It wouldnt be very original now would it. United have sung it for about 3 years.

(This might be moved very quickly to the Songs forum!)

Sorry to bring one glimpse of negativity to the thread but 26,500 with 8,000 scousers on.

You do the maths.

(posted at 13.03 ?? Someone turn the messageboard clocks back!)

Too drunk to read all thats gone before but special well dones go to:-

NEJ, McEveley, Emerton and the crowd.

If, and knowing Rovers its a big IF, we produce a performance like that at Norwich and against other medoicre clubs then we have a decent fighting chance of survival.

Just face it, we are going to LOSE this one! Last time we beat Liverpool in the Premier League was 03/11-1996 when we won 3-0 on Ewood Park.

As I posted elsewhere - bottom of the league and a club in turmoil. Same time of year. There's a lot of similarities between our predicament now and back in 1996.

Match Report

Still get beat 3-1 though. What price on Lucas Neill completing the hat-trick of scouse sending off's?

Thanks for posting that Glenn. It makes interesting reading and does make you think what it would be like to be in the Stewards shoes. I'm sure that a lot of the stewards are just following orders and are decent people.

However it still doesn't really explain why some of the stewards have an attitude that stinks not just to the alcohol fuelled yobs but also to the everyday supporter.

And as for the away fans, lets all stand up at the Reebok this year and count the seconds before we start getting whizzed out there. When Ive been away other clubs don't seem to care about chucking away fans out for standing and, despite causing considerable bad feeling, the away fans then generally sit down.

Everton away a couple of years ago (when Lucas got sent off again!) is a game that springs to mind.

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Eh Flopsy

Let's get a few things straight:

1) You can't stand at football matches.  End of story.  And I don't mean when goals go in or at corners etc., you all know what I mean.  Anyone who defies this rule deserves to be (and should be) thrown out.  You all know the rules and when you bought your ticket you agreed to abide by them.

Now, I'm all for people who want to campaign for standing areas, and good luck to you, but until it happens then you can't stand.  And you can't make the excuse about the away fans either.  Two wrongs don't make a right and it's their club that will have to deal with the consequences.

2) The blokes who got chucked out last week appear to have been mouthing off to a policeman.  If that's true then they deserved what they got.

3) The antagonism in the Blackburn End was apparently caused by a Boro fan in one of the boxes taunting the home fans with a piece of paper.  Grow up FFS.  Football fans taunt other football fans, it's a fact of life and you really need to get over yourselves.

4) The lack of atmosphere at Ewood is a result of a number of different things.  First of all though let's make it clear - it's not just Ewood.  Virtually every home ground in the Premiership has the same problems.

Scotty, I agree with every point you say to some degree. However :-

1) That MUST surely apply to the away fans also. Yes Rovers fans should sit but you can't have the stewards and police being heavy handed in the BB end and nothing in the Darwen End else it's double standards. If away fans continue to stand it is OUR GROUND that according to the safety guidelines will have areas closed - not that of the away fans.

2)They still shouldnt have done it but if they were mouthing off it was due to the very bad atmosphere in that area caused by Stewarding / Standing / Point 3. Their arrest was for public order offences but caused by the root of this problem.

3) Yes its childinsh but unfortunately it's the way of the world that some people take the bait. Rovers are far better off preventing the 5 or 6 away fans in the box from 'taunting' than trying to control the 100+ unhappy home fans underneath.

4) 100% agre

Another quick point on the Buzz factor. As some people might be aware I have two real passions - Rovers and Horse Racing. I'm a ST holder and I've missed about 10 home games in the last 3 years to go to various big race meeting. Prior to then I'd never missed any. Why? I don't know but something is missing.

Maybe not that rosy for him. Gallaghers development appears to have stopped imo. In 12 months he's gone from looking a good prospect to looking a very ordinary substitute. GS hinted at something like this. Hughes has publically stated that everyone starts with a clean sheet. So its up to Gally, if he responds then well and good, if he fails to do that then he needs to be shown the door where he will have to find his own level.

That may well be the case behind closed doors Drog but when he's appeared for the first team you can't fault the lad. Numerous times in the last few months of last season he came on as sub and looked very good although I admit in the games he started he wasn't as effective. Against Newcastle / Man U he should take as much credit as Stead for his part in the equaliser / winner. He should also have earned us a valuable equaliser against MoneyBags Chelsea ( felt good typing that!). Even against Bournemouth this year he came on as a sub and I thought he looked the most likely striker all night.

IMO he's the best prospect weve got. Forgetting sentiment I feel he's more of a blue and white future that Jansen has. With the strikers we've got I don't feel were blessed with natural talent and surely over the next few months he needs a run in the team if fitness levels are OK .

What worries me is that the standing issue is being blown out of all proportion in the context of the two arrests in the Blackburn End, which - according to the statement from Tom Finn and the eyewitness account on this thread from Kinx - had nothing to do with standing.

How many months ago was it when Keith Lard was first introduced as a sort of cult (yes cult) figure on this board. I may be wrong as i sit too far to the left of the area to know exactly what is going on but it's been clear that tension has been brewing for a few games now in that area due to the stewarding with regards to standing (and their attidute in general).

Had this tension not existed and the fan / steward relationship been fine then the reaction to the taunting Boro fans taunting would not have been as major as it was last Saturday and the 2 fans would probably have never been arrested.

Brownie - Every time there's a topic I'm not arsed about (such as Scotland squads) I don't go on it and start telling people. I just don't read it anymore. Besiedes this issue has brought about 2 statements from the club in 2 days and a double page LET spread.

Certain board members meet to discuss their response to the latest 'attract more support to Ewood' thread.

(It's a joke, all stay calm!)

1.) Plenty of work is done behind the scenes to stop away fans standing up as well. Posters are put up - welcoming fans to Ewood and asking them politely to remain seated in the interests of safety. This was succesful against West Brom and even their fans thought it was a good idea. Letters are also sent with tickets distributed to away fans warning them they risk being ejected if they stand persistently. Aston Villa received these letters, however, and never included them when distributing tickets to their fans.

2.) Licensing Authority grants safety certificates on the measure that people sit down. Rules stipulate that if the stand is at more than 25% camber/gradient from the back to the front it is deemed dangerous to stay stood up. The camber/gradient in the stands at Ewood is 28% raising to 32%, dipping in the middle. Licensing authority will grant a safety certificate on condition fans do not persistently stand during the match

3.) If the problem persists drastic action will be taken such as problem areas having ticket allocations slashed/reduced. This has already happened at Notts Forest where they have reduced tickets given to away fans from 3,500 to 2,000.

1) The away fans get letters and posters. The home fans get heavy handed stewarding and policing. I appreciate the club are showing they are trying to combat the problem but it's double standards.

2) Unless the club do more than what they are doing in point 1 away fans will stand in the DE and BRFC will be in breach of the safety certificate .....

3) ... therefore they will inevitably have their alloctation cut and the club will lose £££££££'s. However for some reason they turn a blind eye to the away fans.

The fact is it's easy for the stewards and police to wade into the home fans but they do not want the effort / trouble to deal with the away fans despite the fact that they are breaching the same rule.

Just read the Tom Finn statement from den's link and he seems to be passing the book on the away fans as 'not our problem'. I'll remember this when I'm getting thrown out at the Reebok by their stewards for trying to go to the loo.

How bad actually is the standing problem. I'm in the BBurn end near the middle and when Rovers are on the attack people end up stood up but very rarely do the stewards bother. In the area where the trouble is are people actually standing for long periods or only when Rovers get near towards the goal? My Dad takes a young family member in the top tier of the BBurn End and says that a few blokes got ejected for standing on the back row of the top tier for christ sakes. One of them apparantly threw his season ticket at the stewards as he was being led away.

Anyway the 3 issues that grate me are:-

1) The corporate boxes. Don't forget the boxes are probably owned by local companies who 'invite' away fans in so it's not like its every game, hence the reason they are behind the home fans. If the away team scores and the fans jump up then fine. Live with it like Colin says. However the problem which has happened a few times over the years near me is when the away fans start deliberately banging on the windows at the home fans and making gestures. Now some of you may well say don't rise to the bait. Unfortunately in a crowd of 1000's some people will rise, start standing or trying to obscure the window view with a flag (which is always quite funny) hence the stewards get involved, everyone gets wound up and you've got a problem. Surely the action of the away fans in this instance is some form of incitement to start a commotion or some crappy law like that.

Warn the companies how people are expected to behave and warn the 'guests' beforehand that they can celebrate but not to bang on the glass. If they do either throw them out or move them behing 'the curtain'. The boxes might cost £25,000 per year but if 75 season ticket holders get the hump over this and dont renew (unlikely I know) they'll lose that money anyway. As I said earlier though the majority of away fans in there aren't a problem.

2) If it's a safety issue to stop standing and the ground is in danger of being closed then it MUST apply to the Darwen End. The club have to be seen to at least be trying to stop the problem. Sunderland once reduced the Mancs ticket allocation because they stood but they knew they could probably fill it with home fans anyway. We can't so therefore we do nothing. A fan standing in the Blackburn End is as unsafe as a fan stood in the Darwen End. If Blackburn Council are really bothered about this issue then unless we get a grip of the away fans surely our ground will surely be closed. No, I don't think so either.

3) In the infamous end of season City game the stewards lined the Darwen End to stop a pitch invasion which was inevitable. There were hardly any stewards in the Blackburn End. City fans, who hadn't paid and had stormed over the gates, did the conga at the front of the Blackburn End. Home fans got the hump and traded punches. It was the most unsafe time in the Blackburn End since redevelopment. The stewards did nothing. Didn't even try to stop them. Didn't say a word. They could have called half of the other stewards and/or police from their pointless task at the Darwen End over to us to sort the issue out but didn't. The one time we had a crisis when they were really needed they failed us.

I want to vote Douggie but need more convincing. Come on Seniors make your case    )

If you knew your history of Blackburn Rovers, the club you are supposed to support, you would not write that.

Sorry jim, did the 'Seniors' jibe rub you up the wrong way.

Don't get me wrong here I thought Ripley made an outstanding contribution in his time at Ewood and was a good wing player. However to say that he was the best would surely not reflect well on the history of Blackburn Rovers. Yes Ripley could put a very good ball across but I always found his biggest problem that he was a bit of a one trick pony. Run up to the full back, knock it past him on the outside and either muscle through or whip a cross in. He never turned the defender inside out and very rarely cut inside. Now unlike other people who rely on the same trick like Gillespie or Gronkjaer he was very good at it but lacked the diversity of a Ronaldo or Duff to make him great.

The best I've seen? Probably.

The best ever? Surely not.

I want to vote Douggie but need more convincing. Come on Seniors make your case )

I think Mark should be looking for a fresh goalkeeper come next summer, I was very disappointed with Encks in the Bournemouth game and I'm beginning to worry about Brad.

OK maybe Brad can't live up to the heights of 2 years ago but he was superhuman that season. He's still a top class keeper and better than most out there. To suggest he is a factor in our current plight and to ditch him is ludicrous There's certainly no keepers we could get who are proven better at the moment. I'd be more concerned if Brad had let Ferguson and Emertons goals in!

Thats not quite true 1864. There are quite a few popsitives. The defence has held together quite well so far and all of the team are very determined in their tackles for 50-50 balls. But I'm not going to say any more incase I tempt fate!

If we look awful then they are just as bad.

Nah, Sinclair is like Todd-not a premiership defender.

If that comment is true the fact that Todd was our player of the season last year sums us up really.

Anyway see you next season - unless of course you get relegated

You should do stand-up!

I'd like to kick out the door people who criticise Amo because he's a soft Souness target with a dodgy reputation who has made mistakes. Last night he swung and missed at the first goal. Apart from that he did OK.

He's got more presence on the pitch than any other defender we've got and until we've got better in the squad he stays. If he went now who would we put at centre back.

I'd like to kick out Yorke. Oh we've done that.

Why, when our defending was jittery at best (inept mostly) all night, did we decide to sit back and try and hold onto a one goal lead in Extra-time?

Why, when we had scored two goals (and had two other decent scoring chances) in a minute at the end of normal time and the start of Extra-time, did we not keep pressing our advantage home? To use a boxing analagy, we had them on the ropes but then stood back instead of finishing them off.

Why was our most potent attacking threat of the evening, Brett Emerton, moved to full back?

I'm probably as angry as you about last night Davey but I disagree with your first couple of questions. I thought the exact opposite. Why when leading in extra time, despite the fact that are players are visibly knackered (which they shouldnt be) are we still commiting too many people forard. For their equaliser we were caught 4 V 4with the midfeilders and even Neill upfield. I wouldn't say we were too defensive but more like we pushed forward too much. For the last 10 minutes Bournemouth were leaving 3 players up near the half way line and yet we didn't change the way we were playing at all.

As for Emerton at full back, when Gally come on they played almost as though we had two wingers but once we equalised and with the personnel on the pitch someone had to go right back and Emerton seemed the logocal choice. The mark of 6 for Brett in the LET is disgraceful as mentioned by others.

I thought Bothroyd did OK but comes across as a very greedy player. I thought Douglas struggled to make any real impact in the midfield.

One thing I did notice is that when we felt we ahd to score such as at 2-1 down and after they made it 3-3 we showed a bit more 'direct' urgency which seemed to pay off better.

Sorry but I'm going to hijack this thread for a moan after tonights game.

For a change from the Blackburn End I went in the Jack Walker Upper. I challenge anyone to give me an answer to the question.

Why oh why oh why, when there is only ONE bar open in the stand are there only TWO staff on it. I know it's an age old gripe but I went to the bar 2 minutes before HT and got served just as the second half kicked off. Lots of people werestood in the queue for 10 minutes before just giving up. They must have lost far more money than an extra wage and generated bad feeling to boot.

I was going to list quite a few points after watching that tonight but Bellamy11 has more or less told it as I saw it. Emerton was far and away the MOTM for Rovers. Over the last 3 games his confidence has gone up a mile and he looks a player again.

MGP played well. He should do against the likes of Bournemouth but he did and I think he'll take confidence from this and go on. De Pedro just seems too slooooow.

Agree about Douglas. He did a good job under drastic circumstances last year but he's not good enough. Also agree about Jansen. He's still got a shot on him but his close control and abiity to run with the ball seems poor.

One final point. I'm not overly bothered what Gallacher's attitude off the pitch is like. Cantona came across at times as the most pompous twit you could meet. Once he's on the pitch he seems to give 100% and seems to have the ability to back it up. If there's one player who now needs a run of games to prove himself at the required level it's him. Problem is where does he fit into the team?

Tommorows game is not in the calendar.

Scandalous.

Why do you have to sign up to the official site for ticket info. What is the point of 'restricting' this information against the casual punters who might just be looking out of curiosity.

At work yesterday I was telling a few people with kids that they could go down to Ewood on Wednesday for tickets £12 or less. I got told today that they tried to look at the official site to check what areas this applied to and the price for kids but couldn't get on as they weren't registered and didn't want to (or couldn't be bothered) to sign up. They might not have gone down but we'll never know now.

For news, interviews reviews etc... then it's fine to require membership but for the ticket info it's just plain stupid.

Lee ?