I thought today couldn't feel any better. Wonder if he can use his massive severance pay to buy himself a decent reputation?

nm

BBC suggests that they could start with Rooney, Van Nistelrooy and Saha all up front!

Currently the second top scorer in the Championship, but don't let facts cloud your judgement.

Some young lads thought it would be clever to unfurl a BWFC flag and parade in front of the Riverside. Some Rovers fans disagreed.

Bolton obviously came to snatch a win, and if Vaz Te had decent boots on then they'd have succeeded. I disliked their tactic of trying to physically outplay Savage, but for a while it worked, so spoiling the game was worthwhile for them. Disappointed but hardly surprised that Riley believes football is no longer a contact sport. Don't see why Reid was booked, and by the end it seemed he was giving free kicks against Rovers players for running in the penalty area. And still he bottled the O'Brien decision, only booking him after a horrendous foul on Nelsen. Have to agree that Tugay was a must when they went down to ten men. Especially with Campo coming on for them - he rarely ventures out of the centre circle and Tugay could surely have utilised the extra space to create more chances with his passing than we did by hoofing the ball towards Kuqi, who was poor. Also agree that Bentley was awful today. Absolutely anonymous other than two half decent crosses that led to nothing. He's as much a striker as I am. Not an important point, but I can't understand why a cheer went up for Emerton being subbed - I know he frustrates fans a lot but he had a decent game and came closer than anyone else to scoring. It was a very good header, completely unsaveable, just a few inches too high. Oh well.

I think he will be, doesn't he miss the next three games? United might appeal successfully though. It never looked like a red card offence to me. edit: pff, too slow.

Because he wasn't transferred, he was released. Also such clauses aren't allowed.

They can make all the excuses they want as long as we get to the final. Dodgy refereeing, the pitch, the weather, the colour of their shirts, all of their team getting food poisoning on the day of the game and having the runs, Tugay's invisible friend interfering with play. Patrice Evra being a Chelsea double agent and scoring four own goals. Anything that helps Rovers to win suits me, nevermind what gets said afterwards. Still I agree that on recent evidence we can hopefully match them, if not outplay them in some positions. Savage is putting in his best performances for us since he signed, he and Tugay seem to have gelled much better than Scholes and Smith have for United. The main worry I have is Shrek and Donkey up front for them, which is so scary I've been trying to block it out for the last two days. Maybe they'll start with Saha though, or Rossi, or Solskjaer - who looked pants against Burton. At the back I think Gray needs to be fit, he has a much better chance than Matteo of both containing Ronaldo and pushing forward to link up with MGP. I'm more excited and up for this game than I have been for ages, even moreso than the FA Cup semi, which had a slight air of inevitability about it. I really hope the more casual Rovers fans are starting to feel this way too and get down to the ground on Wednesday. Given our league form and the quality in our first team, I feel we definitely have more of a chance of winning than in previous years. And in previous years we've been beating them at Ewood anyway, so we should stuff them! Which isn't a prediction, by the way. I'm not jinxing anything.

Just been down to the TO for my QPR tickets and the queue was massive, I counted twenty ahead and about the same behind me in the line. Could be that everyone completely forgot about the FA Cup game until now (I know I did) or that we've quite a few home games upcoming, but it was still encouraging.

Upon entering the ground you are given a voucher which can be exchanged for a pie. Simple really. This is the hardest of our Christmas games, I'd be happy with a point. But sod it, why not get our hopes up for three? I predict a 4-0 win to continue an unbeaten run which will stretch until the end of next season.

Fantastic night. The atmosphere in the away end was brilliant, though we were surrounded by about fifteen thousand empty seats so I'm not sure any Boro fans noticed. Not sure if I too hugged the person who asked when we scored. I know I hugged a few people, fell down the steps and ran around screaming for a few minutes. I thought Savage in particular had an excellent game. He obviously gives 100% every game, but last night he seemed less like a madman just chasing the ball. His distribution and movement were great, and he tackled back very well rather than lunging in. Kuqi and Dickov were good too, they really seemed to upset the Boro defence and create some good opportunities, though you could see that they lack that something extra which Bellamy has in the quality of their shots. All of the defence had a good game, a few shaky moments and Nelsen's missed header (an absolute sitter) aside. Todd came out of the back four to intercept a lot of passes and then passed well rather than just hoofing it away. Gray was caught out of position twice, both seemed to be because Pedersen wasn't pushing forward very much. MGP certainly didn't have the best of games and maybe should be dropped, especially since Emerton looked surprisingly energetic on the left when he came on. Tugay sat back a little too much for my liking, passed backwards too often when counter-attacks were on. He still helped us to keep possession with some good passes under pressure. Boro were really poor, no movement, second to every 50-50 and very weak in their challenges. Even Bentley wasn't outmuscled by their defenders and he ended up having a decent game, though his crosses weren't the best. I'd be surprised if they start with the same team on Monday and we should expect a much tougher game. Still, I think we can beat them again if we can give a similar performance.

2-0. FFS.

1-0 to Fulham, Bouba Diop unmarked. Emerton missed an open goal a few minutes beforehand.

Sod it. 4-0 to Rovers. Emerton to get all the goals.

Saw Bellamy standing outside Blues after yesterday's game, watching Newcastle and Arsenal on tv. Apparently his wife was late arriving to pick him up. I would've asked how his injury was but I was struck dumb by the silly hat he had on.

No. There's no conspiracy or discrimination against Rovers by referees, and it's silly to suggest otherwise. Every set of fans has games where they believe that decisions are going against their team and they get on the ref's back. There was nothing Riley did today that looked suspect, he did alright dealing with Harewood and even gave us a suspect penalty. Stop moaning. Not the best of games in terms of Rovers' performance, but I came away feeling delirious after our second half. Thought Reid looked awful at RB, afraid of the ball and too timid to challenge - his backing off led to their second goal. On his day he can be a very good midfielder, but he's no full back anymore. Real cover for Lucas whenever he is out or has to play in the centre is essential. All of the midfield were ineffective throughout. Savage took some decent free kicks but did nothing else, ran around making rash challenges and didn't dominate the middle of the pitch in the way he's shown he can. Emerton was even more frustrating than usual, one or two great crosses but most of the time he was late running on to passes, making sloppy mistakes and generally drifting out of the game. Tugay and Pedersen just didn't make much of an impact at all, gave the ball away far too often. Up front, in midfield or in the hole between the two, wherever he was playing, Bentley was just crap. First touches coming off his shins, not closing down the opposition, not making any good runs with or without the ball. It might just be his demeanor on the pitch but a lot of the time, especially first half, it seemed like he was barely trying. Still, after the score became 3-2 he helped us keep possession quite well before his injury. Neill, Zurab, Gray and Dickov all ran their socks off and fought hard for every 50-50. Neill's attacking play was poor for once, but otherwise the four of them were all good, Gray especially. Dickov is hardly a striker to set the Premiership alight, but he gave his all and dragged us back into the game. Kuqi took his goal well and unsettled their defence; I'd start him next game if Bellamy is still unfit, he's not wonderful but I think Bentley is a waste of space. Thank God Harewood missed that one on one.

JESUS! hglksjrh!

NOW I FEEL HAPPY.

I feel sad.

Shame we didn't get Man United with the way they're playing today.

Well, so what? Are you not moaning about their funds there? Should he be scouring the lower leagues for bargains, or looking abroad for ageing players he can get on loan? He's got money, he's buying quality, he's enjoying success and saying what he feels to the media. The only thing I'd do differently if I were him is not try to come across as so much of an arrogant c**t! Even then it'd be hard, how do you say "We're better than you and we will be for years, because we're stinking rich" in a way that doesn't make you disliked? edit: post was in reply to RovertheHill.

Aye, Cech and Robben were signed (or agreed to be signed) before Mourinho was in charge. Actually researching what I'm saying might make a difference. Sorry. Still, I'd say he's signed players who, whilst they haven't lit up the Prem, have, when called upon as a result of injuries or suspensions, given good performances consistently. Hence the reason for people pointing to their amazing squad depth as the difference between them and their competitors in the league last season. Besides Huth, who is pants.

As much of a tosser as I think he can be, and as much as I'd love someone to tell him to shut his effing big gob, it's most likely he doesn't give a flying monkey's whether people hate him or not. He can afford to be arrogant given the honours he's had in his managerial career already, and the start to the season that Chelsea have had. It's hardly Ranieri picking the team, deciding the tactics or giving the team talks, is it? And is the jury really still out on Robben, Drogba, Essien and Cech?

Reid and Dickov booked. Mokoena was earlier, too. Pedersen close to getting one back. We're still attacking and positive, which is somewhat encouraging. Hopefully it won't be too difficult to avoid the gloating comments from Mourinho and his team after the game. Though given his love of his own voice I'm not so sure.