Couldn't agree more TDI (see - I can do it!). Incidentally, I bought Hard-Fi's album a while ago and it's really starting to grow on me. The single Cash Machine is a cracking tune.

Rang at 8:55 and was 8th in the queue. It was interesting to see that the away end was virtually full up at Boro on Saturday (or at least a lot fuller than last season). I'm sure there were plenty there making sure they had two stubs.

Ah. We're blaming him for shots that aren't his fault now are we.

Et tu Flopsy.

Got my tickets for the Friday confirmed a while ago. Both myself and Manc Blue should be there Paul.

You're just funny.

Boro have injury worries for the weekend. Link here This is a real chance for us. Let's just hope we're not too knackered after last night's efforts.

It was Todd he turned inside out, not Neill. Oops! That'll teach me to post before I've seen the highlights on tv.

To be fair, if we still had Ferguson I'm sure he'd have replaced Thompson and not Mokoena in last night's line-up. And I'm sure he'd have done a better job than Thompson (I think I could have last night!). I'd like to see Tugay in that position next time we play that formation. The team played well enough though to show that we should survive this season without Ferguson and then hopefully replace him in the summer.

Another day, another poorly thought out post about the crowd. How many more times are we going to have to go through this? First of all, Chelsea brought around a 1000 more than Colchester - it's always hard to judge but I'd agree with SG 194 and say about 3000. Secondly, there were certainly a lot of new faces near me last night which would suggest that they'd only come because it was Chelsea. But hasn't that always been the case? Back in the eighties we used to average crowds of less than 10,000, yet whenever we played a big cup game the crowd would swell to nearly double that. There will always be more people there at the big games - always has been, always will be. It's the same for every club. Thirdly, the attendance would have been much bigger if the game hadn't been on TV. I'm sure Chelsea would have brought more and I suspect there would have been more in the home areas as well. You seem to be the only person that can't see that the current level of TV coverage is contributing to the decline in attendances in the Premiership.

Good grief - what a pathetic post. Still, no surprise. Friedel's fundamentals (whatever they are) have been fine throughout his time at the club. He's had bad patches of form over the last two years, but he's also had many more games when he's been outstanding. He's currently in another bad patch. If that means he's been crap for ages in your opinion then that's up to you. I don't agree. Oh, and what does being a "Yank" have to do with it? You've got more chips on your shoulders than McCain's.

I'm not sure I ever gone into a game before feeling so defeatist. I really couldn't see how we were going to beat Chelsea, and I guess I was right to think that in the end, but boy we ran them close. If they have a harder 90 minutes than that between now and the end of the season I'll be surprised. We lined up in a 4-1-4-1 formation - Nelsen and Todd at centre-half, Neill & Matteo at full-back, Mokoena sat in front of the defence, MGP and Emerton out wide, Thompson and Savage in the middle, with Dickov up front on his own. The idea was obviously to pack midfield and stop Chelsea having the time to create. It worked well apart from one moment just after the start of the game. We'd looked quite good before they scored. However, Robben was then fed on the left and he ran at Neill, turned him inside out, and hit a low, hard shot across Friedel into the net. Friedel should have saved it. And that was as good as it got for Chelsea from an attacking point of view. For the rest of the first half we murdered them. Savage had a curling shot from 20 yards that just shaved the outside of the post with Cech beaten, Todd had a free header from a corner that he put wide when he really should have hit the target, Savage again had a snap shot from about 8 yards out that he skied into the stand with his left foot, and Savage (that man again) won a penalty that Dickov missed. Or rather Cech saved it but it wasn't the greatest penalty ever. These were all clear-cut chances and we should have scored at least one or two of them, just a lack of composure at the vital second let us down. In addition to the above, we created a number of half chances, got behind Chelsea on a couple of occasions, and won a number of free-kicks and corners that were mainly squandered. This was all achieved thanks to a level of commitment and work-rate I don't think I've seen in a Rovers side since the Championship team. Roared on by one of the best Ewood atmospheres I've heard for a while, we snapped into our tackles, closed Chelsea down all over the park, and geniunely got them rattled. They lost their composure and started to give the ball away at regular intervals. Unfortunately, we kept giving it them back. We effectively played Chelsea with 9 men in the first half as both Neill and Thompson put in possibly the most inept halves of football I've ever seen from them (a bold claim I know in Neill's case). Both were guilty of constantly misplacing passes and putting our team under pressure when it seemed there was no danger. Still, we were far and away the better team in the first half and were unlucky not to be at least level at half-time. You thought Chelsea would have to improve in the second half and, sure enough, they did. They worked harder to close us down and started to compete better. They also used the ball well and often kept possession for large periods of time, something that managed to kill the atmosphere and some of the Rovers' spirit. Without ever looking too dangerous they took control of the game and we never really got it back. After saying that though we still looked the more likely to score. MGP had a half chance that he blazed over and Nelsen met another corner with a free header but placed it well wide. In the main though Chelsea were happy to cling on to what they had and they looked comfortable. A late flurry at the death produced a couple of scrambles and handbags erupted in the Chelsea area but nothing came of it. I defended Friedel a month or two ago when people were giving him stick and I genuinely believe that the criticism was unwarrented back then. I can't defend him anymore though. He's been poor in the last few games and today he made two or three mistakes that could have led to more Chelsea goals. Hughes has to start thinking about dropping him. Our defence was solid again, with Todd and Nelsen looking outstanding. Nelsen in particular really caught the eye with his commitment and the way he commanded his areas - my man of the match. Matteo defended well in the main and wasn't too bad going forward either. But what about Lucas Neill? I'm getting bored of saying it now but what more does he have to do to get dropped? He lost Robben for the goal and then failed to pass to a fellow teammate for almost the entire match. He played like a clown. Mokoena looked really useful sat in front of the back four. He can pass well, he gets stuck in (a tad illegally at times!), and he wins more in the air than you'd think for someone of his height. Savage was fantastic. He worked his arse off as always and was involved in most of our more threatening moves. His run for the penalty in particular was superb. Quite how he wasn't booked I'm not sure, but frankly I don't care either. Thompson was awful. He gave the ball away constantly and always failed to play the simple pass. He was just a liability today and should have been subbed long before he was. MGP played well in the first half. He hugged the touchline and offered the team real width. He also outjumped his full-back throughout to set up some dangerous moves. He still doesn't get the ball into the box often enough, and he faded in the second half, but he continues to improve. Emerton had good moments but probably had more bad ones. Not one of his best games. Dickov was a constant pest in the first half and he really rattled Terry. However, I thought he was poor in the second 45 and didn't hold the ball up well enough, something that a lone striker must do. Overall I thought it was a terrific performance and I find it hard to understand some of the negativity on this thread. The only chance we had of beating Chelsea was to get in their faces, knock them out of their stride, and put pressure on them all over the pitch. We did it superbly in the first half and we were very unlucky not to be at least level at half time. Chelsea showed a touch of class in the second half to kill the game but their celebrations at the end showed how hard they had to fight for the three points. Their performance reminded me of the Rovers at Everton during our Championship run-in. We scored (twice) early on and then got battered, but held out through sheer determination and spirit to get the 3 points. Chelsea did the same tonight and I'm certain they'll go on now to win the league. As for us, anything we got tonight would have been a huge bonus, but we take real encouragement from the performance and the commitment we showed. The next two games are very winnable and, if we perform like we did tonight, then we should get at least 4 points. If.

unfortunately the Boat has closed down this season. Myself and a few other (unnamed) messageboard members checked it out last year and we paid £1 each to get aboard. All I will say is that you get what you pay for!! You should be ashamed of yourself.

Hang on though, you can't book someone for just talking to another player. There'd be no-one left on the pitch!

For what it's worth I think Rooney's brilliant and was very unlucky to be booked.

This could be a classic. Great touch from Rooney for United's goal.

Sense certainly had nothing to do with any of your posts on this thread.

Can't be arsed with your cheap digs. Some people talked sense on this thread and some didn't.

He did that the second he handed in a transfer request. The rest was just inevitable. It's gone very quiet from those who wanted Ferguson to stay hasn't it?

We already have Flitcroft fot that I thought you weren't posting anymore?

I'm sure he'll find the skill levels much higher in Scotland. Oh no, actually, he won't will he?

I admit there are some parallels, but at least Birmingham made a healthy profit on the player. In addition, Savage didn't drop down to a lower-level having failed to prove himself in the Premiership.

So, our captain has moved back to the comfort zone. No £8.5m fee, not even a £6m fee, no - a maximum of £5m. No lawsuits against Viola, Murray or Ferguson, no sacking of Ferguson's agent, no John Williams sticking to his guns. Looks like he blinked after all. Only one person to blame for all this - Barry Ferguson. He got his agent to engineer the move, he forced the Rovers into a corner by handing in a transfer request, he pathetically let his agent say that his family weren't settled, he's f***ed off halfway through a relegation battle, he's got what he wanted all along. Well, perhaps there's someone else to blame. The fee shows how ridiculous overpriced Ferguson was when Souness bought him. I get no pleasure from seeing Ferguson go. I didn't rate him as highly as some, but I was looking forward to seeing him partner Savage in our midfield. However, as soon as our soft ex-captain put in a transfer request the club were left with no option but to sell him. You simply can't have a highly-paid player in the club if he doesn't want to play for you. I'm not sure I've ever felt so much contempt for a Rovers player before. Barry Fergsuon is simply a spineless, selfish, manipulative failure. Good riddance.

We'll be lucky to get £5m imo.

You are sounding more like one of the more intellectually challenged members of this board all the time on this topic. Don't give a toss MB. I can't stand the tosser now and just want him to leave. Of course, I wouldn't expect you to agree. He could go the training ground and shoot all the other players and you wouldn't agree. If we get £6m i'll be disappointed but i'll be happy for the club to accept. I will not accept silly, childish knee-jerk reactions to the detriment of the club. Which bit is hard to understand. When will you get it into your thick head that he's not worth that much and that if we don't sell him now we'll be left with an unhappy, unprofessional player. Anyway, there's no point arguing with you - you can't be remotely objective about anything. He'll be gone by midnight anyway.