Rovers make one change from Thursday night for this afternoons game against Villa, with The Axe replacing Robbie Savage.

Friedel,

Neill, Ooijer, Khizanishvili, Gray,

Bentley,Mokoena, Tugay, Pedersen,

Nonda, McCarthy.

Chris Price was released by us so doesn't show as a transfer. I know he did play for Villa after playing for us but it can't really be included under a TRANSFERS header when he wasn't a transfer.

Sorry Ricky, I have to disagree with you.

Chris Price had 2 spells at Rovers, he initially signed for Rovers from Hereford in 1986 for around £25,000 before being sold to Villa for £150,000, in May 1988

Rovers then resigned him in February 1992 for £100,000, before he moved on to Portsmouth.

One change from Thursday. The Axe comes in for Savage.

Has the world gone mad ?

The day the government published the green paper on energy saving and taxing people for excess use, in the same news item on the BBC they reported that Buckingham Palace was going to be externally illuminated with floodlights during the winter so that tourists could see the building after dark !!!!!!!!!!

How many trees did it take to publish the 70 page report ?

Whilst reading this topic I noticed the following advert on the banner at the bottom of the page.

Energysaver offer

Can anyone explain to me how buying a meter for £70 saves you 25% on your electric.?

Good shout regarding B&Q wind turbines and patio heaters.

Double glazing, triple glazing, thicker glas, insulate the roof insulate the walls, seal all drafts with man made fibres, how much CO2 is being emitted whilst processing these materials. That stop the natural material in a building breath, which results in decay.

When roof insulation was first brought in they wrapped the fibreglass quilt into every corner of the roof space then wondered why there was condensation, which lead to roof timber decay. Now when the build a roof they install ventilation grills at eves level and ventilation tiles into the roof.

Gas central heating installed in most houses resulted in the sealing off of chimneys, which caused a build up of condensation, the chimney was a natural way of removing vapour.

I better get off my soap box, Someone is taking the #### at our expense.

Sorry the quote from JW was possibly misleading in isolation.

What he was saying was that they couldn't experiment with the cut prices and then dump them after one game, they had to persevere with them as far as possible consistent with still giving ST holders value. He wasn't saying they couldn't do them again etc.

Alan were exactly was that articlee you saw - can you reproduce it on here? It seems to be in direct conflict with what Egerton Vernon said c2001 when he said that the Trust fund was for the benefit of all the Walker Businesses and was a dynamic fund supplemented by profits from all the businesses. This was to counteract the suggestion that there was to be an ever diminishing pot for Blackburn Rovers.

Of course there may have been a distinct sea change in policy since then. (Although shouldn't they still abide by the original wishes of the settlor i.e. Jack?) What we really need is an up to date and clear statement of intent from their Trustees regarding their relationship with the club.

Are they committed long term to the club or are they looking to sell? (I think we already know the answer to that) Whilst they are still involved with the club, shouldn't some net transfer funding be made available to our exceptional young manager? etc etc.

A key subject for BRISA to pursue?

It's an extract from a report by Michael Taylor in the "Insider" business magazine, November 2005. following the appointment of JW as chairman. I'm trying to obtain a copy of the original article to confirm the name of the reported trustee spokesman, who I dont want to name at present. However anyone who has bought 4000 holes, will find the name in an article called "It cant go on"

Match Preview by Ricky

Rovers return to league action on the back of an excellent 3-0 UEFA Cup victory against Basel. I'm sure we are hoping for more of our second half performance and less of the first half, playing for 90 minutes rather than 45 always helps when trying to win a football match. We take on the team recently purchased by Randy Learner (phnar phnar!!) and managed by my preferred choice for England Manager, Martin O'Neill. Will there be fireworks at Villa Park on 5th November or did they stop all the malakey after the incident at Wolves a few years ago, who knows!!.

Continued Click Here

Have a photograph of me, Hendry, Gally and my lad stood in the BBE goalmouth from the same event. Hendry is wearing the shirt. What would that be worth? Not that it's for sale.

photo was devalued by you being in shot

"Disappointing" wasn't actually the phrase used by John Williams directly. Andy Neild wrote that officials were "slightly disappointed" (which is about right) by the turn out of 13789.

JW said that "We can't keep dipping in and out with these initiatives" which is of course entirely correct.

The "stay away" fans should note the final quote by JW wery carefully and remember it in years to come, when there is no premiership football in Blackburn.

I'm not going off on a crusade, everyone has the right to spend their earnings as they see fit. But you dont miss what you have until it's not there.

Coming back to Rev's quote by JW. - A contact of mine recently gave me a copy of an article where a Walker Trust spokesman had reportedly stated that the funding of the club will not last for ever. It's not ending now, but the funding is drying up.

Part of John William's remit when he was appointed chairman was to make an appraisal of the opportunities for new investment into Rovers.

Fans / supporters need to wake up to the fact, that without their financial investment into the club, by buying tickets there will be very little finance available for JW and the board to back Mark Hughes in transfers. With no financial backing how long do you think the club would be able to retain an ambitious manager.

Rovers match reports for the current season can now be found HERE

Match Report by Scotty.

Hands up who saw that result coming half way through the second half? An unbelieveable result in the end from a game where Rovers were second best for large parts. Still, do I care? God no.

There was some good team news before the game - Savage, Nonda and Pedersen were all fit and named in the starting 11 - only Emerton was missing from our usual first-choice team. However, on a bitterly cold night the Rovers just didn't get started. Basle were quicker, stronger and hungrier than us, and they displayed a much higher level of technical and passing ability. They attacked us from the off and soon started to create chances - thankfully their finishing was awful throughout the match. One notable chance, a point-blank header from the edge of the six-yard box, brought a miraculous save from Friedel. Most of Basel's other attempts though (and there were plenty of them) were blocked or off target.

Basel played with a very deep-lying central midfielder who almost became a fifth centre-half when we had the ball. This allowed them to track either Nonda or McCarthy when they attempted to come short and link play, meaning that we couldn't hold the ball up front and lacked options in midfield. As a result our passing was awful and we constantly gave the ball away. Then we were a yard off the pace when Basle had the ball and didn't work hard enough to get it back.

Towards the end of the half though we did manage to create a couple of chances, both Pedersen and Bentley had efforts that they should have done better with, but overall we were lucky to go in at half-time level. The other notable event in the first half was the injury to Savage (replaced by Mokoena). Let's hope it's not serious because we're looking pretty short in central midfield if it is.

We started the second half much brighter and attacked from the off. Nonda (I think) missed a glorious chance from a Neill cross, heading weakly straight at the keeper when it seemed easier to score. We also won a few corners and free-kicks and generally looked like we'd decided to play at last. Our domination was only temporary though as the pattern of the first half started to emerge after around 15 minutes. Basle always looked a threat when they attacked and, yet again, they spurned several shooting opportunites through some rank bad finishing. They also had a great free-kick well saved by Friedel, and headed the subsequent rebound wide when it really should have been on-target at least.

I'd just started to settle for point, maybe hope for a point was more accurate, when Tugay produced a moment of complete magic out of nowhere. He controlled a difficult ball, turned his marker expertly, advanced a few yards, and floated an absolutely magestic shot into the top corner of the net from about 30 yards. The Basle keeper just stood and watched. A moment of true quality that was a mile above anything we had produced in the match so far.

Hughes then decided to bring on some fresh legs, replacing Tugay and Nonda with Gallagher and Jeffers. Just as an aside, Tugay also stormed ahead in Rovers' "longest time to walk off when subbed" competition, easily beating McCarthy's valient effort in Salzburg. The confidence of a goal plus the fresh legs gave us an impetus that had been missing for most of the night, and suddenly we were all over Basle. In the last ten minutes we won a penalty that Jeffers blasted into the middle of the goal and, late on, McCarthy tucked in a rebound from a useful Gallagher shot.

3-0 it finished and Basle must be shaking their heads wondering how on earth that happened.

Friedel pulled off a couple of great saves and kept us in the match. Our two central defenders flatter to deceive. They are good on the ball, make the odd decent interception, and Ooijer in particular is pretty good in the air, yet they continue to allow opposition players time and space and gift them chances. With better finishing, heck with just normal finishing, Basle could easily have got 4 or 5 goals today. Our two full backs were poor, Neill in particular didn't look his usual attacking threat (possibly carrying a knock?). Gray at least tried to get forward and influence play, but all too often he just gave the ball away. He was better than he was at West Ham though.

We were overrun in midfield for large parts of the first half but competed better in the second. Tugay was the only player who seemed able to pass the ball to another Rovers player earlier on, and, of course, he deserved to win the man of the match award for his goal alone. Savage was injured mid-way through the first half and Mokoena showed again that he lacks the passing ability to play in a 4-4-2. Pedersen was poor in the first half (as were the whole team to be fair) but played much better in the second. Bentley did ok without ever really excelling.

Up front our forwards were shackled well by Basle. Nonda was poor though, again I wonder if he was really fit, and could have been subbed much earlier than he was. McCarthy at least showed the odd flash of quality and he was in the right place at the right time to score at the death.

We were second best for the most part today and got lucky with the result, but there have been plenty of games when we've played well and not got what we deserved (Bolton most recently) so I'm not going to begrudge the win. Spare a thought though for the 100 or so Basle fans that made the trip to Ewood. They must be completely shell-shocked by what they saw and it'll be a long journey home for them.

Still, we're in a great position in the group now. I think we've already done enough to qualify, it would take a remarkable set of results now for us to miss out, but it's important we try to top the group. I suspect the Nancy home game may decide whether we do that or not. But, whatever the outcome of that match, it looks like our European adventure is going to carry on into next year. I can't wait.

Mark Hughespost match comment:

"We had to show patience and in the second half we kept probing, trying to draw them out.

"It was a fantastic goal from Tugay, he's playing exceptionally well this year, and from that point we were never going to lose it.

"We deserved the win, it was a really professional European performance."

Rovers: Friedel, Neill, Ooijer, Khizanishvili, Gray, Bentley, Savage (Mokoena 38), Tugay (Gallagher 84), Pedersen, Nonda (Jeffers 83), McCarthy.

Subs Not Used: Brown, McEveley, Derbyshire, Peter.

Booked: Gray, Mokoena.

Goals: Tugay 75, Jeffers 89 pen, McCarthy 90.

Basel: Costanzo, Zanni, Majstorovic, Ba, Chipperfield, Rakitic (Cristiano 55), Kuzmanovic, Sterjovski, Eduardo (Buckley 64), Ergic, Petric.

Subs Not Used: Crayton, Nakata, Burgmeier, Berner, Kavelashvili.

Booked: Kuzmanovic, Costanzo.

Att: 13,789

Ref: Oleh Oriekhov (Ukraine).

Despite a late goal by David Bentley, it was to late for Rovers to claw back a result that would have continued West Hams losing run.

Rovers today paid the penalty of not having strength in depth. Without Nonda, Savage, Emerton, Reid, Nelsen and Pedersen they lost Roberts through injury, early in the first half.

Without the experienced first team players, Rovers struggled to make any impact on the game, which resulted in a 2-1 defeat.

West Ham: Green, Spector, Ferdinand, Gabbidon, McCartney (Dailly 89), Benayoun (Bowyer 81), Mullins, Reo-Coker, Etherington, Sheringham (Harewood 77), Zamora.

Subs Not Used: Carroll, Mascherano.

Booked: McCartney.

Goals: Sheringham 21, Mullins 80.

Rovers: Friedel, Neill, Khizanishvili, Ooijer, Gray (McEveley 81), Bentley, Mokoena (Gallagher 72), Tugay, Peter, McCarthy, Roberts (Jeffers 28).

Subs Not Used: Brown, Henchoz.

Booked: Peter.

Goals: Bentley 90.

Att: 33,833.

Ref: A Wiley (Staffordshire).

Match Report by 1864roverite

Well a Leyland point of view sees nothing but positives from last nights game, even though we lost. In that I wont even contrive to mention the awful weather.

Firstly, a crowd of nearly 15000 was a pleasant surprise, well done to thos e who wwent and despite the result Rovers more than held their own with a vastly expensive and experienced Chelsea reserve team.

My personal view of the match is simple, Rovers had to rest certain players. Tugay was out of the squad, Savage injured and no need to run the risk of anything serious. Very surprised to see both Emeton and Neill play the full game but Emerton played the type of football he has done recently, my MOTM.

Nice to see Henchoz get a game, although clearly short of match practice, his inclusion shows its the end for Todd in his Blackburn career. He looked comfortable with Zurab. McEveley, clearly inexperienced against Robben first half, came out of his shell and had a fine second half.

I think Bentley can do a job in the middle, he has the skill and the artistry to develop alongside Tugay. MGP faded in and out again and was unlucky not to score with a 40 yard free kick, after that though he did little else. he should have gone off earlier to be replaced by Peter. the Axe was solid as usual but gave quite a few balls away putting us in trouble.

Very surprised that both Nonda and McCarthey started. Last night was ideal to play Roberts and Jeffers to give them a full 90 minutes. Roberts got quite a size of the second half due to Nonda injury and Jeffer got all of 4 minutes ! A wasted opportunity for rest and match fitness.

I would like tomention the young lad Peter. He did more in 45 minutes than MGP has done in 6 games. he can run, he can pass, he can shoot and his crossing is fantastic. I would like this lad to get a decent run in the side if he is allowed to be developed. certainly one for the future who could blossom under Hughes and co.

At the match, I saw Gally, he was not included due to illness (allegedly). He expects to be fit for the weekend. A thoroughly bloody nice lad.

The sight of Chelsea benches value amazed me, a cool 57 million worth of players sat on their arses watching the game. Behind them, hiding in the warm boxes a further 50million pounds !

As stated Rovers coped well enough and I am glad we didnt get punished too much.

Not mentioning tactics or formations, jsut glad to be concentrating on Europe, the League and the FA Cup

Rovers: Friedel, Emerton, Khizanishvili, Henchoz, Neill, Bentley, McEveley, Mokoena, Pedersen (Peter 49), McCarthy (Jeffers 86), Nonda (Roberts 56).

Subs Not Used: Brown, Todd.

Booked: Bentley, Peter.

Chelsea: Hilario, Geremi, Terry, Boulahrouz, Ashley Cole, Joe Cole (Wright-Phillips 79), Essien, Ballack (Lampard 61), Makelele, Robben (Drogba 83), Kalou.

Subs Not Used: Makaba-Makalamby, Ricardo Carvalho.

Booked: Joe Cole, Boulahrouz.

Goals: Joe Cole 53, Kalou 81.

Att: 14,732

Match Report by Bolton fan prestonwhite.

The BWFC comments………….

First of all the game, yes we road our luck a little, but any team that misses 2 penalties in a game doesn’t really deserve to get much. You’re right Blackburn had chances and the goal that wasn’t was dubious but BWFC had their chances. Lets not forget Diouf hit the post and should have done far better when through in the first half.

As for style of play you can only play with the players you’ve got and more importantly can afford. Half the premier league teams seem to be of the view that Bolton should turn up, play in a very entertaining 6-2 defeat and be quite happy!

Some of you seem to be forgetting that the only reason you’re ever seen players such as Shearer at Ewood and some of the players you’ve got NOW is all down to Mr J Walker and his legacy. Realistically with the attendances at Ewood (and that’s not slagging you off) do you really think you’d even have some of the players you’ve got today if they weren’t being ‘subsidised’?? Let’s not forget you paid £7m for Kevin Davies, we got him for nowt!

Nine games in and we’ve conceded 1 goal from open play out of 4 conceded and we’re 3rd in the league….if you think all that’s down to luck then so be it (show’s your lack of knowledge of the game in my book!). I’m more than happy for BWFC to carry on being ‘lucky’ as I’m quite sure you’d settle for Blackburn being ‘lucky’ if you were in the same place as us!

As for Diouf, you seem to becoming obsessed by hurling abuse at him more than supporting / commenting on your own team. Walking out of the Bolton end to witness Blackburn ‘fans’ giving a statement to a WPC of how is behaviour was inciting the crowd was laughable!

Lets be honest do you think Dioufs made a complaint to the police about all the abuse he was receiving throughout the game????

As in any walk of life if you can’t handle getting some abuse back then don’t give it in the first place! Let’s not forget you’ve got that little angel in your side, one Mr Robbie Savage!

Don’t get me wrong I’ve no doubt Rooney and Ronaldo will get lots of abuse at the Reebok on Saturday. Am I going to complain or do I expect other BWFC fans to complain IF they score and proceed to give some ‘abuse’ back to the supporters??

No, it’s called banter and what makes football great chaps!!!!!

Mark Hughes post match comment:

"Obviously with two penalties at the end you expect to take something out of the game.

"We feel Zurab Khizanishvili had a perfectly good goal not given, the ball was clearly over the line.

"But I think anyone who saw our performance today would feel we deserved something out of the game."

Bolton boss Sam Allardyce:

"We weren't at our best but we got away with it and it's our resilience and our strive to be successful that keeps us going.

"Jussi Jaaskelainen made a hero of himself today by saving two penalties and got us three crucial points.

"If you're talking about top keepers he's up there with Petr Cech and Edwin Van der Sar."

Rovers: Friedel, Emerton, Ooijer, Khizanishvili, Neill, Bentley, Savage (Mokoena 74), Tugay (Peter 81), Pedersen (Roberts 74), Nonda, McCarthy.

Subs Not Used: Brown, Jeffers.

Booked: Savage, Neill.

Bolton: Jaaskelainen, Hunt, Faye (Fortune 46), Meite, Ben Haim, Nolan, Campo, Speed, Davies, Anelka (Giannakopoulos 90), Diouf (Vaz Te 81).

Subs Not Used: Walker, Tal.

Sent Off: Nolan (90).

Booked: Fortune, Nolan.

Goals: Campo 62.

Att: 27,662.

Ref: M Dean (Wirral).

Despite conceeding a first half deflected goal, against the run of play, Rovers bounced back to win their away UEFA Cup match against Wisla. 2-1, with second half goals from Savage in the 56th min and Bentley in the 89th min.

Match Report by Jan

It really was a game of two halves. We at the goal-scoring end saw very little of the game in either half. In the first half we dominated and they scored, and in the second, they dominated and we scored twice. The difference was, their domination ended at the midpoint of our half while ours was in and around the box.

For Savage's goal it seemed like slow motion as it came towards us. (we were diagonally behind the goal). Bentley's goal was a "for # sake SOMEONE score" effort with at least Roberts and Nonda having a go before Bentley got the ball in the net.

Fully agree about Gamst. It seems to be only people on here who mention Gamst and Duff in anything like the same breath. Everyone I spoke to out there when asked the question "duff or Gamst" said "Duff's different class". Gamst is having a horrible patch and it would be kindness to Lucas who, to be fair is having to do the same type of covering for him that he used to do for Emerton on the other side, to let Peter have a go.

And as for Tugs........... His first 90 minutes of the season and afterwards he came out with headphones on and DANCED around the ground while warming down.

As for Wisla- niggly, and diving spring to mind.

Mark Hughes post match comments.

"We're delighted to have won - everyone understands that if you get something from away games you have a good chance of going through.

"They made it difficult but we felt we had the quality to create the chances.

"It's too early to say that we're already through but it's a good start, nothing more."

Wisla Krakow: Dolha, Baszczynski, Dudka, Cleber, Mijailovic, Blaszczykowski, Sobolewski, Cantoro, Zienczuk (Piotr Brozek 66), Jean Paulista, Radovanovic (Kryszalowicz 83).

Subs Not Used: Pawelek, Thwaite, Stolarczyk, Varga, Penksa.

Booked: Radovanovic, Zienczuk, Cantoro.

Goals: Cantoro 28.

Rovers: Friedel, Neill, Khizanishvili, Ooijer, Emerton, Pedersen (Roberts 74), Savage (Mokoena 87), Tugay, Bentley, Nonda, McCarthy.

Subs Not Used: Brown, Todd, Jeffers, McEveley, Gray.

Booked: Nonda, Tugay, Ooijer.

Goals: Savage 56, Bentley 90.

Att: 14,000.

Ref: Stefan Johannesson (Sweden).

Hey, Bob’s back with another in depth report.

This time he uses he experienced analytical and tactical expertise to look into what went right and wrong during the month of October.

As Bob states in his opening statement.

Have a look at yourself will you?! Come on, it’s time to leave the Special Brew alone for a few minutes, you’re not doing yourself any favours with that stuff. So, grab a Supermodel, stick on a Babyshambles CD, take copious amounts of Class A, and let’s delve back to the beginning of the month the Romans used to call “October”.

Bob's Hilarious October Review CLICK HERE

Just like the super heroes Batman and Robin, Friedel and Tugay came to the rescue tonight as Rovers moved a step further in qualifying through to the knockout stage of the UEFA Cup.

Two world class saves by father to be Brad Friedel, kept Rovers in the game before Tugay, being watched live on television in Turkey by his father, struck his first goal of the season; to ease the tension at Ewood.

After a shaky first half, when Friedel had to be at his best to keep out a very professional performance by Basel, Tugay broke the deadlock with a spectacular 30 yard well placed shot into the top right-hand corner of Basle's net, 15 minutes before the end of the game.

With Basel now on the back foot, Pedersen was brought down in the box by Reto Zanni with a minute to go, allowing Jeffers to blast the awarded penalty straight down the middle past the Basel keeper, making it 2-0.

Rovers completed the night when McCarthy firing home the 3rd Rovers goal of the night in injury time, when the keeper failed to hold a Gallagher shot.

Final Score Rovers 3 Basel 0.

Match Report Here

Match Preview by Philipl.

Tomorrow night, Rovers welcome the Swiss team from the town that speaks German with the airport in France. Rovers will be playing in red as the opponents are in their home strip of red and blue stripes which used to be red and blue halves (very QEGS). This is our second match of four in the Group Stage but a win for Rovers and the right result elsewhere can achieve qualification for the next round from this game!

So all is clear and logical.

CONTINUED - CLICK HERE

Striker Jason Roberts has a broken metatarsil in his right foot and could be out of action for several months.

The injury occured early in the first half of this afternoons game against West Ham.

pointless having 60,70 or 99 % of posession if you cant put the ball in the net.

but still better than having to watch bolton.

veteran Rovers watchers could have written the script against West Ham. Better second half but our injury list is worrying.

I think I did. news item yesterday

Despite a late goal by David Bentley, it was to late for Rovers to claw back a result that would have continued West Hams losing run.

Rovers today paid the penalty of not having strength in depth. Without Nonda, Savage, Emerton, Reid, Nelsen and Pedersen they lost Roberts through injury, early in the first half.

Without the experienced first team players, Rovers struggled to make any impact on the game, which resulted in a 2-1 defeat.

Im listening to 5live, with a commentary by John Motson. He is so bias towards west ham I could throw the radio out the window.

Roberts off injured, Jeffers on

With West Ham struggling at the foot of the table, having failed to win in 11 games, a defeat to Chesterfield in the cup being the latest humiliation, Rovers should not take anything for granted, when they visit West Ham tomorrow and should remember a visit to Upton Park on Wednesday 29th January 2003.

After 13 attempts West Ham hadn’t won a home game in the 2002-2003 season, it looked as if a further defeat was on the cards, when Rovers took the lead through Dwight Yorke just before half time. However a penalty by Di Canio and a last minute goal by Defoe, secured West Ham their first home win of that season.

Rovers last win at Upton Park in the premiership League was a 2-1 win on 27 April 1994, when Henning Berg and Ian Pearce were on target.

After 2 consecutive defeats, Rovers need to get back to winning ways tomorrow, before they take on FC Basle in the UEFA Cup next Thursday and two tough premiership games against Villa away on Sunday and Man U at Ewood, the following weekend.

Rovers will be without the suspended Robbie Savage tomorrow and have injury doubts on Pedersen and Nonda.

match preview - click here

Erm??? Have we just finished a 8 game run of no losses with a woeful embaressing loss to Bolton at HOME missing 2 penalties??? YES!!!

Your last 2 posts paint a torrid picture, were did you view the game from.