While Nonda doesn't inspire me with great confidence, he's a lot better than Jeffers, Bothroyd, etc. Maybe with this signing Sparky will quit his reclamation projects up front and go with an established 4 or 5. What this says about Gally, i'm not sure, though. I mean he's not a natural winger, but maybe Sparky's trying to mold him into one. And if we look at the pecking order of strikers, he'd be 5th choice. This is if everyone stays for next year which I REALLY hope they do. At any rate, I'm not too fussed with the signing either way, but if it's for a good price and for a short-ish length, I'd say go for it!

Bloomin' 'ell. A Blackburn lad! I didn't realize he directed the Cock and Bull movie with Coogan. That's next on me list....

Kings of Leon's latest is absolute class. Not better than their first, but definitely better than their second. And keep those local bands coming. I've seen a few posted that I like and will try and catch while there, if at all possible...

Just watched 24 Hour Party People. Class movie. I wasn't too sure what to expect seeing Alan Partridge (I'll always see Coogan as Alan Partridge...A-Ha) on my screen doing a mock TV report when opening a movie about the Manchester punk turned dance scene. I figured it out eventually, but it had me doing a doubletake. I'm sure many of you have seen it already, but I am glad I FINALLY saw it. Taught me a few things about the scene, that's for sure...

Is that the genre they've been thrown into? What's that reference anyway? Not big on SHITDISCO, but I do like Klaxons. Never heard of Young Knives, though...

WOW!! That's akin to Vanilla Ice ripping off Queen! haha

Welcome to the Mothership Connection, mate! Parliament/Funkadelic have some real quality albums. If you liked Maggot Brain, have a go at Funkadelic's One Nation Under a Groove and Uncle Jam Wants You. As far as Parliament, have a bash at Mothership Connection and Motor Boogy Affair. Then the George Clinton album Computer Games that has the all-time classic Atomic Dog is always worth a listen. Many good tunes from these guys. I got to meet Bootsy Collins, George Clinton, Bernie Worrell and some of the Brides of Funkenstein. Those were some strange conversations....

He was brilliant in Raising Arizona, Wild at Heart and Matchstick Men. And he was solid in The Weatherman. Everything else he was in he is horrible....Ghost Rider looks like he's back to his crappy self... And for anyone who likes Chan-Wook Park, the guy who did Oldboy, I saw his newest movie, I'm a Cyborg, And That's OK. It was quite strange and nothing like his earlier endeavors. It's not released here in North America, so I'm not sure if Europe gets it either, but it's worth a view. Not in the same class as Oldboy, but worth a watch.

Thanks LeChuck and Scotty for the suggestions. The Night and Day Cafe and Roadhouse look like good spots. And The Barfly in Liverpool looks good as well. ihateburnley - I'm liking that band The Enemy you're touting. I'll have to look out for them when I come over. Any other local lads (Manchester, Liverpool or Blackburn way) that are worth a listen, and maybe see when I get over there?

Alright fella's, I know this may not be the best thread for this, but I figured I'd come to the source and not start a whole new thread... I'm visiting your parts in September I want to sample to live music scene either in liverpool or Manchester. I had sworn to not step foot in Manchester, but I've been increasingly told that a lot of the good bands visit Manchester and nothing else when they're in those parts, so my hand may be forced... My musical taste is far-ranging. My favorites range from The Pixies to Lightning Hopkins to Chemical Brothers to kenna to Radiohead/Muse to TV on the Radio to The Eels to The Dissociatives to The Duke Spirit to The Strokes to Orbital to Atmosphere to well, all over the board...This is my MySpace page for a more complete list of musical likes... At any rate since my visit is so far away, are there any clubs in Liverpool or Manchester or points in between that host such bands that play the same type of music as the ones listed above? For example, there is a club here in Dallas which plays pretty much the music I like...click here Now evidently this place is going under, but you get the idea. Anyway, I'd like to even see some local talent I'd have never heard of in the States so if I found a venue which showcased such music as well as "amateurs" I'd probably be more inclined to find something I like rather than walk into something crappy, ya dig? I am also interested in going to a DJ show or two, but I'm not sure too many of the contributors to this thread will know/like this type of music, so just let it die if yer not keen... At any rate Thanks a lot in advance for any advice, suggestions, directions, and the like!

As much as losing Nelsen for the rest of the year or for an extended run of games saddens me, it doesn't worry me as much as before. Zurab and Samba have done very well together when they've played. Now, I'm not saying Zurab's a direct replacement for Ryan, but he's done well enough this year with Samba that the mere thought of losing Ryan for a spell doesn't send me into apoplexic seizures...

It wasn't long ago when we all cringed at set-pieces because we had nobody to take them with any efficiency. Now we have guys lined uop for that honor. Yet another great Hughesy philosophy change...

At least we have time to sign someone. It could've happened after the window had shut...silver lining and all... I miss that Oirish sparkplug and his booming shots from 40 yards out...ok maybe not so much of those since they mostly missed, but yeah we've been missing him almost as much as Nelsen. Get well soon, Reidy!!!

Has anyone seen Pan's Labyrinth? That looks a good movie...

I've been wanting to see that. Can't convince the missus to, for some odd reason....

Got that trilogy coming to me via Netflix...Can't wait! Sorry to be late to the party but 300 looks downright stellar. Nothing to please the historian purist, I'd imagine, but an entertaining watch I'd wager. Also for the Persian readers, anyone read Creation by Gore Vidal? It's a non-fiction book but I found it quite enjoyable.

the fee shouldn't be too exorbitant, but what will his wage be? I fear he'll be wanting Roma money (which is probably quite a bit) and not something more down to what he's worth. If the fee and the wage were sensible I don't see why we wouldn't sign him and depending upon Derbyshire's progress we wouldn't have to worry about the striker situation every damned summer like we have the past few years. It'd be nice to have some semblance of stability up front for a change...

Good to see Pezzoni's still performing well for the Academy. Maybe the lad can become the partner to Nelsen in a few year's time. The times I saw Judge he was running his socks off and doing his best to distribute. Maybe the coaches have asked him to work on his on-the-ball technique? Or maybe he's just getting greedy... Also good to hear of the others we don't get to hear of that much (Keita, King, Dadson, Winnard). Cheers, unleaded!

Us Rovers fans are so pessimistic when it comes to game day, but we are the most optimistic when it comes to transfers. Albeit with Beckham it's guarded optimism. Wage bill aside I doubt he joins just on a profile standpoint. No matter how passionate he is about the game he is all about business and he knows a move to Blackburn wouldn't raise his profile to the level he requires, never mind Posh. A move to England is definitely a better move than staying in Spain (whether starting or not) or to the US, but to Blackburn I just can't see. If we sold out every game, then we'd have something, but I just don't think it's in anyway plausible that he'd come to Ewood. I'm not a big fan of his game, but he does offer a lot in terms of economics that I think it'd be foolish to turn him away. I think of all of the Prem clubs we are not in the top 5 for signing him...

Yes we are, BUT so far this year we've overcome our sluggish start to fashion a Win, so make it 2-1, they score in the first 15 minutes, then we score just on the stroke of half-time and batter 'em for 1 more in the second half... 2-1 Rovers, Gamst to come out of his hiding place, score a goal, cement his place in the side for two more months and Benni will score the winner to start another scoring streak! Our current form of 8 in a row matches last year's longest unbeaten streak, so let's better it this year! I hate Bolton and their players, manager and the manager's tactics. usually when a team takes the A1 approach, it's to compensate for a low transfer budget or lack of quality players, or in our case to just survive until the new manager can start making the team his own...Fat Sam, on the other hand, cannot fall back on any of these reasons and he still employs the Hoof And Run tactic. What a plonker, and don't give me "A result is a Result", because winning a game where you played badly starts to get old as well. Just because the Bolton fans keep telling themselves that, they believe it to be truth... Sod off Bolton and take yer 5000 fans with yer....

Sounds like Bolton...

Ok now this worries me...We were hoping that Reid could come back soon and spell Tugay as Toogs seemed to have been a bit more off than usual, and now Reid's gone for longer than Nelsen! So who do we have left who can run the mid-field alongside Savage? Mokoena and ____? Peter, Gallagher and Derbyshire are out-and-out wingers/strikers (at least from what us fans have seen), and if we moved Bentley inside, who'd take over the right side? Gallagher or Peter? and if we move Bentley inside, move Emerton up to right wing, who would take over at right back or left back if Lucas moved back to RB? I'd sure hate to see the great partnership of Emerton and Bentley disrupted. If things really get dicey will we see Rostyn Griffiths or Hodge in the Senior side? Hughesy sure has his work cut out for him in the next few days when we have a large amount of games in a short amount of time....

I caught myself wondering if I had missed a review and castigating myself for actually missing it! but I haven't and you've come through, yet again, Bobby Flem. Maybe Fleming Jr. will latch onto Franny Jeffers so we can sell him on for 2.5 mill...I know it sucks for Fleming Jr., but it's a small price to pay for the club's well-being, no?

It's just frustration that the first Euro game which Rovers fought for tooth and nail last year for might be passed up by fans who have the means and a free pass and choose not to. This latest direction this thread has taken of "blasting" a particular part of the fan-base was not intended as having a go at anyone who has anything near reasonable reasons, but it was directed to the ones who'd rather just stay in a pub to watch it rather than go to the match for free. The hyper-sensitivities have gotten the better of people and turned it into a flame war. I do not believe SuperStell was having a go at the majority of fans or even anyone on this board, rather he was having a go at a minority. He even stated as such in his initial or follow-up post. No reason he can't vent a little. And no reason he can't call out a minority of fans for their questionable use of a free ticket.

I'd give my left bollo...erm...I'd give a lot to just be able to PAY to go to the game. Those season ticket holders who'd rather cozy up to a barstool really don't have any idea what they're passing up. A free pass to the game against not only a Euro siude but a a decent one at that is just silly. For those who would rather pass the time in their sitting room or in a pub in a 20 mile radius whilst a free pass sits alone on the dresser really need to re-evaluate why they follow Rovers. Maybe Souness is their kinda manager...