I personally thought that Neill could have been replaced by the club rottweiler and we wouldn't have noticed any difference in the standard of play or the number of disciplinary points received.

Although in Neill's final season at the club his performance were well below standard you can not argue that he wasn't a key player in our defence.

In his seasons leading up to the 2006 WC (2003-2006) his performances for Blackburn were as consistent as any Rovers player.

I'm simply amazed at Mark Hughes' ability to find replacements after selling off players which seemed to be irreplaceable.

Two key examples.

Neill-> Samba (albeit Samba's not a wing-back, but a defender nonetheless.)

Bellamy-> McCarthy AND RQS.

Simply brilliant.. I thought we were gonna be in for a tough time after we sold those players... but it seems that what doesn't kill Sparky's team can only make them stronger!!!!

...BLUE ARMY (bring on December)

I know it won't be a very popular opinion on here :ph34r: , but I love Big Lorenzo! His header on the opening day against Wolves in 2003 remains one of my favourite goals...unstoppable!

I'm convinced that if he had stayed fit and played in a settled team under Mark Hughes, he would have been a big asset to the Rovers.

Lol, the massive deflection off Carr and into goal against Spurs was my favourite piece of work from him- wasn't going anywhere near goal before it hit him!

The Thrills and The Whitlams

And Utada Hikaru for Dillo=P

This match i can never forget- 3am at my mate's place, was falling asleep before kick-off, havent had a league match give me a buzz like that since

What is Gresko actually doing now?? Did he just give up on football??

I would like to see Andy Todd get the captaincy, if only temporary.I've like to see him back in the first team a lot more, i thought he was playing some great fotball.

What did Todd do to upset Sparky. :!:

I've just seen , that Tugay isn't playing tomorrow,and Dunny still isn't match fit.

This Lee Hendrie rumour is interesting, that a club as come in for him at the 11th hour,and stopped him signing for Stoke for the time being.That club is believed to be Blackburn Rovers.Interesting to see what happens there.

(Please don't use that word again) NO

Hendrie??? ESPECIALLY after the controversy surrounding him and that alledged verbal abuse slung at a disabled united fan... shiiiiit, i've been giving my friend stick about that all week

It says on the official site, that Ryan Nelsen should return to first team action tomorrow.That's brilliant news,fingers crossed

Nelsen shouldn't walk in and grab the captains band straight away IMO

He'll be struggling for match fitness.. the captain has to be a strong icon and cant be huffing and puffing at the 60 minute mark

I'd tip Friedel or Todd to pick it up

Awesome result for the rovers!!

does anyone have any video links of the goals?? living in Aus and there's little to no coverage of the Uefa Cup (that i can find at least!)

Question-

if Nelsen was fit who would he play for?

In reference to our eternally-strapped transfer budget

"money"- Flying Lizards

Sticking with 'Emerton- 7' on my shirt from two seasons ago- hey! it's been the best shirt since and it costs a bit more to ship it out to Australia! May have to consider in investing in a new one if he leaves this season though

Awesome to see Benni, Roberts and Jeffers come on board this season!!

But.. would STILL like to see Gallagher make some more appearances- he's been over-looked by Hughes so far in my opinion! My pecking order for this season would go something like

-Benni

-Roberts

-Gallagher

-Jeffers

-Kuqi

(######, we've got a fair few number of strikers now)

-Derbyshire

By the way- anyone see Thommo leaving Wigan?? Poor guy just doesn't seem to fit in anywhere these days

and for those in Australia who watched the triple-header...

did not have ANY sleep at all.. with City vs United at 11.40pm, Reds vs Spurs at around 2am and Rovers vs Bolton starting at about 4am..

almost came very close to regretting staying up that late when Vaz Te looked destined to score!!! Provided a bit of entertainment for me with that slip=P

Since 2003.

Living in the suburb of Blackburn in Australia. Came to the club with Brett Emerton (first time i ever looked at the Premier League).

Haven't been too successful since then, but it's been fun.

Best match, 4-3 over Fulham.