he might have thought he was playing in a red shirt

what does that matter?

A player who want's away from the club should not be made Captain, do you know any other clubs that will do that?

Off the top of my head Southampton did it with Beattie and Fulham did it with Boa Morte. There must be a few others.

Mark Hughes isn't stupid - something people seem to be very strongly implying. He knows what the situation is!

On Neill:

What? Two seriously good assists from Neill in our last two Prem matches..... v Liverpool

On Derbyshire:

It'd be interesting to see the nature of this thread and the reaction of the press / media if he had not missed that absolute sitter v Liverpool. 3 in 3 games would have been superb.

Vs Reading and Vs Boro.

You got Liverpool on the brain Gord? Don't worry, we only have to play them twice a season!

called sarcasm hense the :ph34r: emotion

How can you sarcastically agree with somebodies point if you aren't trying to undermine it?

what a red card on his debut :ph34r:

Yes. That was his point.

im not going to answer that.

you have a think about it in:

IN THE LAND WHERE THE RAIDERS SUCK AND AL DAVIS SWALLOWS

:ph34r:

Seriously, why is he a 'legend'? Are you confusing the word 'legend' with 'very good local boy'?

I thought Lucas played badly today - struggled to cope with Cotterill running at him and got very stupidly booked when he gave away a free kick in a dangerous position. That was liability Neill in the first half.

The second half was an improvement because he toned down his play, although he did throw himself in at one point after an hour or so when he didn't really need to. With less pressure on us from the Wigan team he was always going to look better, but it was a relief. It was also a lovely ball to Pedersen who timed his run to perfection for the second goal.

I think we do have to take into consideration his position. Left back is not natural for him. He does look stronger than Micky Gray but I think we have to expect one or two deficiencies from him when he is playing on an unfamiliar side of the pitch with unfamiliar players around him.

There was an "IndoPak" family in front of us in the BBE Upper too. The system works! Looked to have a fairly decent time (hopefully).

One thing I wondered about failing to retain the casual and/or new fan is the pessimistic attitude of the fans. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not for a second suggesting we quieten down/lighten up/appease new people, but there was a little girl near me who looked terrified every time the guy next to me screamed "ARGH! NEILL! YOU'RE ###### AND YOU'VE ALWAYS BEEN ######!". If we ignore the fact that that's slightly frightening for a small child, it hardly "advertises" the football at Ewood. Especially if, as happened, Lucas wasn't playing too badly.

Just a point. Nothing we can really change, just thought it might be a factor. There are always terrible negative vibes around here, even when we're doing well. Perhaps we should all vow to wait until something good happens - Peter going on a mazy dribble or something - and shouting "Great play that!" before nudging the new fan near us and saying (with a cheeky wink) "...again".

I guarantee we'll be getting 29,000 every game if that starts happening.

He was far better than Emerton, especially considering he was playing at left back!

Emerton nearly got us into trouble a few times - most notably in the first half when he tried to block a cross by flicking his foot back, nearly allowing Bellamy to rifle in. In the second half he completely missed a header that allowed Garcia a shot on goal from about 4 yards. If both had gone in, as they quite easily could have done, he'd have been slated. In fact, if Emerton had been linked with Liverpool nobody would have even typed Neill's name today.

People are looking for things that aren't there. They get things in their heads and refuse to think anything else. I personally don't think Neill should be captain, but he's one of our better players and has done well for us. His performance today has been massively exaggerated because of his circumstances, and because people are hurt that if you cut him open he wouldn't bleed blue and white. It's very petty, IMO.

So glad that we didn't play Lucas, his lack of commitment wouldn't have allowed us to keep a clean sheet against Liverpool today.

Oh wait, he did play and his professionalism helped us get 3 points...

Clearly trying hard to impress his new club and further engineer the move.

Selfish @#/?.

I'm told Howls Moving Castle is superior to Spirited Away - but that kind of thing isn't my cup of tea so I can't vouch for that personally.

Second Matt's suggestion of Rear Window. It's an absolute masterclass.

I was under the impression every rovers fan knew jordan already. Especially the scallies

YEA BUT THE OTHER TEN PERCENT ARE rovers now and forever....as for fully commited ..we will see come next week

I can't believe even though we have 109% of a fanbase we still can't fill Ewood week in week out

I thought both Nonda and McCarthy played well yesterday.

The "Scotty Match report" is not what it once was.

Booed by the Reading fans who thought he went down a bit too easily twice early on in the first half. I didn't notice any grief from the Rovers contingent but I wasn't sat near the people making most of the noise.

Played average - no better or worse than he has done for some time. And his cross for Benni was an absolute beaut. I think people doubting his commitment on the field need to have a look at themselves.

It would be far more impressive if he stayed onside. McCarty is supposedly our "star" striker, it's about time he started acting like one. When Benni gets the ball he should create a buzz of excitment, he doesn't because we all know he'll either be offside or his play will lead nowhere. I wouldn't be too impressed, he's a showman who promises alot but produces relativley little.

9 goals so far this season would suggest otherwise. He always looks like he can beat a man with the ball at his feet too. The offsides are infuriating but his finishing has been very good and at least he is scoring goals! Where on earth would we be in the table without him?

Well done Lucas is what I will say - those morons who boo-ed him on Saturday obviously haven't a clue. Picture yourself in Lucas' position - playing in a foreign country with no affiliation for a certain club - who would you want to play for?

The guy is second on the rovers team sheet every week (after Brad) - has never been dropped - never given less than 100% - never said he will sign another contract - never lied to the fans (Bellamy).

He has been quoted as saying (in the Aussie press - I don't know how reliable this is) that he is financially secure so the money doesn't matter to him.

All I see is a player, not naturally gifted, who has worked SO hard at his game over the past 5 years or so, that now is on the verge of joining sides that are likely to be fighting for titles and cups. He is unlikely to get that at Rovers is he?

Take your sensible posts elsewhere. People don't want to read them here!

Typing "who is this freak" being your definition of fun? I bet you're a laugh at parties

Look again Bellamy. I think you'll find that Pederson was being fouled at the time. Carr (I think) was clearly pulling him back otherwise Pederson would almost certainly have got his head on it.

Bowyer (who, for the record, looks nothing like Carr) was ahead of MGP so I'd like to know how he can pull him anywhere other than towards the ball. If that's a foul then football really is turning into ballet. They're barely touching. And Kuqi shouldered the ball to him anyway.

Yes it's bloody annoying and yes we've had far more bad luck than good luck this year. But lets not pretend it doesn't happen. There are plenty of occasions where referees haven't given the opposition penalties, some of which have been very clear cut. Chelsea at home last season for example. Of the three appeals one was stone-wall and another could have gone either way.

I can't believe we didn't get the penalty yesterday but we were unlucky and I don't think we have much to worry about at all. I'm far more concerned that we aren't creating many chances for our forwards than I am worried that referees want us out of the league for some reason.

I would also try joe gardner out he has been waiting for his chance for sometime he should be given one soon.

If you don't even know his name how on earth do you know he should play for the first team?

Vinjay does make good points but when he actively refuses efforts made to meet with him and placate him then he does undermine himself. If he truely wanted to know answers then this would be far more preferable than the fans protest which would keep him annonymous.

Interivew to come ASAP.

Tottenham Hotspur Preview

On Sunday we face Spurs at Ewood in what is turning out to be a pivotal game in the seasons of both teams. Rovers have lost their last four Premiership games, scoring one goal in the process, and really need three points to halt an alarming slide towards the arse end of the league.

Spurs, for all their promise and impressive results last season, have had a bit of a ‘mare. They still haven’t won away from home this term, and despite a recent victory over Champions Chelsea they looked woefully inadequate as Reading put three past them last weekend. Therefore we should expect the inevitable Spurs win with four players all scoring their first goals of the season.

Form Guide

Rovers at home in the league: LLWWLD

Spurs away from home in the league: LDDLLL

If both teams could lose this one then they probably would.

Five (Six) Things You Already Knew About Tottenham Hotspur

1) They have a large Jewish following which has resulted in the adoption of the nickname “Yid Army” for describing their own fans.

2) They have a history of exceptional English striking talent. Their all-time top goalscorer in the league is Jimmy Greaves with 220 goals. Others include the likes of Clive Allen, Teddy Sheringham, Gary Lineker and Chris Armstrong.

3) Their stadium is the impressive White Hart Lane which opened in 1899, has a capacity of 36,240 and a category A game can cost you as much as £71 to get through the door.

4) Their record league victory was 9-0 Vs Bristol City in 1977. Their record league defeat came just a year later when Liverpool beat them 7-0.

5) They are the only team to ever win the FA Cup whilst being a non-league club.

6) They have nearly signed Ronaldo, Andreiy Shevchenko and Rivaldo.

Key Players

Robbie Keane: The cartwheeling Irishman got his Premiership goals tally off to a start against Reading when he converted a penalty to put the Lillywhites 1-0 up. Last season he was more than impressive, keeping Jermain Defoe out of the team with a combination of inspired performances and prowess in front of goal. All in all, he netted 17 times last season and will be looking to get to that kind of target again. He scored his first goal for Spurs at Ewood in a 2-1 win against us in 2002, and was also the last Spurs player to score here when we lost 1-0 in 2004.

Paul Robinson: The England international has impressed since joining from Leeds United. He has cemented his place in the England team ahead of the magnificent David James. Generally reliable, he is a very good shot stopper and a good kicker of the ball when not in Croatia.

Ledley King: Allowed Andy Cole to score at Cardiff back in 2002 but has since gone on to prove himself as a top class defender. Regularly linked with the likes of Arsenal and Chelsea and was recently described by Thierry Henry as the only player in the Premiership who could regularly tackle him through legal means. King has missed quite a bit of the season so far with injury and this has probably reflected Tottenham’s poor form.

Lee Young Pyo: Awesome.

Recent Matches Between The Two

Spurs 3 Rovers 2 (05/03/2006) – Rovers won more friends than points in a game that saw us claw our way back from two goals down only to suffer heartbreak at the hands of Mido. Spurs started strongly but were fortuitous when a throw in decision went in their favour. Mido took it quickly to Keane who still had it all to do – but within a few seconds he had jigged past Andy Todd and flashed the ball past Brad Friedel. Not long afterwards he showed his deft control by handling the ball and knocking a rebound into the goal to make it 2-0. Sinama and Bellamy both notched a goal but the decisive moment came when we all discovered (to my surprise) that Aaron Lennon is faster than even Mickey Gray, and his cross was slid home from yards out by the lying Egyptian.

Spurs 0 Rovers 4 (11/05/2003) – A wonderful match where a Rovers team including Damien Duff, David Dunn and Andy Cole made Spurs look like relegation fodder. With Everton losing to Manchester United at Goodison the onus was on us to win at White Hart Lane. It took just five minutes for Dwight Yorke to break the deadlock, and things went from bad to worse for Spurs after that. Gus Poyet was dismissed for a Kevin Ball-style lunge at David Dunn and Rovers were rampant against ten men. Super Craig Hignett made it two, with Duffer and Cole both notching in the second half. Rovers would go on to celebrate European qualification by losing humiliatingly to Genclerbirligi.

Rovers 2 Spurs 1 (24/02/2002) – Rovers marched on Cardiff and brought home our first major silverware of the new millennium in a thrilling game beneath the roof of the Millennium Stadium. We all know the story, but just for posterity, Matt Jansen scored, Chrtistian Ziege got the better of Tiny Taylor for the first and only time of the game to equalise, and Andrew Cole scored the winner. Special kudos also goes to Graham Poll who rightly failed to give Tottenham a penalty when Sheringham was tripped by Nissa.

Caption Competition

Prediction

The significance of this game probably cannot be understated. Another defeat and we could be in for a miserable winter. Yet a victory could well be a springboard towards the top half again. Premiership football has always been on that kind of balance. Ignoring our apparent curse against teams in bad form, this really is the kind of game we should win. I’m going to go for an optimistic 2-1 because I can’t see where our next clean sheet is coming from – even against the low-scoring Spurs.

Was just having a quick browse through the forum and came across this. It's possibly the game I remember fondest since I've been watching Rovers. I don't think I've ever felt so nervous - not even watching us at Anfield a few days later!

If anybody has this on tape I can buy a copy of or knows of anywhere to download etc then I'd love you forever.

Cocker, bless him, saw the light round about this time last year. FIFA have been churning out the same monotonous game now for about 10 years. PES has an amazing "feel" of football which is difficult to put in words. In no way, shape or form does FIFA "blow it out of the water", unless we're talking about team names.

At the end of the day, though, you enjoy what you enjoy. I wouldn't expect too many people to agree with you on this one though. It's a complete no-brainer. And if you need me to explain why then it probably wouldn't convince you anyway.

RTM, you seem to have confused Benni with a target man. Easy mistake to make if you never see him. I had a somewhat similar misconception before I saw him playing for us.

He needs the Nonda-style player alongside him. I wonder how well he would have done with Bellamy. Both like to drift off to the flanks, which only works when we have deep running central midfielders to score plenty of goals. Savage?? Tugay?!?

If you mean that he prefers to have a world class striker alongside him, then I think every striker in the world is an Emile Heskey-type player.