A win we deserved overall, wasn't impressed with our starting 451 formation, but we scrapped the win. Definate penalty. Another 1-0, but who cares, we're through

1-0! We needed a penalty or something like it and got it. Come on!

not particularly exciting but we look like we could possibly unlock them with a counter...

Where is Stead playing? Did he come into midfield or attack? Can't say i've seen much if anything of him.

Neither do we. *yawn*

In the paper there was a section below detailing how we stopped them attacking which also mentioned Mokoena. Not sure whether it's on the site or not...

I didn't condemn them for it, agreed with most of what they said

Last monday's Guardian was very anti-Mokoena. They painted a very bad picture of our South African hardman. As long as he doesn't get himself sent off, i'm not too bothered. His reputation may soon be up there with Todd, Sav, Thommo and Dickov.

Nice preview! I think we'll operate defensively once more, and can't see many goals going in, especially as Agent Jay isn't here this time. Though liverpool crushed Bayern leverkusen their league form isn't as fearful. They've lost 11 games I believe this season, which is the same amount as us. They have, however, won plenty more games than us, and only drawn 4 this season(one of them being against us). They have let in 30 goals, and scored 41, both superior to most teams below them. These stats suggest(particularly with our dogged defensive form as of late) a tight match. They'll be on a high from beating Bayern and we'll be on a high from beating Everton, so no advantages there. Logic dictates a narrow liverpool win. But so did logic dictate an Everton win last sunday, and we defied that, so... 1-0 to the Rovers. Lucas Neill to grab a stunning 87th minute winner with a thunderbolt from 35 yards after robbing Garcia of possession and skinning 2 other players along the way

That was awful. No doubt the pitch played a part in that but we were shocking. They were our equals today, sadly. Disappointing. We were organized, solid at the back... but boring, useless and weak up front. Our passing was dreadul, our control poor, shooting weak, set-pieces back to normal(rubbish), and our lack of creativity was apparent, though Burnley defended steadfastly when they needed to. Emerton started quite involved, but couldn't beat any Burnley players. He then disappeared for periods of the match, I think he and Pederson switched flanks at one point... it didn't work. Pederson fell over a lot, but made a couple of attempts at scoring, probably our most dangerous player today. Dickov didn't do much, Johnson when he came on was poor. Thank goodness for Sav - true heart and fighting spirit. Thommo was ineffective, as was Reid, but I was impressed with Reid's defending during his time on the pitch. The most entertaining thing was the dingle fan on at the end trying to start a fight with Sav(but quickly running when Nelsen (and another defender, Todd was it?) squared up to him). He was giving the police a bit of a tussle though. Burnley were gaining momentum at that point, but he thankfully depleted it and we managed to scrap our way past the last 4 or 5 minutes. Burnley played like the Championship side they are, we did not play like a Premiership side. They made it difficult, but we should have been able to overcome it. Not impressed... we have to pick it up at Ewood.

Right. Am I right to assume that by saying that you think that it must 'feel' worse being black than being a midget DE4life? No... I just find the example he used ridiculous. Cutting somebody at the legs off doesn't make you shorter in height, it predominantly makes you crippled. And wearing a black mask doesn't make you black either. I just found it an odd quote. was that aimed at me? The quote came from an acquintance, not myself...

Savage signed a 4 year deal with Birmingham in the summer, he now wants out. I don't think anybody here disagrees Birmingham's backroom staff, players, chairman, board memebrs etc have a right to feel upset about Robbie's sudden U-Turn. However, Sullivan's antics in the Sunday Papers are a disgrace to his reputation and to his club's reputation. The Birmingham fans as a majority appear to back this kind of press campaign against Savage and Blackburn Rovers, I myself can be considered biased, but many of the neutrals I've spoken to have agreed Sullivan is a fool for airing his dirty laundry in the oh so respectable sunday papers. He has been referred to even as an "|_|l71|\/|473 n00b" which is apparently rather extreme. If Sullivan wants to cry to the newspapers about Blackburn's "dirty dealings" then he is free to do so and none of us can stop him... but in the long-run it is getting him nowhere, and only serves to diminish whatever reputation he has. Most managers give newspapers short quotes, Sullivan is more or less giving the media entire interviews and of course they're eating it up happily. It is obvious he has lost all respect for Savage(and by the looks of it never liked him anyway (if you liked a guy, would you be so ready to slag him off?)) and would be quite happy never to see the lad wear a Birmingham shirt again. Savage has come out of this looking the worst, under-fire from his manager and chairman, getting his family involved, lame excuses, and now a real possiblity that this transfer will not go through, essentially leaving him in the sh*t, big time. Just because some people are leaving the door open for him doesn't mean he'll be instantly forgiven. I can't see Brucie treating Sav the same ever again, nor the Brummie faithful. Would I want him in a rovers shirt? Not for 3.5M. Oh, and the heightism stuff was classic... Right.

Good result. We never looked threatened by any of Charlton's players. A much needed home win, well played Rovers.

He won't be our new Duff. But thankfully I don't think he's been put up that high, yet.

Well, Blackpool_Rover,if your exclamation marks are anything to go by, I agree. Every time we get a bad result MGP is billed as the solution. If he truly was as good as most people believe, he would be playing. Hughesy watches him in training every day, he knows his strengths and weaknesses. If MGP is not being chosen it is because Hughesy does not believe he is good enough, and as he has far better access to the players than any of us, I think it's ignorant to suggest otherwise. Hughesy has no reason to hold a grudge against MGP, and he hasn't been with most of the squad long enough to form 'favourites'. We have no choice but to trust his decisions are made on solid foundations and pray he finds a way to get the best out of those he believes are good enough.

How disappointing. January can't come fast enough, though it'll be interesting to see how Hughesy spends his money, assuming he has some. Goalkeeping position is safe as long as Brad doesn't get injured. Defence is a problem. Everybody knows why. Midfield is underperforming, but doesn't need strengthening. Attack is also a problem. Stead's got no confidence, Dickov isn't good enough(not denying he doesn't work his heart out, but premiership quality he is not. He won't get us the goals we need.), Bothroyd's not good enough(in my opinion, as I haven't see much of him admittedly and I imagine he isn't getting such great service, but his record is not pretty to look at), Jansen's clearly still suffering and just like Gallacher tends to disappear very early in the game if he starts. Staring relegation in the face, and if we're going to fight it we need fresh blood, and some real passion. I still think we can do it. Wiley was bad today, but there's rarely a game goes by nowadays when a ref doesn't have a @#/? performance so get used to it.

Killswitch Engage - Numbered Days

Apologies if I don't show my joy at us getting a draw at Norwich. We'll never get this game back, and each game is crucial. We cannot tolerate players acting like Tugay and Bothroyd have in recent matches. Hughes need to begin disciplining. We won't stay up with such antics as Bothroyd pulled off today.

Is there a fixture in the premiership any of us can feel confident we'll get any points from? We don't have a team that can seriously compete in the premiership. Friedel - Great goalkeeper, but he can't save our whole season by himself. Gray - Perhaps he'd shine brighter if he had a few good players around him, but is too slow to take a grip on the game, or even his side of the pitch. Short - Too old. I'm sorry, but Craig Short will struggle against any attacker you put up against him. He's not premiership class anymore. Matteo - Not premiership standard. Was in a relegated side for a reason: wasn't good enough. Amoruso - Slow, old, useless. Yes, he has passion, yes, he's determined, but without the ability it's all going to go to waste. Lucas Neill - We all know he's terrible... but who else is there to fill his position efficiently? Johansson - He perhaps has potential but right now we need ability, and it's not likely he has enough, or he would have been picked above the other defenders, or at least given a fair shot. Gresko - Undecided. He doesn't seem to be the type of player who can control his section of the pitch, he doesn't stand out, nor am I confident in his defensive abilities against any above average player. Todd - What happened to him? Doesn't matter. He's not good enough to stabilize our season. McEvely - Unproven. Too young to depend on for defensive stability. Brett Emerton - What a disappointment. He needs a serious kick up the arse or a plane ticket home. He's had a whole season to adjust, how much more time can we give him? Tugay - Far too old. Passing is getting worse with age. Doesn't contribute enough to a game. Barry Ferguson - Has been injured for a long time, so is perhaps somewhat an exception, but he has not shown the kind of class we were expecting. Doesn't stand out often enough as our star man. Steven Reid - Send him back to The Championship, or just buy him a hospital bed. No good for us right now. David Thompson - Hell of a player when he's on form and fit, unfortunetely the latter is extremely rare. Douglas - Judging from last year, probably not ready for the premiership yet. Perhaps he will be one day, but right now he's betetr suited for lower divison football. Garry Flitcroft - I will be honest and say this is one player I never rated and still don't. I don't like his dirty style of play, the way he passes or the way he maneuvers the game. He wouldn't be in any of my teams. De Pedro - Hasn't really been given a chance, but seems out of his depth. Matt Jansen - Played up front, could be a glint of hope. Played on the left, absolutely ineffective. Jon Stead - I was apprehensive about us signing him, and it appears this season he's having consistancy problems. Hasn't scored yet. Not confident about his progress. Dickov - Yes, he works hard. Yes, he's determined. Is he a class striker? I don't think so. Playing him up front on his own? Complete and utter madness. We'll never score that way. Many said when we bought him "He can't be a first team regular". Well he is. Gally - Another slight glimmer of hope, but I don't think we should place too much hope on him transforming our offensive troubles. He's young and hasn't really had much premiership experience. Jay Bothroyd - Haven't seen much of him, but doesn't appear to be adding any creative spark into our team. This is not me being negative for the sake of it, not is it triggered from the beating we're getting at Stamford Bridge. This is simply pointing out some very obvious facts that have been shown over the season so far. It's hard to be optimistic when you're looking at these players to try and keep us in the premiership. Sparky has plenty of work to do, and desperately needs to do something in January, but I fear by then, if we don't find another gear, it'll be too late... if I've missed any players out, I'm really too depressed to name them. I'm sure it'd be hard to find something positive to say about them anyway.

Got MSN (d_e4life@hotmail.com) and AIM (suppaevilde) open.