I am now convinced that many of the votes for Sherwood are michievous and calculated to irritate the people on this site who take this poll seriously. There is no reasonable argument to suggest that he was anything more than a good to average player who happened to be captain. If being captain was an indication of ability then surely Shearer would have been given the job. I know I have said it before but if this team ends up with the likes of Sherwood and Le Seaux included then the whole thing becomes a farce and the spotty oiks have succeeded in their efforts to sabotage the whole project. It would be a real shame if Den's fantastic work ended in farce. Some things are a matter of opinion and some things are a matter of fact. I believe that Sherwood not being fit to be included in this holy of holies belongs to the latter.

Can I switch my vote from Latheron to Forrest please. Seriously though if Tim Deadwood gets in to our greatest ever side then the whole thing is a farce and not worth continuing as a serious survey.

Only happened once (by promotion) at a large engineering company in Blackburn. My former colleages were delighted that I had got the job and worked their butts off for me. Since then I have been involved with a series of startup companies and have chosen my own staff.

What changed is, in my opinion, the board were finally made aware of the division Tony's presence could have on the camp, as a player Hughes would have seen it first hand. A point, had Tony Parkes been fired before Souness arrived would Souness" personal battles gone on with the likes of Dunn and Cole, sneaky feeling I have is that Mr "Blackburn Rovers" was somewhere in the background egging them on. Just a gut feeling. He should have been moved on long ago. What a load of rubbish you talk USA Blue. There is and never has been any suggestion that TP has undermined any manager at Rovers. I have no idea where you get your rediculous assumption from. Incidentally your management philosophy is exactly what gives capitalism its unacceptable face. Employees are people, not some kind of disposable object that can be thrown away when no longer required. Have you ever been sacked? I'm sure it must be devastating. I too have been a manager for most of my working life and am proud of the fact that I never sacked anyone. Never Having sacked anyone could be construed as a weakness. You sound like one of the 'job for life' brigade which largely died out in the 1970's, well suited to the public sector or unions, (now reincarnated as Health and Safety officials). I certainly have not had one job for life and know for sure that none of my staff would consider me weak. If you take the trouble to choose the right people and treat them properly (firmly if necessary) they will respond and do a good job for you. There is no need to sack anyone, indeed if I had found it necessary I would have considered it a failure on my part to get the best out of a person. I apologise for taking this thread off topic and therefore will make this my last word on the subject.

What changed is, in my opinion, the board were finally made aware of the division Tony's presence could have on the camp, as a player Hughes would have seen it first hand. A point, had Tony Parkes been fired before Souness arrived would Souness" personal battles gone on with the likes of Dunn and Cole, sneaky feeling I have is that Mr "Blackburn Rovers" was somewhere in the background egging them on. Just a gut feeling. He should have been moved on long ago. What a load of rubbish you talk USA Blue. There is and never has been any suggestion that TP has undermined any manager at Rovers. I have no idea where you get your rediculous assumption from. Incidentally your management philosophy is exactly what gives capitalism its unacceptable face. Employees are people, not some kind of disposable object that can be thrown away when no longer required. Have you ever been sacked? I'm sure it must be devastating. I too have been a manager for most of my working life and am proud of the fact that I never sacked anyone.

Absolute poppycock, There are enough people who are disgusted by the way TP was dumped to get at least 10k into the ground, especially if a decent match is arranged. What about Rangers?

Tony has been offered a testamonial match and has accepted (Official Site). The very least they could do after treating him so shoddily. I hope they arrange an attractive match. Better than that farce that was supposed to be the Premiership winning team.

shame on him for making a difficult decision? for wanting to run the club his way? dont talk out your arse. as repeated in posts further up, keeping him on simply because he is Tony Parkes is not the way to go. About time we had a change A typical response from you Dan. When it comes to principles you always show that you have none. You always talk through your arse with the inevitable effect in what comes out. Incidentally Speeedie my comment about Hughes being harder to sack is perfectly valid no matter what weasle words you may say about it. There is always a place for a man with 35 years of experience and loyalty. This is a sad day for the integrity of Blackburn Rovers and their manager. The word cronyism comes to mind.

Goodbye Tony, you will be sorely missed Mr. Reliable. Blackburn Rovers will be poorer without you. Sacking a man after 30 years wonderful service is nothing short of disgraceful. Shame on you Mark Hughes! This, in my opinion, is a thinly diguised attempt to make you more difficult to sack. At least Souness did not stoop to these depths.

No Rover will ever captain us to the Premiership title again either... That's a very rash statement. Before Uncle Jack took over I would have said," Rovers will never win the league title again". Who knows when another rich person (be he Russian or other nationality) might fall in love with our club and pump his billions into us? Haven't voted yet. I'm torn between Forrest and Latheron. My heart says Latheron but my head says Forrest. I think I read somewhere that the player who influenced the 1912 and 14 champions was Danny Shea rather than Eddie Latheron. Must go with the statistics FORREST for me! I came down to these two as my final pair and ended up voting for Latheron. However I would gladly switch my vote to Forrest rather than let Sherwood slip into the team because the opposition vote was split between those two greats.

Please not Mark Atkins guys. Can you really be serious about him being a Rovers GREAT. He was never more than a journeyman and the 'Super' tag was sarcastic not realistic. Please think carefully. I'm not sure yet who it should be but to include Atkins makes a mockery of this 'Greats' team. (as does Le Seaux)

Good Post FLB. Can I suggest that you repost it or something similar when we are discussing the second striker. (Can't see past Shearer for the first)

Once again I find myself agreeing with you AESF. Another Beckham in the making here. Perhaps it's because we are united in our hatred of anything Manure.

Can those going to the pub take Reid with them as well please. Emerton needs to play on the right.

exactly why Atkins get's my vote (along with Clayton). The Greatest 11 is about more than how good they were as players (otherwise Newell goes in ahead of Garner) it's about what they represented to the club - Atkins was crucial during the most celebrated 4 or 5 seasons in our recent history and performed when it mattered. Sorry Duff's Minder but this poll is about the greatest ever players so it IS about how good they are/were. As for your example yes Mike Newell should without doubt go in before Garner but the latter has such a cult following that I have given in already on that one. (Roy Vernon would be my choice as a number 10). I do not want to insult an honest trier but I find it hard to believe that we are even discussing such a limited player as Mark Atkins as one of our BEST EVER players. Mark was never 'crucial' as you put it to the Rovers team but was always an also ran who would not let you down. In fact when it came to the run in for the championship it should be noted that Dalgliesh identified him as a weakness and bought Batty specifically to replace him. We have already made one alarming error in choosing Le Seaux at left back (opinion). Let's not compound it by choosing the wrong midfielder as well.

You hit the nail on the head there Dr Rich. The reason that players like Atkins (please!!) and Sherwood are being nominated is that apart from Ronnie Clayton there has not been another midfield player in living memory that deserves to be called great. Perhaps we were hasty putting Bryan Douglas on the wing! My votes will go to Clayton and Latheron.

was pivitol in us winning the premiership - Id say so And I would say that Den is absolutely correct. No way was Atkins pivotal to our winning the championship. He played a part at best.

An excellent post for Mark Atkins Colin but you cannot seriously expect us to vote for him as one of our best ever players can you? Remember we are voting for ALL TIME GREATS! He was never more than a reliable journeyman who could fill in and not let you down when nobody else was availible. Always a bridesmaid but never the bride. When Batty was signed Atko was the one relegated to the bench, hardly an all time great then was he. Surely Batty for one must be ahead of him and Batty will also not be amongst the all time greats. Let us also remember how he got the name Super Atko. It was not because he was a great player but used humourously because he was so limited in his footballing skills. I do not want to knock the lad too much because he was an honest no frills player with a big heart but surely not amongst our BEST EVER players.

The best midfielder I have ever seen has got to be Ronnie Clayton. I, along with every other member of this board, have never seen Eddie Latheron play but, based on what both my Grandfathers told me, and the lack of any other midfielder of any real class since Ronnie Clayton would put him in as my second central midfielder. Back to Ronnie. Played all his career at Blackburn and is still a big fan. A real one club man who can still be seen sitting in the stand with his great friend and other Rovers legend, Bryan Douglas. Ronnie was a class, mainly defensive, midfielder who having won the ball could supply a range of defence splitting passes or alternatively could bring the ball forward and join in the attacks, a real box to boxer with an engine like the QE II. Also scored his fair share of goals. His upright style of running enabled him to take in the whole pitch in front of him. This allowed him to make the passes that many others never even saw. How I wish we could pair him with Barry Ferguson in the current team. Then there was his England career. One of the few Rovers players to have captained this country and it is claimed by many, together with his big mate Duncan Edwards, (sadly lost in the Munich air disaster) to have extended the England career of the great Billy Wright by covering for him in the last couple of years of his career. We will probably never see his like again. Please vote Ronnie Clayton.

Even I am far too young to have seen Eddie Latheron and even my Dad, who still goes to every home match, says he can't remember him. However both my Grandads, who sadly are now deceased, used to rave about him. From what they said he was a genuine box to box midfielder who would tackle, pick the ball up in defence and bring it tirelessly forward to give it to a forward or have a go at goal himself. Apparently he had a good goalscoring record in his own right. All hearsay I'm afraid but it's the best I can do lads and lasses.

The one that stands out head and shoulders above anyone else is of course the ledgendary Ronnie Clayton and I will put something together about him when I have a bit more time. There are two of the nominees however that I believe should be classified as strikers. Although nominally inside forwards both Peter Dobing and Roy Vernon were really out and out attackers and excellent ones at that. In fact my best ever pairing would be Shearer and Vernon, but that is for another day.

Stuart Ripley was indeed a good winger but to compare him to the brilliant, ledgendary Bryan Douglas is to compare Bobby Mimms to the great Gordon Banks. There is just no comparison. If Bryan Douglas does not get into this team then the whole poll will be shown up as a waste of time. In the early days there were two players in the reserves who looked good enough to take the vacant right wing spot. One was Bryan and the other one, who is probably also good enough to be in this team, was Roy Vernon. Vernon was the first one to get the chance and was absolutely brilliant. Unfortunately, just as we thought we had a world beater, Roy was cruelly taken away to do his national service. Oh hell we thought, but we need'nt have worried, step up Bryan Douglas. Every bit as good and probably better due to his sharp footballing brain. For anyone who never saw him he is probably best likened to a right sided Damien Duff. Maybe a tad better. (Imagine the two of them on opposite wings. Wow!) He had the ability to have the ball under control in an instant and could beat a man on a sixpence. His favourite and probably most devastating move was to take the ball right up to the goalpost on the byeline. The goalkeeper had no choice than to cover his near post and Bryan would look up and pick out a Rovers man with his back pass (all along the ground). The lucky guy had the easiest of tasks to slide the ball home. Although best known as a goal maker he also chipped in with his share of goals too! He was then picked up by England and quickly given the name 'Black Douglas' by the Scottish because of the devastating effect he had on their team every time he played against them. Later in his career he moved to attacking centre midfield where he developed a superb through ball to either Fred Pickering or Andy McEvoy, but that is a different position and a good case could probably be made for his inclusion in there. VOTE DOUGLAS. You know it makes sense.

This thread is a credit to you Den. It's probably the most interesting one I've been on for a long time. It's provoked lots of happy memories for me thinking of the great players of the past. However I do not think that the nostalgia has biased my opinions, for instance my first choice centre forward will be Alan Shearer and my left midfielder will be Duffer. Simply because I believe they are the best. Having said that I still believe that Le Saux is not fit to lace Bill Eckersley's boots (the difference is that huge.) but will accept that the vote was fair and must be accepted by us all. (My second choice would have been Le Seaux)

Le Seaux is not fit to clean Bill Eckersley's boots.

I was there at that game. Great atmosphere and it was the first game I had seen under floodlights. I think that added to the novelty of the occasion.