Very disappointing result to what was maybe our biggest game of the season, although we didn't deserve to lose by that much.

Dickov was clearly onside at the beginning and his goal should have stood. I think it would have been a different game if it did. But for most of the game I though we played pretty good and didn't let Arsenal play their game, but lacked the striking power to do anything about it. I can't say I'm disappointed with anyone today. Van Persie's 2 quick goals at the end were class, he's going to be a huge star. What a hit by Todd though ! I thought that almost knocked him out.

And although the final score is 3-0, Man of the match by far for me was Brad Friedel. Superman made some stunning saves again and kept us in the game (almost) untill the end when in reality it should had been decided long ago.

Couldn't see the game, but wow what a result. It shows that we actually can] score goals. And with the defence being as solid as it is, we're really becoming a good team again. Well done Sparky.

I think this has pretty much made us safe, while the Saints are going down. Bring on Arsenal !

Our lack of attacking options is getting more and more frustrating. We simply did nothing upfront today. I don't know why Stead wasn't given a chance. Our best (and only real) chance was at the very end, I really thought Reid should have scored from there.

Van Persie was class for Arsenal though, but overall they weren't that impressive either. The reff was poor as well, and Reyes really deserved to be sent-off for pretending he was hit in the face. Even if it was a small thing, I'm sick of players diving or just blatantly cheating.

I'm quite happy with the draw. I think Arsenal are beatable at the moment, and it's the FA Cup - anything can happen. As mentioned I think Arsenal will struggle with our style of play, and we havea pretty good chance to go through, atleast higher than if we had drawn the other two.

we scraped it, just.

we started off the game great, MGP's free-kick was class, but then we let Leicester come back into it and we really didn't do enough to win the game. We were in trouble towards the end, but got lucky with the penalty. It hasn't been pretty but we're through the semi-finals, which is what maters

I'm surprised Stead isn't starting either...hopefully Dickov will do the job then. Almost kick-off.

C'MON ROVERS

I think we'll nick it 1-0. Hopefully Stead again (but anyone would do ofcourse).

Great result, made my week ! I'm so happy for Stead, that was truly a great goal and it seemed to bring him so much joy and confidence. Hopefully he'll start scoring more now.

Overall we were pretty good, Thommo showed some neat tricks, MGP was always dangerous, at the back we held our own. As usual we battled very hard and deserved the three points. Everton were organized very well as usual but it wasn't enough for them this time.

Well done, Rovers !

I'm feeling a bit optimistic -

1-0 Rovers. MGP.

0-2 Rovers.

How many times have we been beaten 1-0 this season ?? Enough is enough, our strike force is clearly not premiership quality. I didn't think we'd suffer this much from it but now it's really starting to look like Hughes made a big mistake by not bringing in a striker. Things are starting to look grim now, thankfully we have that small gap between the relegation zone or I'd be really worried. If things continue like this we might very well be dragged back in it again though.

I didn't think much of him before, but now I see that he's a complete arogant prick. He came to "play football" huh ? He also came with a squad worth hundreds of millions and with an 8 point lead at the top of the premiership. He obviously does not have a clue what a relegation battle means.

While I can't say that I'm happy that we lost, 1-0 vs Chelsea isn't a disaster. We gave it a real go but there just wasn't enough wuality and creativity....with a bit of luck we still could have sneaked in a draw.

I thought Brad could have saved Chelsea's goal, it was very hard hit but it seemed like it went just under his arm. Chelsea didn't create much after that, and I really don't see why they are 11 points clear at the top. The only thing that really impressed me about them were those massive giants at the back, (and it was hilarious watching those long balls aimed at little Dickov on his own up there), upfront they aren't anything special. I can't say I blame Dickov for the penalty. He shoudln't be taking them anyway as he's hardly the best of finishers, but the sad thing is that there's noone else. It wasn't a bad penalty though, but Chech is a monster. I don't see just how the hell it's possible to ever score against him. I thought our back 4 were good today, Nelson did good, Matteo was also very good in the 1st half especially. It's sad that we had noone to bring on at the end though and challange for something.

In terms of quality, we aren't in the same universe as Chelsea. They should be able to tear us to pieces. In terms of work-rate, less so. We are fighting very hard, and sometimes that can get you a result even when you are completely outclassed. Plus after we did the double over Arsenal a few seasons ago, I believe anything is possible.

My prediction : Rovers 1-1 Chelsea

C'MON ROVERS !!!!!

1)Mokoena looks like a great player to me.

2)The only player that I can say I was displeased with was Matteo.

3)We didn't deserve to lose this game.....and now there are some tough ones ahead. But we're good enough to

get a few points from them.

1)....Just curious, were u watching the game with your eye's closed?.....

2).....Cant believe i am saying this, but i thought he actually played quite well. did a few nice things

3).....if we cant take points of bolton, who looked very ordinary, i have my serious doubts about being "good enough" within the next month against the top teams

1) and what did he do wrong ? He looked strong and tactically oriented, he didn't look like he was going to give the ball away every time he had posession of it, he didn't make many mistakes. Which is more than you could say for the rest of our defenders. for years.

2) Like giving the ball away in our final attack and ending our last hope ?

3) If it wasn't for Diouf's cheating we would have gotten something from this game.

Sickened.

Diouf is a spitting and diving cheat, a complete disgrace to premiership football. It sickens me to think he's actually getting payed money for this.

Anyway, untill the goal we played some pretty good football. Mokoena looks like a great player to me, he and Todd will bring alot of stability at the back. I didn't see Savage alot but he did ok for his first game. MGP and Emerton were pretty good, but the strikers should have done better. Bothroyd, Stead, Gally, J.Johnson....they are all young with alot of potential, but aren't scoring enough. We need a striker with a cutting edge who we can rely on to get the goals, maybe it's too late for this season though. The only player that I can say I was displeased with was Matteo, again. Credit to Brad for his great block from the penalty, too bad it counts for nothing.

We didn't deserve to lose this game.....and now there are some tough ones ahead. But we're good enough to get a few points from them.

Savage......to be honest, much like Dickov, I didn't rate him much and found him a bit annoying before he signed for Rovers, but Dickov has proven himself to the team and hopefully Savage can do the same. His interview at the Rovers website is very decent and he sounds like he is ready to give it his all for Rovers.

haha that was a great preview, loved it

Rovers 1-1 Bolton

My first choice would be Brad. I respect this man alot. He's done alot for Rovers and has earned it IMO. He's responsible and has good leadership abilities, it's someone who we can definitely count on.

Although as mentioned, an outfield player is usually the better choice for a captain. So I wouldn't mind it if it was given to Todd.

As for Savage, although I think he could be a good captain too, I'd rather have someone who's been in the team longer and has proven himself to deserve the lead Rovers.

Leaving your club at a time of a relegation battle, especially when you're captain is a very...dissapointing thing to do. When he joined I don't think he was expecting us to be where we are now, but he hasn't proven himself to be deserving of more. He's had some good games at Rovers but I don't rate him more than £3m. Hopefully we'll get as much from his as possible.

I don't think losing him is such a disaster though. We still have a midfield that can do the job.

I'm very happy with these signings. Hughes has immediately strenghtened our problem area by buying two promising players, who although unproven in the premiership are captains of their countries, which gives me a bit of confidence in them. We're definitely improving, now let's look at the other problem areas.

Villa don't really fill me with fear and they've been poor as of late. I can see us winning this, if we give it another hard-working performance. 2-1 to the Rovers, and a happy start to the year

great result. 15th now and we've put some daylight between us in the zone. And interesting to see that the "bigger and better" team Souness left us for is now only a single place above us.

Hughes is slowly but surely making us a stable team again.

If we can do it this would be the sweetest win of the season for me. I'd love it to death if we can beat the "bigger and better" team Souey left us for. I can't help but feel strangely optimistic about this game....I'll say a a 2-1 to the Rovers.

ok I don't get it. Yes, Gally was in an offside position when Ferguson played the ball, but Martyn spilled the shot and then Gally scored. So how is that offside ? I thought it didn't matter if you're in an offside position if the opponment's player last touches the ball. I really need to freshen up on the new offside rules.

and damn that post at the end !!!

We played very good, Emerton especially did great, the team as a whole is working very well together. I think we deserved the win, and we would have if we had made just a few more chances. (alot of the ones we did make fell to Flitcroft, but he wasted them) Everton are very organized and have a good defence but they're nothing special really. I still don't see why they're 2nd in the premiership, they don't even look better than us.

For the past few games I've watched Rovers we've been better than the opposition, we're definitely improving, but the results haven't reflected that. We're trying very hard, even the defence is starting to look more solid, for the first time in a long time. If we continue playing like this we should be fine, but we need to start turning these draws into wins.