I really can't see why Sparky left Kuqi on for so long yesterday. Not only is his fitness very poor, his technique is very poor in some areas. On his day he is a good player but when he has a slightly bad game, he really lets the side down. Kuqi should of been off before we even brought Reid and Bert on, he was nackered. Dickov could be the man to support Bellamy until we can get a Bellers a partner of near or equal quality of himself. I feel that Dickov in a way sets the tone for the side, when the side see's him chasing sown after ball, even lost causes in some cases, i feel it lifts the side and they start to give that extra 5/10%.

Looking forward to the free pies from Mr Whelan, lol I got a feeling we might win this one, bit of a derby match ina way, i think the lads will raise the bar a bit for this game, as they will know Wigan are not the push overs a lot of people thought that they would be. Wigan-1 Rovers-2

I am not looking forward to the Mackems game, we will probably get beat like usual by them, more than likely 0-3. I just got a feeling Steady boy might just make Sparky regret sellnig him to another Premiership side, just watch him get his first top-flight hat-trick against the side that gave him his big break.

As soon as we beat Charlton in the League Cup, I just knew it would happen… no not that we’d lose to Everton, but we would draw Middlesbrough in the League Cup away. Within the space of five days Blackburn Rovers will have to play a top Uefa Cup side twice and both away from Ewood Park. Cup Game Middlesbrough are a proven cup outfit and are a very dangerous side when playing a in a knockout format, just take one look at some of their cup runs in the last two/three years. They have performed very well this season in the Uefa cup against some fairly good opposition like AZ Alkmaar & Grasshoppers and to be fair, our lot wouldn’t be able to keep up with some of those teams. We also must remember that Boro’ only won this competition only two seasons ago beating Notlob….I mean Bolton. But focussing on Rovers, our cup form isn’t anything to be ashamed of either; we have a good history in recent years in this competition and in domestic cups in general. After the heroic performance by the lads against Charlton, you can guarantee that Sparky has the dressing room ready for this game. I sense that this competition is our only hope of some glory this season but at the same time the Boro’ fans feel the same way about their team. So far in the league cup this season we have been a free-scoring outfit who looks like they could score against any side thrown at us, so far we have scored nine goals in three games in this competition but our downfall is that we have conceded goals, yes I know we kept a clean sheet against Leeds but they had nothing that night, they turned up and tried to park the team coach in front of their keepers goal. Whereas Boro’ look to have a solid defence with Southgate seeming to back to the standard of when he was an international again. It should be good game tomorrow night as both teams have a solid pedigree of late in cup competitions; it will certainly be a better game then the league one come Boxing Day. Prediction Boro’ 2 Rovers' 3 League Game This game will be a difficult game for the lads, since Boro’ moved to the Riverside we have struggled to beat them. But if you take our form away from home into account, there is only ever going to be one winner, and it certainly isn’t the team in blue & white. So far this season we have conceded fifteen. Yes fifteen goals away from home. Our defence isn’t up to the standard that Sparky instilled in his players last season. We are leaking goals left, right and centre and I mean that literally. Mark Hughes said last season that the only reason for our poor defence was that our players were unfit and out of shape, so what’s the answer to why our defence is poor now? Our defensive is depleted and stagnant, that is the answer, we have Nelsen sitting on the sidelines, we have Matteo on the physio’s table and an Andy Todd reminiscent of the Todd we all hated three years ago. Zurab has looked like a man who has problems mentally, his mind is in other places if you judge his last few performances. Our only defensive saviour so far has to Lucas Neill, he looks like a man possessed, he has one thing on his mind and that’s playing a blinder week in week out at the moment and who cares if eh ahs to be dirty to get the job done, I certainly don’t. On the flipside though, Middlesbrough are not exactly the worlds most consistent outfit in the Premiership, they destroy Manchester United at home, but lose to a very sorry outfit in the form of Sunderland. They form in the league leaves a lot to be desired for Middlesbrough fans. Just like us their strikers are not firing on all cylinders. It’s not that the Boro’ strikers find it hard to score goals, just look at Yakubu he’s scored ten goals in the league this season and has looked a threat to any defence he has come up against. Yakubu will be a danger to Todd & Zurab come Boxing Day, he has pace, skill and a footballing brain that many a striker in the lower half of the Premiership would love to possess. Boro’ pride themselves on the fact that they have young, local lads playing for them and for that I would applaud them but are they going to be good enough or man enough to step up-to the plate against our more physical players such as the Axe-man, Neill, Savage and Todd, I just cannot see it happening. If form was to be taken into account for this game, Rovers would be the favourites to beat Boro’, but as we all know the form book counts for nothing. If the league table was to be taken into account, we would be favourites to win this game but quite simply without Nelsen & Bellamy, Rovers as a side look like they could concede many and not score at the other end. Its not that we aren’t creating chances, we just are not putting them away. The exact same can be said for Boro’ they are creating tons of chances; they just are not scoring them, well except for Yakubu. This game has all the making of a good game but at the same time it could be a nightmare to watch. Both sides have the capability to play expensive football and be free-scoring, but both sides are very inconsistent in the league and it could end up being a scrappy draw. As a Blackburn fan, I am hoping for an expansive performance from the lads but as our away form leaves a lot to be desired, I’ll settle for a scrappy win. Form(Last Six League Matches) Boro’-DLLDWL Rovers'-LWLLDW Players to watch out for Boro’ Yakubu- On form, will be looking to add to his tally for the season at the weekend Boateng- He will play a vital part in the midfield battle, Savage will need to make sure he brings his A-game this weekend; both players like a tackle. Hasselbank- Struggled for goals so far this season but will be looking to end his baron patch against us. Rovers'’ MGP- Has been away with the cuckoo’s for the last few weeks, so he must be due a good performance or he might just face being dropped for Sergio. Dickov- Has looked lively and as we all know, he never gives the opposition a single second without him giving them some grief. Some Questions That I Asked a Boro’ Friend of Mine? Q) Who has been your most dangerous player this season baring Yakubu? A)To be brutally honest, this season we haven’t had any player step up to the plate and look to provide us with a threat in the league, in the Uefa cup we have looked dangerous as a collective unit. Q)That brings me nicely to my next question, why has your sides Uefa Cup form been so much better then your league form? A) In the Uefa Cup, the boys seem to want it more, the bigger name players like Mendieta and Hasselbank look like they are full of life and loving playing for the club, they revel in the big stage. But when Saturday comes, they do not seem as interested and its up to big Steve to make sure they are which he isn’t doing at the moment. Q)Where will Boro’ finish at the end of the season? A) If our league form continues to be as erratic as it is now, I would say about 10th to 13th. But should be lose to Stuttgart in the next round of the Uefa Cup, I could see us finishing in the top six for sure. The Uefa Cup has been great for us fans…well the ones who actually turn up to the Uefa Cup games but it has been a distraction to our league games. We’ve had a lot of Sunday games this season, so if we were to be knocked out of the cup, I can see us in the top six. Q)What’s your prediction for the League and Cup games? A)I think your boys will beat us in the league, probably about two-nil but before that we’ll hammer Rovers' 4-0 in the cup. We are a superior cup team. Our team is built for knock-out cup football. Stats Biggest Win This Season Boro’ 4-1 versus Manchester United Rovers'-4-1 versus Charlton Athletic Biggest Defeat This Season Boro’ 3-0 versus Charlton Athletic Rovers’ 3-0 versus Arsenal/Newcastle United Top Scorers Boro’- Yakubu-10 Rovers'- Craig Bellamy/Paul Dickov/Morten Gamst Pedersen-4 Goals Scored Boro’-23 scored Rovers'-24 scored Goals Conceded Boro’-26 conceded Rovers'-24 conceded The vast majority of these stats point out to me that we, on paper are a better side then Boro’ with goal scoring being spread about the side in our case but as I have previously mentioned form won’t count for a thing in the cup match and these stats won’t mean a thing when the two sides meet on Monday afternoon. Prediction Boro' 1 Rovers' 2 Come on you Rovers!!!!!!! ps. This was my first attempt at a match preview so I hope you guys like it.

I would love to see Sergio given a game this weekend against Fulham as they aren't exactly the worlds greatest team and it might give MGP a kick up the arse that he needs right now. We all know how good MGP is when he can be bothered, i just cannot understand why he isn't playing at his best right now. Very happy to hear though that our young guns are doing well, might just bring home the youth cup for us.

He's not a crock, he is just injury impaired!!!!! He maybe just needs some motivation to get himself right again, and he loves us fans and he loves Rovers, maybe all he needs is a move home to get him right. I know he was injured a lot when he played for us as well but when he played he did make us a beter side with him in it.

Fulham 3 Rovers 2 Fulham are not playing too bad football at the moment even if they are below us. A mate of mine watches them everyweek and he says McBride is playing the best he's ever seen him play and i reckon if that is to be true our defence could have a long afternoon tommorrow as without Nelsen i think we are a weaker side defensively. I know we have Todd back for the game but he has looked not even half the player that he was last season and looks like he needs a confidence boost. Scorers Fulham- Boa Morte/McBride (2) Rovers- Kuqi/Pedersen I hope my prediction is proved to be wrong

Im sorry but we are f***** without Bellers, thats our season over with, bye bye Europe as he's our only goalscoring threat.

Id have him back but his injury record does worry me, do we really need a guy who may only play 10/15 games a season? I have no doubt that he is a quality player with an unquestionable talent, but we should approach Dunny with caution.

We need a win to steady the ship so i'm going to go with a 3-2 victory, we will definatly not keep a clean sheet as we have not won for a while without conceding in the league if i am correct. Maybe we might break our duct of not winning after going behind on saturday, isn't it something ridiculous like 49 games. Scorers BRFC- Bellamy/MGP/Nelsen(That would be great if he got the winner) WHFC-Zamora/Sherringham(Always scores against us at Ewood)

I hate Clattenberg!!!! Halsey might be a better replacement.

F****** great, about time we came from behind and won a match. Thompson i think he may just be back, and wasn't he bak with a bang, got to be goal of the round even though there were some good goals last night. Savage is still a waste of space though and can be blamed for at least one of their goals.

Savage, he really needs to learn that giving needless fouls away is not on, not even for a Championship player nevermind a Premiership player. Bently upfront, well i got my doubts about that, but if it works out in the 2nd half well, i'll be very happy. Charlton are there for the taking the team pulls their socks up in the second half, and as for Bellers, he should have buried that chance he had.

Savage is a waste of a space sometimes, he doesn't need to try to get other players sent off even if they do play for the arse...nal. Sometimes i wonder, "does Savage ever think before he acts?", he obviously doesn't. He can be a good player when he isn't being a total barsteward and he does irritate the opposition which could work to our advantage if he didn't pick up needless bookings.

I think that we might just have too much for them tonight, Charlton are out of form and are there for the taking. The only thing that worries me about tonights game is that we do not have many good memories there in recent years, if i am right i think we haven't won there in at least our last five visits, i may be wrong though. That aside my money is us. Charlton 2 -Murphy/Bent Blackburn 4-Bellamy (3) Pedersen (1)

Davids, Defoe and Carrick all on the bench, do they think that we are a walk over or something. I know that Keane and Mendes are not bad replacements but i do think that M.Jol may be under-estimating us, i say "under-estimate us at your peril". We have the players to beat these tonight, Tugay should be up for it after Saturday and it is his birthday today as well. MGP should cause the Spurs full-backs tonight and who knows, Emerton might suprise us with a performance tonight.

Some people just cannot afford to go to games and with the south seeming to have most of the money i can understand that since we are a Northern club. Personally i try to get to as many games as i can which sometimes is very hard considering i live in Hull and i'm a student and cannot drive. The non-driving bit is the most awkward bit, some people just cannot get to the games. people would just say, "well learn how to drive" to me, well i am, but try balancing a student lifestyle with learning to drive and then try and find some money left for football and train tickets every other weekend and there's your answer. Its not possible. I'm quite lucky, i get to about 20 games a season, but i know a fair few others who just wish that they could get to see us play. Even if we were playing Champions League football, we still wouldn't get big crowds, lets just face it were a small club in a small Lancashire town, we've not got the population of London to get fans from and we have to contend with Man Utd for fans in some places which is a battle we aren't very likely to win. This will seem like a rant, but its only like that becasue a lot of people look down on fans who don't turn up to most games which in some circumstances is understandable. e.g. got a well paid job and saturdays off, well that rules us students out of that.

2-3 Spurs win I just feel that Spurs will have a good night and we'll just get unlucky as we always do late on ina match against some teams. Hope the scoreline is reversed as that woudl be cool.

Hopefully it will be a good gaem for Rovers, it will certainatly be a test for them. Defoe will be a handful and Mido has some class in his game so i hope our defenders are up to the challenge.

Tugay's goal was very special though. But then again so was MGP's. Great Goals-Great Team-Well I can dream about the latter bit.

Emerton is not a good player, how many times does he give away possession and the way he somehow manages to not mark his man on any freekick or corner amazes me. When we signed him i thought he was going to be the player who scored against England for Australia but he simply isn't. Thats my negative out of the way anyway, Pedersen is a genius, Souness should be congratulated for having the insight to sign such an amazing player for us and as for Tugay, that goal has to be shown numerous times on MOTD tonight as well as MGP's goal. Two goal of the season candidates already from one game, one team, two team-mates and its only the second game of the season. Lucas Neill, now i will admit that i have been very sceptical about his ability to perform at Premiership level for quite a while, well if he plays like that every week i think i am going to have to lay off him. Much better performance from last weeks shambolic second half performance. The attendence was very, very worrying, i know that it is only little, boring Fulham but 16k for a Premiership game is quite pathetic. Whoever had that bet with a Wigan fan on this messageboard over who will have the higher average attendence should ahve kept his money in his wallet. I can not see the attendence being much higher on Wednesday night either even though we are playing a fairly good Tottenham Hotspur side. Back to todays action though, Kuqi tried his heart out but i do feel that he is lacking that clinical edge that is so required at this level, yes he did put in a wonderful cross for MGP, but he missed out on connecting with some good crosses put in by his team-mates today. Bellamy will be a much bigger threat then Kuqi if we were to play 4-5-1 again even though Bellamy might lack the strength thatKuqi obviously has. This may seem like a fairly negative post but todays performance was great and i hope we can keep it up all season.

Is Gresko fully fit yet, because i would have him at left back ahead of Matteo, i just think Matteo is our weak link in our defence if we have a full strength back four. C'mon Rovers

We really are going to miss him but if it means giving Matt Derbyshire a go, it could be a blessing in disguise if he turns out to be the next Wayne Rooney, whihc may be very unlikely but we do have to give the youth a go at some point to see if their up to the high standards of Premiership football.

Brilliant test match, shame about the result though, England really did deserve to win it, if only Saturday hadn't been a wash-out, the score would be 2-1 and then the pressure would really be on the Aussies.

1-4 Fulham, if we play anything like the second half on saturday, we can only expect a hammering, bit of an inappropriate pun after the West ham game. If we click into gear and god help us, Nelsen is fit, we might have a chance but i really do hope that i never Matteo in one of our shirts again because he was really awful. Emerton needs to step his game up, whatever happened to the Australian wonderkid we thought we'd signed from Holland, i ain't seen him anywhere in 2 seasons. Heart says 4-3 Rovers Head says 1-4 Fulham