Can't help thinking we are going into Saturday's match like the 'stooge' team involved in Harlem Globetrotter exhibition games.

You mean their matches were fixed???

As for Chelsea-Rovers, the head says 5-0 but the heart says 3-0.

Including Scotty, Gav, Jordan, jim mk2, MarkBRFC for various reasons.....

Cant think why i would be included in this....

Oh come on, Markie.

It's not such a tall order to work out why I've included you in that picture. I'm sure the answer will shortly become obvious.

(I'll buy the beers next time I see you)

Including Scotty, Gav, Jordan, jim mk2, MarkBRFC for various reasons.....

Putting pen to paper, or finger to keyboard and printing something off and sending a letter is still a far more effective way of getting a response and appearing credible with a concern than sending an email.

Letters should be individually written, not cut and paste from someone who think's it's a good idea to give set text. It doesn't work.

A petition, especially those on line, are next to useless.

If people feel strongly enough about something, put some effort in and buy a frickin' stamp.

Reid.

Closely followed by everyone else except:

Friedel

Gray

Short

Ferguson

Emerton

Thompson

Djorkeoff (sp)

Dickov

Stead

Gallagher

Jansen

That's 11 players, who would have play a 2-3-1-4 formation but I reckon we wouldn't ship as many goals as we do at rthe moment.

Well what have we learnt today?

Lesson 1 : Steven Reid is not and will never be a Premiership class footballer

Lesson 2 : Lorenzo Amoruso is just as likely to pass to the other team as he is ours

Lesson 3 : Dominic Matteo found his level with a club that was relegated

Lesson 4 : You can't even trust seasoned pro's to remain calm

Lesson 5 : Rovers hardly pose any type of threat on goal

Lesson 6 : Middlesbrough know how to play against 10 men

The sad thing is, other than Lesson 6, there is nothing new in the first 5.

God, I just love this game.

I find it difficult to criticise Blundell Park as that evening was one of the best away trips.

Modi talking to a fellow supporter, standing outside a pub getting p!$$ed wet through waiting for Uddersfelt Blue to pick them up: "Eyal won't be playing tonight. He can't cope with these conditions..."

My football punditry died that night.

Alan Green's been rapped on the knuckles for saying something about Djemba-djemba.

Would appear he stated the player hadn't got a good grasp of English grammar.

We'll all have to be careful when commenting on the txt spk generation.

Agree with you Den. I think Stead and for that matter most of the England players looked too anxious and tried to force the play in the first half. In the second (might have been down to the goal) they looked far more relaxed and the play was smooth and about three classes above the Welsh.

Was very impressed by the centre back Davenport. Seems we can't stop producing quality central defenders in England atm.

At the time, I'd have rather seen Dickov come on late as a sub. Obviously, he proved me wrong. But who knows what Bothroyd would have done. Hughes has to find a way to get him in the starting lineup. To me Dickov and Gallagher are our best strikers at coming on late and giving hell to the tiring opposing defenders.

Tell me, how confident are you that we'll get an equaliser when trailing late?

Regardless of Dickov's ability to change a game when making an appearance late on {edit due to original wording sounding very rude], he's also our best starting striker.

Do you sacrifice 80 mins of him so he can make a difference in the last 10?

Or is there another Paul Dickov we could sign so we can play one from the start and then bring another one on?

Dickov, Ferguson, Emerton, Youri (can't spell his name) played very well.

Go and have a lie down, Mr B!

You've actually paid Ferguson a compliment?!

Your founder membership of BFIS will be revoked soon.

Fair result, Villa would have felt aggrieved if they hadn't got something from it (not that I care if they'd been upset).

Dickov was again absolutely astounding. His work rate and general play is like a breath of fresh air considering some of the "stars" we've had in the last couple of seasons.

Emerton is finally starting to show what he's capable of. And a lovely goal.

But my oh my! Have we any decent defenders on the books? Or a defence that can play as a unit? Hopefully Santa Williams will deliver a week late present to M Hughes Esq.

My nephew attended his first ever overs match (my dad is trying to turn him from the dark side - he is a ManUre supporter) and he thoroughly enjoyed it and wants to go again. Might be making progress.....

Interesting at the end £3 M a year?

Looks like the rumoured but never confirmed (or has it?) 'full house' guarantee from the Trustees is correct.

Capacity = approx 31500

Av gate = approx 25500

Empty seats = 6,000

Average ticket price = approx £25

Matches per season = 19

25x19x6000 = £2,850,000

I'm going and taking a Liverpool supporter.

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.

Miscalculation (and stupidity) on part of the club.

They know they've sold only around 6,000 tickets by Tuesday. They think, we don't need as many catering windows/staff. So far, so good.

Then they think, where don't people sit. They think, ah, JW Upper, and cut levels of staff and counters accordingly.

Totally forgetting that as every seat in the ground was the same price it was far more likely JW Upper would be pretty well populated!

So... according to that ("the club new [sic] that Souness was talking to other clubs") he was organising a move away from the club?

Where does this information come from?

When was Cole sold? Was it before Souness was meant to have contacted other clubs, August 8th if I remember right? If this is true and Cole was sold after this, then I see it as a mistake on the clubs behalf and should have stopped Souness letting players leave the club and bringing more players in.

Eh? You suggesting Souey was trying to organise a move away from the club for himself in advance of Newcastle getting their (5th choice) man?

Or am I missing something?

Heard yesterday from a very reputable source that less than 4,000 tickets have been sold by Friday.

Oh dear.

Andy Cole under Mark Hughes would've been revitilised but no-one could have forseen Souness' sudden departure.

I must say I've been well surprised by Cole. He's playing as a lone striker for Fulham and in my mind I always thought that such a role would be beyond him because it involves a lot of self-less running and holding the ball up.

Where is Collins John playing then? At fullback?

Has Coleman been reading "Souness on Tactics" ?

A few random thoughts...

Anyone else see Sparky bellowing at Short around 20mins in? Short turned round obviously thinking wtf? And Hughes applauds him for an excellent tackle a few seconds earlier. That's man management.

Matt Jansen saluting the Blackburn End. He loves the club, realises the club loves him. He might never be the same Matty, but his heart is here.

Still worried about the defence.

You can charge away fans up to and including the highest priced ticket for a home fan, that is anywhere in the ground.

You can only charge away fans the same as you do for home fans for a comparable seat, IIRC.

You couldn't for example, stick the away fans in the Riverside Outer and charge them the JW Central Upper price.

Well USA blue could either be feeling very smug/indifferent in a few weeks or might have copious amounts of egg on his face, no-one knows.  Respect to him for putting his case forward though and giving reasons.

That's what worries me. Are we going to give him a chance? We've effectively given the teams we should be matching up against anything from a two point to an eight point headstart.

He should be judged on how well he does over the rest of the season, not on the next few weeks. However, I can easily see some turning on him very, very quickly.

Great move by the club.

Only problem I foresee is the impatient nature of some fans. He's going to have to work wonders to turn the current shower around before January's window opens.

On BBC a suprise name has been linked. (Not sure if any1 has previously mentioned this) Craig Levein. Hes at Hearts at the moment and has been questioned. However he refused to comment on the reports linking him.

Maybe 30 posts have mentioned him.

Commited, not much if he drops Wales and comes here.

So I take it you want a manager who is currently out of work?

So I take it you like to assume things and put in words that were never there in the first place. What you need to "take it" is, with a grain of salt.

I was questioning Hughes' commitment if he left his Country's National side during a World Cup qualifying process to come and manage us. Please just try to comment on the words typed. No need to try to complicate things by assuming and fabricating different stories.

Lordy lordy lordy where have I ever stated I want a manager that is out of work. What I have stated is I do NOT want Mark Hughes. PLease try to keep up instead of posting snide remarks there's a good lad.

Point in question - what exactly was snidey? I was asking a question. It read as if you were concerned over a managers commitment if they left a job to come to Rovers.

My deepest apologies if I have offended your sensibilities.