Thanks Glen, panic over, my Dad was dealing with it and didn't realise the seats were blocked out as they were reserved to us already.

Amazing what sentimental value you can attach to a place where you sit.

On the subject of pricing, and my view for what it's worth; a price hike is as frustrating to me as it is anyone else, but if ever a club needed its supporters to put their hands in their pockets and help out then this year is it, so I am reasonably ok to pay the price.

Realise that is not an easy option for everyone and doesn't excuse some of the poor communication or handling of tickets since BCD games started last season, but the club will have done their homework here, and make no mistake, things are tighter than some might think behind the scenes and this is an unashamed cash grab situation. 

Whether it ultimately backfires or not remains to be seen, but for now, I am lucky enough to not miss the cash, so the club can gladly have it.

Tried to renew our usual seats, and the seats we have had every year since the stadium was rebuilt have already gone. Has anyone else experienced this?

(One seat in particular carries a high degree of sentimental value so we would be upset to lose it).

Here's a nice and simple one for a player who needs a song, memorable, catchy tune too, can imagine this on the terraces:

(To the tune of 'Let it Be')

Nyambe, Nyambe,

Nyambe, Nyambeeee

Ryan is a Rover,

Nyambe, Nyambe...

Now if this isn't the best newspaper headline ever, I don't know what is:

http://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/news/mps-call-for-jobs-blow.5919884.jp

Superb!!!

Went to Yu and You's again last night and was extremely disappointed.

4 of us,

soup ordinary.

crispy duck starter brilliant (but who could get that wrong?)

but the 4 main courses varied between

King prawn Good.

Chicken with chillie tasty but greasy.

Pork dish poor and bland.

and the house chicken curry virtually inedible.

Wine was good but at £20 a bottle for Chardonney and £24 for a South african red absolutely extortionate.

Best draught beer was Warsteiner which is a sin in itself.

On last nights evidence it's turning into the chinese equivalent of the Sharzan. Designed as the trendy place to be seen by the keen-to-be-seen Ribble Valley nouveau riche.Music too bloody loud too forcing raised voices instead of conversation level. They turned it down when I asked but seemed to sneak it back up again through the meal.

£180 for 4 will definitely not see me hurrying back.

Very surprised as the food has always been excellent when I have been, but I think you have hit the nail on the head with your assessment of what the place has become.

Sadly (or not for the muppets that keep forking out) the kind of people who go there will continue to go there to be seen adn eat the food whether it is good or not.

And you are right, good, bad or indifferent, £180 is just nuts...

That's a cracking idea in principle, but is only workable in practice if Rovers themselves are entirely comfortable with the idea of a fan giving his own independent opinion which, if it is to be of any value, might not always be entirely complimentary on occasion.

I agree that there could be a conflict of interest, although it would depend on the person(s) doing the writing to understand what is and what isn't acceptable to write. What I did was pretty much totally uncensored although I do admit that I deliberately had my blue and white tinted specs on, as this kind of viewpoint was what I felt the paper/website needed.

Although my views on the Trust for example, have been less than complimentary on here, I would wind my neck in for the sake of the paper, and yet still try to raise the relevant points in a fair, and more importantly non-libellous way.

The main point I would make from what you posted however, is that despite me being pro Rovers and not really caring about the LT, it really should have nothing to do with whether the club feels comfortable or not with having an independent opinion in the paper.

This said, I do sympathise with your point. The paper cannot bite the hand which feeds it arguably its biggest meal.

I still feel that a few of us on here could get that paper rocking again, and that such a happening could be a powerful propoganda tool for the club, if we could instill our positivity into the locals...and not only that, from the responses I got to my column, it seemed to be the ex-pats who really appreciated the positive slant.

Sometimes it doesn't matter how good the product is, ie Rovers, it is how good the customers feel about the product.

Fair point, there is a lot of loadsamoney in there too, including one chap who I got talking to with a Rovers family link who was fine...just a lot of people who think to much of themselves in there sadly. It is amazing what a couple of quid can do to some people.

I have probably never eaten better in this country but prepare to remortgage when the bill comes!

Great news and a big opportunity for the LT to get someone in who can make the paper a "must read" for Rovers fans again. As a kid I used to make scrap books out of all the old Telegraph reports and transfer gossip and it really was quality reading. Trust me when you can actually look back to the stuff written 15 years ago you can really see the difference to now.

What I would like to see is a lot more opinion and exclusive interviews, a bit like the Jansen interview the other day, as well as the current run of rehashed national stories and stuff nicked off here. There is no reason why the LT can't have 3 or 4 pages of quality Rovers content every night and become in effect a daily fanzine.

Maybe a fans match report (and preview) as well as the offical one would be good? I am sure that a couple of contributors on here could help make it a great paper again, if the editor is interested that is...and from personal experience that may be where the problem lies?

Great Chinese place around Blackburn is Yu and You, been there a few times when I've been to visit my parents. Not cheap but you get what you pay for..

Absolutely phenomenal food but same problem as the new Bulls Head at Wilpshire, full of pretentious, well off, badly dressed new money.

He was still there when I last wrote for them in around March. Nice guy but I never really got the feeling that they were all that interested in Rovers, or in supporting what I did, despite it being popular.

I thought the LT was extremely naughty today.

The back page carried a large banner headline and picture of Roque proclaiming:

[size=7]"Roque absent as pre-season starts"[/size] p22

The inference being there's something untoward in that and he's off.

Of course when you turn to page 22 it's simply because he's been given extra time off.

I always thought years ago when I penned "A Roverall View" that Andy Neild apart, there was a real anti Rovers bias on the LT sportsdesk and more recently I've noticed that Andy Neild seems to have Mondays off. The pieces written in his absence by the likes of Gavin Gibbon and Gary York invariably seem to belittle Rovers.

Similarly, when I wrote my column over the past 18 months, I felt that I was the only one really flying the flag for Rovers, and it really showed whenever I wrote something it went straight to the top of the "most read" table on the website. I always tried to put the emphasis on what I wrote very firmly on being from a partisan fans point of view, and no one elses and I think the paper/website is desperately missing this angle now. The sad thing is that I was happy to do all of this for free but in the end I just kind of felt that the paper wasn't that interested whether I submitted a piece or not so I packed it in.

I also have to be careful about how I say this but I do also recall submitting a piece for the website once which appeared in a very "similar" form, albeit under A Nother journalists name. After getting over the shock I sent an email to the editor asking what was going on, and although I didn't get a reply, the piece mysteriously vanished and mine appeared!

The LT coverage is shocking, not only for the level of depth/support that Rovers get, but for its quality of writing also. Forgive me for including myself in this, but I have always felt that what was written by myself and the other couple of board members on here who have performed the role in the past, was far superior to what the LT can offer.

Why would Lucash go to Gala when West Ham are clearly one of the biggest and best teams in the world? Oh wait, the money...

My little boy who is 3 idolises Brad Friedel and has been after a keepers top for some time. The smallest ones the club had on sale at the recent sell off were small boys (age 7ish) and drowned him...does anyone know of, or want to sell a Rovers keepers top that may fit a 3/4 year old and are they even sold at all?

Thanks.

Well in the aftermath of Hughes leaving our beloved Rovers, an event that most of us probably feared more than any other to do with the Club I must admit I feel pretty underwhelmed and nowhere near as gutted as I thought I would be.

During his time at Rovers Sparky was excellent for us and as he expressed in his press conference at City this morning he was understandably frustrated at the lack of funds made available to Rovers, although I felt his thinly veiled dig at that point was unneccesary and unfairly unhelpful to Rovers in selling themselves to the next boss.

Compare these words to the comments of John Williams, who was particularly professional and gracious about Hughes exit and you realise just what a special club we are. No club in the land conducts its business with the dignity that Rovers does and it makes me proud.

Life goes on, although I would feel that insult would be added to injury should Hughes come back and raid the club, and hopefully measures can be taken to prevent this, primarily by getting in the kind of leader that players would want to stay for, a difficult task given the varying background, nationalities and characters we have on the playing staff one the I think Mr Williams is capable of fulfilling.

Sparky's strength was in his eye for talent and being able to persuade them to come, but his frustration at the lack of progression is ironic to a degree because were he a better tactician we probably would have done. I have very few memories of any amazing performances under him, and we were defintiely steady rather than spectacular. The much maligned Souness gave us much better attacking football and excitement before he started to lose his marbles and stuck Matteo on the wing etc.

I also had it on excellent authority that Hughes did want the Chelsea job, as Nicko suggested, and I think he has made a crazy move here, born out of frustration rather than rational thinking. Sure City may have a larger fanbase than Rovers and a few quid but that is about it. They are and always will be a bit of a joke club and the so called passion of their fans masks that a little bit. I think the highest they have ever finished in the Premier League is 8th, whilst our record dwarfs that with a title win, a second and fourth place, plus is it 3 x 6th placed finishes?

More fans does not mean better, a bit like trying to suggest that Big Brother is better than University Challenge, just because thousands more muppets tune in every week. The window for success there is very narrow and unlikely whereas failure is the opposite, easily achieved and very probable. The reputation of "Britains brightest young manager" could be in danger of taking a serious dent, and all for a job he didn't really want, working for possibly the most disgusting character in the history of English football, Thaksin Shinawatra...

Mark isn't quite as smart as we all thought, and that is why we should all be happy to thank him for his great work and move on with the promise of an even better future - no Rovers manager will have ever inherited a more talented squad than the one we have now, and there is money to spend. If we can keep who we have got and add then all is rosy.

Massively underrated player in our title win...

Oh the irony...if you don't get it by now you never will...it is no wonder that a lot of board members I know visit but never post. I am sorry for trying to break into your little cartel, and for defending an unprovoked attack on my character.

Read my first post, I merely stated something that I had experienced and somehow touched a few raw nerves, then had the nerve of my own to defend myself in an articulate way.

Mental note, if I ever see, or hear anything about anything even vaguely Rovers related I will keep it to myself and I urge all others who aren't established board memebers to do the same for fear of retribution.

I suggest the matter is now closed. If I am bored I am sure everyone else is.

This is possibly one of the worst arguments this messageboard has ever seen. I think I've read every word of it, and I'm still not really sure what its about.

Yet you saw fit to post which sums it all up really...thanks.

Game, set and match Lathund

Or possibly hook, line and sinker?

Regardless, Lathund if you feel that point 4 is the most likely reason for my posts, I will draw you to the original response by thenodrog to my first post, where self esteem and accusations of stupidity etc were brought into play. Where do you draw the line between what is and isn't fair play etc. I think it is fairly obvious that you have picked a side a will stick to it regardless of what you actually think, so there is probably little point continuing this conversation. However... )

As for my intent I will say that I enjoy debates of this level and will take my hat off to some people on this board who have a level of wit and turn of the English language that makes it enjoyable.

To sum up, I was in the pub, Neill acted in an unsavoury manor, a friend and I in a lighthearted response sang a couple of half arsed chants which could barely be heard above the band, more for our amusement than anyone elses, I nor anyone else around me pulled Lucas on the situation of queue jumping because in the circumstances of a heaving pub, several hours into hundreds of people drinking it would have possibly taken things in a direction it didn't need to go.

I thought about posting on here about it the following day, but wasn't that arsed, but then someone else mentioned his presence there so I thought I would elaborate.

Cue insults, hypocrisy and points scoring...(all around).

To be honest I have been visiting this board for 8 years and been a member for 6 and have never posted so much as on this thread now, or had this level of interaction with other members, as my post history will testify. I trust that given the level of response and lack of moderation that this is a good thing, but if you don't like outsiders coming on and promoting debates of this type just say so...However I would suggest that as some of you have gone to so much efforts in your posts as I have that you have actually enjoyed the direction this thread has gone in during the last 48 hours or so, regardless of wether you agree with what is being said?

I wouldn't want him back. Not because I dislike the guy, or because of the horrible treachery he committed (He raped infants IIRC. Or at least it'd seem that way from the way some people view him). No, simply because it wouldn't be value for money.

The DP bar rant was the funniest thing I've seen in a while though. Until the gem of a post containing this;

Judging from this I can only assume that you are in fact a big supporter of Lucas, and just ridiculing those who despise him? Because that's the only conclusion I can draw from the above.

Or perhaps you're not a fait with the unwritten etiquette of internet arguments but believe me, whoever first invokes the "You have no life, you sad little keyboard warrior" argument automatically loses. Both the argument and any credibility they might've had.

I am delighted that you once thought that I had some credibility...that means a lot. I must also admit that I am not au fait with the internet argument rule, being someone who does stray outdoors occasionally on warm days, of which I appreciate you may not get a lot of in your neck of the woods, but I do feel that I only made a point based on a personal observation and that the personal arguments were exacerbated by others to which I gleefully jumped on the bandwagon, being a fan of such script based duels.

I do find the basis of your conclusions a little tenuous but I believe in your right to air them, however bizarre they may be. Perhaps you should see if they offer evening classes in "Alternative conclusion drawing" in your native land? (Or perhaps you shouldn't?)

I also acknowledge with great delight that thenodrog has seemingly backed my corner a little with his "I take it you must struggle to 'get out' most nights too Lathund!" comment. This is what internet messageboards are all about to me, a little riposte and counter with an unseen twist etc. Admit it you have all enjoyed it. There is certainly no intent to be personal on my part, just enjoying the banter, but I apologise if anyone has interpreted my comments differently.

To get back to the original point, and at the risk of this thread losing all direction, I felt Neill made a bad football move by leaving Rovers for West Ham. I felt that his justifications for doing so were spurious at best and would have had more respect for him if he had have adopted a Harry Enfield "Loadsamoney" impersonation upon signing for West Ham, rather than spouting the transparent rubbish about football reasons for leaving our club.

I have never booed Lucas Neill as a Rover or a Hammer. I had no problem with him being in the Knowles Arms as such apart from him showing perhaps a little lack of humility in the circumstances. I would argue that anyone would be annoyed at the nature of how he excercised his celebrity to jump the queue.

It is also clear that as someone who is fairly neutral of opinion in the whole Lucashgate story I have managed to galvanise the "fors" and "againsts" to a degree which I find a little bit depressing after all this time.

All I can say is that from personal experience, Lucas Neill, footballer - not arsed either way...Lucas Neill, the man...bit of a tit.

I think "Gordon" had better take your advice DP m'kay. Then maybe some of the other members on here will follow suit...a bit like mentalist dominos! I cant believe people would actually stick up for "Lucash" like this m'kay. Where has the loyalty to our football club gone? I hope you can look yourself in the mirror TND m'kay? If you do i bet you can only see a reflection of "Lucash" yo

ur messiah. Im just going to apologise in advance Gordon...sorry for being childish m'kay?!

rover2u, I think some people stick up for Lucas purely to be controversial and to have an argument, possibly because they are uncomfortable with the prospect of having one face to face with someone in real life, or maybe they have had a bad day (life), who knows.

For example, in my recent post I stated that I had no real issue who Neill played for, but I felt it was his loss to go to an inferior club...his choice. What I did dislike was the arrogance he displayed last Sunday night in the Knowles, culminating in quite clearly using his fame to jump a very long and unhappy bar queue to get served quickly. The dim barmaid did know who he was and by the guilty look on her face knew she was doing something wrong as the rest of the punters looked on in disbelief.

Perhaps some individuals on here aren't au fait with the unwritten etiquette of queing but believe me, for those of us who do have a life away from starting arguments on this MB, hiding behind a keyboard, it is very annoying.

Of course very comment provokes a reaction, but I have noticed that to whatever degree one board member criticizes Neill, the defensive response is even more fiercely put. To me, unless some board members are closet West Ham fans, or part of the Neill family, the conviction behind these responses is more about having an argument than about actually representing their true feelings.

This is why you get frustrated grown men venting feelings about self esteem, drunkeness and childishness in response to quite straightforward posts.

Perhaps someone wanted to go out on Sunday night but wasn't allowed, I don't know, but I sense a lot of repressed anger on this board. Check the link I posted at the top of the page. People want to help.

So it wasn't the drink.

Ohhhh kayyy, seriously dude, let go... www.samaritans.org

'We'?

How childish and embarrassing! Since when has anybody's choice of workplace been anything to do with you or anyone else? I just hope for your own future self esteem that it was the drink that fomented the bravado and that you are feeling stupid now.

"We" a first person plural pronoun would be the definition I would use, but for your benefit "it wuz me un annuvver mate wot did it..."

It was bit of harmless fun, and if Mr Neill's choice of workplace wasn't up for debate then I very much doubt this thread would even exist. The same goes for all public figures, rightly or wrongly, it is just the way the world is. No grief was caused and I didn't see or hear any of the other possibly four or five people within earshot, including our financially endowed friend Lucas have any kind of problem with it. If the days of harmless banter are over then football grounds are only going to get quiter I would suggest.

I would argue that my "own future self esteem" is as intact as my present version, extraordinarily healthy and vibrant, and I am sure that I have rarely felt stupid, and expect it to be an infrequent, yet educational experience in the future.

I would however question the self esteem of somebody who can post such a scathing and ill-informed remark on the basis of very little provocation, which incidentally is something you appear to have made a habit of over the years. Starting your username with a lower case letter also suggests a lack of self confidence, not to mention the fact that I can clearly see the name "Gordon" written backwards in there somewhere too. But then again I have made a play on a Star Wars characters name for mine, so perhaps it is fair to suggest that you can't read too much into what someone posts?

There are a number of good counselling and self help services detailed within the Yellow pages I am led to believe...don't suffer in silence...

Regards,

luaphtrad

We managed a couple of Nani chants and One greedy etc etc chants which I know he heard over the band that was on. All a bit of fun really. No major problem with the guy apart from him using his fame to jump a long bar queue...he can play for whoever he wants to, clearly his loss, but I like to think we made him feel just a little bit uncomfortable, as is only right given the circumstances...

Cheeky b*****d indeed. He was in the Knowles Arms sauntering about as if he owned the place. Personally I wouldnt go drinking in a town where I have upset the locals when there are plenty of other places to go but I am a pretty live and let live guy so I didn't worry about it to much.

However what did annoy me was when the bar was about 3 deep with Bank Holiday punters awaiting a pint for about 15 minutes and our Aussie friend saw fit to get the attention of the dizzy blonde barmaid behind the bar and jump the queue, then gave her a £2 coin for her trouble. What a big spender, that must have made a dent in his wages, but he is lucky that no one gave him a good hiding for his trouble as it was fairly late on and most people had had quite a few. The barmaid wanting a word in her ear for that one as well.

What a muppet. If behaving like a knob over his Rovers transfer wasn't enough for me to dislike him, this act of pathetic celebrity certainly was.

I am in rant mode here about Eddie saying our side was put together quickly. I am sure he isnt being anti-Rovers at all but it just frustrates me:

Why do some people seem to think that our Title win was thrown together overnight at maximum cost? It is bad enough when ill-informed journalists and ignorant fans of other clubs do it but when of our own does it I am just baffled. I dont think our side was put together quickly at all. Exactly how long should a team be together before it is entitled to win something?

What constitutes "not buying" a title? Obviously people will point to the United side with all the youngsters that went onto success after we won it but just see how many examples you will find of that in the modern game.

Take a look at some of the players we had in the side the year we won the league and you can now see, especially after how the game has developed just what a good job Kenny did, and how it was nothing like the Fantasy Football Cash Splash that many would have liked it to have been to justify their jealousy.

I will try to be objective and detail not just the cases that prove my point, but here goes: (Try to think who these players were when we bought them, not what they became by achieveing success with the club).

Tim Flowers - signed the previous season, record fee for a keeper.

Henning Berg - signed 2 seasons earlier...complete unknown, fee of 0.5 million off the top of my head.

Graeme Le Saux - signed 2 seasons earlier...Chelsea (then a mid table club) reject.

Colin Hendry - purchased during promotion season 3 years earlier.

Tony Gale - ageing free transfer in Championship season.

Ian Pearce - unproven youngster, small fee.

Mark Atkins - been with the club since the eighties - transfer fee? About an average to decent players weekly wage these days.

Tim Sherwood - signed during promotion season and couldnt get a kick in the lower league but went onto be title winning captain.

David Batty - signed the year before, hefty fee but hardly played in title winning year at all due to injury.

Jason Wilcox - youth team player.

Stuart Ripley - singed 2 seasons earlier for a seven figure fee.

Alan Shearer - British record transfer fee 2 seasons earlier

Chris Sutton - British record transfer fee signed the season we won it.

Now the last two players stick out a mile for anyone who wants to say we "bought" the title, but look at the descriptions of nearly all the rest and it hardly constitutes an assembled at any cost, Harlem Globetrotter (or Chelsea) style team to conquer the world, does it.

Of course there were other players such as Warhurst, Kenna etc but the above examples give you an idea of what I mean. Berg, Le Saux, Hendry, Gale, Pearce, Atkins, Sherwood and Wilcox had all either cost little or nowt, or had at least seen life at the Club in a lower division prior to us winning the one above it. All of these players played a massive part in Rovers becoming the best team in England.

People like to think we splashed the cash but when you look at it that way, it really was an impressive effort to do what we did, in the way we did it. Yes we had Shearer, but other clubs have spent big and done less in the Premiership than we have, even excluding 94-95. Newcastle, Spurs, West Ham, Everton, Aston Villa etc are all great examples of that.

There are enough people out there who love to take things away from Rovers, we don't need our own fans knocking our achievements as well.