"Screened the defence?" Sounds like footballese for Flitcroft's usual trick of standing around doing bugger all. Still, what do I know? There's only Scotty on this board sufficiently qualified to pass judgement on a player's ability!. I just tell it like I saw it Rev. Unlike others who seem to make their mind up before the game.

I seem to remember you subscribing to the "let's not blame Souness for anything" school of thought - something that was a daft at the time and now looks completely ridiculous.

Good grief. It's depressing reading the total bollux spoken by the many numpty's on here who haven't been to the game. We were the better team today. We were solid at the back, controlled midfield for large periods, and attacked well down the flanks. We weren't brilliant, our current squad is long way from being brilliant, but we were better than Palace which is encouraging. Our finishing let us down though. Dickov, Neill, Short and Ferguson all had good chances to score and none of them did. If one of them had we'd have got the win we deserved as Palace hardly offered a threat. Matteo, despite what chief numpty Ewood Dream says, was solid at left back and snuffed out any threat from Palace's winger. Short and Todd coped admirably with Johnson. Neill actually looked like a player again. And my man of the match was Flitcroft, who I thought screened the defence superbly throughout. He didn't offer much going forward but that wasn't his job today, his job was to stop Palace creating and he performed it excellently. Thompson, like many a player before him this eason, needs severe punishment for his petulance that could have cost us late in the game. That aside though it was a decent performance and a hard-fought point. We're certainly more solid now and we don't look like a soft touch anymore. However we're still lacking a cutting edge, something that I hope Hughes can sort during the transfer window.

I think Hughes isn't playing MGP because he doesn't want to trigger an appearance fee. Naughty Hughes, naughty. Smack botty.

The Cherry Tree opposite Norwood Junction. We can move on to others if it's crap. Plus it's only 10 minutes away from London Bridge.

As there isn't a Palace entry in the Away Guide yet I guess this will have to go in here. Has anyone got any recommendations for pubs? There seems to be a lot of choice - See Here for more details.

Similarly, you could remember that Short came nowhere near tackling anyone in the lead-up to the goal. Todd makes the odd mistake but, just like most of last season, he's come in and looked our most solid, consistent defender.

He hasn't been in the last few games.

Amoruso, Gresko, Jansen, Flitcroft, Tugay, De Pedro, Douglas, Short, Johansson, Matteo, Danns, Yelldell. Any of them can go for me. Wouldn't be too bothered if any of the others went either as long as better players came in.

Ball-winning defensive midfielder. Centre-forward.

All those slagging off Nissa are forgetting how well he played at Fulham. Away from home, when the onus is on the home team to attack, Nissa can do a job defensively better than anyone else at the moment. It's at home when he becomes a problem because that's where we need our full-backs to join in the attack and pressurise the opposition. Nissa can't do that. In summary - away, Nissa good - home, Nissa bad.

I've a feeling we'll take more than usual to Cardiff. The FA Cup always brings out a few extra and the fact that it's somewhere a lot of us will never have been to before (I haven't been) will bring even more out. I'd guess at least 2000 and it wouldn't surprise me if it was more.

Big, big game for us this one. If you look at our next four fixtures after Palace they're all against teams in the top half. We need something from this game - and I think we'll nick it 1-0.

This article states that the next TV deal isn't going to be worth anywhere near as much to the clubs as the current one. Observer article Finally, it looks like the Premiership clubs are going to have to look at cutting their wage bills in order to survive.

I've applied for tickets on the same day Paul. Not sure when I find out if I've been successful - here's hoping.

You're a Spurs fan, you should be happy.

After the Lord Mayor's Show - a reality check for all those who thought we might hit mid-table or above at the end of season. Make no mistake, we're in a dogfight right to the death. We kicked-off with the same team that won so well down at Fulham. Yet those very same players seemed to lack the drive, tenacity, and commitment that they showed at Fulham. Surely a team placed 17th in the league can't be complacent and arrogant? We started sluggishly and Spurs contained us easily in the first half. However, Tottenham didn't seem that bothered about attacking and they left it to their lively forwards to create the few chances they had. In what was a dire half of football, each team only really had once chance of note - Todd volleying over for us, Defoe bringing a smart save out of Friedel for them. We started the second half well. A good move fed the ball from the left to Gallacher in the box. His first touch, turn and shot deserved a goal but Robinson made a cracking save. That was as good as it got for us. We had plenty of possession but we failed to convert it into chances, and it was no surprise when Spurs caught us on the break and scored. Ferguson gave Tugay a hospital pass deep in our half. Brown tackled Tugay, ran away from him with ease, ran 50 yards unopposed, brushed off Johansson when one of our players decided to make a challenge, and laid the ball back to an untracked Keane who finished easily. We never looked like coming back. You can talk about our improved fitness all you want but if the team aren't prepared to put the effort in and play the game at a high tempo then it means sod all. We're a poor team, there's no getting away from it, and the only way we're going to get enough points to stay up is by working our socks off and negating the opposition's better quality with our higher work-rate. We couldn't be arsed today. I can only think that the team thought it was easy after winning last week. The gulf between the forwards of the two sides was stark today. Gallacher was awful in the first half. His first touch was poor, he was easily brushed off the ball, and his passing was inept. Dickov wasn't much better. He worked hard as ever but he lacked quality and failed to link up with any of his strike partners. Only Bothroyd looked anything like good enough - and he wasn't great. In contrast, Tottenham's forwards were superb. They found space expertly, turned our defenders with ease, and linked up together in a real partnership. Still, as Manchester Blue pointed out on the way home, I guess that's the difference between a forward line that cost £150k compared to a forward line that cost £10m+. Tugay and Ferguson looked good on the ball but, yet again, they were found wanting in defence. Tottenham's goal came because: 1) Ferguson played a crap ball to Tugay, and 2) Tugay didn't dare tackle Brown because he'd been stupidly booked 10 minutes earlier. Neither midfielder ran back quick enough to effect the outcome. Special mention for Thompson as well who was, quite frankly, sh1te when he came on. He seemed to think he could win the game on his own and sod the team. He needs a kicking. Spurs worked us out. They realised that most of our good play recently had stemmed from the flanks so they doubled-up on Emerton and Reid and effectively marked them out of the game for large periods. Our trouble is that we don't have a plan B when this happens. When our work-rate isn't high, when our key players are either off-from or tightly marked, then we revert back to the team Souness managed for the last year. Lots of huff and puff but no quality and no creativity. Our defence did ok really but we still conceded a goal. Nissa can do a job at left back away from home because we don't need him to attack then. At home though, especially when we're up against a team who are defensively-minded like Spurs today, we need full-backs who can support the wide men and offer a threat. Nissa can't do that. Neill did the hard work of running with the ball to the edge of the Tottenham area but then gave it away when it seemed easier to find a shirt. Short and Todd did ok but both of them look happier when they're in a physical battle. Today they were up against small, quick forwards and they looked uncomfortable throughout. They were turned too often and there were too many last ditch tackles and interceptions for my liking. Tottenham aren't a good team, yet they looked much better than us today. They defended as a unit from front to back. Their back four look organised and together, they had a midfield screen in front of their back four that was hard to break down, and their wide men doubled up on our wide men and snuffed them out for large periods of the game. Up front, Tottenham's forwards looked several classes above ours. The only way we're going to compete this season is by working our socks off and harrassing teams into mistakes. We don't have enough quality to beat teams on football ability alone. Today we didn't work hard enough and, as a result, we were well beaten by a poor team. It's going to be a long, hard season and our current 17th place would be a fantastic result come mid-May.

I'd love an away trip to some where exotic (Bury would be a favourite for me - never been and it's on the tram line!) but we always seem to be drawn against a team in the same division. I'd love Histon as well as I worked there for a year not so long ago. There's one or two good pubs in Histon, one especially that does cracking lock-ins until the early hours.

Damien Duff first signed professional forms for Rovers on March 5th 1996 at the age of 17. It was a momentous day for the club. He was scouted by Pat Devlin, manager of Bray Wanderers and still Duff's agent to this day. Devlin was a friend of Kenny Dalglish and alerted Kenny to the talent he'd unearthed in Ireland. Rovers weren't the only club he told though. Rumour has it that Huddersfield came very close to poaching Damien - thankfully though he chose the Rovers. Duff made his Rovers senior debut in the last home game of 1996-97 season. However, it wasn't until the season after that he established himself in the side ahead of Jason Wilcox. A crowd favourite straight away, he won over the fans with his skill and touch, as well as a running style best described as "unusual", not to mention the appearence of someone who was permanently knackered. He just looked funny, not remotely like a footballer was supposed to look, but give him the ball and he could be superb. Superb but inconsistent. Duff had a habit of drifting in and out of games in the early stages of his career, and probably suffered more than most during the frequent managerial upheavals at the time. In fact it was rumoured that Hodgson didn't rate Duff and was willing to sell him - thankfully Hodgson left first. Duff was relegated along with the rest of the squad in 1999 and remained inconsistent during the clubs first season in Division 1. However, his form was still good enough to earn him his first cap as a substitute for Ireland. He went on to make two more appearences for his country that season. It wasn't until the arrival of Graeme Souness in early 2000 that Duff started to consistently produce the form that we all knew he was capable of. Although he only scored one league goal during our promotion season it was a vital one - securing victory away against promotion rivals Birmingham. His all-round game though was excellent that season. He terrorised First Division right-backs and linked up superbly with the likes of Jansen, Dunn, Bent and Berkovic. Our first season back in the Premiership was largely a struggle for the team, but Duff continued to shine. He chipped in with 7 goals, many of them vital, and was instrumental in our 2002 Worthington Cup winning team. It remains the only major honour of his career so far (although I suspect it won't be for long). That summer saw Damien Duff graduate to world class. He was arguably the star of the 2002 World Cup, helping Ireland into the knock-out stages with a series of man-of-the-match performances. He even managed a goal in the 3-0 group win over Saudi Arabia. Speculation was rife in the media throughout the summer that Duff would leave for one of the "big boys". However, he defied everyone by signing a new 2 year contract at Blackburn and stating his love for the club. Duff was now unstoppable. He won a place in UEFA's team of the year and inspired the team to new heights during the next season, scoring 13 goals and setting up many, many more. In fact, the only thing that could stop him was a niggling hamstring injury that restricted him to only 26 appearences that season. However, it was no coincidence that Rovers put a fantastic run together during the second half of the season when Duff returned from injury. The run took us up to 6th place and a UEFA cup spot. Again, media speculation was rife during the summer about Duff leaving. Just as we all thought he might defy the critics again and stay, Chelsea came in with a huge bid and, after a protracted negotiation involving a lot of soul-searching on Duff's part, he left for the bright lights of London. I've been watching the Rovers for more than 25 years and Duff is easily my favourite player throughout that time. His skill, vision, touch and passing ability made him a fantastic player to watch - a real entertainer. I loved the way he looked shattered one minute then electrifying the next. He seemed such an uncomplicated character off the pitch as well. We used to laugh as we passed his old battered Fiesta in the car-park before home games - alongside all the BMW's, 4x4's and Jag's of the other players. He lists one of his favourite hobbies as sleeping and spent most of his time at Blackburn living in Hurst Green out in the sticks. No boozy nights out with Page 3 girls for Damien. I'm still sad that he left yet I still enjoy watching play for Chelsea. For example, I watched him tonight in the Carling Cup against Fulham and he was superb - scoring one and troubling Fulham throughout. Unfortunately, in a few years history will probably show that Duff was at his most successful whilst playing for Chelsea. However, I'll never forget what he did at Rovers. The boy's a genius. Career 1996-97: Rovers 1 game, 0 goals 1997-98: Rovers 26 games, 4 goals 1998-99: Rovers 28 games, 1 goal 1999-00: Rovers 39 games, 5 goals; Ireland 3 appearences, 0 goals 2000-01: Rovers 32 games, 1 goal; Ireland 6 appearences, 0 goals 2001-02: Rovers 32 games, 7 goals; Ireland 10 appearences, 2 goals 2002-03: Rovers 26 games, 9 goals; Ireland 5 appearences, 2 goals

MGP

Nope. When 5 bookings are reached, the suspension begins 7 days after the game where the fifth booking was picked up. When you get sent off the suspension starts at the next game.

His suspension kicks in after 7 days i.e. the day after we play them.

As good as my left foot is, I was never as good as Duff. Don't even bother Brownie.

Defoe isn't suspended against us.