Yep I was the one who texted 5 live. I had set off at 2 from London, picked my friend up in Oxford, and we were 50 miles shy of Ewood when we heard about the pitch inspection. Having booked corporate hospitality, we wanted to know what we should do (by this time I was resigned to the game being off- even though it hadn't formally been called off) but was hungry, and as I was so close (in relative terms) wanted to know if we would get fed if we turned up there. The ticket office didn't know about the inspection- for those in line it was me that told them to go and check and they then actually found out what was going on- ie the game was off! The hospitality department said, yes- come along, the food's here. So we did. However, every few minutes during the meal we burst into quasi-hysterical giggles and said "it's a long way to come for dinner" I got back about half an hour ago (had to drop my friend off in Oxford on the way back) Those of you whingeing about short journies- get over it. It's just one of those things. If I can laugh, and another friend who has travelled 7000 miles to see 3 matches can cope- so can you.

well, they were "training" ie playing 5 a side matches at the speed of a 50+ year old man. Of course they were unfit. And Rover6 was right.

And to think that the combination of gaining Kuqi and losing Sourpuss caused some to give up their season tickets. only one word to say to them MORONS

I suppose it must be galling for a woman to be right so much more often than the rest of you!

Despite the club through the Chief Executive in their press conference specifically denying it. Well, obviously a bunch of tabloid/broadsheet reporters know better than the Chief Executive. Talk about believing what you want to believe! Anyone who can watch Sky sports/ITV news channel knows your view's bunk but you still try to perpetuate it. As with many things- you're wrong. Oh and nowhere in the article you've quoted does it say Desmond is paying half Keane's wages. It actually says that Desmond got Celtic Keane as a Christmas present- which may imply it. However I'd still believe the club over reporters.

You cannot compare Bazza and Petrov. One is talented and has skills to die for, and the other is Barry Ferguson. One is already living thousands of miles from home and has assiliated. The other is a wee mammy's boy who couldn't live 300 miles away. And as Radaghast has said, Keane is fitting in Celtic's current wage structure- no extra payments or anything. Also, on my recent Far eastern tour- there were 5 British shirts on sale in all the markets. Arsenal, Chelsea, Red Scum, Liverpool and Celtic. Maybe not conclusive proof of drawing power, but at least some evidence

22 days (and that includes weekends). They didn't gel until September since when they've been pretty good. Remember the previous group of players had been together for the best part of 5 years with little change.

Yes, but at least Celtic had a good excuse. It was in July, there were 7 new players and a new manager in the team, and they'd barely met by the time the qualifying rounds came along. They'd destroy Artmedia now. UNfortunately they don't have the chance.

Celtic's current holding midfielder (the job Keane would do) is Neil Lennon. The attacking midfielder (not Keane in a million years) is Stan Petrov who's in the middle of negotiating a new contract but has said repeatedly he wants to stay there- and who is actually better on the right side of midfield. Midfield has been a weak are for as long as I remember (always been short 1 excellent central midfielder), so the answer is no.

I hope this is a joke It should read STUDENTS 16-any age with proof that they are a FULL TIME STUDENT and 16-21 young adults At 21 you become an adult in every other way, so why should they get any reduction? If they've left university, they've gone into a graduate job (if they left uni without a degree, more fool them) and should be able to afford a season ticket, and if they left school at 16 would have been working for 5 years already- if they can't afford adult prices now, when will they. So at 24, will you suddenly think that young adults should go to the age of 30? When is this expected to stop?

This Vinjay bloke doesn't seem to understand plain English. Although I don't know all of the details of Jack Walker's will, I believe all his wealth was left in trust. That means that no-one in the Walker family can touch that money- they have to live on the income. At 5% interest per year, that meant the trust generates income of a maximum of £34million per year. (I would question how much income Flybe actually generates as I'm assuming it's included in the £680million of trust assets. Airlines tend to have a lower return than most other forms of capital) That MAXIMUM of £34milllion is to be shared between the Walker family and Blackburn Rovers. We get approximately £6m, which seems quite a reasonable amount given that Jack had at least 2 sons and a daughter as well as a wife (And that's without any other potential beneficiaries). I don't think Jack's wife had money of her own, and I'm pretty sure the only money the children would have comes from the trust/Jack while he was alive, so while they're certainly not on their uppers, they rely on trust income to live. From experience, I know that the more you earn, the more your lifestyle adapts to accommodate your income, so I suspect they're not salting away squillions of pounds. So while they WOULD be considered rich, they're certainly not in the Dave Whelan class. They're more like, for example, partners in a law firm. Sufficient income to be very rich, but no access to large enough pots of cash to make huge capital injections to football clubs. And this is BRFCS.com. Nothing to do with BRISA. I'm not a member of BRISA, and people's membership (or not) of that organisation is entirely co-incidental to their posting on here. BRISA has its own website. This website should not be a mouthpiece for BRISA- and isn't.

Dear god BA flights are £48 one way and don't involve 7 hour waits.

When he left, most people thought Sourpuss was a good manager. They were wrong there too.

But on the brighter side, Amoruso is having an ankle operation and will be out for at least a month. WHY did this make it onto Sky sports news yet Bellamy didn't?

I think it's brilliant that Rangers have gone through (Albeit that in at least 2 of Celtic's Champions League campaigns they got considerably more than 6 points and still didn't qualify!). It can only be good for Scottish football.

Well, he was successful there before. However that was before his ego overtook his talent. Also as it would mean that he has cheated the sack yet again I think he'd be even more arrogant, so on balance it would be good for Celtic. And for me, perfect symmetry.

mumble grumble * should never have let him go- should have got rid of his nemesis instead * mumble grumble Seriously, PLEASE COME HOME DUNNY. We need you

Anyone spot the deliberate mistake? Ps- not having a go at Souness- and this is from ITV football!! Souness not leaving Tynecastle Newcastle manager Graeme Souness has promised he will not walk away from St James' Park as the pressure mounts. The 52-year-old Scot was left in little doubt about the dwindling patience of the club's fans as they vented their anger after Wednesday night's dismal 1-0 Carling Cup fourth-round defeat against what was effectively Wigan's reserve team. However, he insists his personal pride and his belief that the situation will improve will not allow him to quit his job after a 15-month rollercoaster ride on Tyneside which continues with a must-win clash with Aston Villa at St James' Park on Saturday. "That can never happen and there are a number of reasons why that can never happen," he said. "The single biggest reason that can never happen is because long after football, I have to look at myself in the mirror when I'm shaving, brushing my hair - or what's left of my hair. "It can never happen, so really, it's a waste of time anybody ever asking that question. "I understand I personally have been getting a great deal of criticism, but that's the price on the ticket. I can understand our fans' disappointment, frustration, anger at the way we played at Wigan. "I would not argue with anyone who said we were poor, we were bad on the night. That can happen to any team. We were just poor, and that can happen. "It's happened before and it will happen again." Chairman Freddy Shepherd called for a united front in the wake of the Wigan debacle as speculation mounted he could be ready to act, although club insiders on Friday dismissed claims that Bolton's Sam Allardyce, one of the men sounded out following Sir Bobby Robson's departure, is being lined up as a replacement. Bookmakers Ladbrokes have quoted Souness as 7/4 favourite to become the next Barclays Premiership boss to lose his job with David O'Leary, the man in the opposing dug-out on Saturday, just behind him at 9/4. However, he insists he has not been issued with an ultimatum by Shepherd. "No," he said. "But it's an important game for us, I'd be a fool not to realise that. "Football is just like life; you only find out about people and find out about yourself when you are under pressure. "I'm an experienced manager and this is not the first time I have been in a situation like this, and I know how to deal with it. "My take on it is that at this club, along with maybe one or two other clubs in the UK, you are only two games away from the situation we find ourselves in. "That is the nature of it here on Tyneside and it's something I knew before I put pen to paper to sign the contract I've got. It's quite a unique place, but I'm a big boy and I understand how the game works. "At the end of the day, it will be the same when I leave here, the next person in my seat will have to endure the same experiences. But that's the price on the ticket and if you are manager of Newcastle United, you have to learn to live with that. "That's the way it is on Tyneside. Looking from afar, there has to be more than just the fact that they have been unlucky over 40 years or that the teams have not been good enough over 40 years. "Just maybe we over-react to everything too much. That puts pressure on everybody, that brings pressure to bear on people who have to make important decisions and, as anyone would tell you, the secret of any successful football club is continuity." Souness will be without key players with Owen again missing - the Magpies have not scored a goal in the three games since he damaged his groin - and Emre sidelined by a hamstring strain rather than the tear which was first feared. Celestine Babayaro is suspended after his clash with Everton's Tim Cahill, but Titus Bramble and Shola Ameobi are expected to be fit.

I left Tokyo early this morning for Bangkok (Via Hong Kong). When I looked, the score was 2-0, so I quickly shut down the computer in case I jinxed us more. Just got to Hong Kong, turned on the computer and thoroughly frightened the whole of the lounge with my whoop of joy. Am getting funny looks here now, but I officially DON'T CARE!!!! Personally, I'd like the "BIG club" at home. Or away. Or if not them, somewhere down South so I can go with minimal disruption would do nicely!

Was in Shanghai. Now in Tokyo. On Thursday off to Bangkok. Thanks for the advice- unfortunately firm's computer not up to such sites!!!! Now just in the land where UK cellphones don't work!

THanks FLB, You've just made me very happy. I can't check the BBC website in China as it's a government site and therefore banned, so finding out such good news has made me very happy!

I can assure you you don't. My measured IQ is one of the top 1% in the country. I have a degree, postgrad and professional qualification and earn six figures per year. Silly, SILLY child.

On this board we're not supposed to insult other fans, but you're easily the thickest bunch or bigoted idiots it's ever been my displeasure to come up against. I don't give a flying clumsy, fu*k!! about religion. (Nor, I suspect do about 60 to 70% of either team's support) In fact the only good religion's a dead religion, and that especially goes for hardcore believers. What you can't seem to get is that Celtic and Rangers fans are, in the main, exactly the same as any other fans. It's just that, with very few exceptions, there are more of us around, and we've got more to be proud of. I'm not even particularly thinking of the league titles, but both teams have won European cups (not THE European cup in one case), as indeed have Dundee United and Aberdeen, which is quite a favourable statistic when you compare it to English clubs. Maybe the thread should be locked. I think we can all agree that Barry Ferguson is an abject failure as a footballer and a human being (can't even be 3 hours away from his mammy), and leave it at that. He's already getting his comeuppance- much deserved- and that's really the end of it. I wonder what makes Silly-toe 15 ( his IQ?) think he's so superior? It's certainly not anything discernable to the populace. And Four Lane Blue look at Rovers support if you want to see ugly blokes with beer bellies. (about 70% of Rovers fans fall into those categories)

Good lord Firstly, if a new organisation starts up, someone has to take charge. The committee have put themselves up there to take on the hard work of setting the thing up. Let them get on with it with the minimum of interference on frankly unimportant administrative details and judge them at the end. Of course there are going to be things which don't concern the populace, those who think there aren't have never seen a business or any other committee work. Secondly, what this exchange of vitriol has shown me is that the principal reason for my not joining BRISA has gone. I don't believe the current committee has the tendancy I worried about BRISA having, which is to monopolise debate, to bully their way to get everyone to do what they want and to shut down conversation topics if they don't agree with them. I think we should give them a chance. The decision to investigate joining the FSF was, according to the minutes that I read, properly considered and agreed by those who attended. You can't legislate for people disagreeing who don't turn up- you'd end up that every decision would have to be made by putting out a poll such as the ones on here. That would be unwieldy and would hamper good goevernance. In a democracy, not everyone is going to agree with every decision. However, if the decision has been made democratically (ie by those present) then throwing toys out of the pram and trying to bully your way to changing a decision is guaranteed not to make you too many friends. Maybe it could have waited to an open meeting, but anyone who wanted to was invited to the meeting last week, and the decision was to investigate what was involved. If there are people who feel that they want to get more involved, I'm sure, as they say on the website, the committee would welcome their help. However that would demand a level of commitment. Not being able to make that commitment myself, I don't have the right to expect that I should be kept informed that "we should use 250g paper for the leaflets" or similar. BRISA is open to everyone. If you feel it's being run by a clique, get off your bottom and attend and change it. Otherwise please let the committee get on with the boring admin that is always required when a new organisation starts up.

Royrover I said all that before we purchased him instead of keeping Henning Berg. At least with Henning we'd only have had to pay one extra year's wages! However, when Andy Todd and Michael Gray both went off injured, the spectre of a lumbering chap with a bad haircut whose only discernable skill seems to be cooking getting near the bench did fill me with dread!