Re Ray Stewart- Great penalty taker, but 76 pens in 431 games !!!!!!!!!!!! that's about 1 pen every 6 games, surely that's a mistake. We went seasons without a pen not long ago.

I'd take a loss tonight in exchange for three points on Sunday. Just my opinion of course.

Looking at it from a different angle, is there anybody who remembers Ron Springett the ex England goalkeeper ? He did something I've never seen any other goalkeeper do, he deliberately stood to one side of the goals when facing a penalty. He would stand about a yard to the left of centre , leaving a very small gap on his weaker left side and a large gap on his strong right hand side, he would always dive to the right into the large gap. He saved more than his share of pens with this technique, I remember Fred Pickering accepting the challenge at Ewood one Good Friday and blasting a good penalty to his right but he got across and saved it, I never saw anybody have the balls to shoot for the narrow side.

My vote would be for Mike Harrison, he could side foot a ball harder than most players can blast it, I never saw him miss one but Den's got it wrong with 27 , more like about 10 on the bounce, Roy Vernon was another who gave the goalie no chance- hard and low into either corner. Dougie was great for sending the goalie the wrong way, I remember him scoring a last minute pen against Everton in the teeth of a snowstorm to win a cliff hanger 3-2. I also remember him missing one at Old Trafford ( we were 3-0 up at the time so It hardly mattered ! ) Shearer , Dunny , Dickov , Ken Knighton , Simon Barker all had their moments but there's no contest for the worst pen ever seen at Ewood- step forward John Coddington, anyone who was there that day against Crystal Palace will know the one ( double attempt actually ) I mean.

I don't do score predicting so i'll just content myself with a few general comments, I'm in agreement with a previous poster about Bolton- They are a tough combative side who can actually play football when they stop trying to constantly launch the ball, we will need to be at our best to win this one, a repeat of the casual play we witnessed for large parts of the Cracow game will see us soundly beaten. Looking in my paper today they had Ben Haim down at left back for Bolton, if he plays there we could have some joy especially if Bentley is fit, he should be able to get the better of somebody who's got the turning circle of an ocean liner. I think Mokoena needs to start this game with Tugay or Savage on the bench, depending on who's available we may have to play the formation that ended the game on Thursday, we can not afford to take anybody into this game that is 100% match fit. Team if Savage and Bentley are fit- Friedel- Emerton , Oijer , Zurab , Neill- Bentley , Savage , Mokoena , Pedersen- Nonda , McCarthy. Team if both Savage and Bentley don't make it- Fiedel- Emerton , Oijer , Zurab , Neill- Jeffers , Mokoena , Mcarthy , Pedersen- Nonda , Roberts.

The result was better than the performance, it was just like the Wigan game, we started slowly with no tempo to our game and no sense of urgency. Again we were inventing new ways of playing ourselves into trouble along with the old one of " player A receives the ball stood still, he then passes to player B who's also stood still and he gives an infirmary pass to player C who's stood still as well he then passes the ball to an opponent and off we go again ". Pedersen then missed an absolute sitter he could have chosen about four ways of putting the ball into the back of the net, he actually chose option 5 ( hammer the ball into the former East Germany) and badly miss cued the ball. Shortly he after this he failed to cover his full back and we gave away a cheap corner. The clearing header is that good that the Rovers midfield stand back to admire it and allow a Cracow player to fire in a deflected shot. 1-0 down and Cracow hadn't even had a shot at our goal to worry about before this. We gradually get back into the game and end it the stronger team having had a cert penalty turned down by the homer in black. After half time we came more and more into the game and pushed Cracow back, Bentley then cut back inside his full back onto his left foot and planted a gem of a cross which perfectly bisected the two Cracow centre halves for Savage to head back across goal into the far corner.Typically Rovers then let Cracow back into the game for 10 to 15 minutes courtesy of some sloppy passing, although they huffed and puffed they were far from blowing our house down. Hughes then went all out to win the game by giving Pedersen the sheperds crook treatment and throwing on Roberts in his place, just when the game looked like ending a 1-1 draw Roberts and Mc Carthy opened up Cracow and created an opening for Bentley out on the left, he gave Pedersen a finishing lesson by making a difficult chance look easy peasy and we ran out worthy winners 2-1. I'm not fooling myself that Cracow are a great team, I don't think they were as good as Glencirbigli for instance but a win is a win and if you can play poorly for a lot of the game and win away in Europe you can't be that bad but play as sloppily against Bolton on Sunday and we'll get caned. Savage appeared to be feeling his back and surely Tugay can't play two full games in four days so we could be light in midfield on Sunday. I've also run out of patience with Pedersen , he was poor today , what does he bring to the team ? My ratings- Friedel-----6 Emerton----7 Oijer-------7 Zurab------7 Neill-------6 Bentley-----8* Savage-----7 Tugay------7 Pedersen---4 Nonda-----6 McCarthy---6 Subs Mokoena Roberts ,neither were on long enough for a rating but Roberts did well for the second goal ,he's a handfull against tired defenders.

Just clarifying a point- It doesn't have to be the goalkeeper and a defender, it can be two defenders. If you run onto a ball that's played backwards you can't be offside, having said that I've lost count of the times I've seen a striker run in on a lone goalie and play the ball forward to an unmarked teammate who puts it in an empty net and the goal is given! To the guy who criticised my comments and asked if I actually attended Sundays game - the two best players to put on a Rovers shirt in my life time conducted the half time draw, did you ever see them play ?????

A game of two halves at Ewood, first half was dreadful ,we spent most of it inventing new ways to give the ball to Wigan , all they did was wait for the inevitable miss placed pass. You could see the Heskey goal coming, Oijer was nowhere when the ball came in and Heskey notched a simple goal. Following this shock we struggled to impose any shape or form to our game , especially in midfield. I keep banging on about our midfield but the balance is not right, Savage hasn't got the skill and passing ability to play as an advanced midfielder. Fortunately we managed to put a good move together right on half time and Bentley made it 2 in 2 games with a well taken goal. I said to my son at half time " Things can only get better" . Well I got that wrong because Brad was subbed and we welcomed a debutant goalie- not an ideal start. Having said that we really came at Wigan and for 20 -25 minutes played some really good stuff and we should have been well in front by threequarter time. Then the inevitable happened, Oijer got caught one on one with Heskey and was left trying to play catch up, foolishly he tried to tackle Heskey from behind and Heskey said "thank you very much" and tumbled over for a predictable penalty. Luckily for us Jason Brown, who had yet to actually make a save managed to keep out a poor pen and save the rebound. Instead of being galvanised by this we went into our shell and for 10 minutes Wigan were on top for the first time in the game. Shortly after it took a simple ale house ball down the middle to unlock the Wigan defence and McCarthy was left with a tap in which settled the game in spite of a bit of Wigan huffing and puffing at the end. Rating Brad- 6, not really a lot to do apart from pick Heskey's shot out of the net. Emerton-7 Another good performance, he looks the part at right back but left Oijer exposed for the pen. Oijer-5 I'm not convinced he's the answer, not as good as Andy Todd in my opinion, an international class centre half shouldn't be making desperate tackles like the one on Heskey. Zurab-6 Steady performance but with both centre halves your heart's in your mouth when they have the ball. Neill- 6 Didn't do much wrong but M.O.T.M., you're having a laugh- has his watch broken? Bentley-6 Looked inventive at times and scored a nice goal, needs to get on the ball more. Savage-5 Runs around a lot, achieves a little. A couple of decent free kicks. Tugay-6 The usual mixture of sublime passes and give aways. Pedersen-5 Doesn't do enough, partly to blame for the first goal. His corners are a joke at the moment. Also too easily brushed off the ball. Jeffers-6 Played brightly and showed some nice touches but needs a goal badly. Mc Carthy-8 Looked a top class player today, his holding up of the ball was exactly what Wigan lacked. Could have had a hat trick on another day. Brown-7 Saved a pen and kept out a dangerous cross shot right after, did all you could expect on his debut. Mokoena-6 Came on for Tugay and looked lively ,even made a couple of nice passes, being anxious to create a good impression made him commit a bad tackle resulting in a booking. Roberts-6 Looked short of match fitness but his strength was too much at times for a tiring Wigan back four.

Listened to the game through a torrent of static, I feel like we lost the match although I would have snatched your hand off for a 2-2 draw at 7.45. In the last 15 mins we went from defending our half to defending our 18 yd area to defending the 6 yd box, we seem to vanish in midfield , nobody could keep the ball it just came flying back at us time and time again. Just a few comments -Gallagher , not a winger and never will be,Mc Carthy as a lone striker - you're having a laff ,not mobile enough, Gamst - bench on Sunday give Peters a chance. Substitutions ,too late.Most frequent comment " Oh and Rovers have given the ball away again "

I said what I was expecting, Speed over the ground, The ability to read the game, decisive tackling skills- I didn't see a lot of any of the above. We are talking about a 32 yr old International here ,not some novice out of the lower reaches of the championship.

Gav, I don't want to slate any Rovers player but I know what I saw out there to day and it wasn't what I was expecting, having said that the Dutch are not exactly famous for their centre halfs are they ? Jaap Stam and then name another good one. PhillipL, That's the Pedersen of old, I actually saw him go past a player on the outside today for the first time since he came to Rovers but then again it was only Boularhouz, another Dutch centre half playing at right back.

Worst debut I've ever seen from a so-called big signing, forget playing this guy at right-back ,he's not quick enough for centre half. Poor tackling technique cost us the second goal, he seems to think that just backing off is the answer.What I wanted to see today was somebody quick across the park ,can read the game,and tackle like he means it, after that performance he can only get better but I fear another Darren Peacock ! Speaking of look a likes I hope McCarthy is not the new Dwight Yorke, but his lack of mobility and habit of dwelling on the ball is worrying, to score goals you've got to get in the box and frequently, he did well with the one chance that came our way but he's got to get up front more often. As for the rest, two of the guys I've knocked in the past ,Bentley and Emerton, were our best players today both did really well. Neill and Zurab were solid.Up front Roberts tried his best without looking threatening and will need much better service in future, having said that he won't be up against Carvalho and Terry every week. The problem is in mid-field ,Pedersen or Gamst as he likes to style himself is a total light weight, it's like playing with 10 men ,he needs an extended run in the reserves, Gallagher playing totally out of position did more in the 15 minutes he was on for. The major problem is central midfield, Savage for all his work rate is neither one thing nor the other, he's not skillful enough to be a playmaker and he's not quick or dynamic enough to be the destroyer in front of the back four, Steven Reid is also neither of these two things and cannot find a role in the side. Until we find an answer to this dilemma we are always going to struggle to create chances against sides at any level in this league, the points were there for the taking today but we hamstrung ourselves in team selection.

I'm a season ticket holder at my local Rugby League club ( Rochdale Hornets) , a season ago we were playing our local rivals Oldham in a needle match. One of the Oldham players broke through to score under the posts, as he was putting the ball down one of our forwards did a " Thatcher " on him and the guy had to be helped off with a broken jaw. The referee missed the incident ( so did I ), but put it on report, the R.L. judiciary panel viewed the video on the following Tuesday and our guy got a deserved 6 matches which effectively ended his season, in fact the guy with the broken jaw was back playing before our player. Time the F.A. took similar action ?

Jrabrfc, I thought Fife Rovers answer was pretty clear but let me repeat it- When Ronnie played Right Half which he usually did, he wore the no.4, but he also played Left Half ( no 6) and Centre Half ( no 5). Dougie usually played either Right Wing (no 7) or latterly Inside Left ( no 10). However I've seen him play in no 8 and no 11, also I read somewhere he once wore no9.

You know how to pick your matches, best performance in my life time for your first game- respect!!!!!!!!

Like I said the other day my dog is better running with the ball than Emerton, take whatever we can get and cut our losses .

It's a tough one, he's one of the very,very few players capable of playing a Tugay like role in todays game, he's also a local lad who we all loved. The down side is when was the last time he played for 90 minutes TWO matches on the bounce ? That's more than just a niggling injury.

There's that guy I spotted last week , called Riquelme , he seemed half decent, maybe he'd be interested in coming on a weeks trial - give him a game or two in the reserves ?

What ever the why's and wherefore's of the David Dunn situation todays game against Liverpool proved we are crying out for a player who can pick up the ball in midfield and actually run at defenders to make things happen, we had nobody prepared to do that today.

Yeh, Well Done Stanley, any more Mike Fergusons out there ?

Lets face it our position in the league far out weighs our current playing form, Mark Hughes has worked wonders with the squad but at this level the cracks are beginning to show. We've got two forwards out there who wouldn't set the Championship on fire ( Bentley and Dickov), why we gave Bentley a contract God only knows, he'll always be a lightweight who flatters to deceive. Pedersen is Pedersen, only ever gets involved when somebody actually gives him the ball. Against a hard working four in midfield we are never going to dominate , we've only got two and two halves.The players we have got in the main are not top six players so lets stop kidding ourselves. Massive game at Pompey next up, this is a game we've GOT to be up for, no excuses , we cannot lose this one and be realistically talking about Europe. When people wonder why Rovers fans are cynical it's games like this that provide the answers, we can't expect wins every game but we have a right to expect performances.

Spurs definately have the toughest run in, apart from City at home they could conceivably lose every game. Newcastle away- not easy these days. Everton away- ditto. Arsenal away- Arsenal will want to win this one no matter what's happening elsewhere. West Ham away- no love lost here , should be a real battle. Man Utd home - United always seem to win this one. Man City home- City's away form is crap , I've got to go for Spurs here. Bolton home- they'll have to battle in this one as well. If we don't get our noses in front of Spurs we'll want shooting, Bolton's run in is nearly as difficult, obviously Arsenal are the major threat.

It,s great to reminisce Jim, weren't we lucky to see all these great players from both era's.I know you couldn't compare Hendry with Mick McGrath but they both wore the same shirt number so that was my starting point. I really rated Mick , he was a very consistent, quiet un- assuming player who kept the game simple and played to his strengths. My favourite memory of him is when he opened the scoring in the 3-0 win at Old trafford in the early 1960's Unfortunately I wasn't at Villa Park that day for Fergie's wonder goal but I've heard plenty about it since , seems like it's up with the Bryan Douglas wonder goal against West Brom in 1963. It's interesting to hear you mention the Villa fans applauding the goal , if somebody scored a similar goal today all you would hear would be silence mixed with a few boo's. The Bob Jones you referred to was a Scouser who played for Southport and Chester before signing for Rovers as understudy to Harry Leyland in 1958, he played about 50 games for us without really establishing himself before leaving in 1966. I suspect the Aussie goalie you mentioned was John Roberts who played 3 games for the first team at the end of the dreaded relegation season of 1965-66, he later played for Chesterfield. Some things never change, I noticed the other day that 2 weeks before the famous West Ham 8-2 away win we played Liverpool at Anfield and won 2-1 (Andy McEvoy got both goals), now as you know NOBODY beat Liverpool at Anfield in that period. The following week we played Villa at Ewood and duly won 2-0(Pickering 2 ). In the previous 8 games we had won 6 and drawn 2, scoring 19 goals in the process, so how many turned up at Ewood to watch this scintillating team ,paying 3 bob to get in ?????????????????? ----------------------------------------------------------17,095, makes you sick doesn't it !

Thanks Phil, on a good day the Rovers team of the early Sixties were something else, the football they played has never been surpassed, for skill , sheer excitement and goal mouth incident they really were the business.I,m sorry you were too young but at least you got to see the mid 1990's when we did actually win something. The thing that made the midfield so potent was that they were the perfect blend, you had the drive and dynamism of Clayton, the unbelievable wizardry of Douglas, pace and trickery with Ferguson and the pure speed and power of Mike Harrison. none of the later midfields even come close although Batty,Bohinen,Berkovic and Warhurst would have been worthy substitutes.

I can't see him surviving this result.