DavidMailsTightPerm

IF we get to the FA Cup semi or final (though at this point I will be happy to get past Burnley). Why not give present non-season ticket holders the opportunity to reserve (with a non-refundable cash sum of course) season tickets for next season in return for guaranteed availability for Millenium Stadium tickets (after existing season ticket holders of course ) I wouldn't imagine it would vastly increase our season ticket sales - but at least it would be an incentive for any people undecided about season tickets.

I think we will always have to accept that as a small town club, we are very rarely going to have good press. Even when we won the league - and were top goal scorers some of the press tried to say we were boring and one dimensional. The vast majority of the press are Arsenal/Tottenham/United/Chelsea fans themselves - so they are hardly ever going to give a small Lancashire team who upset the "Big Boys club" good press are they. Lets get this straight - Chelsea are set up as a defensive team - they have more 1-0 victories than any other team. Why aren't they boring - because they are a deemed a big club with high profile players. As Mourinho himself pointed out they battled - if they are so superior why didn't they try and out play us rather than battle us ? The whole thing stinks - but it will never change.

Must be carew then - he is 6ft 4in

Longsider - if the queue got as long as that - why on earth did they only have one girl at the ticket office. Who also happened to be doing the cleaning at the same time

One thing is certain - this is a far bigger match to the dingles that it is us. Rovers are in a no-win situation - if we win then it is because of the money, if we lose - doesn't bear thinking about. I see this as a reasonable route into the sixth round - not easy, but a lower league club away in the fifth round is better than Chelsea or United. If we get to the sixth round, it will be all the sweeter because it is the dingles. My only worry - our recent league record against them is excellent - but our form in Cup competitions against lower league opposition is very poor. Lets hope that the players realise how important this game is to the fans - and give (for once) a showing worthy of national TV

Lets put all this in perspective - three defeats - but on paper we could only expect to get something from the Bolton match. You can point to our lack of goal scoring, but Bolton are a very effective team at protecting a lead, as are Chelsea. We also need to consider how much the Chelsea game took out of the players prior to playing Boro. It is time for MH to start earning his salary - he has the players at his disposal to shake things up a bit. Personally - injuries permitting - I would consider still persisting with 4-5-1. But at home he has to risk Tugay, and also push Emerton and MGP further forward so it is more like a 4-3-3.

Why the downer on Dickov - just because he is a niggly so-and-so, please don't ignore the football talent that he does have. He does unbelievably well to hold the ball up and bring other players into play, his goals record is very respectable considering how few chances we actually create, he makes intelligent runs for others, knows how to defend from the front, suprisingly quick over short distances (though not outstanding pace), runs the channels well. All this for £150k. Too many people equate big transfer fees meaning better players. Grabbi proves that this isn't necessarily the case. All the above could be said of Savage (but in a midfield sense) - as he showed at Brum - he creates chances, he makes things happen. We had Fergie for 17 months - I think Savage has probably contributed more in his first few games than Fergie did in all of his.

If everyone is fit, I would imagine that the team will be as Wednesday - if it is - I am going for Rovers to sneak a 1-0 win. I think that this formation could see us get some unlikely points against the higher placed teams that we have to play against over the next few weeks. Though I still worry about us scoring against teams like Norwich - which ultimately may prove more important than the odd point against Liverpool or United.

I voted yes - if JW and MH had sincerely thought that he would buckle down and play well for Rovers (post window) - then they would have held out for £6m. No matter what they said in the media - I beleive that the deal only went though because they doubted how Ferguson would play.

How can anyone have a go at JW - he did the best he could. As may people have pointed out we have saved at least half a seasons wages - and when he left in the summer (which we all know he would have) - how much we would have got then ? The real villain in all this is Fergie (thus named because he acts like a stuck up woman). I don't blame him for wanting to go home to Glasgow - that is his perocative. But contrast how he and his agent handled it in comparison to Berg when he left for United. Berg knew that United wanted him - he wanted to go - but he kept it all under wraps, let the board know - and allowed us to get a fair price and a replacement in (Henchoz) without involving the press or unduly forcing Rovers hand (a true gentleman). I wouldn't like to say what my opinion of Fergie is - if at the end of the season we are placed in mid-table, and Tommo has established himself in centre-mid - who cares

All this Ferguson thing is absolutely amazing - the number of Rangers fans that think they will win the league now they have signed him. "Bring some imagination to our midfield" - he hasn't shown much imagination in the Premiership ! IF the rumours are true - I wouldn't be too disappointed at a £1.25m loss on Fergie. It could be a lot worse (aka Grabbi).

Fergie out £5.25m Bellamy in £6m Good business or not ? I wouldn't be surprised if Hughes already has a midfield loan signing lined up

Rangers web sites have this all as a done deal at £5.25m - if this is true Can't help feeling somebody is having a little fun - but I will listen to Radio Lancs intently at 08:00 am

Though I rate Bellamy - and would readily have him on loan - I don't think he represents good value for £6m + the huge wages that are being quoted. However - what better way of showing that we mean business (and as someone has already pointed, maybe bring a few fans back) than taking Bellamy from under the noses of Brum. And lets not forget - he has long been a first team player at that NE "giant" that never wins anything

This isn't going to happen. Just a re-hashed story which will put pressure on Brum to meet his wage demands. Rovers have turned down £4m for Ferguson - so why would they all of a sudden accept it ? Our only chance is a loan deal - or a swap involving Ferguson (if he can be pursuaded to go). Even with a swap - I would be wanting Rovers to extract some money from Newcastle as part of the deal.

"Humiliated in front of the nation" - what utter rubbish. Nobody expects us to win (even our own fans) - so the only team that can be humliated in this scenario is Chelsea (I hope I don't regret saying that when they knock 5 past us ) This game for Chelsea - is like us playing a first division team - same sort of gap. But you never know - against all the odds we could get a draw. Or even nick a win - yes the most likely result is anywhere between 2-0 to 4-0 to Chelsea, but you never know. The most interesting thing for me - is how good a manager Mark Hughes actually is. Though we have had a drastic improvement over the last 10 or so games - this will be the first time we have come across one of the top teams since that improvement began. Chelsea are arguably the best team in Europe, with probably the best manager - if MH can take our current squad and get any form of result, then I think we may actually have unearthed a decent manager

Lets remember that Murray said that he wouldn't improve his £3m offer - so I am still to be convinced that it is over. However, in the cold light of day, whether Rovers regret turning down £4m will depend on Ferguson. I think everyone agrees that a Ferguson/Savage midfield pairing had everybody excited prior to his transfer request. We may actually have that opportunity - providing that Ferguson puts in a reasonable amount of effort to keep his place (and everything coming from Rovers suggests that he will). I think Rangers have missed an important point about the Premier League - as Palace have shown with Routledge - it is sometimes better to retain a player and let him go for lower money at the end of the season if it means staying in the league or finishing higher. The money that Rovers could lose by hanging onto Ferguson until the end of the season - is nothing compared to getting relegated, or the potential £500k per place that is on offer.

The midfield wasn't our problem last night. Even Tugay at his peak would have struggled to do something last night - as both teams were set out to nullify the other. Looking on the bright side - yet again we limited the opposition to a limited number of opportunities to score. What we desperately need is a target man up front who can hold the ball up. This would enable our midfield runners to join in the attack. I feel that our inability to hold the ball up was the main reason that Emerton had a poor match as most of his runs were from too deep. Hughes has done wonders in improving the performance and resilience of the team - any money from Ferguson would easily cover the purchase of a midfield player of similar ability - and the target man we so desperately need.

I think it is more than that - I think Rovers are at the leading edge of what is happening in football in general. Due to the rapid rise in our attendances we obviously have more "fair weather" fans than most premiership clubs (or we would have been getting gates of 20k prior to Jack's money). We also have one of the smallest and most fiercly fought over catchment areas of probably any Premiership club. But overall - almost every footie fan I talk to is sick of the over-exposure of the Premiership, and the total money monopoly that now dominates football. Though Liverpool enjoyed dominance in the 70's and 80' you could still have a Wimbledon, Notts Forest or Ipswich rising to prominence. Now the reality for the majority of clubs is just trying to stay in the Premiership. Even the mightly Liverpool play a game of constant catch up with the top three where they constantly have to qualify for fourth place to even keep withing touching distance. We effectively have a Scottish Premiership - there is no competition for the top three clubs. Look at it realistically Chelsea have lost one match so far - Arsenal lost none last season - hardly a competitive league.

In some ways I agree with you Waggy - but, I can't stop wondering how good a midfield we would have with Savage and Fergie. He may have the chance to prove himself tomorrow (if picked) - as I am sure that any signs of a lack of effort will be picked up by the home fans. Eitehr way - I am sure that after tomorrow - things will start to become a little clearer.

Whether Rangers have any players worth part-exchanging is an interesting one. Hughes liking for big defenders could bring Ball into the equation as our new left back - he did play centre-half for Everton occasionally. I think we should go for an alternative strategy - £6m cash or £4m plus Amo back to Scotland

Instead of just having a go at Fergie - why hasn't anyone mentioned what a good job with the media Hughes is doing in all this. None of the ranting and raving that we saw with Steve Bruce - just a measured response that he wants Fergie to be part of what he is building. No digs about him wanting to go back to a lesser league, smaller club, no mention of ambition etc. He has nicely left the door open for the Board to either reject the transfer request - or put a valuation on him that his talent deserves (has to be more than £3m). He has also given Fergie the opportunity to stay if he can get his personnel issues resolved. Though only time will tell how good a manager he is (after all Hodgson had a brilliant start to his time at Rovers) - his handling of the media and players has (to date) been first class.

Unfortunately a player is only worth what a club is willing to pay for him. With Fergusons transfer request - it leaves us in a difficult position. We need Everton and Newcastle to start sniffing around to up the fee to something more palatable. Even if we only get £3m - it will still be another £3m above the Savage money for Hughes to work his magic (hopefully). I have been v disappointed by Ferguson - just prior to his injury he looked as though Souness was right. But since his comeback he seems to have lost the drive that makes the difference between a tidy midfield player (which he is) and a Vierra, Gerrard or Keane. Contrast Ferguson with Tommo - both out injured for long periods. Tommo wants to repay the club - Fergie just wants to go back to Scotland. Not only that - by asking for a transfer fee he undermines Rovers chances of getting a fair transfer fee to compensate for all the wages they paid him when he was injured.

Izzetnot - this all seems to have descended a little bit - your initial arguments were well balanced - but u just seemed to have slipped further and further down. You can criticise previous managers all you want - as we often do. But Hughes is only doing what he can within the budget he has. We are under no illusions - we now have a limited budget and have to try picking up players as we can. Two international captains for a total of £300k seems good business to me - and well worth the risk. We are a small town in lancashire, that manages to sustain a competative premiership football team on gates of approx 25k. This a town with a population of 125k, and with a significant number of local rivals steeped in more tradition and success that Birmingham will probably ever be. Birmingham - second largest city in GB - average gate 30k - go figure that one Lets forget all this "we are bigger than you" rubbish - at the end of the day the best team will end up highest in the league come May. And the following season it starts all again.

All these comments from McLeish and Murray really do make you think - they are going as close as anyone dares to telling Fergie to break his contract with Rovers. In all this Rovers have kept a dignified silence - do you think our friends from Birmingham could learn something