Anyone else felt Carroll would have been sent off for his lunge, if he played for us?

I can remember this happening though it was a few years ago when I was back in college. I once saw on MOTD the whistle be blown for offside, then the last defender took out the striker who carried on running with the ball after the whistle for whatever reason. That player got sent off even though the whistle had gone before the foul because he was the last defender. Think it was Villa or Coventry playing though I can definately remember it happening. Carroll should have been sent off, as he did go out to injure Pederson. If he'd have punched him after the whistle had gone he'd have been off, not sure how much difference there is to how he took him out with absolutely no intent of going for the ball.

Having blagged a free ticket I was dead chuffed to see my winning streak continue, the second half being the most entertaing I've seen for a while.

We took two complete novices to the game with us, hoping that they'd be converted to the Blackburn cause, and at half time I was so embarrassed that they'd witnessed such a shocking display, I was convinced they'd be put off rovers and football for life. The first half started well enough the first 5 minutes or so we showed some really nice passing football, but after which we fizzled out. Our defence was woeful and struggled to cope: Zurab looked the most uncomfortable I've seen him all season, Neill clearly isn't a cb and Reid had no positional sense whatsoever. Gray didn't exactly cover himself with glory either. The west ham goal capped off what was a pretty dismal display.

The second half however saw rovers true grit and determination, and dare I say attacking class show. The pen was a pen, albeit a soft one, but a foul is still a foul and if it's in the penalty area then the consequence is a penalty. Bit worried to see Dickov take it what with his record but he did the business. For the second Dickov showed a bit of class and why we persevere with him, with a great finish. Was rather chuffed to get involved in the darwin end celebrations too.

As for the second goal we let in what terrible marking, especially Gray and Zurab. Was not happy at all; a new left back and the return of one of our comanding centre backs is vastly needed.

I was a tad suprised when Emerton came off, his first half was absolutely shocking but he seemed to be getting into the game when he came off. However the sub was spot on, and Kuqi to me caused all sorts of problems even before he scored. As for his goal, it was a pretty decent finish, showing he has a bit more about him, and Dailly duely deserves the assist as he repaid a bit of his stupidly high transfer fee with his floundering about. On the subject of substituions I though Hughes got it spot on, the Axe adding steel when needed and Jansen doing the job of running down the clock.

It really could have finished 4-3 and probably should have. Still on balance rovers deserved the win. Savage's free kicks were very hit and miss, two excellent ones but a fair few which were absolute rubbish, more consistency is needed or give them to MGP. Bentley after an anonymous first half did well in the second, both as a link up striker and right midfielder, very encouraging. Brad seemed to command his area well, and made a good save, which from the darwin end I thought had gone in, late on.

All in all encouraging that we can score without Bellamy and our resiliance is still intact. However, we need to get the defence sorted out. Come back Nelsen and Todd.

Watching the game I was delighted to see how clueless United looked. Their few attacks down the wings that got to the byline caused absolute havoc amongst the Benfica defence - indeed one got a very good goal. So United decide to ignore the byline altogether for most of the game, lumping the ball into the penalty area from the edge of the box, leaving a somewhat melodramatic portugese team with a fairly comfrotable victory. When Ferguson did have two fresh attacking players on the wing in Park and Rooney he played them on the wrong sides, with Park on the right and Rooney on the left. The result was both continued to cut inside and the bylines remained a manure free zone. A two year old could have seen that the benfica defence was uncomfortable with crosses, especially their rather shocking keeper, but Ferguson apparently did not.

Secondly I was delighted to see how weak the squad looked. Other than Heinze who was injured that was their strongest team. Now the first 11 was pretty amazing (save Smith who isn't top draw as a defensive mid) but after the first 11 the quality began to peater out after player number fifteen. Saha isn't a top class striker, look at any other big team - big as in competitors in champs league on a regular basis rather than deluded like Brum - and who there third striker is. Nearly all are a lot better than Saha. Equally the likes of Fletcher, Richardson etc whilst useful hardly inspire terror into the opposition. United's once superstrong squad is looking a tad threadbare.

Added to Vodafone jumping ship, a lack of European action - which really will hurt their chances of getting top players in January and chelsea's dominance the future does not look bright for United

Todds in the same boat as Savage he misses too many chances from corners to show a positive contribution to the Rovers cause and he cant play a telling forward pass like say Lucas or Zurab can.

Sure Todd's not having the best of seasons but he doesn't deserve all the slating he's getting. Todd for the most part is a solid dependable defender, his job is to defend - not score corners and all the other optional extras which might be nice. Amo has far more to his game in terms of attacking threats corners and free kicks (although the latter threat is usually to those behind the goal) but is he a better defender? No chance, because he can't defend and makes too many mistakes which cost goals. Incidently I don't think Todd's distribution is bad, in fact last season I can remember being rather impressed by it at times.

As for Savage, again he's there to disrupt the play and protect the back 4. It doesn't matter how many you score if you conceed more goals you loose simple as. The defensive aspect of the game is equally important and Savage provides us with that vital protectionist role. Wenger doesn't drop Gilberto for not contributing to the attack for example, because all good teams need someone to protect the defence.

Gally does really seem to be flourishing at Stoke even if he is being played out of position. Hopefully this loan period will provide, and it seems to be doing, the chance to iron out his inconsistency without having a detrimental effect on Rovers. Certainly I think if he continues as he is, Gally will be a welcome addition to the fold next season what with Dickov getting on and Jansen seemingly not getting better.

Personally I think loan to lower leagues is much more productive for our young starlets then reserve team football.

Not sure whether I'd have Gray in for Matteo to deal with West ham's pace but otherwise same team and squad for me. The encouraging thing about that is all the options on the bench. Rovers are beginning to have a good squad again.

Bit worried about this one as we've been a bit shakey defensively for the last few games and are struggling to score. Can see West Ham sneaking a goal or two and gaining the victory. Mind you I haven't seen us loose yet so hopefully my "winning streak" will continue.

Prediction 1-2 West Ham

Pederson Harewood

Sheringham

Excellent result, SO happy.

Loads of positives from the game.

Tommo's looking good again, but let's not get carried away by it. An in form Tommo would give the midfield a whole new dimension, and hopefully keep Emerton on his toes.

A wee bit worried about the amount of goals the defence has shipped in recently, what's wrong? Maybe not having Zurab at cb, maybe we're still a quality left back from consistency, maybe we're missing Neill.

Also how did Bentley do up front? He'd give us a different type of option up front if he can do it up there. Kuqi showed what he's useful at, coming on and scaring nervy defences with his physical presence. As a third striker to bring on, he's looking like a shrewd piece of business.

All in all great. How bout Wigan away again in the quarters and another cracking night out at the JJB?

From what I've seen and heard 3-0 seems rather harsh, which is a good sign that rovers are heading in the right direction, although that's not much consolation at the moment.

One of my housemates is an Arsenal fan so I expect there will be a few mentions of it during the week. Still I guess I'll be the one laughing when Henry decides to pop off to the continent at the end of the season.

It'd have been interesting to see if we'd have nabbed a point be playing more defensively. Perhaps results like this might enlighten the board that if we are to attack teams we need more up front. Kuqi isn't a bad buy but he's not one half of a great partnership that all successful Rovers teams have had.

Having said that the performances during a difficult period have been fairly positive so hopefully we can transfer this and start hammering some of the lesser teams.

Everton (h)

West Ham (h)

Fulham (a)

Middlesboro (a)

Sunderland (h)

Pompey (h)

With our players in good form, there's no reason we can't win any of them, although as people have stated the away games look the toughest. With our best players fully fit I'd fancy us to win all the home games. But lets say there's a few key injuries, say to Bellamy and Tugs for these games (give or taken Sunderland) and the chances of winning these looks a lot trickier.

I reckon we'll gain 10/11 points loosing to Boro, drawing with West Ham and Fulham possibly slipping up in one and beating the rest.

Couldn't happen to a nicer person.

Is Ferguson captain? If so he's not doing a very good job.

He also keeps mentioning that 'the players' are performing yet there seems to be no personal admission of his own recent poor performances. Still that's not a thing that's likely to come from the wee man.

Hopefully at least one of hibs or hearts can keep up a good run of form.

The decision to slim down the academy scene to clubs fielding one U18 side is definitely a positive step imo. The chances of a player slipping through, perhaps, is increased but that is off-set by the fact less expense goes on players who will clearly not make it.

I think the youth international scene could do with something similar - although obviously not reducing to just one youth side per country but what is the point of U17s, U18s, U19s and U20s? How many of these players even make it to the U21s?

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I'd disagree. Its made the reserve league a lot weaker with far more young players in it. Granted this gives more youngsters a chance at this level but it was not the level it was. IMO the step up from reserve level to premiership level is far greater these days which may be one of the reasons that contribute to why less players are breaking into the first team, the jump in quality is much higher they are far less prepared.

Serious attitude problems! What a cupid stunt eh?

Yep and I think that could be seen when for the reserves. Can't remember which game it was but he was captaining the reserves and was getting a hard time from the opposing centre forward. Rather than role up his sleves like the Admiral or Todd would do he proceeded to have a paddy on the floor. You can also see it when he made runs which weren't singled out, many again resulted in him having a winge.

If he could sort out his attitude problems I think he could make it. IMO his success came far too soon. His speed needs to improve most of all, but that's the duller aspect of training, and I'd be worried that he wouldn't sort his attitude out to deal with it.

If you can get that for Bruce's "tactics" it makes you wonder what some of the other manager's alleged tactics would be worth.

Doesn't look good for Rovers professionalism if it turns out to be true.

Snigger snigger at the LET's headline.

Steve Bruce or not Steve Bruce's tactics fetched £400 on E-Bay.

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Colin Hendry has failed miserably as Blackpool boss...but as mentioned before so did big sam, worthington and megson...its a poisioned chalice...the club is a joke, its a business not an ambitious football club. Thats what you get from having property developers as owners.

Sam Allardyce - Was given loads of money (shock for Blackpool)  to get them promoted, threw it all away in last 2 months of season and only made the playoffs, won 1st leg away from home 2-0. Then printed directions to Wembley in program for home leg and lost 3-0.

Gary Megson - Got attacked by fans who ran to his dugout after a humiliating FA Cup defeat to Hednesford town, ended up finishing mid table before leaving to go to Stockport.

Nigel Worthington - Got them relegated. (Technically McMahon relegated them but Worthy made sure they were down by January)

Blackpool FC is a circus

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Agree. You just have to look at the ins and outs over the summer to see how little ambition the board has. At the start of the season there was 11 players out only 2 in, one of whom was from non league. Not suprising that they're in trouble. Hendry hasn't had chance to build a team, although from watching & reading reviews about Blackpool he's come across as a bit naive.

I'm firmly of the oppinion that despite the odd good game and the fact he tried hard, which goes far in my book, he deserved the flack for some shocking errors defensively. I'll never dislike him, the person though, as he tried but wasn't genuinely good enough. As a player though he made far too many mistakes and I was never comfortable with him at the back.

Still, it shows football is a funny old game. Amo is first choice at a successful* rangers team wins player of the season and turns out to be a dud. Kish- Zurab can't get in a pants rangers team and turns out to be the find of the season.

* successful in this case means winning a 2 team league with vastly superior players and finances, the odd cup and getting nowhere in europe despite regular attempts.

If only all friendlies were as exciting as this. A top class game from both sides, excellent end to end stuff, great goals, great saves, a dramatic finish, there wasn't much more you could have asked for.

At 2-1 down I thought England had lost it and thought in the last twenty minutes or so the game was slipping away from us, what with the argies trying every trick, legit and not-so legit, to slow the game down. However the fact that we still managed to grind out the win despite this is really encouraging. In the past England would have let such a game slip away from them and been satisfied with a good performance, maybe the recent kick up the backside against northern ireland has done its job.

On a couple of players who have had a lot of publicity; I thought Lampard's shooting was woeful for someone of his class and crouch wasn't so bad, although as already stated it was his presence rather than anything he did. I still feel that if asked to contribute more than an uncomfortable presence, which in a world cup is likely, that he'd come up short. Beattie would be a better bet as the target man from the bench role imo based on recent form.

The formation 4-1-3-2 seems the best bet, and gives us a bit more solidity in midfield. I'd like to see us play this in the world cup. When King went off I thought we lacked someone to break up the play and win us back possession which in part contributed to England's lack of possession in the last 20 minutes. It also allows for the attacking option of switching back to 4-4-2 should we need a more attacking formation later on. On another note, the substitutions seemed to work, although I'd have been tempted to take a full back off earlier when Cole came on and leave 3 at the back. Whilst on about substitutions I don't think the argies makling that many subs was helpful, even if it was a friendly, and the resulting loss of cohesiveness played a part in our victory.

Despite it being an excellent performance there were one or two problems which hopefully won't be overlooked. Why on earth was Bridge played having had only 60 minutes top class football? This was another shocking decision by Sven and could have been more costly. Also the excellent defending was let down by shocking marking for Argentina's second goal and highlights that 100% concentration for the whole game is needed against top class teams.

Overall though a very encouraging step before the world cup and excellent entertainment.

He can't go on forever. Mind you he's still having a massive impact at the club. I reckon a new 1 yr rolling deal might not be a bad idea as he's still showing how important he is to the club. Ok he'll be taking a more and more reduced roll as time goes on (although not at the moment) but like Bellamy when you have top quality you have to keep it and use it for all it's worth.

Really difficult to predict.

Charlton and City are no better than us but no worse. I think both their sets of fans as well as ourselves think that they should win these matches. As for Arsenal they've been dodgy this year, and it depends which Arsenal team turns up. If WBA can beat them we certainly should have a chance.

Think Chelsea's a write off though.

In short we could, quite possibly, come away with anything from 9 to 0 points from these games. It's a big test on Sparkey and the lads but the squad finally seems to have options and we're playing some decent stuff so hopefully we'll keep adding to the points tally.

I was glad we didn't miss a beat when Todd replaced the injured Nelsen - I was worried the reason Zura has been looking so good recently is because he's playing next to t'Admiral. Obviously this is not the case and we should sign him up sharpish!

Agreed.

For all those complaining about Kuqi, as stated he was free and I'm led to believe he's on club friendly wages. Admittedly he can't hit a barn door with a banjo (not sure why he'd be trying to mind, or what it has to do with his shooting ability ), but he closes down their back four, wins most flick ons, holds up the ball and generally lets their defence know they've been in a game. Dickov never did this, he just fell over and protested when the ref told him to get up for the umpteenth time. Bellamy will thrive on those Kuqi flick ons, assuming he can stay healthy enough . I wonder how much a version of Kuqi who could shoot would be worth?

Agree again. As strikers go Kuqi's not been a bad piece of business. Admittedly not great but our strike force as a whole looks so much better with the additions of both Bellamy and Kuqi. The other version of Kuqi costs around £5 million, or at least that's what Celtic will be asking for Heartson.

Great win. Brum in real trouble. What more could we want?

One thing we haven't seen much of is Matteo in a 4-4-2 formation at lb. In the 4-5-1 where the team is reliant on the other 9 outfield players to help attack and support the striker, Matteo's lack of offensive capabilities is certainly very pronounced. Whether this would be as apparent in a 4-4-2 is questionable. Savage is a similar case, in as much as his defensive qualities have looked better, and his weak offensive capablities have looked less pronounced, when in a 4-4-2.

Ultimately though I don't believe Matteo is the answer to the lb problem though may be the best at the moment. However due to player availability and budget it could be some time before we see a new lb in place.

Absolutely fantastic. To be fair the papers I've read have given Rovers some credit, although it is dwarfed by what's wrong with manure (answer a rampent rovers side hit harder then they did).

A few thoughts:

Bellamy is class and on this performance is going to get some decent service.

Savage, when the onus on him to attack and be crative is diminished, looks far more acomplished and a much better player. Additionally with Mokeana we have two very good defensive midfielders based on this performance. Maybe a 4-5-1 with these two and Tugs to do his stuff might be the best balanced 4-5-1.

If only Tugay were 5 years younger. Finding a successor for Tugs is arguably one of the most important tasks that Hughes has, especially with Bellamy in the team.

What a difference having attacking full backs makes. Although not their primary function IMO it gave us the extra edge that can be all important and get you points, especially in games like this. If only we could merge the better qualities of Matteo and Gray. Perhaps Hughes should not be so quick to give up on Gray?

Emerton played well - having some consistent non-injury-prone competition could be just what is needed to get the best out of Emerton.

Pederson - on his way to cementing his place in rovers folklore.

To be honest I thought Hughes had made a big mistake going for 4-4-2, and though at times we were fortunate that United were wasteful in front of goal, there was no denying we deserved something from the game. Ferguson was out thought and manure out fought. Here's to climbing up the table.

Let's not forget that under Souness, bar the Man Utd 1-1 draw last season, we had looked very unconvincing for some time. Now I'm not saying that we look all too convincing at the moment, but it's a hell of a lot better than when Hughes came in.

Last season we'd have taken survival by goal difference on the last day of the season. As it was, the team avoided relegation in a fairly comfortable manner. In some ways this has gone against hughes as people's expectations have become much higher. Had we survived by the manner discribed above fans may be less critical and look on this season's performances in a more optimistic light and focusing more on the positives.

A team takes time to build, just as it takes time to destroy. Hughes hasn't been given too much to work with. Very few managers can turn things round in a season, especially with the resources at Hughes' disposal. Even the mighty Benitez had a league form that was less than impressive last year.

So far Hughes has taken some signifcant steps forward. We've finally got a class striker on the books again, and old veterans like Short and Flitty, hugely influential players in their day, have been replaced for peanuts. A very leaky defence has been tightened up, and Rovers are beginning to look like a team as oppose to a collection of players again. In such a short space of time such progress is pleasing. It's by no means a finished job but it's a good start.

The other thing with Rovers is the boring football lable, which again is somewhat harsh that it has fallen on Rovers, and largely due to the fact we upset Chelsea. Bolton play #### football but win, and thier fans aren't complaining. Nor are Chelsea fans despite the club being criticised for it's long ball style. Hughes has to try blocking this out and provide winning, rather than entertaining football. Sometimes this will come through trying to play football, other times it will come through scrapping. The big test for Hughes in this regard is not to bow to pressure and alter winning game plans, and know when to apply each of the two. In the Newcastle game, the cautious approach was foolhardy, but hey which manager doesn't get it wrong occassionally? Hopefully Hughes will learn from this, and realise when to scrap and when to play entertaining football. Chelsea are great because they can play breathtaking stuff but also grind out the points - we're halfway there.

My biggest worry is that we're still lacking offensively, Dickov's aging, there's question marks over Kuqi and Jansen, and the midfield isn't getting up to support the front man/men enough. However frustrating this is, we're still in a better position to rectify this then when Hughes took over. Reid, MGP, Bentley, Jansen, Emerton, Bellamy, Dickov and Kuqi are all theoretically capable of helping bellamy lift our offensive problems. Perhaps it's because we've more potential there it's more frustrating then last season, but with time I'm sure that Hughes can get this lot with a few more inspired signings to be offensively capable as we are defensively sound. Progress is often best done slowly and steadily so let's not panic yet. We're not far off a good team and with a bit more time in which the potential can be sorted into the haves and have nots Rovers under Hughes could be a force to reckon with again.

All kids should be free, full stop. They can start paying round about age 12-14 (or rather be paid for). I'd imagine after a few years of free tickets, the child is rather decided on whether or not the life in the blue and white cloth is for him.

TNR I'd go for the idea as well. I believe the children are our future, teach them well and let them lead the way.

Seriously though why not suggest it to the club?

I'm in agreeance of the importance of kids. Take the Spurs game; I went as usual with my family, all Rovers fans, as well as a mate of my Dad's and his kid. Whilst the kid liked playing football they didn't really follow a team, although the Dad sadly was a Spurs sympathiser. Within 20 minutes the kid was loving it and cheering on rovers, and really got behind the team, even though it was their first competative game they'd seen live. A few more games and I reckon they'll be a strong Rovers supporter. I think we tend to forget that there is still some magic in football and that kids can still be hooked. Get kids down there for a few games - like everything else in football youth seems to be the way forward. We could be getting lifetimes of support at the expense of a few cheap tickets. Definately worth looking into IMO.

0-0 will do me.

Nothing pretty or fancy, 4-1-4-1 stop them playing and fingers crossed.

Friedel

Neill, Todd, Nelsen, Gresko

Mokoena

Emerton, Savage, Reid, Pederson

Bellamy

subs, Enks, Zurab, Bentley, Jansen, Flitty

Like most Rovers performances, looking on last night's game things can seem either really good or really bad depending upon how you look on them. There were a fair few positives, but also a fair few negatives.

The negatives first:

Savage, runs about a lot, and breaks up the play, but his distribution was again poor, and he fluffed it several times when involved in attacking moves. Granted he breaks up the play which is an all important role (and one for which Flitty was much maligned even in his better years) but for £3 million I'm still hoping for a bit more. Mokeana seems a no frills more reliable version at present.

Neill was terrible. One of the more improved players this season, this game however saw him give the ball away with sloppy passing in some dangerous places, as well as the odd dubious tackle.

Dickov, ineffectual at best. What really annoyed me was his pass from the left wing backwards in the second half when he had a relitavely unmarked Savage in the box. Such mistakes cannot be put down to coming back from injury. Everyone else in the ground could see it was the wrong pass, and does little to suggest that he will be providing Bellamy with the through balls he needs.

Hearing that he was only in because of an injury to Gresko, i.e. we had no one else to play in that position in Hughes interview on the big screen can't have done much for Gray's moral. That's one explaination for a poor performance, where he didn't even provide the attacking verve that we've seen from him in the past.

The linesman.

The positives:

Bentley, if we could only get the guy in the game for the full 90 minutes he'd be a star. When he was in the game he provided some good attacking runs, a few good crosses, especially for the corner that resulted in Zurab's goal and a bit of verve to the side. Sadly there were periods when I forgot he was playing, but with the right coaching and age on his side, hopefully the drifting in and out of the game will soon be minimised.

Bellamy looked awesome, and a genuine threat with his pace. Rovers can rest assured that this season we have at least one quality forward.

Nelsen and Zurab were suprisingly given a fairly difficult time against the Huddersfield forwards. Maybe I'm used to seeing Nelsen playing flawlessly and thus an ordinary performance seemed so much worse from him. Zurab seemingly was equally uncomfortable, but coped with the physical stuff better then his reputation suggested he would. He also showed that we can have a threat from a corner without being a defensive liability.

I'm a tad worried where the service is going to come from for Bellamy. Dickov didn't really show any signs that there's a potential partnership there (although it is early days) whilst in the midfield only Tugay would be classed as an intelligent passer. My hopes would be on Bentley, or perhaps Emerton who provided the pass for the first goal. If he can produce these killer passes regularly then he can cut in all the time as far as I'm concerned.

Another worry was that there were several times when the ball was whipped into the penalty area and no one was there to get on the end of it. We realy need more killer instinct, especially from the midfield. Recent games I've seen in the Premiership (both with and without Rovers) show the importance of taking chances, and Rovers seem to lack the ability to really seize upon half chances and punish opponents. Arguably Rovers should have got more than 3, especially when 2-0 up, we should have punished them on the break.

Overall though a good night's work. We're through, which as City showed is the most important thing. We got three goals, and Bellamy looks like he's the real deal. Our two new deadline day signings also show signs of being valuable additions to the club. There's still a lot of work to be done though if we've to climb the Premiership table.

Added to which last season we did play some attractive football in the 4-5-1 against Palace, Norwich and Southampton. Wasn't the Fulham win also 4-5-1 or am I mistaken. I don't think the formation is always the problem, especially with Tugs playing, but more of the attitude Rovers come out with. Quite rightly the 4-5-1 against the top teams comes with the attitude to scrap and stifle the opposition, whereas in the matches mentioned above the team attitude/instructions was to try playing more attacking football.