?! I trust the LET for accurate information. They are not into the sensationalism that the national dailies thrive on. If they report stories I'll take them far more seriously than the Sun, Mirror and the rest.

More Speculation. This time Liverpool. It's from the LET so there's some truth to it. Ferguson linked to Liverpool

I'm not suggesting it, I'm just wondering how people would react to it. You, obviously, don't like it. Does the FA's "bringing the game into disrepute" charge carry only financial penalties? Could it not be argued that an idiot footballer convicted of a criminal offence is bringing the game into disrepute?

This is the only place I will put this one as I don't want to start a topic on it. Cole, an old boy (hence this thread), has just been banned another 3 games for fighting on the pitch. Fabrice Fernandes has also been convicted of dangerous driving and got 100 hours or so community service. Should Fernandes also get banned for a few games to teach him a lesson? Role model and all that. Cole got an extra hammering for what could be seen as transgressing the laws of the land, why not Fernandes? Or all footballers who fall foul of the law? Would it make a difference?

Theno, I completely forgot about his City adventures. He didn't do much there either, he should never have left, but £750,000 was a pot of gold for the club back then. Most fans thought that he was going to a better club, as City were 1st Division and we were still languishing in the second therefore everyone wished him well. He did come back far more accomplished though. I do agree that he was washed up when he left so maybe it was better for him doing the old comedian's trick of leaving the audience wanting more, helping preserve the good memories of him. I disagree about Amoruso, I think he's good enough, get someone next to him with pace and he will really shine. Craig Moore would have been good as he is fast. Then we could have got rid of Neill becasue he is crap and also due to an unsubstantiated rumour that the club can only have 2 Aussie's on staff at any one time.

Whose decision was it to adopt a 3-5-2? I'm leaning toward the 4-4-2 brigade. I've never seen a Rovers team play anything less. This is not because of the current Mike England/Colin Hendry face off, the same thing happened with the left back debate, and will do throughout the side. I've not decided on my vote yet. Hendry was great, a crowd pleaser who played with his heart, he had to, his skill level wasn't up to much. Mike England from all accounts was a class act centre half who could play. Both internationals. Two completely contrasting styles, both fantastic players for BRFC. England left for Spurs for more money, Hendry left for Rangers for more money. I'll vouch that more fans were fed up with Hendry's departure because of the way he did it, but we got £4 million for a 34 year old, we'd faint if that happened today. It's a tough one.

Historically we have done well against Villa, we seem to have their number. But I was at the game last Christmas and dire doesn't describe how we played, yet we beat them away. Villa let teams play, hopefully this will help us. A decent crowd would be nice, they'll bring a good few. I'm not making a score prediction, I always get them wrong. I'm thinking a win though.

Ronnie Johnsen or Youri Djorkaeff? I'm in the Djorkaeff camp. World Cup winner, adds some flair to the team and has signed for us. The nay sayers: he's on a 3 month deal. If he's crap we'll off him at Christmas. It's in his best interests to be fit and ready. His age has no bearing on what he does, he can still play he just got greedy at Bolton.

As my earlier post pointed out I thought Grey was terrible. He offered nothing last night, far too edgy when he got the ball. If he dropped the ball over the full back's head it would be a good ball, but he lumped right down Perry's throat every time. Ferguson can only do well when he has the ball, he's not a ball winner, combative, but not a genuine "get stuck in" type. When his defenders whack it over his head to the other team he ended up running around doing nothing, much like many Sunday Leaguers do when the centre half fancies himself as a bit of a Ronald Koeman. Ferguson cannot set his stall out positionally when the ball is not delivered to where he wants it i.e. when he shows for it. He is a good player and will do well, the game needs to be dictated toward his style. If we continue to be a long ball team (I hope not - and I don't think we will be) sign Leonhardsen from Norway he was class at running like an idiot and scoring in their long ball system but could do sod all when a team played football. Manc Blue had a good point about first touches that I forgot about. The whole team couldn't control tha ball if their life depended on it. It was either bouncing off them, going out of play or up in the air; that needs fixing more than anything, because if you cannot control it you cannot play. Was it nervousness, lack of technique (I doubt it), bad passes, wrong boots on? I'll also agree with USA Blue; the doom and gloom merchants who always surface after a defeat should realise that Hughes has had 3 weeks, give him time, he will work it out, it might take him until the summer but he will have us playing properly.

I've read a few of the posts and get the general opinion, and as usual I agree with some and think others are downright stupid. My own perception of the match was that we were hard done by, I think we deserved a point for all the pressure but goals count in this game and we can't find them. Maybe another penalty opportunity slipping us by would have made the difference. Rovers relied too much on the long ball without any real creative flair from our midfield. Our best two chances fell to Flitcroft, and Amoruso was unlucky to miss kick it with the goalmouth scramble. The goal was yet another bit of bad defending from Lucas Neill. Both Jansen and Emerton played well last night, they were full of toil and some invention but most of it was done 40 yards out. My theory is that our fullbacks aren't up to it. Neill for all his defensive misgivings alone should be worthy of the hoof, but his attacking play is desperately numb. He seems to go forward with no ease, never puts in a good ball and constantly gets caught upfield when it goes wrong for him. Grey is similar, a good defender but offers no attacking options. They are both woefully short of pace which may answer why they don't like going forward. Hreidarsson and Young were excellent for them, a constant menace at both ends, ours were the opposite. With the fullbacks offering nothing it means that our wingers have to do more leg work and start further away from their goal when they do get it. If the fullbacks pushed up more, when they have the chance, it will force the opposition to think about them. Look at Ashley Cole, (I'm not comparing us to Arsenal and I know there is far more to it) he spends half the game bombing down the left side, our lads never do. If we address this it will help. As for the rest of the team: Friedel had nothing to do, apart from one great save late on. Matteo and Amoruso did well. I like Amo, he can organise well, but their lack of pace added to the other two give me a great sense of dread against fast strikers. Ferguson got into it the more the game was played on the floor. I like him, but he needs the ball at his feet. Flitcroft was OK but he can't cut it anymore. Dickov and Stead toiled without much help, we need to play shorter balls up front giving our midfield more time to get there and support them. In summary, we won't go down. There are 3 sides much worse than us in this league and a couple who could lose it at any moment, we haven't got going yet. Remember it is only Hughes' third game, away from home. He needs a while to get his system in place. I think his first order is fitness and speed work, then tactics. I was for giving Souness 10 games, but he jumped early and gave us Hughes so in that respect we have a head start in fixing the previous manager's maladies.

I was tempted to bring up this point in the "investment in our club" thread last week, but deemed it too sticky to deal with, it didn't fit with my agenda for the Blues, and I don't think it will work. One of my points was that as a town there are 140,000 in Blackburn and it would take nearly 1 in 5 people, regardless of race, going to a game to fill Ewood every week. Why offer discounts to a specialist group within the 140,000 to increase gates? All that will happen is that you will upset the regular fan who pays full price, who may never come back. What some are advocating here is by offering reductions/stimuli to the asian population you are trying to increase your revenue by offering discounts to a small part of the support that is not that interested for whatever reason. As a business you treat your biggest customers well, that's why corporate boxes are all the rage and why "high rollers" in Las Vegas get free plane rides, rooms, girls, etc.. they'll still spend more than Joe Public on his hols there for a week. You will get people who think we should be PC and treat Blackburn's ethnic population with kid gloves and others who say that we should not bother with them. Good points have been rasied on both sides and I'm keeping clear of the race debate - that's for the non-football board. Blackburn Rovers desperately needs to increase its gate size, management know this and efforts to attract fans should be pursued. However this needs to be done without making the die-hard mad. Should the asian community be given priority? I don't think so. Have asian community groups and other asian fan friendly activities but Rovers also need a young farmer's supporters club, butchers of the north 5-a-side competition, educating women about football nights; all these must, in the end, get more full paying supporters through the turnstiles. Yes I'm stretching it a little but you get my drift?

From the posts so far, and the average age of MBer's, it looks like Le Saux will win it. He was good, very good, but I would go for Eckersley. I've never seen him, but so many glowing tributes, Tom Finney's endorsement (many rated him as being better than Stanley Matthews, he could play either left or right wing and murder any full back), and his ashes on the pitch cement it for me. The age issue will be a constant bone of contention in this vote. It's like polls voting the latest "it" band as being the best ever in the paper because young people are the only ones that vote. I only have 15 years of genuine Rovers knowledge in me, so I can't vouch for the older generations but by listening to others I'll make a choice. It will get more interesting as we progress through the team.

Tom, thanks for the info.

Tom, can you explain the Lee Hendrie fraud signature?

Scotty, I understand the frustration, but what else are we supposed to do? The lad has talent, he will blossom. He went from his team's star player, local lad done good, to a newcomer on a struggling team who don't speak his native tongue. Far bigger crowds than he's used to would justify why blooding him the reserves probably won't do him much good, but it could. He may like the smaller gate and perform, but get scared again when he steps up. No-one knows how long it will take. We spent a full season last year without balance, we signed de Pedro to sort it out, and as yet he's too podgy, Pederson is the opposite. Who would you put on the left if you were to shuffle him off to learn his trade? Or is this another thread?

A couple of statements from MB'ers have me a bit worried. Pedersen has been here 2 minutes and people are writing him off. Why? He needs time to adjust. It's a big jump from the Norwegian league to the Premier League. Yes he is light, but will get bigger, they said the same about Ronaldo at United, he's managed to put on some bulk. But Stead made the leap from the 3rd without a problem you may retort. That division is far more physical than Norway. Give the lad time, don't knock him. Did it not take Bergkamp ages to score his first for Arsenal? Should they have got rid after a 2 weeks. Sometimes the negativity really irks me.

Quick one regarding Hughes' consultation with Fergusson before taking over. Ferguson said go for it you'll do well. This is the same bloke who said that Brian Kidd didn't have it, and was correct. Is this a good omen?

Looks like I missed the main event. But I'd like to recap to see if I've read everything right. BRFCC was subject to a banning order from football stadium on the grounds that he's a known hooligan. He say's he's guilty of nothing, and the police are victimizing him because he and his mates wear expensive clothes and congregate together in pubs before football matches. He has a couple of sympathizers who blame the police for inefficient techniques, and the rest argue that all hooliganism is bad. Any more? I have a few questions if the debate is still open. Does BRFCC fight on matchdays with opposition fans? He says he's never organised anything but does he look to fight where there may be likeminded opposition fans? He mentioned more than once that there is no trouble at Ewood, and is quite proud of that, but does he use the club's name as a springboard away from the ground? How do you justify fighting in the name of the club? There are very few things in the world woth physically fighting over, entertainment is not one of them. Why do they choose to fight? This is a greater social issue but I don't understand why they do it. If he is completely innocent and his only guilt is having a few and wearing nice clothes to games, as he states, he's been hard done by. However we don't know the police side, we don't know what he does on match days. I'd like to see the other side. Having a go because you don't like what he does won't help with information gathering. For the record I despise hooliganism, whether it be at the ground or elsewhere. Football matches bring out tribalsim in people, when you've just been beat 5-0 and the opposition fans are winding you up in the street it can casue some to lose it and start swinging out of anger. The organisation, looking for fights, and stupidity that these people think when they are "just having a bit of fun" is complete nonsense. There is the international reputation English fans have got because of it, forcing the government to invoke policies in order to save face diplomatically. Saying that no innocents get hurt is naive at best. Putting people in hospital needing treatment, making authorities spend £5 million in Lancashire alone, massive police presence at games, wrecking bus stations and the like, all add up to tax money the British public have to pay for a few lads out for a jaunt. There must be something constructive to do?

Very happy. His appointment alone will lift the fans on Saturday. He won't have much time to change what the players do on the pitch tactics wise, but I'm sure they'll perform as they'll be playing for their places, unlike last week when no one seemed to be bothered as no manager was likely to turn up and drop them. The board and JW have to be commended for a forward move. Now the players have to start the season albeit 5 games late. A few of the players played with him so that will be good news as it will give them something to go by, and him someone to talk too in the early period. I can see major improvements in Rovers soon. He was, IMO, one of the dirtiest, niggliest players I've ever seen, but so different off the pitch. He seems to be a Sven motivator type but with a good enough name to attract players on. I seem to remember Beckham/Posh talking really highly of him (not that it matters to many on here) as a person who helped them "through the bad times". Who will he bring as his assistant?

BRFCC one of the hooligans? Is he using this board to try and help his case? What happened in order for him to get banned? I don't know any of the names mentioned in the LET. The judge was having a go at the police for taking their sweet time and giving the opposition only 3 weeks to prepare a case. The people were banned for a reason. What was it? I'd like to hear both sides if possible. As for hooliganism in general, it is a horrible blott on football. They don't even go in the grounds anymore. People write books on it and make loads from abject idiocy. No. I don't like them.

Just read the Telegraph article; it will be Mark Hughes. I trust the local news. Roll on Sparky, time to get these lumps who call themselves players working together again.

Looks like a two horse race between Dowie and Hughes, it's up to you to decide who to believe depending on the source; BBC, Sky, Soccernet, The Sun (who claimed Peter Reid Last week), Daily Mail plus a few more. I'll be happy with either appointment. Hughes looks to be the front runner though.

I fear the reason behind this thread was a combination of popular sugar daddy press stories and the sad reality that we don't have one. When Jack Walker came along the club got slated for us buying the title, now it's all the rage to go out and get a big money benefactor to bankroll the signing of expensive stars. I shudder to think what the reaction would have been if we were touting the Thai prime minister to give us a load of money. Instead Liverpool were unlucky not to get it, but our local supporter did us a favour and we become the millionaires club. The bias stinks and we have to deal with it on many levels. Back to the issue, we do not need more investment, we have one of the most astute chief executives in the game. JW is trying his best to make the club stand alone without the need for massive windfalls. If we can become self sufficient it will keep the club solvent long after Williams has retired. A well run academy producing young stars who can then be sold to give us that needed cash injection will make me happy, as long as we are in the top flight. Crewe did it for years. We have a far better structure than they do so why not? Auxerre in France also do it. They don't win the league, but stay competitive then every once in a while a Liverpool comes along and gives £14 million for a player. The board is always preaching that the gates have to be bigger, which they seriously do. However it is very hard to do. We can say that we have the cheapest ticket prices in the league, but for many it is still too expensive and with nothing to compare it against we are stuck. You could say that our competition are Burnley, Bolton, and to a lesser extent the Manchester clubs, but who in East Lancs would travel there? We are straddled with the town's small demographic and no significant area nearby to poach football fans from. Only Accrington offers a decent sized pot to try and win fans from. Most towns are loyal to their own team futher restricting the migration of fans. If you take Blackburn's population of 140,000 and try to fill 27,500 seats (we sell 2,500 away tickets) and that adds up to 20% of the population. Can you honestly see 1 in 5 coming to Ewood regularly? Including old folk, kids, and the bored youth? I can't. If you add in Hyndburn's 80,000 it's still 1 in 8. I know statistics can be skewed to suit your purpose and people come from different places to watch, but our direct catchment area is too small. This is what we have and must live with it. It was only 15 years ago we were getting 8,000. We need more revenue streams, as the financiers call it, not large scale handouts. Finishing higher up the league would help a little, especially if 4 places means an extra £2 million. Bring on the new boss.

Looks like Hughes has ruled himself out by saying that he has no intention of quitting the Wales job. Or is it a smokescreen? Will Rovers let him do both? Middlesbrough let McClaren work with England. Hughes has Bowen as a full time assistant to do the dirty work. If Hughes stays with Wales it will probably be Dowie, which will be a good thing. This evening's LET report (Here for anyone to read) has a right go at Souness. Dowie's purported fitness regimen will have our lads running again.

New manager quickly. We need an injection of pride into the club. The players are waiting around just like the fans. Unfortunately, the players have to pick up points. Whoever gets the job needs to shore up our back line, we have more holes than a Swiss cheese. Many may not like it but we need Amoruso in there, he's not the fastest but has passion and will organise. Also, I fear our lack of creativity is killing us. When I see us play I never see any real chances, we seem to score from flukey chances rather than sustained pressure like most other teams. The new manager has a job on their hands.