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.

Tickets should be distributed to season ticket holders who went to Cardiff first, then season ticket holders who've got two away stubs, then season ticket holders in general, then general sale. It's games like this that offer one of the few incentives to buy a season ticket for the Rovers.

The Dingles were confident the last time we played them in the outback. If you remember they were above us in the league at the time and were certain they'd beat us. Bless 'em.

Get the mincing Jock puff out the club asap.

If we bid £6m for Bellamy and get him it may just be the first time I've been excited about our team since Duff left. Go on Rovers!

A mite harsh perhaps! I think you showed your class at times, rather than us being particularly bad. Perhaps Matt but I thought you were poor today. I'm sure you can play better than that, you must have done to beat the teams you have this season, but today, as soon as the first goal went in, it looked like men against boys really. Good luck for the rest of the season and your support was fantastic.

Interesting team selection today. Usual back four, Tugay in to play the "Ferguson" passing midfield role, Thompson played in his proper position wide-right, and Pedersen up front with JJ. Does the absence of Ferguson mean that there are still moves afoot to take him to Rangers? Who knows. And no Jansen anywhere. Is he still injured? If not then surely that's the end of his career at the club. It was a bright start to the game and very open. We looked marginally the better team in the opening 20 minutes but both teams created decent chances and it could easily have been 1-1 or 2-2 before the first goal went in. And what a goal it was! A routine backpass by a Colchester defender was comically mis-kicked by their keeper and the ball rolled slowly into the empty net. Ok, the ball bobbelled, but not enough to excuse such a bad mistake. It was one-way traffic after that. The goal clearly effected Colchester and we started to control the game. A good move saw Pedersen play a clever knock back to the edge of the area where JJ finished with tremendous composure. 2-0 at half-time and looking as comfortable as we have all season. We started the second half brightly and it wasn't long before we got the third. A free-kick wide left was whipped into the near post by Savage and Matteo supplied a deft touch to steer it past a flat-footed keeper. For a while it could have been any score. Every time we attacked we looked threatening and it was only the lack of a killer final ball that stopped us increasing the lead. Stead came on for Pedersen with 20 minutes to go and did everything but score, but it wasn't to be. In the last five minutes Colchester, after some poor defending, probably had their best chance of the match but Friedel was equal to the shot. It's hard to judge our team today because Colchester resembled a pub team at times. Our defence was tight in the main, Mokoena defended well without looking totally composed, Todd looked class yet again, Neill defensively was sound but as shocking as usual going forward, and Matteo probably had his best game at left back for us. In midfield Savage was excellent and was probably my man of the match. He worked his socks off and allowed their midfield no time at all to create. Emerton looked top class and ran their left back ragged at times - but, yet again, his final ball wasn't always as good as it could have been. Thompson did some good things but gave the ball away a lot as well. To be fair to him I think he was feeling a kick on the ankle he received at around the half-hour mark. Tugay used possession well and was as effective as Fergsuon usually is. Up front, Pedersen was as physical as I've seen him but didn't really look like the answer to our striker problems. JJ took his goal well, dropped deep intelligently to link up play at times, showed a good touch and technique, but didn't look anything particularly special. He wasn't bad, but he wasn't great either. Early days for him though and his goal must give him confidence. Stead looked brilliant when he came on and was desperate to get a goal - he did everything but get one. Surely it's only a matter of time. Overall it was a good, thoroughly professional win against a poor lower division side. Roll on the the 5th round draw on Monday. Oh, and just for Rover6 (because I know he/she struggles to get to games) Danns did sod all.

Great rant Bryan and I agree wholeheartedly. Yet still people continue to support Ferguson on here. What more does he have to do?

Marvellously sarcastic.

So, what people are saying is, because Barry Ferguson is a moderately talented player who may help to keep us up we're supposed to ignore the way he's treated the club and fans. Basically, a player can do what he wants, can show as much disrespect to the club and the fans as he wants, as long as he's good enough to make a difference to the team. Well, I don't buy it. Get the soft Jock @#/? out of the club asap.

But I don't want Ferguson to stay ES. I won't boo him, I've never booed any Rover or ex-rover, but I can perfectly understand those that will. If it means that ferguson leaves then it'll be a job well done in my book.

Ah, it's all our fault now. Belt up.

It's certainly crossed my mind as well Theno, but I guess there's no way of proving it.

I'm not saying that only local lads should play, or that the players should show the same loyalty to the club as the fans. In fact I specifically said that I knew they didn't! What I'm saying though is that a player should at least treat the club and fans with a bit of respect, something that fergsuon has failed to do imo.

Of course, if you look at things in a totally rational, non-emotional manner then what Tashor says is right. But since when has football been a rational, non-emotional game? If it was surely we'd all support Chelsea. They win virtually every week, they look like they're going to win almost every trophy they're competing for, why support Blackburn when you could support a team like that. The reason people support Blackburn is all about emotions. It's about loyalty, community, passion, pride, sheer bloody-mindedness. That's what football's all about, that's what makes it such a great game. And make no mistake, football would be nothing without it's supporters. How interested do you think Sky would be in televising the game if every match was played in front of empty stadiums with no atmosphere at all? Anyway, back to the point. If Rangers don't meet the clubs valuation of Ferguson then we're supposed to simply welcome him back into the fold as if nothing has happened, and then look forward to him contributing towards the second half of our season. That's the rational thing to do. But where do we, as supporters, draw the line? This is our club captain we're talking about. Our captain has decided, halfway through a relegation scrap, that he'd rather play for Rangers than for us. Instead of talking to the Rovers management and board to try and work out a mutially convenient time for this move to take place, our captain has decided to take matters into his own hands. He's asked his agent to attempt to engineer a move and, when Rovers decided not to go along with the idea, he's slapped in a transfer request in an attempt to back the club into a corner. To make matters worse, he's allowed his agent to state that the reason he wants to move is because his family aren't settled in the area, despite saying the complete opposite in an interview less than a month before. I know there's no loyalty in football when it comes to the players. I know they don't feel the same way about our club as we do. I can handle it when a player wants to move to a different club in order to better himself, or because he's not getting a game here, or because he's fallen out with the manager, or because his family are genuinely unsettled. These are all situations that have happened in the past and I'm sure they'll happen again in the future. Ferguson's case is different though. I simply don't believe his family are unsettled, he's not moving to a better club, he's not moving to play more, and, as far as I know, he's not fallen out with anyone at Blackburn. No, Ferguson wants to move because he misses being a big fish in a small pond at Rangers. He wants to go back to the easy life where he gained the adoration of the crowd every week simply by playing at a decent level. In other words, he can't hack it down here, so he wants to go back home where he's loved more. So, as I said before, where do we draw the line? There's already a hundred reasons why the game at the highest level is becoming a turn-off. High prices, spoilt players, too much TV, uncompetitive leagues etc, etc, all serve to make it harder and harder to summon up the enthusiasm to support our team. Now we're being asked to support a player who has tried to force the club into selling him. Someone who's not remotely concerned about the effect that this may have on our club or on the fans. Someone who can't even be bothered to explain his actions to the fans as he knows it would only serve to weaken his own bargaining position. Someone who is only bothered about himself. If it turns out that Ferguson is still here after January then I'm sure he'll be back in the team. And while he'll get some stick at first, I'm also sure that that will diminish over time if he performs. And I suppose I'll hypocritically celebrate a goal scored by Ferguson just as much as a goal scored by any of the other players because I support the team and not the individuals. It doesn't make what Ferguson has done anymore right though. As I said before, I've lost all respect for him and I hope he leaves us asap. Yes, the club are doing well to get as much money as possible out of Rangers. But I'd still rather the club lost out on some money and got rid of Ferguson now than hang on to him for the rest of the season. I know it doesn't make sense from a business point of view, and I know it doesn't make sense from a footballing point of view, but at least the fans of Blackburn Rovers wouldn't be taken for mugs for the rest of the season. I'm sure I'll be accused of being over-emotional but, as I said before, where do you draw the line?

Ah MB, you're buying the "everything's not well at home" line. What am I saying, of course you are, Ferguson couldn't possibly do anything wrong could he? Three or four weeks ago Ferguson did an interview where he stated his family are settled and happy in the area and he's enjoying life at Blackburn Rovers. This is something that has been backed up by some of the Rangers posters who've come onto the board. Still, I guess something terrible could have happened in the last month...I guess. And why can't he wait until the summer until we're out of trouble? If, and it's a bloody big if, his family are unsettled then why doesn't he move them back up north but stay here until the summer? As for your little job scenario, his current job has far more prestige than his old one ever did. The trouble is, he's not as successful at it. Up there he's one of the best, down here he's just average. Up there he's not tested, he has an easy life where everyone adores him without him having to exert himself. Down here though it doesn't come as easy. He'd have to work hard to become as successful, to gain the same amount of adoration. Unfortunately though, he's not prepared to do that. That's why he's asked to leave, that's why he's got his agent to engineer a move, and that's why I've lost all respect for him and want him out of the club asap.

He's handed in a transfer request. What other info do you need? A simple no would have sufficed. Eh? Can you explain how Ferguson handing in a transfer request means he wants to play for us?

He's handed in a transfer request. What other info do you need?

I think people are massively over-estimating the difference Ferguson would have made to that performance against Bolton. True, we'd have been better off with him in there, but there was a lot more wrong than just us missing Ferguson. As for hoping Barry acts like a professional now, he's hardly acted professionally so far has he? First of all he gets his agent to engineer a move to Rangers behind Rovers back, and then he hands in a transfer request when Rovers decide not to play ball. All this by the club captain halfway through a relegation scrap. Are these the acts of a professional? Are they f***. Does anyone (apart from Philipl obviously) seriously believe we'll get more than £4m for him at any time in the future? Lets hope Nuclearsox is right and Rangers come in with a final, final bid.

Yeah, brilliant day. We're left with a player who doesn't want to play for us. Someone who will never be worth £6m+ however long we hold onto him. Still, no doubt the millions will be rolling in soon from Philipl's mythical court cases.

And how do we prove Ferguson's been "tapped up"? What exactly has Ferguson's agent done wrong over than perhaps giving his client bad advice? What exactly have Rangers done wrong? They've made a bid, we've turned it down, it looks like they're going to make another bid, we'll either turn that down or accept it. What's wrong with that? First you claim we'll get £8.5m for Ferguson - a figure that is frankly laughable, we'll be lucky to get half that - then you claim it's all Ferguson's agents fault, now you're claiming we can pursue some sort of legal claim against Rangers, or Viola, or both. Almost everything you've said on this thread is just crap. The fact of the matter is that our captain wants to move to Rangers so he got his agent to try and sort it out. As a result Rangers have made a bid and we've turned it down. Everything else is just you playing fantasy island.

More @#/?.

Let's just nip this one in the bud shall we before Philip uses it as yet another redundant argument in his Ferguson crusade. First of all, Ben Thatcher was signed for £100,000 - no £6.5m fees flying about here. Thatcher's house was indeed burgled twice during his stay in Manchester. Not surprisingly, his family got a tad peeved with this and decided they'd rather move back down south. Thatcher then held talks with his club and they agreed that he could have a free transfer in January. He didn't go against the wishes of the board or the manager, and he explained his situation fully to anyone who'd listen. I've no idea why his move to Fulham broke down but he will be welcomed back into the City squad because all the fans understand his reasons for wanting to leave and can sympathise with his situation. A totally different scenario to Barry Ferguson.

Well, that was as bad as anything we've seen down at Ewood in the last few seasons. We were just inept today. Ferguson didn't even make the bench which I guess means he'll be off soon. Good riddance to him. Savage replaced him in midfield and Bothroyd came in for the suspended Dickov. Otherwise it was the same team that played so badly against Cardiff. We managed to play worse tonight. We just couldn't pass the ball. It's easy to say we missed Ferguson, and we definately did, but that doesn't excuse the amount of shocking passing that was on display today. Bolton, in contrast, kept the ball well in the first half but failed to threaten Friedel's goal. In fact, in what was possibly the dullest half of football I've seen for a long time, the only shot of note was a decent effort from Neill that their keeper did well to palm round the post. The only other notable events in the half were bookings for Diouf and Savage. Half-time was a welcome relief. The second half wasn't much better. Again, we couldn't pass the ball, we created nothing, and the game carried on in its scrappy, dull manner. We did at least defend fairly well and snuffed out what little threat Bolton possessed. Right up until they scored that is. A good ball saw Diouf running clear one-on-one against Friedel. Friedel dived for the ball, missed, but also didn't make contact with the player either. Diouf ran on another pace and then fell as if a sniper had just taken him out from the back of the Riverside stand. Surely a sending off we all thought? But no, the ref thought differently and awarded Bolton the softest of penaltys. We thought justice had been done when Friedel saved Diouf's spotkick but sadly the ball rebounded straight back to the theatrical gobber who finished clinically into the roof of the net. We hadn't looked like scoring all night and this didn't change once we fell behind. Both Bothroyd and Gallagher had been replaced by Stead and Johnson early in the second half but nothing changed. The game petered out and Bolton got a completely undeserved three points. Let's start at the front. Tonight Bothroyd put in one of the worst centre-forward performances it's ever been my misfortune to see from a Rovers player. He looked lazy, he didn't compete for a single ball, his first touch was pathetic, he didn't make a single run into space, and I can't remember him winning a header. He was simply disgraceful. Gallagher wasn't much better but at least he looked like he was trying. Stead came on and showed the first touch of a brick wall. Only JJ showed any sort of touch and quality on the ball - he could be a player that lad. Our midfield worked hard but were terrible in possession. Savage put himself about, ran his socks off to close Bolton down, walked a tightrope with the referee, but didn't do anything spectacular with the ball. Thompson looked lost at times, he never has been, and he never will be, a central midfielder. He just doesn't have the necessary discipline, strength or passing ability. Emerton looked dangerous but didn't supply many final balls. MGP didn't look dangerous and didn't supply any final balls. He did compete a lot better than he has in the past though. Defensively we were sound, Todd stood out as usual, but both full-backs were awful going forward. Friedel was unlucky with the penalty and had nothing else to do. All in all that was as bad as we've been under Hughes and we were back to relegation form. We need to replace Ferguson, we desperately need new forwards, and we need Dickov back.

All of that post Philip ranges between idle speculation and plain @#/?. If Ferguson is fit then presumably he's available for selection. If he's not selected it'll be the managers choice - no breach of contract at all. How are we going to prove that ferguson's been tapped up. And morally, we're in no position to judge after what happened with Savage. Viola has done nothing illegal at all. He may have given Ferguson bad advice but that's not punishable in a court of law as far as I know. Not only are you obsessed with this whole mess, you've started dreaming up imaginary scenarios. I hope they're keeping you entertained because you're starting to look slightly deranged.