Having seen that Hoilett incident several times on replay, I cannot believe that the ref was not influenced by the occasion. He's human and maybe it was all too much for him.

He should apologise because he's cost us big-time.

What's the best thing to have come out of Burnley? No--its not the M65! Its Stephen Booth!

Crime series set in the Peak District. Characters lovingly drawn, countryside beautifully recreated and gripping finales to boot! I love this writer!

Oh!----latest one-"The Devils Edge" but they are all uniformly terrific. Just as good as Peter Robinson but for some reason, less well-known.

.

What did Sherwood ever win?

An England cap?

How did they get 51,000 on Ewood ?

I was at the Rovers v Man City cup replay in 1969 with 42,000 and it was frightening. Never forget the Riverside crowd swaying back and forth. How did the barriers hold firm ?

Duggie was a magician with the ball, trickier than Matthews. Both wonderful players.

I was there twice with 52000 crowds, both times in cup games against Burnley.One we lost the other we won.

However I was cosily ensconced in the Nuttall Street stand so no issues for me!

A very touching and accurate obituary from the Independent.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/ronnie-clayton-footballer-who-captained-england-and-played-at-winghalf-for-blackburn-rovers-for-20-years-2122434.html?

Stand to be corrected but Duggie was out of the England picture well before 1966. Another Lancashire winger, John Connelly of Burnley and ManU, (and later Rovers) was in the 1966 squad and (I think) started the match against Uruguay but was then dropped. Ramsey famously didn't like wingers anyway.

Certainly true that Ramsey didn't like wingers but as all good Rovers supporters know, Douglas was not a winger by then. For some years he excelled (dominated) as an inside forward. However he was never allowed to play for England in his best position!

Its my recollection that Duggie featured in the lead-up matches to the World Cup but wasn't chosen for the tournament. However my memory is probably the same as your's!

Am I one of the few who think he should have been in the team rather than Nobby?

Clayton was slowing down by that point and Stiles played a different game. The big surprise was that Dougie didn't play a big role in that World Cup. He was just about the best player in the country at that time whereas Martin Peters was almost unknown.

To be fair to Ramsey he did win the World Cup though!

How did they get 51,000 on Ewood ?

I was at the Rovers v Man City cup replay in 1969 with 42,000 and it was frightening. Never forget the Riverside crowd swaying back and forth. How did the barriers hold firm ?

Duggie was a magician with the ball, trickier than Matthews. Both wonderful players.

You must have been at Ewood with 52000 on Jim? Burnley 6th round replay 1960? And no "incidents"!

Good piece. The LT's is good too.

Didn't realise he won the last of his 35 England caps at the age of 25 - he hadn't hit his peak then.

Those were the days though when England was producing one outstanding player after another.

Those were the days when the southern-based media crucified him Jim. All in his autobiography. Should have got 100 caps.

Don't know if this has been posted before but even Burnley fans are paying their respects. Credit to them:

http://boards.footymad.net/forum.php?tno=104&fid=297&sty=2&act=1&mid=2119694856

Heart-broken. Lived near his shop in Darwen for years. Captain of England serving newspapers between training and never a cross word for anyone.

A truly great player for so many years.Would have had a hundred caps for England if he'd played down south. Clayton and Douglas---the heart and soul of Blackburn Rovers. We will never see the like of them again I fear.

Sincere condolences to his family.

Rodney Marsh was on Talksport this afternoon. He said That Allison was one of the pioneers behind fitness and diets for footballers. He also said he was a man of the people. He fondly recalled a time when Allison turned up for training on a bus because he lost his car in a game of poker the night before. A true legend of the game and will be sadly missed!

I remember him at Ewood in 1974 when we were going for promotion and Palace were our rivals. Peter Taylor was mugged in the penalty area in the last few minutes and a stone-wall pen wasn't given. Allison was practically on the pitch he was so enraged, crowd hurling abuse at him, fantastic atmosphere and we hung on for a lucky draw. I think over 17000 there but could be wrong.

Couldn't cut it at City when he made some bewildering buys but a great character. RIP.

Yep, apparently Sam was out of his senses for letting him go! Absolute miracle to get 2M for that fat, lazy loafer.No wonder he was on the verge of coming to the Premier League for years but no-one would take the risk.

8 - Benni McCarthy

Here's a choice between two possible scenarios. Scenario A: You wander through the remainder of a season on the fringes of a team managed by a blustering hoofball merchant. You are kept out of the team most weeks by Franco Di Santo (17 appearances, one goal) or Nikola Kalinic (15 appearances, one goal).

Scenario B: You earn about twice as much money at a club who, while involved in relegation set-to, arguably have better long-term prospects, and are managed by one of the most likeable men to walk the streets of London, and who recognises that a ball is round so it can be passed along the floor.

Tough call.

See what I mean!

R.I.P to the young man.....its appears at the moment to have been a tragic ACCIDENT.

Can those Rovers fans stating 'what is our club coming to' and saying they will stay away from Ewood PLEASE get a grip of themselves and reality.

This tragic ACCIDENT is not the fault of our beloved club,Rovers and Ewood park is a safe place to watch football in a mostly friendly atmosphere.Rovers fans as a whole have a good reputation.

Please think before making these OTT comments as the media are no doubt waiting to put the boot in.

An accident maybe but avoidable certainly. The bin didn't throw itself did it?

Sorry Theno but that comment has to go down as one of your low-lights on this board.

You've lost me there. he's telling the truth, it was an accident waiting to happen. Anyone following Rovers in the last 2 or 3 years will say the same.

Another interesting feature I noticed - at times the away fans behaviour was more interesting than the game - was a group of lads who rather than watching the game, diverted their attention to bellowing and chanting obsenities at the policeman recording the fans on the video camera. Now I'm not wild about being recorded, but to spend the entire game hurling obsenities at the police or opposition fans seems like a waste of £25 to me. This is an unwelcome element at away games, I'm all for some banter, but fans trying to cause aggro/look hard we could do without.

I wrote along these lines after the Everton away game very early in the season. There are "fans' supporting Rovers I wouldn't want my family near. The drunkenness and the obscenities hurled at decent Everton supporting families really sickened me. At least in the bad old seventies you never expected to be injured by one of your own. Hope the poor man recovers and the Club has a good hard look at its away following who are dragging our name into the mud.

I have been pretty clear Benni is far from blameless.

[/quote

Good to see someone putting forward a balanced perspective on this.

Yes, he his out of order for engineering a move by failing to turn up for training but some people have short memories.

I can think of several occasions when Benni has scored that all important goal or tucked away a crucial penalty that has meant a valuable 3 points. I have often said to myself, "Thank you Benni for being so cool under such pressure, you are a class player".

Also, as Grizfoot points out there was only one player on the park who showed any class against Fulham.

90% of members on this board are against hoofball and playing one up front.

Ask yourself, Do you honestly think this style of football suits him. In his position you would be really brassed off sat on the bench against Villa after putting in a big performance a few days before. I always thought that if you are given the opportunity to shine and took your chance, then you would keep the shirt for the next game.

The only person to come out of this with any credit is BS. It's only a couple of weeks ago that he was seriously panicking about his job and a large percentage of our supporters wanted him out. My God, it's a sad day when you get chastised for having the bottle to take a short corner against the managers wishes.

I could have sworn that I heard Benni's name chanted several times against Fulham, or maybe I was mistaken. Perhaps it was just Grizfoot and myself?.

I'll remember him for THAT GOAL against Arsenal which took us to the FA Cup Semi-final. But even then he was at war with the manager (Hughes). Remember he went and sat on the sub's bench to highlight the fact that Hughes hadn't been starting him? He was booked for it!

Just another piece of poor management Benni had to endure I guess!

I'm going to miss him. He was the only player left in his squad who I thought could really produce something out of nothing at any moment. He hasn't done it much lately, but you always knew when he had the ball that you could be about to witness a moment of pure inspiration. I'll probably end up remembering him for the firs season he was here and for the part he played in the Hughes regime.

Very good signing for the club and most likely one of the most talented players that we've ever had. Shame that he couldn't stay focused and fit, but can't help but feel this was mismanaged. Fact of the matter is that he wasn't an Allardyce player and he was never going to be. Even Allardyce owes a lot to Benni, he played a big part in our turn-around in December and January of last year. I hope that we get to see a player of his talent again sometime soon, but I'm not holding my breath. Hopefully he won't score too many at West Ham.

Mismanaged by all 3 Rovers managers he "worked" for Eddie! Admittedly one was an idiot.

Lets put this into perspective for once.

Benni has fallen out with his manager at Porto, Hughes at various points, Allardyce for trying to instill some discipline (which is laudable), his international coaches at least 3 times if not more and various ones of those. Is there a pattern? Of course there is. Tris saying it's because of Sam's tactics is like saying I refuse to go to work because my socks aren't black. It's not relevant. If he was a pro he would knuckle down, meet his targets and get fit. It's the only way he has of staying in the team and therefore playing in the world cup. He's that good that he can get away with it, or he was. Time is not on his side. Benni has displayed a disgusting attitude towards his employers and the fans let alone the manager who really only wants to get the best out of him.

Tris didn't blame the manager when Dunn fell out with Souness!

Flamin' heck, its just an opinion.

Drama queen.

Tris' little echo.

I've already done the opposite of condoning his current behaviour a few posts up. Please learn to read and understand.

Whatever state he came back in, he's managed to stay in our top 3 goalscorers list this season, despite being last in the managers pecking order of 4 crap strikers + a fat injury prone free running midfielder (who also wants to escape the Allardyce regime).

That speaks volumes for Benni Mac's ability, despite his fitness levels. More worryingly, it speaks volumes about where Allardyce is taking this club. Away from its traditions and values, and away from what supporters want. Benni Mac -> Beattie (or similar) = 19,000 ST holders -> 15,000 ST holders. At any price.

I'm sure you'll be the first to complain when the only forward option off the bench this time next month is some talentless lump with a worse scoring record than Di Santo. We can't afford new talent like McCarthy, so we had to keep the McCarthy we already owned.

Stay in our top 3 goal scorers list this season? He's after Dunn and Nelsen then. What a star!

Got to ask, why does Dunny not want to sign a contract?

why does Hoilett not want to sign a new contract ?

why is MGP looking elsewhere?

What are the problems at the club or should I say WHO are the problems at the club ?

MGP!! Scraping the barrel there! Dunn apparently wants a longer term contract than the club has offered. Who's right there? Hoilett--I don't know. Doesn't see himself as a winger and is being courted by big german clubs I guess. Hardly the managers' fault.

But when your manager comes up to you in the summer, and says hes going to sell you.

This for me would not endear me to play or try harder in the least, in fact i'd just be waiting for the first opportunity to get out which Benni has done. There should be some empathy shown towards Benni MaCarthy here rather than just slagging him off.

Like Tris you are just using this issue as a stick to beat the manager with. pretty much what you do with every post. Benni's conduct is indefensible as is your own.

No of course he hasn't, and you won't find me defending him over this method of forcing a move.

But he gives (gave) us another dimension, and has been misused by a manager intent on relying on percentages rather than flair, in a season when he should have been given the platform to perform to his maximum.

To perform to his maximum he would have to get fit. What sort of professional footballer comes back after the break in the state he was?

What market?? Accrington? Darwen?

Push comes to shove, this club needs to use what it has, and use it well. We can't afford a facelift - we can't even afford one new player.

Sounds like you're condoning his behaviour. He's been like this, more or less, for the whole 4 years we've had him. How can you use Benni well if he can't even be arsed to get fit?

How can you call someone a true Rover with seven appearances for the club, OK he came through the academy and was probably sold against his will.

He's never been quoted or even suggested he would want to return to us as far as I know.

He certainly never wanted to leave. There were plenty of reports that he held out as long as he could before joining Stoke from Sheffield Utd because he wanted to come here. Sam wanted to buy him but Board said "no dosh".