More press: Jack Straw Alistair Campbell Mark Hughes

I'm sure Hughes and his staff are professional enough to do the correct amount of homework. If we lose it won't be down to lack of preparation. Anyway, what am I saying - we won't lose.

Yet another well formed argument to prove that I am wrong. Yes, 90% of it its derby rivalry, but some is the fact they they are pushing for the title. Ah, so it's gone from half to 90% in the space of a few minutes! Religion has a huge part to play in the rivalry and the two clubs support is not restricted to just Celtic or Rangers areas. For example, half of Ireland support one of the two clubs.

Some people fail to get sarcasm etc and take it all to heart it just a case of people airing and justifying their opinions. Trust me streaky, it "got" Bryan's sarcasm (if that's what it was). It just annoyed me that, for the first time in ages, we get a decent thread on here that's raising some good points and issues and someone comes along with a throwaway line to have a dig. Just like you did.

I think you've hugely simplified the attendance problem streakyb but that's probably for another thread (and has been done to death over the years on here). For what it's worth, I'm not too arsed about the salary's of Williams and Finn. What I will say though, in fact what I've already said, is that for the first time since they joined I'm starting to question their methods. They've got one or two things wrong recently and, more worringly, they don't seem to have a strategy to improve attendances.

I think that, in the main, the points people have raised are worth raising and are far from moaning and groaning. And all streakyb seems to be doing is towing the company line without really thinking too deeply about the problems. People have a right to criticise the club if they feel the need. They may be wrong to do so in some cases, but to just dismiss all criticism as moaning and groaning just lowers the standard of the debate.

I think that religion had a part in the early days but now its not the main factot. Firstly, If there is still a religous divide between the clubs this is down to the areas they draw their support from. Not a case of I am Catholic so will support one not the other. You support Celtic because you live in a celtic area not due to you religon. I also feel half of the rivalry now between these clubs is not derby rivalry. It is the same that exists between ManU and Arsenal. the are the only real challengers for the title so this is also a big part of the derby atmosphere. No offence mate but that's just @#/?.

First of all, thanks once again to Philipl for providing us non-accounting folk with a lowdown on what the accounts are saying. I know that if I looked directly at our accounts I wouldn't have a clue what they meant! The problem is though that sometimes it's difficult to work out what's fact and what's Philip's interpretation of the facts. A few points / questions. This is the sort of statement that winds me up more than anything on this messageboard. Without getting into a huge debate again, let's just say I don't agree. The club are an entertainment business and we are not morally obliged to turn up no matter what. It's up to the club to make it worth our while. Could you let me know just how much the trust are giving us each year please Philip? And am I right in thinking that by converting £14m of loans into shares we have effectively wiped out £14m of our debt? If so, how much is the club's debt now? I don't understand how you've reached this conclusion (I'm sure it's just me being thick). Please could you explain further? Well, I'm not sure I agree. I used to think the board were doing a fantastic job, and they probably still are, but a couple of recent things have led me to question them a bit. The sacking of Tony Parkes was handled appallingly, the communication between the club and its supporters regarding matters such as ticketing and merchandise is poor at best, and the constant public moaning by John Williams about our attendances suggests he and the board don't have the necessary nouse and innovation to try and turn this trend around. I'd be interested to hear why Jan wasn't as impressed as Philip. Had Duff not been sold our league position would have been better, we may have generated more money from the cups, we'd probably get higher attendances, and we'd have a huge asset on our books.

An interesting piece here from The Guardian: linky-link I especially like the honours comparison at the bottom.

We're better than them. 2-0 Rovers.

I've chatted to Gav a couple of times since he started working in Burnley, and what came across each time was how much he loves the place and its inhabitants. So much so in fact that on one occasions he declared himself a fully-fledged dingle. Debs must get the ticket.

What do we wear when we play teams with blue and red like Palace The same kit that we played in against Palace away this season - Blue & White halves.

Can we not just start a Muse thread then Dan can continue to w@nk over his precious band on his own while the rest of us talk about music?

Have you really always thought that, or did you start thinking it when I suggested it a year or so ago on this board. As I said before, we should have 3 kits: one blue & white halves, one red & white halves and one red & blue halves.

Interesting team news today. I knew we'd switch to 4-4-2 but to see Gallagher come in to play with Dickov and Neill dropped for Nelsen was a surprise. No problem with dropping Neill but where's Stead? In addition, Nissa came in for the presumably injured Matteo. We rode our luck in the first half. We started sluggishly and Norwich were probably the better team in the first 20 minutes or so. They actually managed to string 3 or 4 passes together whereas we couldn't find a shirt. Huckerby was given a gilt-edged chance by our defence - fortunately he blazed his shot miles over. We were struggling then but, against the run of play, we scored! A cross-field ball from the right-back (Nelsen) - a tactic we've started using in the last few matches - found Pedersen on the left-wing. He nodded the ball past his too tight full-back and smashed the ball into the net with his wrong foot. Norwich's keeper Green perhaps should have saved it at his near post but our Morten hit it well. Despite the goal we still looked nervy and disorganised in defence and Norwich created a couple of clear-cut chances that they manged to miss. First Huckerby found himself clear on the left and his low cross was miss-hit by Brennan. Then Ashton was played clean through and his shot was well saved by Friedel. We reacted by scoring again. Pedersen took a free-kick about 25 yards out and Green made a good save to push it out for a corner. MGP curled the corner in towards the goal and Dickov met the cross with the deftest of near-post headers to score. Great goal for us - terrible goal to concede from a Norwich viewpoint. 2-0 at half-time and I'm not sure we really deserved it. We looked nervy at times and Norwich probably had better chances than us. Still, we scored and they didn't. Neill came on for Mokonena at the start of the second half meaning Nelsen moved inside to centre-half and Neill played at right-back. We totally controlled the second half. It was men against boys. Give our team confidence and we're so much better than our league position shows. Norwich just failed to compete and our midfield started looking like the Harlem Globetrotters at times. A poor ball by Ashton went straight to Thompson who fed Gallagher, who laid it off to Dickov, who hit a decent shot straight at Green, who threw the ball in the net! It could have been any score after that. Todd, Reid, Gallagher, Tugay (twice), and Savage all had chances to increase the lead but failed to do so. No-one cared. Fridel had a quiet game, made one good save, and his "fundamentals" seemed ok to me. No doubt someone will be on here soon though to blame him for the third-world debt or the continuing troubles in Iraq...or something. Our defence was all over the place in the first half. I really want to like Mokoena - he's got pace, he's enthusiastic, he's athletic, he's committed, but he lacks composure. He's still young but he seems too nervy to play in the centre of our defence at the moment. He needs a commanding centre-half next to him and Todd really isn't that. Mokoena and Nelsen may work, Mokoena and Todd doesn't. Nelsen at right-back didn't really work. He can get away with it away from home because he doesn't have to use the ball as much but today he did and he used it badly. He looked top quality at centre-half in the second half - him and Todd have got to be given time to form a partnership because they look really good together at the moment. Nissa looked as good defensively as Matteo does, but looked a lot better going forward. Nissa must keep his position. We won the game today in midfield. Tugay was fantastic. I've said before that if you give Tugay time and space to play he's one of the best passing midfielders in the country. Norwich closed him down in the first half but left him alone in the second. As a result, Tugay was ok in the first-half and classy in the second. He passed as well as any of our players have done this season and formed a good combination with Savage. Can he still do it against a competetive midfield? I guess we'll see next week. Emerton was poor by his standards this season but I guess he's got the internationals as an excuse. MGP was excellent. He'd done nothing for twenty minutes before he won a header on the left, beat his full-back to the bouncing ball, and lashed the ball into the net with his right (wrong) foot. After that he was a man inspired. His corner created our second goal, but it was his free-kick that created the corner in the first place. He looked confident in possession, his set-pieces were a threat the whole game, and he's certainly got an eye for goal. The problem he may have now is that the whole Premiership will know about him. Can he adapt? A tribute to Robbie Savage. He wasn't fit when he started. After about ten minutes he went in for a tackle that obviously caused him pain - and he was less fit after that. At times in the second half he looked like he could hardly walk let alone run, yet he still managed to run the midfield for the whole time he was on the pitch. What a player we've got. The man may not win friends but he's a real winner and his commitment is second to none. I'm genuinely proud to see him in the shirt. The guy's class. Man of the match for me. We were poor up front. Gallagher didn't do much all game apart from a late chance and Dickov wasn't much better. Both forwards failed to hold the ball up or link up play together until the latter stages - yet Dickov scored twice so how can you slag him off? We won today which was great but we shouldn't get too carried away. Norwich could, and should, have been ahead in the first half and it was only the difference in finishing that separated the teams at half-time. We controlled the second-half though and looked a class above Norwich. Which is why I think we'll stay up. We can battkle when we have to, we can fight with the best, but we can also out-football the likes of Norwich. We'll be fine - bring on the Dingles.

Just been listening to Athlete's new album - good stuff. The single Wires has to be one of the most beautiful songs of this or any other year. Also, finally, got the Zutons album - got to listen to it lots before I go and see them next month.

Ah I see, so conveniently dodging the trophy argument you resort to the glory-hunter attack. Well, can't get me there I'm afraid. Been supporting Rovers since I was 7, and I'm 33 now. Never seen us lose to Burnley in that time. Never seen Burnley win a meaningful cup in that time. Only seen two seasons in that time when you finished above us in the league. I'd be surprised if you had a bigger average attendance for the season during that time but I await your response with baited breath.

Marvellous. Our resident Yorkshireman rises to the bait like a good un. Will you still be here if we beat you in a week or so? No, didn't think so. As for talking @#/? - I got the year wrong. How dare I! Please forgive me. Of course, I'm forgetting you support a "massive" club - don't know why I'm arguing really, your trophy cabinet shows who's the better team doesn't it? Oh, then again. it doesn't! Pay homage inbred.

Looked it up and it was December 27th 1982. I was older than I thought! Might not have been my first away game after all. According to "East Lancashire Derbies" the Rovers team that day was: Gennoe, Branagan, Rathbone, Randall, Mail, Fazackerley, Miller, Hamilton, Bell, Garner, Brotherston.

it must have been 82/83. The next nearest Rovers win at the Turf was 77/78 but that was the 2-3 mentioned earlier on this post. As for been back ever time you've played us since - well that would be once then. Now you talk about the somewhat muddled memory of Burnley fans for the gates - now you are trying to say half the home stands were filled with Rovers as well? Do me a favour And a perfectly innocent post gets twisted into an attack by our dingle friend. Bless him. We've played each other at least once in the Manx Cup I seem to remember. I was only talking about the stand I was in, I've no idea about the others. I'm all for banter mate but you're crap at it!

My first ever away game was at Burnley. I think it was around 1979/80 when we won 1-0 with a Garner goal (someone correct me if I've got the year wrong). I was only 8 or 9 and went with my dad who insisted on sitting down, so we sat with the Burnley fans in what now is the away end stand behind the goal. I can remember feeling a tad worried about this even at that age. But, when we scored, we couldn't help but jump up, and I was amazed to see that about half the stand also jumped up as well! God knows how many Rovers fans made the journey over that day but it was a lot more than those who were in the away end. Anyway, I've been back whenever we've played Burnley since and it's always a cracking atmosphere. And I really shouldn't say this but I've never seen us get beat. Long may it continue.

Such a long post Theno and you've not made a single coherent argument in it. Just the usual rantings of a selfish fool trying wind people up. First you try and influence club staff to change the published ticketing system to your favour. Sod the rest of the poor fans who've actually stuck to the rules. What a lovely chap you must be. Then you suggest the most loyal BRFC fans, those that regularly travel away as well as going to all the home games, should possibly miss out on tickets. Up and down the country football clubs allocate away tickets based on loyalty and attendance but no, we should do it differently because Theno doesn't like it!

We haven't decided anything imo, it's just that the creative players we have are off form at the moment. Emerton's done nothing the last few games, Thompson's been a liability recently and Pedersen, after starting to look like a player, went back to his old anonymous self on Saturday. Add to that Dickov looking unfit and the rest of our strikers being, I'll be kind, inconsistent then it's no wonder we're not the best to watch at the moment. But we are staying in games thanks to our work-rate and effort, and we'll have to keep doing that until one or two of our more creative players starts to show some form again. A few weeks ago we were on a decent run and their wasn't many complaints about how attractive our football was then. Now we've lost the last three, undeservedly on at least two occasions, people are moaning. Win on Saturday and everyone'll be happy again.

We simply haven't got the players to be an attractive football team and stay up. At the moment it has to be one or the other. Personally, I couldn't give a monkeys what anyone else thinks of us as long as we do stay up. Assuming we do then Hughes's biggest task will be to improve the team over the summer. A lot of players will be leaving, at least 5 are out of contract I believe plus I'm sure more will be sold, and we have to replace them with more quality. Maybe then we'll start playing some proper football. This season was always going to be a dogfight given the squad we started it with and the good news is that we are, in the main, fighting well now. Which is why I'm confident we'll stay up.

I loved Garner & Jansen but Southworth achieved more.