I echo the thoughts of those calling for a return of Steadinho. The thing is, Gallagher is playing poorly and not scoring, whereas Stead was playing ok but not scoring at the beginning of the season. We desperately need some height up there so, I can't see the sense not even giving Jon Stead a place on the bench. Bringing a striker on late in the game is pointless if the player is nervous, small and not very good. At least we know stead CAN score he just perhaps is feeling understandably underconfident. Very average performance from the Rovers today. It could have been worse, although that Valois was the only player to cause us any problems. Nelsen, Todd, Pedersen and Savage were outstanding, but I was becoming increasingly frustrated with Emerton and Gallagher. At least this gives us the opportunity to dick them 5-0 again at Ewood.

I give up.

WHAT?!? What the hell are you thinking man? You might aswell have soft spots for Preston Nob End and the Dingles! I'm sorry but for me and loads of other Rovers fans I know, Bolton are the scummiest of scum. After @#/?s obviously.

A truly fantastic tie - if I can't make it I'll be gutted. I remember the tie at the Turd - 17th December 2000 - the spectacular blue and white convoy of coaches all lined up outside their excuse of a stadium. Me, my brother and my dad walked along with the Bumley fans (living in Colne it seemed pointless travelling to Blackburn only to catch the coach back to Bumley) and then having to cut through the barrier of coppers to get into the stadium. Queing up outside the turnstiles we started our singing session (that was to last another 3 hours). Entering the concourse and going into the bogs - someone had ripped a sink/toilet off the wall and there was rubble and water everywhere. The singing continued. Finding the seats - all the Rovers boys are there and there's still 30 mins to go till kick off. One of the best atmosphere's I have experienced - honestly right up there with the Millenium Stadium. Then there was the goals. Jason McAteer and Marcus Bent - you were both poor players but boy you did us proud that day. We outplayed, outscored and outsung the dingles and it was one of the best football experiences - actually scrap that - one of the best experiences I have EVER had, and that's saying something. Of course we dicked Bumley 5-0 in the return fixture but nothing will outlive Uncle Jack's Blue n White Army's day out at the DingleDome.

I'll always remember Lee Carsley warming up on the touchline at Ewood Park when he was a Rover - it was looking increasingly likely that we would miss out on promotion and he revealed in the press that he wanted to play in the Premier League amid Everton's interest. When Carsley rose from the bench to warm up ready to come on, the Blackburn End started a rendition of 'Fck off Carsley, fck off Carsley'!!! I was sat in the Jack Walker Stand that day and even those old fuddy duddys around me started joining in!! Needless to say, Souness signalled to Lee to retain his seat on the bench and that, as they say, was that. He transferred to Goodison a few days later. Just wonder if Barry will get the same sort of reception on Monday against the Wankies?

Very happy with this news. Maybe getting on a bit, but hey Hughesy was about 36 and look how well he played for us (debut and cup final in particular). We've got ourselves another potential captain who doesn't take any sh!te, but can also play a great game. Well done Hughesy keep up the good work. Now go for Benni McCarthy and make me cream in my underpants.

Sky Sports have worked out that Barry Ferguson has cost us £200k PER GAME that he played! I honestly think we will be better off with Savage. A new face that is BEST mates with the manager and is so seemingly desperate to play for us! When was the last time we had that??? At least we know that Ferguson is in demand despite being most average during his time at Ewood. If we get £5m for a player that is attracting interest from clubs based on his good performances for a Scottish team three years ago, we are doing well. We then spend £3m on Savage, and spend approx £3-4m on a new striker/attacking central midfielder. Sorted! If we get a decentish offer, at the end of the day the only one that has lost out here is the player himself which is refreshing to say the least. Let's just hope that a bidding war starts for Ferguson because you can bet that Newcastle will become involved, and if there is a player available you can never rule out interest from Middlesbrough, Spurs etc.

I really cannot see how £24 is justified. At the end of the day, it is the clubs who will lose out as they are pricing a certain sector of spectators out of the market. There aren't many fans that are so blindly in love with their team that they will pay way way over the odds to watch them. It shouldn't be a choice between taking your family of four for a meal or paying for ONE ticket to watch 90 minutes of football between two pretty poor teams in the dullest of dull stadia. Here's hoping that one day BRFC will have the balls to consider the fans rather than rush into deciding ludicrous ticket prices as soon as they get the slightest inkling that there is money to be made. If it takes relegation to be be able to watch my beloved Rovers more often, then so be it.

What football needs is for everyone to boycott the game. If nobody goes to Ewood for this game, it will teach the greedy @#/? clubs a lesson - not just Rovers and Cardiff, but all of them. However, the clubs know that there are some 'loyal' supporters out there who haven't missed a game in 20 years and will fork out even if they add yet another tenner. They are being taken for mugs in the extreme. If nobody went it would send out a cruel but neccessary message to Rovers. Blackburn is not a rich area by any means. I for one live in the Nelson area and it will cost me probably about £32 for ticket plus petrol, maybe a tenner for programme, a pint and something to eat - not to mention booking the night off work and probably being knackered for the next day. So that's in the region of forty odd quid for a FA Cup Third Round Replay. I'm sorry that to me is what I call taking the p!ss.

This has not got anything to do with 'devotion'. At the end of the day, we all love our clubs as much as each other. Some days, football and Rovers are all I talk about whilst at work and in the pub. Some supporters are willing to pay over the odds because they have tinted spectacles and manage to somehow justify in their minds that the prices are fair. You can look at it in the view that the prices may be high, and obviously more money taken on the gates means ultimately more money to make the team better. Clubs need to think about it though. It just takes a few clubs to have the balls to risk drastically dropping ticket prices in the hope that higher attendances will ensure they break even anyway. If we get a gate of around 7,000 (which is looking increasingly likely) in the replay with tickets priced at an average of £24, the club will take £168k. Now if the club thought about this one they would realise that an announcement that the ticket prices would be drastically reduced would really encourage bums on seats. It they set prices of £10, and the crowd was boosted by 10k to 17k, the club would actually come out with £170k! Now ten thousand extra sales of overpriced programmes, overpriced beer, overpriced hotdogs and overpriced snickers bars also would generate a few more quid. So why don't they do it? What is stopping them? Some say that Cardiff would have to agree, but surely to God they WOULD agree knowing they would actually make more money. The board (or whoever decide these pathetic prices) needs to open it's eyes and question whether they are offering value for money to their customers. It's one thing supporting an underperforming team, but being ripped off and having the financial p!ss taken out of your faithful support is another.

Anything above £3m and we should forget it. The player is 30years old for christ's sake! We'd be lucky to get three years quality football out of him. Mind you thinking about it, I'd say Savage is probably good enough to ensure us a place of at least 3 places in the league above where we would without him. A quick mathematical jiz: 3 places higher in league @ 500k per place = £1.5m £1.5m over 3 years service = £4.5m This means Robbie has paid for himself and possibly another 1 or 2 players. Sounds good business to me but of course football doesn't work mathematically.

Pleased that Hughes seems to recognise like the rest of us that a bit of flait is needed to boost morale if not performances. I honestly don't think we are playing that badly in general - it's just that creative spark in the final third that we don't seem to have anymore, compared to a couple of years ago when we had both Duff and Gillespie to rely on. Tugay is playing pretty poor, but he (like others) needs Rovers to be an exciting, attacking side like we were so that he can show his true colours. Its very hard for one player in the midfield to be so creative when all the others around him are playing negatively and so cautiously. Djorkaeff, Dyorkaeff, Jorkayeheff or how ever the bloody hell you spell it, would add that extra spice and while he may not maybe the one player to create all our chances, he could be the one to motivate those around him to play like we know they can play.

A disgrace? That's a bit harsh and unwaranted as far as I'm concerned. Souness did better than all of us expected. Don't forget he took over and we were in the bottom half of Div1! A promotion, CUP WIN, and two European qualifications are hardly a disgace for a pretty small town club such as ourselves! OK the way he left us was a bit sh!tty, but if you think we are better than a bottom half of the Premiership team, you're wrong. Even Hughes said that his aim is to take us to the top of the second tier of the Premiership.

I've always seen the Faroe Islands and Iceland as sort of Scandinavian. Please don't hurt me.

Excellent news, well done Rovers. Other than Strachan, I don't think there was anybody really available that would come close to Hughes.

I think Hughesy would be a great signing for us. I have often thought that one of Souness/Dalgliesh's plus points was the fact that they were a big name player in the past and do have MANY contacts within the game. They also command respect from younger players because of their success in the game. Hughes fits into this category and if you have played for clubs such as Manchester United, Barcelona and Chelsea you are going to develop contacts. Hughes has an aura about him - much like Souness but for some reason I think Mark has an interlectual approach where perhaps Souness edged it on the discipline front. We can say Hughes doesn't have much managerial experience but this feels so right as far as I'm concerned. The majority of the fans want him, the players have come out and said he is their first chice, and now it seems he is our board's number one target aswell. Hughesy, Hughesy, Hughesy!!! P.S How will Mark Hughes' name fit into the "...... blue n white army" chant??? It doesn't sound right to me.

Velcro numbers? Penalty idea would be OK but it would look really cheesy.

Hey lay off the guy - he's doing us a favour in giving honest opinions about our players!!! He didn't have to reply, all credit to him. I think he was slightly mistaken about the Tugay goal - I think someone laid it off to him and he bent it in. Still came from a freekick I suppose. And to be fair, I hadn't heard of De Pedro either.

Southampton vs Rovers Match Preview by Pete (ihateburnley) Well, after a truly excellent first preview for the opening game against WBA, I face the daunting task of following Scotty with my preview for Rovers' first away game of the 2004/05 season - Southampton. Southampton, like ourselves, are seen by many as a side comfortably established as an average Premier League outfit, without exactly inspiring the imagination. They have never won the Championship, although that statement could mean anything following the re-branding of the English football leagues. Southampton's honours list comprises of the following: League Honours Level 1 (Premiership, First Division, Football League) Runners-up 1983/1984 Level 2 (Championship, League Division One, Second Division) Runners-up 1965/1966, 1977/1978 Level 3 (League One, League Division Two, Third Division) Champions 1959/1960 Runners-up 1920/1921 Level 3 (Third Division (South)) Champions 1921/1922 Club Records Victory: 9-3 v Wolverhampton Wanderers, Div 2, 18th September 1965 Defeat: 0-8 v Tottenham Hotspur, Div 2, 28th March 1936 Attendance: 31973 v Newcastle 11th May 2002 As I said, they don't exactly inspire the imagination. However, the club has seen a gradual transformation over recent years. They were once regarded as a club who just made up the numbers in the Premier League - their laughable excuse for a top-flight stadium for one, leading us all to categorise them along with teams such as Wimbledon, Coventry City and Norwich City. Indeed, we have seen supposedly big clubs with obvious potential such as Sunderland, Wolves and Crystal Palace all come and then go within a couple of years. Sheffield Wednesday - remember them? Massive ground and a large support base - but you need more than that to stay in the top-flight. Southampton's new ground, St Mary's, a 33,000 all-seater stadium stands as a blatant beacon of a brighter future and better things to come both on the field, and off it. I emailed Southampton fan Ken Sharp to see how he rates us. Just a regular Southampton fan with no say in the running of his football club other than the few hundred quid he throws at the ticket office every season. It's only a short one - wouldn't want to use up unneccessary amounts of space on the messageboard Can I once again thank Ken for his time in helping me. Questions 1) How do you rate the Rovers squad as individuals? Brad Friedel - Top keeper. Doesn't seem to be living up to his form of two seasons ago, but still one of the best goalkeepers in this division. Dominic Matteo - Big scary ugly bugger. In other words the ideal centre-half. Good signing. Lorenzo Amoruso - Not sure about him. Seems a slow and unpredictable player, but then again we have plenty of those. Lucas Neill - From what I've seen he's a very aggressive defender who likes to get stuck in - not sure he's Premiership quality. Michael Gray - Always liked Michael's style of play. Excellent player for Sunderland and would have liked to seen him get his chance in the England squad on the left maybe. David Thompson - Again like Michael Gray, he's one of those players that you love to watch. Would definitely like to see him down here. Brett Emerton - Seems to be a major flop. There were some big teams after him, I think we even went after him at one point. Can understand why we didn't actually bid for him now! Garry Flitcroft - Never thought he was Premiership quality and I can't begin to wonder why you would play him with the other players you have. Barry Ferguson - Thought Barry was a quality buy. He's going to get better and better and I wonder if you're going to hold on to him. Be patient with him. Tugay - Tugay is sheer class, reminds me a lot of good old Eyal Berkovic. His goal against us last season (or was it the year before) from a free-kick was great. Javier De Pedro - Never seen him play, and if I'm being honest, I've never even heard of him! Jonathon Douglas - See above! Sorry. Jon Stead - Seems overrated if you ask me. I think he was in a sort of honeymoon period last season and I don't think he will live up to your expectations. Still young though at least. Paul Dickov - He's one of those players that if he plays for you you love him - unfortunately we hate him. Always seems to play well against us. Paul Gallacher - Only saw him play against Newcastle last season, and he looked an excellent prospect. Definitely one for the future. Matt Jansen - Shame what's happened to him - he looked a very good First Division player. Not sure if he was ever going to cut it in the Prem anyway. Thought you'd sold him. Dwight Yorke - I thought he was on his way out, but he looked good against WBA on the Premiership. I thought Cole was better too but maybe Dwight will prove me wrong. 2) And as a team? I think us, Blackburn and Everton are so close in terms of quality, we are developing a small breakaway league. We are pretty average sides, and while I don't think any of us will be relegated, I doubt we will finish above mid-table. 3) Do Southampton fans ever wake up in the night with a cold sweat, wondering if YOU could have won the Premiership with Shearer, or indeed the Champions League with Kevin Davies? - Obviously we were sad to see Shearer leave as he was one of our better players, but none of us thought he would go on to achieve what he has. I know he's only won one trophy but he has become a cult figure in modern day football, and we take pride in the fact that we helped him develop into the player he is today. God knows what happened to Kevin though. I honestly believed he was going to do really really well for you. In hindsight, you could say we were very lucky to get so much for a player that has underachieved, but I was personally gutted when you bought him - I thought we had a future England star on our hands! 4) When are you giving us James Beattie back? This season or next? - You're not having him back. Ever. He's one of the best strikers around even though he maybe is slightly overrated. 5) What's your score prediction for Saturday's game? - I'm saying 2 - 0 to the Saints, and I think Peter Crouch and Kevin Phillips will get them. 6) Not a chance mate. It's going to be 1 - 0 to the Rovers with the Steadmeister pinging one in. What are Southamptons strengths and who should we look out for? - Fabrice Fernandes is a quality player and is always a goal threat with his long-range attempts. Phillips, Crouch, Beattie and Ormerod are all decent options and any combination will give your defence a hard time. Oh, and you wont get anything past Niemi, he's the best goalkeeper we've had in a long long time. 7) Thankyou for your time Ken, hope you have a lovely week, and a terrible weekend - You're very welcome, see you on Saturday! by Pete (ihateburnley)

2 - 0 I reckon Stead will score both then get injured and be out for the rest of the season.

Cole did that all last season, its nothing new. Excuse me? Did we watch the same player last season??? Cole very rarely ran at all - I'm not surprised considering the paltry £60k a week he was on.

Totally agree with you there Bryan. It's not as though the starting eleven are indispensible and are the only talent this country has. If need be, sack everyone of them who strikes. We could always just replace the England squad with the U21s and teach the ungrateful sods that they are not only not bigger than their clubs, but they can't even touch their countries. I've said it before, the only reason they all bum up to SGE is because he is too bloody soft. Everybody wants a manager that will let them do what they want and never publicly criticise them etc.

Not sure about that one. You often find that teams who have a significantly better player on one side than on the other actually do quite well. Maybe it ain't such a bad idea having one flank as your attacking outlet and one as a defensive one? Sounds strange but quite a few teams seem to do it now. I personally woud give Emerton a do at right back and try playing Thommo on the right hand side.

Exactofookinmondo dude

Aye but you still haven't answered my question in terms of what can Sven offer that other managers can't? Sven was pursued for reasons that I still can't fathom. Maybe it was his overaggerated reputation?