Sky Sports News - Ferguson has finally signed for Rangers. Good riddance.

I'm half-hoping Rovers turn down all their offers now just to pi$$ everyone off!

SSN - Fergie has passed his medical & will sign a 5 and a half year contract.

SSN Breaking News - Fergie having a medical.

I think we have established on clarets mad that you brought around 3000 to the turf whilst we brought around 7000 to your place. Nowhere near 7,000 mate. You were allocated 6,000 tickets 'cos the 1st umpteen rows were not used. And even then some of the seats were empty. Another case of that old Dingle trait "We took thousands, we did"!

Just thinking about it, last time we played at the Dingle Dome, Rovers only allowed postal applications for tickets which seemed to work well, so I doubt the all-nighter under the Blackburn End will be needed for this one either.

The demand for tickets would be a good excuse for a site meet-up under the Blackburn End all night! Doubt they'd allow alcohol though!

How do you think Rovers will distribute tickets? I reckon they will go on sale firstly to season ticket holders who went to Cardiff and Pompey, then to STH's who have been to at least 2 away games this season. Looks like an all-nighter under the Blackburn End to me!

Sorry if it's already been posted, but the BBC are reporting that we've turned down a 3rd Rangers bid here.

We'll get around 3,000 tickets maximum in the Cricket Field stand. There's no way they could segregate the crowd otherwise and the safety lot will have the final say.

Tickets are gonna be scarcer than a virgin in Dingleland, but I'll be there, whatever the cost. YYYYYEEEEEEESSSSSSS!!!!!!!

It has to be Brad for me. I know his position on the pitch isn't ideal, but no other player commands respect more than him. For me, the rest of the senior squad members don't rate because:- - Todd is a little too temperamental for me and has played for the Dingles. - Neill isn't assured of his place anymore. - Short is injury prone and not likely to be in the team anyway. - Flitcroft's had his time. - Dickov doesn't exactly come across as captain material. - Nelson & Mokoena (& Savage?) are new to the club. - Nissa - nah! - Tugay's no longer an automatic choice. - Thompson shows promise, but needs to prove his fitness. - Emerton flatters to deceive and isn't consistent enough to be captain. All IMHO, of course!

I reckon they should make Ferguson do the half-time draw tomorrow so that the crowd can show the git what they think.

... And didn't Ferguson end up handing in a transer request to Rangers after we'd had 1 or 2 bids turned down? If so, they still got the price they wanted, so there's no reason to think that we couldn't do the same (if Rovers actually DO decide to sell him).

Good one Philip. Magnificent timing!

He won't be able to play in the FA Cup until the next round.

Dickov's suspension starts 7 days after the 5th booking, under the totting-up rules. Red card suspensions start immediately.

Listening on Radio Lancs, it sounded like all the Rovers bookings were deserved. They also said that Nelson and Mokoena had "sound" debuts. Onwards and upwards! Well done Rovers!

Rovers to play a near full-strength team and win 2-0. I don't really want to miss this one, but I'm struggling for a lift at the moment (I would rather miss the match than travel by coach). Any offers of a lift from the East Lancs area would be greatly appreciated! I'll even supply the beer.

1. Arsenal 2. Chelsea 3. Manchester United 4. Liverpool 5. Newcastle 6. Middlesborough 7. Aston Villa 8. Birmingham 9. Tottenham 10. Charlton 11. Fulham 12. Manchester City 13. Bolton 14. Southampton 15. Blackburn 16. West Brom 17. Portsmouth 18. Everton 19. Crystal Palace 20. Norwich

Thank you Cletus for naming & describing the 'winners' of this unofficial poll, just like I'm about to do ...... 1. Simon Garner 2. Colin Hendry 3. David Speedie As is shown by all the various nominations, there have been many, many heroes over the years at our wonderful club, but the above 3 truly did achieve cult status.

Bob - I think Haslingden may well be typical of many of the towns that surround Blackburn. It has a decent number of people who actually go and follow the team, but it also seems to have at least as many who follow the team without actually attending games. Show the Rovers in the pub on a Sunday afternoon and half the people shouting at the screen, and dancing with joy when they score, will be fans who don't actually attend games. I've asked some of them about it and they either say they can't afford it or that they just don't enjoy going to the games anymore. Once fans get out of the habit of going to Ewood on a regular basis it seems to become very easy for them to eventually justify not going at all. A very dangerous spiral that the club seems powerless to reverse.

Personally, this has been the hardest summer ever for me having to part with my S.T. dosh. Not the actual cost, but a large part of me just didn't want to do it. Last season just took something out of me that being relegated never did. I've attended games at Ewood since the mid-70s and in all that time, through some very difficult on-the-pitch periods, I've never, ever felt contempt towards the club like I did around last Christmas time last season. Against 'Boro on Boxing Day, I didn't explode with excitement at our last minute equaliser. I didn't cheer. I didn't even clap. I just sat there looking around at all these people going crazy and thought to myself "Why? What's the point?” It was the first and only time I've never celebrated a Rovers goal and I really felt like my time with the club was at an end. A couple of my mates experienced exactly the same emotions around 2 years after we won the Premiership. One of them just stopped going for a few months and the other actually got a S.T. at Bury for 2 seasons. These were lads that had been to all but a handful of games (home & away) since the mid '80s. Their need to attend games just evaporated. They will tell you now that winning the league eventually left their hunger for the club satisfied. There was nowhere left to go but downhill, which is exactly what happened. A strange logic told them that they actually enjoyed it more when we used to bunk off work to go to Bristol Rovers on a Wednesday evening. Or Southend on Bonfire night. Or Plymouth on a Friday for a long weekend on the lash. In other words, it was no longer enjoyable for them to just attend Rovers matches. The thrill had gone. Fortunately, they're both regulars at Ewood again now, but maybe the club isn't such an important part of their life anymore. I've missed just one home game of any kind since early 1978. I've had a S.T. every season since 1980/81. I've missed family weddings to attend games (including 14th August this coming season, though her brother doesn't know it yet! ). My point being, I want to renew my S.T. next summer with a feeling of excitement again about what is to come, rather than purely out of habit like this latest one seems to have been. Next season may well be make or break time for me & the club that I love. Even the best marriages sometimes end up floundering on the rocks.

That sounds absolutely, totally & utterly tremendous. Just wait 'til I tell the wife .....

Maybe 'cos he played for West Brom?