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.

tgb, I'm sorry, but Gregory? Where did you pull that one from? He's terrible. His ego is bigger than Souness' without the trophies and playing career to back it up. He'd cause allsorts of problems.

LET has not one word on Reidy. I'm now at ease; he's not coming. Side note. I remember reading a topic about a month ago about people concerned with message board quality/gereral lack of content. It seems to have picked up now hasn't it?

Sweating right now with dread. Reid will drag us down. Hopefully it's all paper talk. I'll wait for the LET to come online, which will either ease my worries, or compound the frustration as they are the only paper to trust with Rovers news.

Read your Dowie post. What about his heroics at Oldham? I haven't heard that much about Dowie's training methods. But I do know he is clever and takes what some would view as a US approach to the game; analyzing very specific details to increase the benefit of the total package using statistics and varied experts. If we groom Shearer for the Newcastle job, then he will have done a good job for us. We are far more stable than Everton with far less expectation. Read the papers and ask your nearest Toffee. I agree that Hughes would need to bring in a good backroom staff. That is my hope for whoever comes in; they build the coaching infrastructure to suit all. Murray, Boersma, and Donkey Dean were not my idea of good. Someone did make the comment on here earlier that they were all "yes men". Most football clubs are filled with "yes men", that is how they keep their jobs and as a result of them working in football, how the average man on the street thinks that they are special.

As usual some posters' continual doom and gloom passes over what is a very interesting and pivotal time for BRFC. The LET now says that around 30 have thrown their hat in the ring, 3 current Premiership managers and even much derided ex-international managers (including 2 ex-England) think that the Rovers job is for them. I have the view that the club must be doing something right to attract this type of interest. I think the names touted with us are far better than ones bandied around for the Newcastle job. Souness took Rovers as far as he could. He did well for us and should be applauded when he returns to Ewood, not just for the job he did do (promotion, cup, Europe) but for the fact that he left without being sacked allowing the club to find what will hopefully be a very successful backroom staff. Back to the "No, not him!" argument. The board has been burnt in the recent past with appointees who come from two main gripe areas. Brian Kidd was a No. 2, unproven, an excellent coach who could not manage; and it showed. So the board thinks well we'd better not get one of those then. So they go back to the boardroom and look at managers with international qualifications. Roy Hodgson's name then comes up. English, but leanred his trade on the continent, ex-international manager with scores of plaudits for being a great coach. Turns out he was pants. Now what does the board do? People it's over to you. We do not need a figurehead who has been successful in the past but is currently out of work. Venables, Hoddle, Advocaat, Houllier are in this category; all credible but not for us. The media likes these names because they are well known. They would be no good for our club. We are a town club and so need to create an atmosphere of togetherness and continuity. A solid backroom staff built around a common philosophy will steer the club right. Again my picks are; Dowie, Hughes, Shearer + coach, Moyes + Irvine. All would be good for our club.

I'll not offer anyone new, my post on that was yesterday. The betting angle, seems to be a bit wayward; I don't really trust the short odds on some, especially Hughes. I'd like him but he won't abandon Wales. My main area of interest comes with the fact that Souness has taken his cronies with him. I don't know much about any of them, but this board seemed to hate them. What can be done now by the manager who comes in is build from the bottom up. We have a tremendous youth set up with fantastic facilities and we need a manager to nurture our best asset. JW is right, we a re a stable club with a good financial set up, the board shouldn't go and balls it up now by appointing the latest fly by night. Houllier springs to mind with this one. I would like to see Moyes and Irvine come. Irvine was around when Brockhall opened, he and Moyes both like to build a solid foundation. I'll repeat what I've said earlier, we need a motivator and a good coach working with him to get the best out of a telented bunch of players. Parksey will spring a few surprises this weekend.

Please no Peter Reid. He shouts and screams players up the league for a season, then it all goes south. See Leeds, City, and Sunderland. He had a hand in all their demises in recent history. He may have not been the major cause (Leeds) but he didn't do anyone any favours. Fans have been moaning about Souness' treatment of players, he's a saint compared to Reidy. However he is a mate of Terry Darracott our chief scout. Players have too much ego these days to be bothered to listen to ranting, they need a boss with charisma, much like Eriksson has (I'm not debating his tactics but all the players really like him so they play for him). We need a coach to do the training and a motivator to do the managing a la Harford - Dalglish.

Yeah the Arsenal directors were so incredibly stupid when appointing Wenger What were they thinking???? We all know that only the English can manage clubs well, just look at all the international trophies won by English managers!!! I really don't like when people here (Or on other predominantly British boards) slag off people simply for being foreign. Hitzfeld, who's had one of the hardest and most prestigious jobs in European football (Bayern München) for many years is obviously someone we don't want at Ewood, he's just a useless foreigner I guess I must clarify myself here. I do not think that only English/British people can manage teams. I am merely stating that for a club of our meagre stature a well known foreign coach would not fit in. We are a very close knit small East Lancashire club. We are not in London. If you've ever visited I hope you'd see that straight away. London caters to the world, it has everything anybody wants, East Lancs has never been labelled as cosmopolitan; not from my experience anyway. Wenger has done well at Arsenal: I'm not having a go at foreign managers, I'm just saying that it takes a special type to understand the locals and what they want. Hitzfeld is a good manager too, but you won't find many German brasseries on Darwen street. Manchester is the closest big city, it is having a resurgence but it's nowhere near London as a cultural melting pot. I cannot remember what your fellow countryman, Martin Dahlin, said after his very unsuccessful spell at Ewood but it wasn't very flattering toward East Lancashire and its people. As for the predominantly British boards slagging off non-Brits. What do you expect? Everyone sticks up for their own kind, but that is another thread on another board.