Unfortunately, it's not just two horrible performances!

big disappointment! its not just the defence........they did cut us to pieces at will but we are impotent in attack. Bellamy is, of course, pure class but where was the support? Dickov, Bentley and Pedersen were garbage....not for the first time. I have seen the Wigan, Aston Villa and Sunderland games and we were poor in all of them. Without Bellamy, there is no cutting edge at all. The Man U , Arsenal and Tottenham games were brilliant but this is crap........ It's a good job Bellamy wasn't playing for Pompey or we would have been murdered!

One advantage of being on the other side of the world is that I can reply to my own message before you buggers are out of bed. If anyone can sort us out, It's Mark Hughes. There - I feel better already!

I've been lucky enough to see some great home performances live here - Man U and Arsenal. But dear oh dear..........there have been some shockers too. Sunderland, Aston Villa and Wigan.............we got out of jail! I don't subscribe to this idea that "It's a sign of a good club - we can win when we play badly" Bull. We did not deserve to win against Wigan. We were totally devoid of ideas when it came to unlocking their defence......... Kuqi is a great guy and he works hard but he is not the answer. Dickov was impotent all night. Pongolle might be the answer. Bellamy may not have been at his best but he is a class above the other strikers. Mark Hughes is the best thing to happen to this club in years but these home performances will not attract the missing thousands back to Ewood. Cheer me up somebody - for God's sake!

Excellent preview Colin.........I particularly liked the historical bits and the trivia. It brings back good memories. We have it live here so I am looking forward to another good win.

A great win but not a great performance it seems! The home game was on live here and that was pretty awful too. There's definitely something about Mark Hughes though. I remember thinking that Jan's opinion of Souness was over the top.....and I did keep faith with him longer than most (feel foolish to admit it now). However, I did voice my own opinion that somewhere there must be a manager who was capable of doing a "Cloughie".............meaning someone who could create a successful side, able to challenge the best, without the need for endless megabucks! I reckon Hughsie is as close to that as we've come for many a long while. It's remarkable that he has turned the club around from relegation battlers to European contenders. Well done young man!

Watched the game live and am very disappointed. It just didn't look like the same team as last week. The "highlights" shown at the end replayed EIGHT decent chances for Villa.......half of them very decent! If O'Leary was serious when he said that he was glad that he got Baros rather than Bellamy, he must be choking on his words now! The defence was very shaky (except for Brad) and i thought Pedersen was very disappointing. They seemed to open us up at will in the first half whilst we struggled to find any openings. It's a funny old game!

Top quality Bob. Much appreciated by us emigres.

The thing i like about Kuqi is his single-minded determination to get to the ball first......there just ain't no way he is going to be brushed aside. the goal against west ham and the first against boro are great examples.....we haven't had that for a long time. He may not always show great touch but he sure as hell scares the life out of many of the defenders he faces. The panic he causes makes life easier for his teammates. He could turn out to be the perfect foil for bellamy.

This is the first time that I have visited this topic and very interesting it is too. Thank you Lee for your up-dates on the young players - it seems as if we have some good prospects in the pipeline. Please continue to keep us informed.

My first game was in the mid/late fifties.....only a whippersnapper but i remember sitting on the red mud running track with older lads from my street. one of those games involved a "near retirement" tom finney too. Really took serious notice in the relegation year mid 60's. my first away game was west ham in the third round of the FA cup that same year i think. 3-3 with dougie playing a blinder. won the replay 4-1. went to norwich in the next round too. fond memories of mike harrison - left winger with charles atlas thighs and a shot like a rocket and right winger mike ferguson......ex-accrinton stanley and one of my all-time favourite players....he just loved to take the mickey out of opposing full-backs. other players remebered with affection: billy wilson, barrie hole, andy mcevoy, fred else, roger jones, stuart metcalfe - remember playing against him when we were both at school, don martin, simon garner, ronnie (of course), noel brotherston......jeez....there's too many! and of course most members of the 95 team...... enjoyed reading clayton's left boot's recollections as i remember them all ...brought a smile to my face as the memories took me back. Sky tv is out-doing itself this season. the chelsea match is live tonight and its about the 6th or 7th i've seen this year!

Interesting article from Sky! Robson also described his turbulent relationship with former Newcastle striker and recent Blackburn Rovers signing Craig Bellamy. "He can be delightful one minute, then walk onto the pitch and begin snarling at the referee, but I consider the decision to buy him from Coventry in July 2001 one of my most successful forays into the transfer market as Newcastle manager," Robson added. "If Bellamy wasn't such a gifted footballer, you would turn your back on him because he's a nightmare of a boy. "You'll have a fight with him every day in training."

Thanks Colin........what a great review. It has to be Shearer and.........but sorry i have such an emotional attachment to simon garner that i cant let go. you have made me feel guilty though!!!

i can see why the stewards treat home fans differently i suppose. most fans dont want some man mountain jumping to his feet in front of them and blotting out the sun. if my very expensive entertainment was being ruined in this way, i would want the stewards to step in and sort it out. if the 'once a season' visitors want to ruin each others saturday by standing up .....why should we get stressed over it? if they are ignored by the stewards.......i certainly dont feel slighted.........i prefer them to concentrate on our own thoughtless minority..........or at least i will when i return at xmas.

Den - that FA cup game against west ham was the first away game i had ever been to..............i know i messed up my memories of the passed penalty but i think the 3-3 draw was a year or 2 later than 63. Either way i remember the atmosphere of that game and the replay at ewood as being fantastic. The west ham fans i was stood next to (must not have been segregated then) were brilliant. i went to the 5th round too .....norwich 2-2 (God i hope ive got it right this time.) By the way, its a pity that we have to slag off great servants like ripley in an attempt to champion the cause of some other contender.

Duggie has got to be in the team somewhere...........although i wont complain if it isnt right wing. i must admit that i was surprised at the strength of feeling expressed by the mike england supporters in the last vote.........but for Duggie there can be no argument. he was and is a blackburn legend. somebody said that the ball was tied to his bootlaces..........thats how i would sum it up too. i still remember the thrill of collecting his autograph at the players entrance on nutall street..........ah yes....happy days. i would just like to put a word in for a man who was my number one hero for several years. Mike Ferguson.....im pleased that someone else on an earlier post mentioned him. To me he was like duffer would become........he even had the hunched knackered look! He would turn an opposition fullback inside out......then come back and do it again just for the fun of it. Im sure im not imagining this but does anyone else remember a filthy day way way back in the 60's........ewood was totally water-logged and we were playing bury i think. rovers got a penalty (remember them?) and fergie was the man to take it.......but the goalmouth looked like a lake! Up ran fergie and PASSED the ball to duggie who crashed it into the net...........2-1 win to rovers.......... great stuff. duggie was playing inside forward then......but i dont know how you'll handle that den......... i would love to vote for fergie......but i could never hold my head up if i didnt vote for duggie. oh yes.......and just in case you think i am lost in the past...........a recent hero was stuart ripley.........i loved his commitment and attitude and he always came across as a modest and thoroughly decent bloke. in any other circumstances stuart would be the first on the teamsheet.....but hey.......we are talking legend here..........and didnt you oldies get a buzz out of seeing clayton and douglas sat next to each other at the worthington cup final..............even here in oz it brought a lump to my throat. Those guys lived and breathed Blackburn Rovers......what a pity we will never see their like again. Come on guys....do your duty!

Not quite true Glenn.........i saw Woods, Ehgland and Hendry play and for me it is simple.......its got to be Colin. He was the rock on which our championship team was built and some of his performances that year were colossal. I remember Alan Hansen (after the away leeds fixture i think) saying that he would have been proud to have put in such a performance. I've already mentioned the away game at everton.......that was the best for me. I will never forget that match! England was a great player and i remember being gutted when he left but at the end of the day, Hendry made a difference...... without him i dont think we would have won the premiership. There have been some good stories about England on here too and i would never run him down..........but I wouldnt swap the colin hendry of 1995 for anyone!

i guess i will be one of the older contributors too. my dad's hero was matt woods.......and i saw mike england at his best.........but come on.......there is only one choice...... the man who held the team together during the championship season.......the man who put his body on the line game after game.....who can forget his performance away at everton? ..........where he stuck his head in the melee of boots in the penalty area...simply because it was the only part of his body that he could put between everton and the goal......totally bloody inspirational. its the clearest choice of all for me....... colin hendry........sir!

oops.......thanks for pointing that out Colin..............then again...maybe i am getting too old?

I'm surprised how many quality players come to mind when we consider the left-back role. My Dad and Grandad both waxed lyrical about Bill Eckersley but Im a bit too old to remember him. I am very much swayed by earlier comments about him though and he may well get my vote. I am delighted to see Billy Wilson get a few nominations as well. He was as tough as they come and never seemed to have a bad game. I regularly saw him up close from my position on the Riverside - a true Rover. Then there was John Bailey.....very classy and I thought he would go on to great things after his move to Everton but it never really happened for him. I will always have a soft spot for little Alan Wright - he was excellent for us in the pre-Premiership winning team days. Except for that Wednesday night Coca-Cola Cup fiasco when he came up against an awesome Chris Waddle (Sheff W) who skinned him time and again. Le Saux was a key player in our Premiership winning team - so many quality balls played into the box for Shearer to score some great goals. If I don't vote for Eckersley, it will have to be Le Saux. As for the recent bunch of players, I can't think of any who could survive in this company.

great thread. its made me realise how fortunate we have been with the no 1 position. many of the goalies i have seen have been heroes......even during the dark days. I saw Harry Leyland but I was too young to make a judgement. Fred Else was something special, even when the team were poor......very fond memories. Roger Jones......I always had the feeling that we were very fortunate to have such an outstanding keeper. Pity the rest of the team were not of the same quality. Tim Flowers....came over as a really good guy and was as important as anyone during the championship year. Brad.........I wondered why the hell Souness bought him at the time.....but he soon showed his quality. the season before last, he was flawless. he seems to have found his niche at rovers and he is destined to be remembered with affection for a long long time. Else, Jones, Flowers and Friedel...........I loved them all and I hope that one of them wins but my vote will go to Brad........a true rover. Hey.........i know one guy who has not yet been mentioned. Does anyone remember this ditty: Aye, Aye, Aye, Aye. Barton is better than Yashin and Douglas is better than Eusebio and Carlisle are in for a thrashing!