here and here Don't forget the game though

Sounds like an unbeatable ratio to me (BTW "very strange" is not the same as "bad" ....think on......) I'd tend to go with Blueandwhitemike (apart from the word "pated")

I've never had any trouble from what was Giro bank which was taken over by the Alliance & Leicester in a bit of Thatcherite privatisation. All transactions are done by post so there is no queueing at banks. You can do the money in at your leisure & just drop the envelope in a post box to make a deposit. They have internet facilities. All Link cash machines have access to your account. Plus Post Offices if you are out in the sticks. The only time I did have a problem with my overdrawn account (a bank holiday screw-up) I wrote them a nice polite letter and they wrote me a nice polite letter back to say that they were sorry and that they would withdraw the charges. Been with them for 30 years.

Now there's the answer. Fiddles, with drummers. Oirish dancing along the Riverside with yer man Flatley leading the troupe. Hughes showing his Celtic roots and flaunting himself with scantily-clad Dublin maidens. Their gently oiled thighs glistening in the light of the Ewood Park floodlights, as their barely buttock-covering mini-skirts..................... Solution! Guinness! Feck! Bugger! Feck! And Feck!

Probably none. They'll have other excuses to stay away. I like the drummers when we win, they get on my nipples a bit when we don't. Hardly the end of the world are they? Quite frankly I'd be happy to hear the drummers all day and have my foreskin pierced without anaesthetic for three points against Sheffield United.

Steady on chaps & chapesses, You might be turning into little Sam Allerdyces here. He's renown for signing foreign internationals & the squealing like speared pig when they go off on international duty. You can't eat your cake and have it. Hughes has signed some international players. They go away and play international games. Simple. You want Ashley Ward back?

They're just three blokes banging drums at Ewood. If you're getting all upset about it maybe you'd better stay at home in bed with a hot water bottle, ear muffs, and a teddy bear and ask Mummy to bring you a hot chocolate with an asprin dissolved in it. Ask her to wake you when MOTD is on and watch it with the sound turned down. THIS IS FOOTBALL. IT IS MEANT TO BE LOUD, CHAOTIC AND NOISY. IF YOU DON'T LIKE THE DRUMMERS START A CHANT "DRUMMERS DRUMMERS **** OFF HOME."

Oh dear. That sounds like bad news.

Probably OK for a four year old who likes to get completely muddy. A bit daunting for a two year old. Maybe with accompanying parental mudinesss it will be OK. Don't wear anything that cannot be washed or thrown out. Take clean clothes to change into afterwards I went round with my new waterproof/breathable £80 jacket and cringed all the way. (Oooh big girl's blouse) Not surprised that Abbey recommended this place. It's an Abbey big splat, big fun, great for kids, mud, mud, more mud. Did I mention mud?

Been there today. Just don't put your kids in anything that you don't want to throw away. Muddy & messy & wonderful. http://www.crockytrail.co.uk/

Rovers 17 - Chelsea 15 Attendance 24,321 of which 37% will be aged 16 or under and 15% will be OAPs. 2,514 will not attend the match and will watch it on TV. The Blackburn End fast food "cafe" will serve 2,168 hot dogs at half time.

Well, as you do, you take a recommendation for a book from a fellow poster on a Blackburn Rovers' supporters web site, and you go and read it. Fabulous book. Thanks Rovermatt. Also belated thanks to Bryan for (I think) "The Butterfly & The Diving Bell." Equally thought-provoking. Keep 'em coming

Most recent first away games for Rovers over the past few years. If this is anything to go by it's probably 3 points for Pompey 05-06 West H lost 3-1 04-05 Southampton lost 3-2 03-04 Bolton draw 2-2 02-03 Birmingham won 1-0 01-02 Derby lost 1-0 00-01 Crewe draw 0-0 99-00 Huddersfield lost 3-2 98-99 Leeds lost 1-0 97-98 Villa won 4-0 (!) 96-97 Villa lost 1-0 (back to form) 95-96 Wednesday lost 2-1 94-95 Southampton draw 1-1 and I'll leave you with this one 93-94 Chelsea won 2-1

NZ's national football website on the game here

You were not joking were you? Big buggers, especially those two central defenders. Pretty much a stroll in the park for Rovers, we were a different class in both skill and fitness. As already mentioned MacCarthy looked a very clever player, but we'd better wait until the start of the season to see how he fares against Prem defenders. Micket Gray still impressive with the amount of ground he covers up that left wing. Cracking afternoon out for a tenner. A shame more didn't come along.

Drum solo. Oh JFHCA! Was 1978 all in vain? Does the sound of Rat Scabies playing a drum solo while the rest of The Damned chant "God, this is boring" not mean anything to you young people?

I can't beleive you don't know... Ashley & his lovely wife Dawn are busy becomeing very rich by re-designing & renovating large properties in Cheshire for over-paid footballers and similar LOMBARDS clicky clicky Dawn was recently featured in a photo inThe Manchester Evening News next to one of her stable of many horses at the Tatton Show. I was tempted to write in asking which one was Dawn.

Careful now. Not a million miles away fom me in the Blackburn End is his idea see-saw partner.

You've just made me feel totally inadequate. But thanks for that Sydney, it all adds to the info. Colin

But don't forget that Timmy Mallet will be described as a "comic genius" when he pops his clogs. We all go a bit overboard sometimes..... Waters & Gilmour will get their acclaim. They'll just have to die first

Good question. You probably need to be at least 50 years old to appreciate Syd, and have a decent knowledge of 1960s rock music. Anyway, have a look here

Rovers play New Zealand on Saturday 12th August KO 15:00 at Ewood. I don't think we've ever played a whole country before, so it should be a bit of a challenge, shouldn't it? Actually no, it shouldn't be. I e-mailed my chum who has lived in NZ for some years - Professor Dave. (Yes yet another high-quality chat session, not only do I round-up Radio Five commentators but I also do Professors.) The last time Dave & I went to a game together was 25th March 2000 when we played Forest ( he supports them with angst & optimism from afar) at the City Ground & Ashley Ward scored the only goal. That must have hurt something rotten. But at least we had some decent beer in the county's oldest pub http://www.triptojerusalem.com/ Anyway, Dave agreed to have a go and his "having a go" was to point out that there is actually only one professional football club in the whole of NZ and that "NZ is not a footie country." He is not joking. Then he pointed me to a number of web sites from which most of the following is taken. The New Zealand Knights FC, from Auckland, New Zealand are the only professional football team in New Zealand. They play in the recently-formed Hyundai A-League, which is Australia's premier football competition. The Knights play all their home fixtures at the 25,000 seater North Harbour Stadium in Auckland, although their average attendance is only around 3,000. The Hyundai A-League consists of The NZ Knights & seven clubs from Australia. Which must make the Knights the only team to play all their away games in another country (cue Statto..) The A league is here via Wikipedia The A-League The rest of the teams in NZ are all amateur and the top ones are here thanks to the New Zealand Footbal Commission Who the hell would like to be a Hawkes Bay United fan? Poor sods have to suffer this environment as well as a rubbish footbal team. The slums of Hawkes Bay But onwards to the New Zealand national football team, nicknamed the "All Whites" the white strip was originally based on the colour of England's kit the and name is in contrast with the rugby union team, the All Blacks. It has reached the World Cup Finals only once, in 1982, but lost all three games. Details of one game are here World Cup History Site Spot three Rovers links, and The Professor has asked me to spot the one Forest link Football is not really popular in NZ, rugby union, cricket and rugby league all have higher profiles. More on the NZ national team here The All Whites and their report on their game with Charlton on Saturday All Whites v Charlton Nice to see that Marcus & Darren Bent are brothers! Anyway, Professor Dave is mightily busy at the moment, he's pointed me in the direction of these web sites for which I thank him and if he comes back with any tweaks and corrections I'll come back & amend this post. I'll do it in red just to show off. If any of you down-under wombats in Aussie can add to this, please feel free. I don't recollect any poster on here coming from NZ, but if you are a silent reader now is the time to have a go.

This is an interesting read om MO'N Guardian

I'm still enjoying Captain Beefheart here Forty years old, still unsurpassable, & infathomable. Pure genius

I may be playing the devil's advocate here, but what is this thing that everyone seems to have about MO'N as a manager? Played under Clough and won a couple of European Cup finals and the league (which is nice) Did some good things with Wycombe Wanderers as manager, not bad, but hardly Bill Paisley. Got Leicester City promoted to the premiership, OK, fair enough, but hardly awe inspiring. Won a few titles with Celtic. In a two-horse race not too much of a challenge. I reckon that if he has managerial talent then he'll be able to do something with Villa, but I think he's still to prove himself at this level. Let's see how he goes, the cold & clammy hand of Deadly Doug Ellis could yet take it's toll.