Given the results tonight - we would have been stuffed without these wins.

Be good for free kicks :-) I thought he joined after promotion - though could be getting dates muddled. Also was Parkes not playing - before he broke his leg towards end.of season ?

No - but bare in mind that Kamy has been wrong before - he is only as good as the information that is passed to him.

If true this would be an absolute disgrace. How can the players trust a manager who lets somebody else take the rap for his own short comings ? I hope your information is wrong.

I didn't know John - but as I am sure every true football fan feels - am so sorry at his untimely death. The one thing that has struck me from comments made by people who knew him - he was Rovers 100%. The best tribute that fans can give - isn't to stay away, or fight over the rights or wrongs of the unfortunate circumstances of his death - but to get behind the team that he supported through thick and thin - surely that is what he would have wanted. For his family - nothing will fill the void that this will leave - but lets at least make Wednesday a celebration of his life - hopefully the club will allow a minutes silence - which I am sure would be impeccibly observed.

The only system that Benni needed to follow was weight watchers. Irrespective of whether you like the manager or not - you would have thought he would have ensured he was at the peak of physical fitness this season so he could force his way back into the South Africa squad. This obviously wasn't the case - you can't blame the manager for everything.

Gotta agree - any deal has to be a clear £2.5m +. He may be getting on - but pace was never his main asset - so I can't see how his age has too much of an impact on his fee (other than resale value). Though not his biggest fan £1.25m for an established Premiership goal scorer must be considered a joke.

Must have missed something - everybody is going on about how Benni is the best finisher, changed the game etc etc. It was Roberts who scored two goals and changed the game. For me McCarthy did what he does best - an odd glimpse of skill (setting up the goal) totally under-mined by silly back-flicks that gave the ball away too easily. Against a half decent team we would have been punished by McCarthy's inability to hold up the ball - and ill'advised flicks. Also strange looking back at the game - thought Dunn had his poorest match of the season - but he still had an input into all the goals.

For me the big difference is in how the opposition defence has to play against each of these two players. Against Roberts they have a battle - also knowing they have to be wary of the ball over the top utilising his pace. Against McCarthy - just play a half decent off-side trap and you know you will have a reasonable amount of free kicks every time Rovers attack. In a good side, with plenty of pace he would probably be a good player. In a team devoid of a half decent passing midfield player (excl Dunny), with little pace - he is a luxury that I am afraid we can't afford.

I can't really see why the sudden outburst about McCarthy. Yes - he is a decent finisher - but he is rarely in the right place these days anyway. He is frequently off-side, he has no pace - and IMO isn't suited for the Premiership. For the comparisons with Roberts - I will give you that he isn't a natural finisher - but many of the chances he misses he makes himself with his strength and pace. The truth is that McCarthy wouldn't be in the position to take the chances anyway - so I find the comparison flawed. For all the talk of flair - when ? There have been odd glimpses - but nothing frequent enough to justify all the hype. All because he does back-heels that sometimes come off doesn't make him the player that people are making him out to be. He had one good season at Rovers - the rest of the time he has been distinctly average. If we can get anywhere above £2m I would be happy.

Always stook in mind - how hard Burnley fans must be to throw slates at their own fans. Almost as good as doing the double over you that season. All pales besides the Chelsea fans that left the Darwen End and stormed the Blackburn End - scary times. Lets hope that for all the rivalry - that it is kept to chanting, and the odd obscene gesture - some of us have grown up - lets hope the Dingles have. This particular Derby may not have the huge crowds of major City derbys - but has more history than most. Lets hope the TV public remember it for the right reason.

Do you think anyone on MOTD will remark on how United have bought the title this season ? £50m added to an already expensively put together squad sounds more like buying the title than Rovers ever did.

Though utterly dejected by yet another poor performance - can we really lay the blame at the managers door ? Before the match I thought he had selected a side more than capable of beating Coventry - but also giving youth a chance (something people on this MB have criticised him for recently). But for hitting the post - rather than the back of the net - we may (even allowing for the poor performance) got something out of this match. For me, and I don't think you can lay the blame totally on MH, key players seem to have had huge dips in their performance levels recently :- Emerton - for me looks tired, possibly the lack of a proper break in the summer is catching up with him Nelsen - could be home factors, but he has been poor over the last couple of months Samba - again maybe home factors, again nowhere near the heights of earlier this season MGP - actually starting to come into a bit of form at last, but has been poor up until christmas McCarthy - the ultimate enigma, if he was repeating the performances of last season we would be in the top 4 ! Warnock - seemed to peak against Newcastle, and has been poor ever since Also add to this injuries to players like Oiijer, Roberts, Derbyshire, Reid - who is available would probably have enabled MH to shake things up a bit (not forgetting the apparent fall out with Savage). Start of the season - I thought we had the best defence since the championship season, probably the best forward line, and a midfield with a good combination of skill, hard work and goal threat - not forgetting the ever green Friedel. I don't think anyone could have foreseen the drop in form of key players. One thing is certain - we do have the players - and we will now see how good a manager MH really is. I just hope that the board give him the money to prove (what I believe) that he is the best manager we have had since King Kenny (and possibly better given relative funds).

For all the doom and gloom merchants - I think Sunday's gate was probably around 2k higher than it would have been last season (than if the game had been played at a similar stage of the season). That represents a theoretical 11% increase in attendance. I am slightly disappointed that Rovers attendance haven't climbed higher - but Rome wasn't built in a day. It will also take a while to attract back those fans disillusioned with the current set up of the Premiership, where only the top 4 clubs will ever realistically win it - and the rest are left to feed off scraps. Hopefully continued progress on the field will help attract a few more back to Ewood. But utilimately the club should be applauded for at least trying something to stop the slide in attendances. Taking into account the slide in attendances we have seen over recent years - to actually increase attendances must be seen as a success.

Can't agree - why not give the Greeks some credit. Does nobody remember the Greeks winning the European Championship - again with a team short of star players - but with a great work ethic and good organisation - somewhat like the team we played tonight. Breaking the two legs down - if not for the flukey first goal away in Greece - I sincerely think we would have got the result we needed. That, followed by Emo's back-pass turned the game on its head - up to that point we had looked well in control - and looking to at least draw the match. Tonight we were the better team - and believe it or not actually won - with a bit of luck we would have actually won by more goals. IMO MH got some things wrong tonight - but he (and the players) should be better for the experience.

I was as surprised as most to see the gate last night. However I won't call anyone - as I didn't go myself. I had to make a choice - 3 matches in two weeks doesn't agree with my finances. So it was Pompey for me - and I will be going to the Larissa match - I hope others follow suit, as we could really do with a good gate to cheer us on in Europe

Lets hope Rovers advertise - for both Pompey & Brum - cheapest adult ticket is £15. Even the Blackburn End is only £20. It is an absolute bargain for a premiership match. Hoping to hear lots of adverts on the radio leading up to these two matches.

I may as well put in my two penny worth. At this moment, IMO, Dunny is miles off an England place. However, he is slowly becoming (no doubt with help from the excellent coaches we now have at Rovers) the complete midfield player that Souness always said he should be. The most impressive things about his game recently has been his hard work and tidy passing - not attempting something flash every 5 minutes. He also seems to be more defensively aware - as has been demonstrated by him playing just in front of the back four when he plays along side Savage. IF he can get back that little burst of pace and dribbling ability that made him such an eye catching talent when he first burst on the scene - who knows he may force his way back in the England squad. For those that say his true test will be against Chelsea - does nobody remember a certain FA Cup semi final - when Rovers fans started to dream that that old Dunny may be on his way back (so good was his performance on the day)

Totally agree about other players moving into space - half the time that Tugay gets caught in posession or passes to his invisible friend is due to lack of movement. At the top of his game Dunn offers something in midfield that few other players can match. The reality is - we couldn't afford a young player with the same potential - and definitely not the finished article. So we have to put our faith in a player that has yet (mainly due to injury) to fully fulfill his potential. I think it was a gamble to buy Dunn - but without gambles like this we will always be a mid-table team - as (unlike Spuds, barcodes, West Ham, Aston Villa etc etc) we can't afford to buy players like Dunn or Bellamy if they weren't in some way damaged goods.

I agree he isn't irreplacable - but as has been shown in our not too distant past - we have previously paid far more for strikers who have done far worse than Benni. I also think that his work rate is underrated - possibly because - as you point out - it is often his general attitude that seems amiss. I do think that his work rate has improved drastically - but he will always seem lazy compared to Derbyshire. Also - to be fair to the guy - he has played virtually every game in (what has been) a long season - especially compared to what he has previously been used to. Many of the mutterings against Benni will hopefully fade into the distant past as he puts in match winning performances in the FA Cup Semi's and Final

RB gotta say I disagree - watching the match back on Sky I was amazed to see McCarthy tracking back on a significant number of occasions. Not one of McCarthy's better matches - but at the end of the day strikers are about scoring goals - which he has done frequently and in matches that count - aka Arsenal. Believe me - if Rovers decide to let him go I am sure there would be a long queue on clubs wanting an 20 goal a season striker in their squads.

A quick question - what is the main reason for our recent defensive improvement ? The pairing of Samba and Nelsen or the drastic improvement in the Axe ? Personally I think it is a mixture of the two - if you watch matches carefully - you see that the Axe often covers for defenders when they move forward. His style of play contrasts greatly with Savage - who runs around like a headless chicken often leaving gaps that the better teams can exploit. Even when Savage is fit - I think it would be dangerous to drop Mokoena on current form. Very often the best eleven players don't make the best team - and at the moment I think this is Rovers best attribute - they are playing as a unit - with the odd bit of magic from players like Bentley, MGP, McCarthy etc.

Gotta say that Nonda (at the moment) appears like Roberts but without pace and effort. His hold up play is probably as good as Roberts, and control slightly better - but Roberts makes up for that in effort IMO. Can't wait for him to be fit again - giving us either Roberts or Derbyshire to come off he bench against tiring defences - as opposed to Nonda or Jeffers.

Its now down to Hughes to get the best out of a player who has a special talent - the problem I have always felt - is that he struggles in centre midfield. Could be our ace in the pack though playing in Europe. All the best David - lets hope that Rovers own Gazza can finally live up to the hype (and form) that got him into the England squad.

And won at dominos I think the most disappointing thing for me would be if Dunn signs for Bolton when he knows he has the chance of signing for Rovers. All he needs from Rovers is a pre-contract agreement that they will sign him in the summer - and we could call Bruce's bluff up to the end of the transfer window. With then knowing that they either accept Rovers offer or end up with nothing.