I thought McEveley had a reasonable game. Yes he was beaten by Robben a few times in the first half (not every time and not easily) but are we saying that Neil or Gray would have done significantly better? He's not perfect but he's still comfortably ahead of Gray in my opinion who could be reiled uponn to make a few silly defensive mistakes and whose distribution is particularly poor. He's not for a regular place in the team but he can do a job if needed (like when Lucas is suspended as he will be before the season's out).

Did anyone else hear John Williams being interviewed on Five Live last night just after 7.00? We caught it on the way to the match. He was asked primarily about Rovers's efforts to reduce prices and encourage fans. He made all the right noises for me about trying everything they can to encourage attendances whilst making the point that Rovers must look after their season ticket holders as the first priority. He indicated that more offers would come later in the season, which suggested that they must be at least comfortable with the response to Sunday and last night.

Hughes on Radio Rovers suggested that it didn't look too bad, just a swelling but I don't suppose he really knows yet.

I thought he had a good game, although perhaps not our best player. I'd have given it to Nonda or maybe Emerton.

I was down at the ticket office yesterday buying 13 tickets (3 for Chelsea, 2 for West Ham and 4 for each Euro match) and I was surprised by how quickly I was dealt with, given there were different numbers for each match and I had a child and a young adult in the mix - I was ready for a long stretch. There were 4 windows open and there was a steady stream of custom so i guess they're just really stretched at the minute. PS 11 home tickets for £75 and 2 West Ham for £64!!!

My understanding was that Blackpool wanted him but Hughes preferred that he go to a better footballing side so he's gone to Crewe. A little ironic then that Blackpool beat Crewe on Saturday.

Looks like Rovers got it spot on. Fortune was booked for time wasting, wellying the ball back past Jussi after he had messed around with the ball boy. He wasn't booked for the penalty. Nolan was booked for arguing then got a staright red for something he said to the ref after the second penalty. Hunt was booked for a foul immediately after Fortune's booking.

Thought he has an excelent game yesterday - the pick of our forwards. He is less gifted than Bennie but his work rate is tremendous and he was causing havoc in what is one of the Premiership's best defences.

If you live in Chorley, Paul, you need to try a different way home - I was back in Penwortham at 5.35, 20 minutes after getting in the car.

This is the report from The Independent, containing the comment that, given that Rovers had four legitimate claims for penalties and a perfectly good goal disallowed, it was incredulous that the complaints about the ref came from the winning manager. http://sport.independent.co.uk/football/pr...icle1919317.ece

One reason that we didn't get a rebound on the penalties was that there were at least 3 Bolton players running into the area before either kick was taken - they should both have been retaken. Also I hope the ball boy who was verbally abused by Diouf in the first half reports him - an unbelievable outburst.

Radio Lancashire have just reported that Rovers are to contact UEFA to complain about racist abuse during the match towards Bennie McCarthy. They appear to know the player involved. This may have been behind the fracas at the end of the match.

Radio Lancashire have mentioned the cheap tickets on Sunday twice in the last few minutes, in between a Dingles fan complaining about not being to afford to watch them!

Worst ground is Everton for facilities - appalling seats and view for a so-called big club. Also it was the scene of my worst experience in a football ground, the saeson we won the league. We played at Goodison towards the end of the season and we failed to get away fans tickets because of the demand. I took advice from an Everton fan at work and got tickets and got seats behind the goal at the Park End - I was assured we would be fine there. I was with my brother and my two sons, then 11 and 9. Admittedly, as Rovers scored after 30 seconds and then 5 minutes we were unable to conceal our identities, but were then subject to the most horrendous abuse by two blokes sat next to us - one of them was screaming into my 9 year old's face for 20 minutes solid - he was terrified. Speaking of trips to abandoned games I remember back in the early 70s travelling from Sheffield (where I was a student) to Bolton twice for a cup game that was postponed when I got there.

From Chroley it would be quicker to get a cab to Croston and take the train from there to Kirkdale, changing at Ormskirk. Then it's about a mile walk past Goodison and through Stanley Park. I'll be driving to Town Green station and getting the train from there - only 16 minutes ride and trains every 15 minutes. Also absolutely no problem for Rovers fans this way - there's always a few on the electric train from Ormskirk, often in home shirts.

The normal time is a fortnight at this time of year - best to go through the Post Office who will offer to check the form for you. You can always call up and get an appointment at the office in Liverpool, where they will issue it in the day, but that cost about £95 when my son lost his in March - probably more now that they have put up the prices again.

I remember we had been on holiday in Cornwall that week and i had to leave Newquay at the crack of dawn to get the train to London and then after the match go back alone to my in-laws in Bristol to catch up with the rest of the family. I think I was just in complete shock all night and hardly said a word to anyone. The boys couldn't work out waht was wrong with me (although they probably would understand now).

Mourinho was quoted in the Independent today as follows: - "The rules are very clear; if a defender pushes or pulls or keeps contact for more than two or three seconds it's a penalty". Well no wonder Chelsea get penalties and we don't if that's the rules Chelsea are playing to. It explains why Carvalho can grab an opponet's shirt in the penalty area and get away with it twice in week - he just makes sure he lets go before the three seconds is up!

You can fly Ryanair from Stansted to Graz for £43. It's then a 4 hour train ride and the fare will be more than the flight but it's still the cheapest option I've found so far. If there were a group of you hiring a car might be quicker and cheaper from Graz. I considered flights to Verona and Treviso in Italy but the trains from there are 6.5 hours with many changes. You can fly from Liverpool to Treviso though.

Another option if you've got the time is the train. More exotic and no cheaper than current flight prices but whilst the flights will get more expensive the train probably won't. http://www.seat61.com/Austria.htm#Salzburg

I checked some flight prices to Salzburg about an hour ago: - Cheapest thomsonfly from Coventry £121 Ryanair from Stansted £204! Swiss from Manchester £159 (with a change) Sky Europe from Manchester £169 All were for going on 14th and back on 15th. Should also be practical to fly to Munich and get a train. I've only checked BA for this and it was £300+

I think this was a bit different. Yes, it was an awful challenge that broke Carragher's leg, but at least Neil was going for the ball with his leg i.e. a normal if bad tackle. Thatcher's attack was clearly pre-meditated and led with a deliberate elbow - he was just out to get Mendes. I'm not sure you can be too hard on the ref though. Like me, he probably saw it as a clumsy challenge at first. it was only with the benefit of a slow motion action replay that you could see what actually happened. As someone else said (and Gary Lineker) it got worse every time you saw it.

To counteract the prophets of doom on here this is the report of the match from today's Independent. http://sport.independent.co.uk/football/pr...icle1221364.ece This fits in with my view of the match - that we were the better team for most of the match and that we had plenty of chances to have put the match beyond Everton, but that we missed them. Then we sat back to try and protect the lead, which we were doing OK until the last 20 minutes. I don't know whether that was our design or forced by Everton's pushing forward - probably more the latter. Before that Everton had not been in the game at all. I can only remember them creating 2 serious attempts on goal - Andy Johnson's break and shot saved by Friedel and the goal. Overall aa draw was the right result but only because we missed chances and paid the price. On another day we could have 3 or 4 easily. We're not as fluent as last season yet but we were comfortably better than Everton. PS Did anyone else notice that Bet24 are our "principle" sponsors. Good to see an on-line betting company with principles...

We have just received our new packs. Amongst all the promotional stuff was a new plastic wallet for the season ticket but no new card - as i was expecting.

But even if just a few players move from Juventus to CL clubs, that will shake up the existing players at those clubs and give clubs like Rovers opportunities. For example, if someone at a CL club finds themselves not first choice, they may well prefer regular first team and European football to bench warming. This was reported on Radio 4 this morning from an article in Gazzetta Dello Sport - the main Italian sports paper. It's still speculation, but from what would be a very well informed source.