Great article. Football fans are idiots, true, it doesn't take a scientist to realize that. Look at the "real" Man U fans setting up their own club because their publicly traded business was taken over. They are fuming over a legitimate business transaction. Why didn't they start the breakaway club when Man U went public years ago? Could it be that they started winning trophies? That is a separate argument, but still shows a fantastic amount of stupidity. Fans will always go to games. The point about price inelasticity is correct. Football is now treated as a busines primarily among club officials (not fans though) and economic principles should be applied to it. The wages that people complain about arise out of finite resources. There is only one Rio Ferdinand (not the song) so he can charge what the market is willing to pay. This will continue unless revenue dries up. The footballers themselves don't care how much they are getting paid; their agents do. Most footballers only know what day it is because someone tells them, but we would all gladly take their jobs in a heartbeat. Someone also made a point that not even one of us would refuse a silly pay raise from work on the principles of fairness to the customers and loyalty to the firm, to help them attract better employees. Why do fans expect players to do likewise? The old timers complain that it used to be 10p to watch in the 70's and you could stand. Unforuntately for them society has changed greatly since the heady days of the "swinging 70's". It is now 2005, gone are the 3 day weeks, power blackouts, general strikes, and for football the rampant hooligansim at games. Reminiscing is great but the fact is that Britain is a lot better off now than it was 30 years ago, people have more money to spend, football grounds are safer, the demographic that attends games is also changing. I remember games at Ewood as a youngster looking through the fences to see what was going on. I was more fascinated by them than the game itself; it was imposing. Not now though, you can easily take your wife and kids. Football is a reflection of society, purely and simply. In BRFC's specific case the whole club has suffered with massive fluctuations in the last 15 years. Division 2 play off hopefuls surviving on 8,000 a week to near relegation to the old old Division 3, followed by a 5 year climb to the very top that no-one expected. A drop off, relegation, consolidation, another promotion, and now consolidation. Last years bout of severe unimaginative football to keep us up is a short term argument for fan loss. Rovers should be packed to the rafters every week with the local mentality. Born complainers should have a field day at Ewood right now; crap football, no-one likes us, we have a collection of very unliked players. Great fodder. The solutions are not simple and when they do arise they should help all clubs. The Euro Super League sounds good for the chosen few, but that wouldn't last long as not all the G14 would survive. Internal competition is the lifeblood of football. I believe with some in the possible adoption of the American Football system of equal revenue sharing. All teams in the league get the same amount of cash. For example: all Prem teams get £10, Champ £5, League 1, £4, League 2, £3. The big boys though would not doubt laugh it out of discussion and the FA would wilt as, rightly stated, their balls are in the grip of the big boys. As for dodgy lager; Carling Premier was awful. It looked good but all those chemicals in it made it taste like dishwater.

I've not been at a computer all weekend so I come on here to have a look at opinions and I swear I've gone back in time to last season. 7 days ago it was all go go go; we had 2 new strikers and even pundits were tipping us to be this year's Everton. One game in and we are now last season's BRFC. The downbeat Rovers fan returns. What's wrong folks? We've played one game. From all accounts we were terrible and too many players had off days, it happens. The Hammers were bouyant; first time back in the top flight, 30,000+ on hand, willing workers and a couple of lucky breaks/crap play gave them a lead. They are a Premiership team regardless of how they got there (I believe we finished 6th when we went up) give any Prem team a two goal advantage at home and they are all good enough to keep it. Despite all the summer expectation we are still mediocre. We are better than last season and we will do alright, but to start topics on going down and slagging everyone and everything in mid-August is a bit premature. As for the players and some of the comments; we have some very bitter people posting. So here are my player ratings in no particular order based on posts alone, presumably made as a result of watching them play. Emerton. 0.8. Yes, he's been inconsistent but what makes people think that he will turn into super winger over a summer? Todd. -4. Now he's old and slow, but last week he was England class. Kuqi. 0. He was our new foil, Dickov with height and strength. No! He's turned into a complete cart horse. MGP. 1. The Scandanavian saviour or a lazy waster who can't cross? You decide, depending on the result. Matteo. 5. He is still crap. Mokoena. -15. The axe, best tackler in the league. I forgot, he cannot play at the back anymore. Is he really that bad? £300,000 wasted? Come on. Bellamy. 6. Not fit, so he's excused; by some. Savage. 2.1. No one has really seen him as he has been injured for the mostpart, so when we lose he turns into that n*b who plays for Birmingham. Reid. 4. Our goalscoring midfielder is now a liability. Dickov. -200. He is and always will be an annoying player. Doesn't make us look good at all. In agreement with most comments on him. Neill. 8. *Star Man* It is definitely backward when people are saying he plays well, as he used to be our biggest scapegoat (I used to have a go no end, but he did pick it up when Sparky came). Gresko. 4. Can's displace Matteo even after being out for a full season. Amourso. -2. He gets a battering and he's not even fit. Gallagher. 7. Emerton's replacement, if you are to believe some. Those same people will be quick to call him not up to it when he does play. I'm surprised no one has had a go at Friedel for letting 3 in, saying he's now past it. Have I missed anoyne out? It's early doors the negativity is not pleasant.

I'm glad that these match previews are back, it means that we have some real games to look forward to again. The summer messageboard was rather depressing with not much in the way of discussion. Getting the season back in order will generate some well needed buzz. For a prediction; I'll go for a 3-0 win, our stingy defence, our new strikers, away form and our superior class showing.

I've got loads but today's Ashley Cole admission leaves me with no choice for now. "I was always 100% committed to Arsenal" was the contrived fake response to a pandering interviewer. Why then did he meet Chelski, get fined, and say that he wouldn't play for £200,000 a week? I think Cole is a good player but part of me wishes his house falls in for his greedy attitude.

The rejuvenation of Bellamy has started. The LET has a big article today on his caring side; Bellamy the angel. He seems like most footballers; extremely dedicated to the game but not the brightest candle on the cake. If he scores goals by the bag full no doubt we'll love him. I just hope the massive Blackburn nightlife doesn't get to him.

I think many Rovers fans get great glee from the fact that he started with Newcastle on exactly the same footing as he left us. When he came to us he was good and did very well, then he went barmy. Give the ones who like it a chance to laugh, I think it makes them more happy to have Hughes.

Knee jerk cowboy justice, mass jingoism, blaming politicians, and anger are undersatandable reactions to a terrorist attack. I feel for the dead and find it hard to think of how their families are dealing with it, but it is too soon yet to try and offer solutions to a problem that will be around for a long time. As long as there are idiots out there who are willing to strap bombs to their chest and walk into cafe's etc, there will always be trouble. It is impossible for security services to stop terrorism 100%. Hopefully the world has made strides to eradicate a September 11th style massacre but one offs such as London and Madrid will continue with or without clampdowns on mosques, clerics, illegal immigrants, and long beard wearers. As with all issues surrounding Al Qaeda and their ilk, many will throw in the racism card when an accusation is made. Unfortunately some amount of racial profiling has to take place here, they are fighting a Muslim holy war; why look for non Muslim looking people? The majority of Muslims are from or have ancestry from the Middle east, central Asia and northern Africa but finding the bad apple is is nigh on impossible therefore negating the need for rounding them all up as some advocate. Old fashioned spying, infiltration, informing, and good police work is the only way top stop attacks before they happen. Western capitalism is at complete odds with certain areas of Islam. One teaches material satisfaction, the other teaches spiritual bliss. When sects of one side preaches hatred toward the other their will be problems. However you don't hear of many Western, non-Islamic people trying to blow up Muslims because of their spiritual success. There are numerous problems that that need addressing and will take an age to do so, if ever. Cowboy George is trying to "spread freedom". He and many like him argue that this will help as if you can get people to think like you all will be ok. This is fraught with problems as Iraq II is showing. As long as Muslim preachers want spiritual enlightenment education rather than schooling to learn a skill and become productive idiot fanatics will always cause problems for the good among us. I get as fired up as the next person when an attack happens. The IRA, Al Qaeda, ETA are the three I have most knowledge of and all three are in the same boat for me; complete fools. If we do catch the people who bombed London and put them in jail, that should not be the end, surely if we get information out of them to stop other doing the same would be a better result that burning them at the stake?

I can't wait for our first game on Fox Soccer channel in hte States. To hear Alan Parry, Andy Townsend et al. saying; "Koo -chee is dripping wet in that East Lancs rain" will bring a smile to my face and horror to many 'soccer mom's' watching with their kids. Coochie (pronoucned exactly the same as our new burly striker) is a nasty American slang word for a lady's parts. Class, I can't wait for someone to hear it, I'm a fan already. As a player he will definitely get the fans going. As has been said he sounds like a much bigger version of Dickov. Centre halves won't be able to push him around though. Hopefully he will be able to create havoc and Bellamy and MGP to reap the rewards.

I started watching in the late 80's. I think the season after we got beat off Palace in the playoffs. My first game at Ewood was an international under 20's game between England and Holland; Holland won 2-0. My first Rovers game was Bournemouth when we were going through a spell of missing penalties. Howard Gayle scored one at the Darwen end but had to have it retaken because a defender encroached; he missed the retake. I think it finished 0-0. My best early memory was Aston Villa in the FA Cup; a 2-2 classic. We should have won, Sellars and Garner scored, I can't remember their's though.

The LET: We need more fans, is weighing in on the attendance issue. According to our board, we are running at 75% of turnover to wages, a figure we cannot sustain indefinitely. They need more fans, we need better players; for now they are going with the supporters and risking it. Does the Football League limit clubs to 60%? I've not posted for a while, is this format to stay?

Preston - another local derby I could really care less about the rest but I'll go with: Sheff Wednesday Macclesfield

Look, I may have jumped the gun and been a bit harsh but the frustration got to me. New posters on here normally get slated for something and nothing as soon as they start. I deemed your post as an expample. He was trying to get involved and gets a hammering for it. If you did start topics on everything it would start problems, but the moderators are there to stop the fluff not the topic starter. This saga is far more interesting than your average player transfer. In a month we will be talking about allsorts just to pass the time until the season comes around again. Rovers are not the most dramatic of clubs (a good thing), a little spice somewhere else livens it up a bit. As for your two youngsters being signed by the academy; how old? Did they sign a contract? Just warn them not to get big heads or get ahead of themselves. Thousands of kids are at academies, a very select few make it. It is a long hard road that is not to be treated lightly. There are roughly 1,000 players in starting line ups of the four professional leagues in England each week, not many considering the number who play.

What an idiot you are. You can't talk Rovers 24/7, there'd be nothing left after about an hour. It is a football forum. This story is genuinely interesting and could have some dire consequences.

If there is a decent case I think we should go for it, but I think it is probably a wind up by Hughes. He has a psychological edge now, he can tell his players to go out and play as no one likes them. He could put up articles on the dressing room wall before they go out, it would fire them up before a game as we get mad reading the tripe that the papers print, imagine what it would do for the players before a game. If the club did try litigation, the press would get even worse.

Sorry for the ignorance, but what was wrong with his backroom staff? Where does the information come from? I know from watching us play and the comments Hughes made when he came on board that the players were not fit, but where do the stories come from? They were ridiculed on here long before Souness left. Just asking. As far as hating Souness, I can't. He got us promoted, won us a cup, got us into Europe (granted it was only a weekend get away) and kept us up last year. He did lose it toward the end and I wonder how he will be remembered in time.

It looks dodgy at first glance. But after a good look at it you can see it is an accident on Van Persie's side as he runs into Todd who is running toward goal looking at the ball. Only when they collide does Todd raise his arm and push him away. I'm in agreement with Krillin, RVP probably bust his lip weh he ran into Todd. There is no reaction from our player until RVP runs into him. I do believe that he did push him away with the forearm/elbow and some intent may have been there, but more of the "get out of the way we're losing" type not a malicious one. I think he is for the high jump though.

John Williams' take in today's (thursday) LET. A possible 17,500 I like how he has a dig at the FA.

Ban Italian teams? Not likely. UEFA's revenue loss would be too great for them to do it. No Juventus or either Milan team would cost them bundles. Do they not check fans entering the stadium? There were alot of flares, not just one or two. What will happen when they play each other in the league?

Davies: far too overpriced, didn't do any good, but is still scoring in the Permiership. I think we did pay about £5 million too much with Woy praising him before he walked in the door and that expectation tipped it for the portly Tyke and he lost it. He was truly awful to watch for us, looked a a deer in headlights everytime he played. His solitary goal should have been saved. He did sell more shirts than any other player that season, who has still got one? Grabbi: technically good but not fast enough for the Prem, simple as. Another massive waste. I do think that the worst player ever tag can be split up into eras, especially during the 20 years I have been following the club. Pre Jack Walker we had some genuinely bad players on offer. During and after Jack it was a case of bad cash management, but the bad players bought were still better than the old crap. Peacock, Dailly, all those ropey Scandanavians, Perez, Kounde, Marcolin, Holmes, Ward etc, would all have been regulars for the 1980's sides I remember. On the other hand, Paul Shepstone, Darren Donnelly, Ronnie Hildersley, Keith Hill, to name a few never had a chance at top flight football. I thought Jimmy Quinn was a hero, I was little but used to be proud that Rovers had an international playing for them. Remember, Northern Ireland were in the 1982 World Cup, they beat Spain, so it was a big deal to an 8 year old. What was the name of the old football in the community man, surname began with a "D" who used to play? He was on A Question of Sport once taking a penalty for Morcambe where he fell and ended up heading the ball about a yard. He was crap. Part of me misses the old days of bad players. I have a couple of friends who are Preston fans, and I used to go and watch. During John Beck's tenure they had some really bad players, but the crowd comedy was first class. You don't get that at Ewood anymore.

This weekend should be the defining one of the season as far as we are concerned. A win and we are looking at a mid-table finish, even a loss shouldn't be that bad for us. Just look at the rest of the weekend's fixtures: Southampton v. Chelsea Arsenal v. Norwich West Brom v. Everton Palace v. Middlesbrough Fulham v. Portsmouth It couldn't be better for us on paper. Apart from Palace, the lower teams play the the other members of the top 4, and the two teams directly below us play each other. We should be laughing, yet I seriously doubt a Rovers win at Old Trafford. We have improved but we are still a mediocre team and even our good teams never won away at Man U.

It is as plain as day what is happening to us fans, but no-one from the FA is coming out and defending their side. Who are they speaking to? What to they base their decisions on? Their corporate backers? The government?

This stinks. On the one hand we are in our first FA cup semi since 1960 so we want to go and support the lads, yet the FA are acting like complete plonkers and doing us in with a midday kickoff. Do fans go to support the team or do we stay at home in protest at a myopic FA? Their response to the train schedules will be to go on official coaches. The M6 will be open at 5am, just in time really for 75,000 or so travelling down the same road. If there are empty seats we'll get hammered for our bad support, not the FA.

Oops, I completely forgot about the 1991 semi. We should have known then that Seaman wasn't up to much. Great letter from Tom Finn.

The Wembley semi final debate (debacle?) was started in 1993 by the city of Sheffield. As both United and Wednesday were in the semi's they were clamouring for a suitable arena to hold all their fans. Unfortunately for football Arsenal were playing Spurs in the other semi. They argued that the only suitable destination for them was Wembley, which was agreed and the tie was set to be played there. Cue mass outrage from the Tykes. They wanted to be treated the same/ not let the opposition get an unfair advantage by playing an extra game there. So the FA buckled and let the tie go ahead. Was Old Trafford not suitable for the city of Sheffield? This then seemed to become an overnight tradition which maybe would never have happened if we had played well in the 6th round against the Blades at Ewood, not to mention the replay. I do remember that they kicked up a fuss about ticket allocation then too. We have been left up the creek by the Government here if this "personal" letter is to be believed. The colossal cost of Wembley is a burden to all football fans. For the supposed price they should have heated/padded seats. I'm still mad about the whole thing and hope that Man U, Newcastle, and the South Wales Police keep up thir protests. We are happy to be there and will enjoy it, plus we don't have the weight, who would listen to us? Streakyb, the FA are responsible for the Premier League too and are getting the royal shaft. If they took the same grass roots approach with the far larger amount of money it has, the game would be in a healthier state but the "big clubs" have got together and told the Premier league to F off. Anyway that is another thread.