How funny is that site. She doesn't put her neck on the line often does she. If you gave me two choices for results on any match I'm sure I could get 80% right. She cleverly stated that the Arsenal Spurs game could be a draw or Arsenal could win...... not really saying a lot is it.

We'll nick Dunny back on the cheap when the big club get relegated. Does anyone know how long he has left on his contract. It would be interesting if he only has a year or so left at the end of the season.

I thought Sutton only played for the B team (well he was asked to play but refused). He could be one of them.

First time I have been on line since my trip to Villa, nice to see a few familiar faces and a couple of new ones too. First half was absolutely shocking, no positives at all and I suppose the only good news was that we were only 1-0 down at half time. Sav's corners were pretty ordinary and I agree with others on here who have mentioned the daft short corner thing. We all know MGP can head a ball so what's the point of having him out with Sav helping him to get an extra yard away from the byline. Thought Save was pretty average to be honest. Kuqi needs a goal, just needs one to bounce in off his arse or something. It was a poor miss to be fair. Had a good day out all in all, despite the quality of the game. At least the cricket was good.

If anyone wants to come and say hello I'll have my CLARKE 9 shirt on.

I'm going to this one, first match of the season. looking forward to seeing a few familiar faces. I'm not going to make a prediction as i always get it wrong. could be tricky with baros making his debut

We cant't drop Tugay after THAT goal on the weekend. I expect us to play with the same formation allowing Tugay to have a free role in the middle of the park. The biggest battle of the day will clearly be between Sav and Davids, whover wins that battle could easily win the game for their team. Wouldn't be at all surprised to see one of them get a red card to be honest, neither will be likely to back out of a challange. I expect Sav to to take Davids out (in the way Davids nailed Parlour) in the first 5 minutes of the game. I hate this fixture, purely because all of my family are Spuds fans and obviously I mouthed off quite a bit after the cup final win, since then our record against Spurs hasn't been that great and I have taken qite a bit of stick.

If it's quite alright I think I'll wait for Lee to get back from the press conference before believing anything.

Welcome to the site Kimberley.

Just had my brother on the phone, it's definately not down to a power surge. He is working near one of the stations and said that he has heard a few loud bangs. He is basically crapping himself at the moment. He's just jumped in the van and trying to get out of central London

Enjoyed it guys. Might need a few more friendly games and then maybe we could put some cash on the table. I was thinking if we could get 10 of us around the table and put a fiver in each it would be a nice pot if the winner takes all. Also be a fairly cheap evening.

I just lost $1000 might come back in later with some more cash if you guys don't mind. otherwise I will wait until the next game.

I will play tonight. Free from around 7-00 - 7.30 for as long as Kirsty will let me play for.... let me know what time you guys want to start and I will be there. Be good to play a few practice hands to get me back into it. I havent played for a couple of years.

I'll probably see you in there Manc Blue. I will drag Spurs supporting father in Law in there too. Sounds like all the TV screens are in the Lounge so I guess I will make my way in there.

I'll be at this one, although unfortunately I will be in the Spurs end with Mrs Ricky's Spurs supporting dad. If anyone has any suggestions of a meet up I will be up for it. I'm staying in London on Saturday night so I will be around for a beer on Sunday Lunch Time.

ben, as you can see I have posted that I have taken some posts off. Like we said if you don't want to join in don't bother. Just read the introduction which states this quite clearly

Just done a bit of pruning. Lets keep it on topic. For those who don't want to post sensibly and on topic, don't bother posting at all.

Zinedine Zidane, what sort of name is that. Not really heard much about him. Think Flitcroft would be a good signing

I bow to your superior knowledge Clare..... looks like there will be no England tickets on sale during the second phase

Clare, I thought it was just saying that the tst's available during the first ballot had sold out, I'm sure they allocate more for the second round of ticketing.

Welcome to the MB Steve. In the past we have had a very succesful relationship with fans from Genclerbirligi from Turkey, who we played in a UEFA cup tie. We arranged to play a friendly game at Brockhall (Blackburns training ground) and had a fantastic evening with them. I'm sure the people who arranged that would be more than happy to arrange something similar, especially if it results in a return visit to Belgium. I'm sure they will post on here in time, but to start with there is a starlodge opposite ewood park called the fernhurst which is about £45 a night for a twin/double room.

Next ticketing session starts on 2nd May on a first come first served basis.

Waggy, neither me or my brother were succesful. Have to wait for the next round of ticketing.

I have good memories of Martin Dahlin after we thumped Villa away (again). I was hanging about after the game waiting to get a few autographs on my Programme and he came past, I give him a quick shout and he came and signed my Programme. Most of the players had already got on the coach to leave and I said to him that I had missed most of the players, he grabbed my pen and programme, went onto the bus and got the rest of the team to sign it. Always thought he was a good bloke after that.

Rovers gained a valuable 3 points which put them 11 points off the drop zone and lifted them to 12th in the league (above Newcastle and Birmingham). The following match report was written by Scotty, a messageboard member. After the hysterical media outbursts following our semi last Saturday it was always going to be interesting to see how the team reacted tonight - they'd either be fired up by the criticism or they'd be bogged down by it. But this is the new Rovers under Hughes and we really shouldn't have doubted them. Their character shone through and we thoroughly deserved the win. Stead came in for Dickov as expected but Savage in for Flitty was a surprise, and not a nice one as it turned out. Other than that though we lined up the same as we did at Cardiff. The scare stories about Andy Johnson not being fit for Palace proved to be untrue. We started the game well and created chances right from the off. We were quicker to every ball, passed the ball better than Palace, pressed them into mistakes all over the pitch and really should have scored. MGP swung in a series of dangerous looking corners, one of which Stead got his head to and brought a smart save out the pyjama-wearing Palace keeper. Nelsen was also left free from a free-kick but hit the outside of the post when he really should have done better. Those were the two most gilt-edged chances but there were other half-chances in an opening 25 minutes that we totally dominated. However, slowly but surely Palace started to come back into it, we started to lose possession too often as Palace increased their work-rate, and the half was petering out towards a stalemate. Right on the stroke of half-time though we won a free-kick wide on our left, Savage swung a superb ball in towards the edge of the 6 yard box, and Pedersen just about got enough on it to send the ball in off the underside of the crossbar. A goal we deserved for our earlier efforts, but it hadn't looked like coming. Savage was replaced by Tugay at half-time. Whether that was down to injury or the fact that Savage was one foul away from a red card is anyone's guess. I thought we played really well in the second half. Palace had to come out and attack us and we took advantage of the extra space available, only poor finishing let us down. I lost count of the number of good chances we spurned - not half-chances but really good clear-cut opportunities to score - but in the end it didn't matter. Of the one's I can remember, Matteo hit the side-netting when it looked easier to score, Reid missed a sitter of a header from a glorious Emerton cross, Emerton brought a good save out of their keeper with a low shot to the far post, Stead failed to control a great through ball that would have put him clean through, Reid ran clear through on goal for half the length of the field only to be let down by a heavy final touch, and Stead hit the keeper with a poor finish when one-on-one at the death. There were probably more and if we'd scored six Palace couldn't have complained. At the other end Palace hardly offered a threat. Our defence coped easily with Johnson's pace and driving runs, and only Routledge looked capable of creating anything for the visitors. I think Friedel had to make two saves all match and they were both fairly comfortable ones. All in all it was as convincing a 1-0 win as you're likely to see. We looked a decent team and Palace looked like a team going down. Our defence was superb yet again. Friedel didn't have much to do but did what he had to well. Nelsen was as strong and composed as we've come to expect, Todd was excellent in everything he did and received a huge ovation from the crowd before, during and after the match. Matteo struggled at times with Routledge but did well in the main, and Neill had another good game. In fact, Neill's had a few good games recently (Cardiff excepted) and is starting to look more like it. Savage was fairly awful today. He didn't look fully-fit to me and he mis-timed challenge after challenge. He deservedly got booked for one of the "tackles" and then could easily have been sent off minutes later. He also wasted possession on a number of occasions. In fact, about the only thing he did right was put in an excellent cross for the goal. Reid carried on his recent good form but really should have scored a couple. Pedersen was dangerous on set-pieces but, yet again, didn't do too much in general play. But, yet again, he scored the winner so how can you be critical? I'd say he's got to be doubtful for Saturday though judging by the way he was limping around at the end. I thought Emerton had a really good game and tore Palace's left back apart at times. His runs actually had an end product most of the time tonight. Mokoena did his job as well as ever, and Thompson got a run out towards the end but didn't have much chance to make an impact. Up front I thought Stead was superb, my man of the match. He worked his socks off, his running off the ball was always intelligent and dangerous, his control and touch were excellent as he held the ball up when we needed him to, he won a lot in the air and showed a strength I wasn't sure he had, and his passing was spot on. The only thing lacking was a finish and you could tell he wasn't happy as he left the field at the end. If he keeps playing like that though the goals will come. Blackburn: Friedel, Neill, Todd, Nelsen, Matteo, Mokoena, Emerton, Savage (Tugay 45), Reid, Pederson (Thompson 75), Stead. Subs not used: Flitcroft, Enckelman, Gallagher Palace: Kiraly, Butterfield (Popovic 76), Hall, Sorondo, Borrowdale, Routledge, Leigertwood, Hughes, Kolkka (Soares 45), Johnson, Freedman (Torghelle 60) Subs not used: Speroni, Shipperley