who would you rather have as your fourth choice striker, Dickov or Yorke? Nuff said. For the experienced player haters, go and work out the average age of the squad an/or count the number of young players Souey has signed or brought into the first team. Exiled In Toronto, please go and hump a moose. I seem to remember you used to have a one man personal crusade against Matt Jansen saying he wasn't good enough for the Premiership. Funny that seeing has he went on to form an excellent partnership with Cole, scored lots of goals including one in a cup final and ended up in the England squad, until his unfortunate accident. So basically your judgement is poor. So please, stop pessimising and start optimising, its the way forward!

Get a grip you sad no lifers - hardly anyone has made any signings yet, give Souey a f'in chance! As it is, Dickov is a great signing for the price, what is £100,000 these days? He's only going to be 4th choice striker anyway! We do have a few over 30's in the sqaud but who doesn't? You need the old heads, especially in key positions like central defence. And how can anyone call Amo crap, he was an inspiration at the end of the season. Seem to remember he had one of the most exciting and skilful young players in the country, Wayne Rooney, in his pocket at Goodison. We've signed Dickov but we also signed Stead last season, Gally was brought into the first team, Douglas has just signed a contract, Andy Taylor has signed professional terms recently, Jay McEvelely will be back as well as Thompson, Ferguson, Emerton, Johannsson and Neill who are all relatively young. We've got a squad with an excellent blend od youth and experience, something which Souness has always strived for and will continue to do, and which got us 6th place and won us the League Cup. Last season we had to take a step back for various reasons but this will enable us to take two steps forward next season whith whal should be a great squad. COME ON YOU BLUES!

Souness is a living legend and our best manager since big KD. This season he's done a great job in what was always going to be a transistional season after we lost Damo Duff. As it was, even in the lowest of the low points of the season, we still weren't as bad as the three relegated sides. If any of you goons on this board were manager at Ewood we'd sink without trace you're all so doom and gloom - get a life and look on the bright side all of you. This season Souey has been 1) The architect of an excellent away record with some memorable victories 2) Showed he takes a risk on youth - bringing two players into the first team who have both excelled 3) Uncovered a gem in John Stead (the best buy of any Premiership manager). Admittedly was his second choice but would you rather sign a proven Premiership and international goalscorer or an unproven third division player with lots of potential? 4) We beat Man Utd again home 5) Made some other excellent signings, Amorouso proved all his doubters, Ferguson is a class act who will be great next season, Gray was superb at left back, Emerton will definitely prove his worth next season (and he didnt do too badly this season either, just that most on here are too blind to have seen all his assists, hard work and endeavour for the team) 6) Got rid of players who weren't fulfilling their potential like Taylor and Grabbi 7) We beat Man Utd! 8) He got the victories when it mattered the most, even with a severely depleted midfield and defence 9) Did i mention we beat Man United? So get behind the team and our superb manager! COME ON YOU BLUES!