couldn't agree more. if the shoe was on the other foot, this message board would be splitting blood.

He did start well but Jol had done his homework well and by bringing Gardner on to go 5 at the back stifled him. One thing I did notice was that Bothroyd makes very early runs as soon as he sees a team mate recieving a pass and by doing so frequently ends up turning back from an offside position. As soon as our midfielders cotton on to his game and begin to provide a few quick / early first time through balls without needing the obligatory 3 touches and a good look around the sooner we will see the best of him. I think his frustration with team mates was simply down to their tardy service. btw Just to cheer some of our more morose contributors, although I am probably clutching straws here ....... a win and a loss is 50% better than 2 draws. they never spotted dwight doing the same thing, so I wouldn't hold your breath mate!

how exactly does that sound then !!!!!!!!!

lets say we got 7.5 mill for him. which classy midfielder would we replace him with? who do you think would come to blackburn now, given the state of the team, club and finances. Certainly no one has good as barry fergusson - that's for sure. The team should be built around him.

how we've been crying out for a player of dwights ability so far this season. It says something when everyone starts rejoicing in paul dicov. yes- he ran about a lot again on saturday, but he is not the answer to our forward problems. I would have loved to have seen djorkaeff playing with yorke, fergie and emerton under mark hughes.

exactly. the real estate is worth 150million alone!

something you seemed a bit ###### off with at charlton jordan! Heard you quite a few times questioning why there were so many 'cockneys' in the blackburn end!

I don't think that's an apt comparison Flops. Souness paid transfer fees and signed older players to long-term contracts (Yorke, Cole etc). Djorkaeff is free and is signed to a 3-month contract. At worst he costs us 3 months in wages. is that a fact? i bet there was a large signing on fee / bonus payment, or something else just to get him to agree to such a short term deal.

Well, go ahead then Rodders, you muddyfunster! Bit of broken glass will keep you quiet! are you going tonight bryan?

The Antigallican's under new management !!! And for the first time in its history has some decent reviews .... ANTI-G opposite Charlton station Think we'd have gone there anyway ... but still Tickets are available on the gate on Monday night - £15 - bargain !! I'll see you in there Tris

Any ideas on meeting up in pub before the match?

great post bazza. enjoyed that!

one other point regarding the cup comps under souness. It only takes a fool to believe half of what souness said to the press. If you ever believed that he went into a game not wanting to win it - then you need your head reading.

froma few friends I spoke to, it sounds like we finally have a striker with some real pace and skill! Oh happy days! The biggest thing we're missing as a team is raw pace, so I can't wait to see how he gets on over the next few weeks. Roll on Charlton!

most of it by association? Do i take it that you got involved in something you later regretted?

top post!

i thought this report in the times was quite insightful: Hughes under no illusions By Oliver Kay Blackburn Rovers 1 Portsmouth 0 AMONG THE INNOVATIONS that Mark Hughes has brought with him to Blackburn Rovers is hydrotherapy, with his players told to plunge into freezing water for 30 seconds at a time in what their new manager considers a fundamental part of the post-match recovery process. If the response from the dressing-room was less than lukewarm, no one was saying so, least of all Matt Jansen, for whom dipping in and out an ice bath is a positively heart-warming exercise after two years out in the cold under Graeme Souness. When Hughes departed Blackburn as a player in May 2002, he left behind a young Jansen with genuine ambitions of being named in the England squad for that summer's World Cup finals. After he was left out at the last minute by Sven-Göran Eriksson, Jansen took his girlfriend on a romantic break to Rome, where he was involved in an accident that saw him suffer a brain haemorrage and spend two days in a coma after being thrown off a moped. It is by no means an exaggeration to say that he could have died. As time went on, Jansen began to wonder whether he would ever make a full recovery. It was weeks before he could walk freely, months before he could head a ball or withstand even the most basic 50-50 challenge on the training pitch, and Souness felt unable to indulge the forward by giving him the playing time he needed to restore his confidence. “I was just totally demoralised,” Jansen said. “My confidence has been destroyed and I thought I had played my last game for Blackburn Rovers.” Little wonder, then, that Jansen was so delighted when he heard that Hughes would be the man to replace Souness after the latter became the surprise choice to succeed Sir Bobby Robson at Newcastle United. “He (Hughes) was always the players’ choice to take over,” Jansen said. “For me personally, it looks like a good appointment. I played up front with him when we got promoted (in the 2000-01 season) and, if anyone knows what I’m capable of, it’s him.” Nevertheless, Jansen was surprised when he saw the team-sheet at 1.30pm on Saturday and realised that he had been named in the 16-man squad for the first time this season. If at first it seemed like a charitable act from the new manager, it was quickly repaid as Jansen came off the bench to score the goal that saw Blackburn overcome Portsmouth in Hughes’s first match in charge, using his quick feet to control the ball in a crowded penalty area and send a fierce left-foot shot past Shaka Hislop. No player could better symbolise the sense of a new era and a fresh start at Ewood Park after the grudges and bitter fall-outs that characterised the final months of the Souness regime. Jansen has been the first beneficiary of the clean slate, but it will not take long for others to embrace the methods of Hughes, a manager whose quiet authority will come as a welcome contrast to Souness’s more confrontational style. Hughes’s record with Wales always suggested that his approach to club management would be one of evolution, rather than revolution, and this rather fortuitous win, Blackburn’s first of the season, will not have disguised the size of the task he has taken on. Portsmouth were by far the better team in the first half and would have claimed at least a point had Ricardo Fuller and Aiyegbeni Yakubu not missed the target when clean through or had Fuller not been denied a penalty when pushed by Brad Friedel with three minutes remaining. “My heart was in my mouth at that stage,” Hughes said of the penalty appeal. “But I’m delighted with the result. It’s always important to make an immediate impact and we've been able to do that, but we’ve only been here a few days and there are areas I feel that need to be addressed on and off the field. These things will take time to put in place and will take time to have an impact, but that’s why I’m here. Perhaps the club wanted to go in a different direction.” etc etc etc full article below http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,277-1270188,00.html

I think I've been complaining about most aspects of the club for the last eight months or so. Along with all the things you've mentioned we've sold good players and replaced them with average ones. But it's more the type of players we've not bought that has been the problem - nobody with pace, power, flair, creativity. I realise though that you were one of Souness's biggest fans so I wouldn't expect you to want to blame the man that has caused all our current problems. I've been a long term admirer of souness after he dragged our club out of the mess that it was in. But I've done a lot of thinking recently and looked at the harsh realities without my pro souness and blue and white tinted specs. For the first time in about 8 months, I'm startign to agree with some of what Scotty is tryign to get across. Look at the difference when we play the big teams these days. I don't think we have a chance when it comes to newcastle, liverpool etc. Going back 18 months, I was really excited at the prospect of a trip to celtic, arsenal etc where I belived we had enough quality to get at them and win. Duff on the left, dunny on the right, tugs and flitty in the middle, berg and short at the back, cole upfront. It all looked so good! Now we seem to have gone so far backwards its untrue. Amo is half the player berg was. matteo - absolute garbage and no flair in the midfield. I love fergie as a player, but he's got no one decent to pass it too! It's not all doom and gloom for me though. I rate the youngsters coming through, I think we have an excellent new manager who seems to really study the game and I think we have a mid table type side.

on a slightly different note. sparky mentioned something in the press conference about working with the current players until january transfer window. I wonder if any funds have been made available to him? Also - wonder how much compensation we got paid from newcastle and if any of that will go to strengthening the 1st team ?

The Goverment have funded Lancashire Constabulary the £5Million to get rid of football hooligans before the European Championships, which didnt happen where did you read this?

i wouldnt believe everything you read in the press mate. There is no way in this world that we have £5 mill available to combat football hooligans in blackburn!

All the things you seem to know about Mark Hughes are being contradicted by someone who actually plays for him. from teamtalk: Aston Villa defender Mark Delaney has pleaded with Mark Hughes to remain as Wales manager and resist any approach by Blackburn. Delaney is hoping the challenge of leading Wales to their first tournament since 1958 will persuade his international boss to snub the chance to move into club management. He told the club's official website: "I think everybody that saw the vacancy automatically thought of Mark because he'd been there as a player and because of the job he's done for Wales. But it's encouraging to see he wants to fulfil his ambitions with Wales. "It's not a surprise to see him linked with these jobs. What he's done for Welsh football has been nothing short of dramatic. We were down and pretty much out and he's turned it round full circle. "Now we're a nation to be reckoned with home and away, so what he's done with limited resources is remarkable. "It's not just Blackburn. Any job that comes up, I'm sure he's going to be linked with. So the quicker the management positions are filled, the better for us."

I suspect it's because there are other people still to be interviewed. I don't think it's cut and dried at all yet. It'll be like any job recruitment - whoever has the best interveiw will get the job. Gay bikers on acid. I know what you mean but surely with football management it's a bit different. You have a shortlist and go for your targets in that order, like Newcastle did. Fair enough you interview them but it's not like a normal job is it. I'm not so sure fella. If the board are doing their jobs properly, then a great deal should hinge on the interviews. Its one thing having a person in mind, or a favourite, but until they have interviewd him - how do they know what Hughes will bring to the role, other than his reputation as a player? Does hughes understand the current crisis at the club and what short term measures he will put in place to reverse the losing trend? What would his plans be for the acadamy and reserve teams? WHo would his first choice backroom staff be? The board should be grilling Hughes, dowie and whoever else to see just how organised they are.

bob marley right now! totally matches my mood in the office! roll on the next hour!