Massive performance from Tugay tonight

He's still the main man. I don't think we'll ever be able to replace him!

I do

That'll teach em for being on TV

Ha!

Anyone know if the artificial pitch has caused us any problems?

According to Dinnis, Tugay is the best player in the pitch.

The commentary team are annoyed that their coach has appraoched the ref to say more of our players should have been booked.

That would suggest he's getting frustrated by Rovers taking control of the game then. Good.

Is Gally playing off McCarthy or is he wide right?

7 additional minutes...

Bentley booked for kciking the ball away? Anyone else booked?

Good to hear the Rovers fans are in good voice. Two away goals normally means you have a very good chance of going through.

Normally.

This is Rovers though.

Bl**dy hard work, isn't it!

So, match listeners, are we deservedly leading? How does the supposed 4-1-4-1 formation look?

Thanks for the details, guys. More please, especially about our second goal!

Jemal Johnson is not in the party of 27 flying out to Germany this afternoon. Some of the youngsters are though.

Looks like JJ might be on his way out of Ewood then. Didn't do much when he was out on loan at Preston or Darlington last season, did he?

He's got loads of pace, but never really looks bothered enough to use it. Pity.

I don't know if anyone's mentioned this already, but I suspect the new electronic ticket readers that have been installed on the turnstiles at Ewood could herald a marked difference in the "official" attendance on matchdays.

I've often noticed in the past three or four seasons that the attendance figure announced during the second half doesn't seem to be as great as the number of seats that are filled with supporters.

And, before any wag starts asking me if I personally do a half-time head count, it's fairly obvious on occasion that there are several thousand more people in the ground than is claimed. You only have to look at the empty (or otherwise) blocks of seating.

I'll leave it to people's imagination as to why this discrepancy might occur, but I wouldn't be surprised if our average attendance figures were up a little this season.

Neophox, I think people would just appreciate it if you thought a little bit about what you 've written before posting it on the MB.

As I said earlier, there's no race issue in the disputes between Souness and Yorke and Cole. No-one personally involved has suggested that this is the case at all.

In one of the English newspapers today, The Sunday People, after criticising Dwight Yorke, Souness was quoted as saying: "I only want to have hard-working players at the club now"

It makes you wonder if Souness is implying that black players in general don't work hard.

Plus, of course, we should remember that Souness used to have a moustache. You know, like Hitler.

Jeez...

We Could end up playing like this with Matteo in Midfield

Friedel

Neill, Amo, Short, Gray

Matteo

Thommo, Ferguson, De Pedro

Stead, Dickov

Seems a better idea to me than having Tugay play every week alongside Ferguson. As much as I think Tugay is a great passing player, he can't tackle.

And I don't think Fergie should be playing the holding role - we saw in the cup against Liverpool his knack for breaking into the box to score, and I hope we'll see a lot more of it this season.

Hopefully, Matteo playing in central midfield might not be necessary at all if we can put the money saved on the wages of Cole (and Yorke? Flitcroft?) to good use and bring Butt in on loan / permanently.

But I'd also like to see Flitcroft stay until a younger replacement is found.

Before anyone says "what about Douglas?", I reckon Souness might give him a go at right-back at some point.

soon they'll be no black players at rovers.....is Souness a racist?

Why are you bringing race into this? Aaaarrgghhh! You've really wound me up.

This has nothing to do with race at all - it's to do with a clash of personalities. Stop looking for things that aren't there.

I know they arent usually too reliable.....Teamtalk Link

Never rely on TEAMtalk as a primary source. The vast majority of their articles are recycled from elsewhere, ie SkySports and the press.

I know this because unfortunately I used to work there.

I suspect Cole is leaving though. That Souness quote on the BBC doesn't sound good.

Surely he has a replacement lined up though? Otherwise it's a heck of a lot of responsibility to put on Stead's shoulders...

Flitters upset about a lack of honesty and finding out disturbing truths through the press..........? Now he knows how his wife felt ....

Actually, I can't disagree with that!

Flitty has just been on SSN, saying that he's upset at losing the captaincy. Not just that, but the fact that the only way he knows about it is through the press. Nobody at ewood has told him.

If it's true, it's a poor way for rovers to go about their business.

Sounds like he'll be on his way then, especially if he's openly talking to the press about it all.

As much as I feel he's past his best, it sounds like shoddy treatment of a player who has given loyal service to Rovers through good times and bad.

He definitely must have fallen out with Souness over something - maybe the comments Flit made in the LET a few months back?

Sorry to be dense, but I'm pretty new to the messageboard and wouldn't mind knowing the origin of the "Dean Saunders is evil" comments, if anyone can fill me in?

Obviously, his perm and perma-grin are cardinal sins, but how else has he been a naughty boy?

Some great chants, though realistically the best we can hope for from the Blackburn End is..

Get into Dom

Get into Dom

Brilliant!!!!!!

The chants will only really improve when we get rid of the drummer...

Perhaps it shows that Souness has learned little about how to avoid upsetting players.It seems strange after all the fuss Souness made 12 months before about extending his contrct longer than the Club wanted to and praising him so much.

The LET yesterday said that Wigan had made no move for Flitcroft and no improvement for Todd.

I think you're right.

Flitcroft is supposed to be a loud voice in the dressing room - and one that has long given support to Souness.

So maybe the boss has shot himself in the foot if Flitty doesn't move on?

Though of course there have already been hints about a falling out between them - such as Flitty's comments in the LET about dressing-room disharmony a few months back.

Do you think that Souness might have placated Flitcroft over the decision by saying that he would still be "club captain", whatever that's supposed to be?

It seems to be a title given to lots of ex-captains who have become bit-part players at various clubs.

And would Flitcroft still be given the armband if Ferguson was out injured or suspended?