ihateburnley

I thought he only had something like 3 international caps, which makes it unlikely that he is the captain. I think LuaLua is their main striker. In fact I just checked on Soccerbase, and it says he has never played for his country!?! I'm surprised if that's true. http://www.soccerbase.com/players_details.sd?playerid=21406 On a side note, his record of 0.47 goals per game is amazing.

He had lovely hair though.

I'll say 3-0 Rovers. We'll get an early goal through Emerton, and then we'll batter them. Miss loads of chances but another Savage freekick and a Nonda header will see them off. Attendance: around the 14k mark.

Who said anything about that? Brett doesn't have any leadership qualities from what I can see - and neither does Neill. Savage for captain.

Emerton has gone from being the scapegoat, to being Man Of The Match in at least three games already this season. It's also nice to know that if Neill loses his place at left-back, then he won't walk straight back into the team. Judging by the fans' attitude towards Brett yesterday, I'd say if he keeps it up he will enjoy more success at Blackburn Rovers than Lucas. For the first time in years, I can honestly say that at the moment I'm happy with our full-backs, and when Nelsen returns from injury there ain't much getting past Brad.

I think it depends on where you sat Pleasure. If, like I was, you were one of the singers in the top left of the away end, the atmosphere will have sounded pretty good. I'd say there were only about 80 (maximum) of us singing constantly, and I must say I was pretty disappointed with the rest of our support. What I will say is that surely the Boro fans have one of the worst home support in the Prem? I know they get a few more on than us, but atmosphere-wise it was absolutely terrible. I thought Ewood was bad, but now it seems that our stadium is actually quite high-up there in terms of level of noise created. Playing-wise I thought we showed glimpses of having the flowing football of last season, combined with the kamikaze defending of earlier this season; Friedel - 7 - not much to do, but was tidy and kicked well Emerton - 8 - excellent. Showed more attacking qualities today and was probably my MOTM. Neill - 7 - His defending is getting better and better, but I still have question marks over positioning Zurab - 6 - Hit and miss. He seems quite inconsistent and commits too many fouls Ooijer - 8 - Thought it was his best game so far by a mile. Looked stronger and more confident. Bentley - 7 - Faded in and out of the game, but showed he is getting better with every game Tugay - 5 - I thought he was awful. Kept giving the ball away which is a shame because all he can do normally is pass Savage - 8 - Workhorse again, literally box to box. Give him the captaincy. Pedersen - 7 - See Bentley. McCarthy - 7 - Unlucky not to score but was largely disappointing, and was outshone by Nonda - 8 - Looks a bit short of fitness, but took his goal well and looks a real handful Our subs didn't really get long enough, although Mokoena looked steadier than Tugay when he came on. I thought Hughes would have brought Gallagher on a bit earlier, and I would have preferred to have Sergio on the pitch rather than Mickey Gray. On a side note, nice to see Gray seeing the funny side to all the stick he was getting from the Rovers.

In the two games I have seen Shabani Nonda play, I get the impression that he is a better player than Benni McCarthy. Obviously we will need more games to get a more accurate view of the two, but I just think so far that Benni seems to p!ss about with the ball too much, whereas Nonda seems to have a bit more urgency and movement. Nonda also looks more of a physical presence as well, which obviously helped when challenging the likes of Woodgate today.

Excellent summary of the situation Laurence.

Lee (or anyone else for that matter) - I'm interested in joining the Proud To Be A Rover membership scheme. However, I buy all my tickets over the phone. Will this represent a problem when trying to use the vouchers? For example can you give them a voucher reference number, or do you have to go to the ticet office in person or even send off the vouchers? As long as you go to two games a season, this offer has got to be a no-brainer?

Middlesbrough 1 - 1 Rovers Nonda with a header for the Rovers.

At least nobody could blame the board if they consistently lowered the prices. I think what most fans like myself can't understand is the fact that there is obviously a major dilemna concerning the attendances, yet the prices keep going up and up. If the fans don't turn up at lower prices, then I say fair enough - leave it to the board. Let's not base this theory on the Salzburg game on Thursday though - Man City would have been an excellent chance to test the water, but maybe the Wigan game could represent an opportunity.

The day we can look forward to is the the day that the big clubs break away from the English Premier League and join their Microsoft-in-association-with GlaxoSmithKline Super Euro Soccer League sponsored by McDonalds. Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal can all leave and earn their mega-bucks - and leave the rest of us to start again with no Sky, old rules etc. We can have a proper league where at the end of each player's contract we can bring in a rule that permits only vastly reduced wages. This in turn can allow vastly reduced ticket prices. There are some real clubs out there. Along with us, you have the likes of Leeds United, the two Sheffield clubs, Everton, Newcastle etc etc who are all MASSIVE clubs with great histories between them. No doubt they all feel the same as us - the only difference with them is that they have the numbers to satisfy any reduction in demand for tickets. We don't. Everyone who is thinking along the lines of the club - i.e. let's milk the fans that turn up rather than look for solutions to get more people in - are very blinkered. When the attendance drop the atmosphere gets worse, which in turn reduces numbers even more. In my opinion, if the club has to sacrifice £1m a year in order to lower ticket prices to a reasonable rate, then surely this is worth it? What's the point in having a successful team if nobody can afford to attend the matches. Me personally? - I'd rather us be relegated than ever going a full season without going to a game simply because I can't afford it. I say let's increase the interest in Rovers by bumping up the crowds and making a real atmosphere. Like someone said before, our directors get paid enough to make these decisions. Once we have the support to match our Premier League status, then we can review our ticketing policy. However at the current rate we are going to be getting crowds of less than 15k next season - and then we won't be able to attract the crowds OR the players. And then we will be screwed! ROVERS - ACT NOW BEFORE IT GETS TOO LATE

I also feel that Robbie Savage is our most likely of leaders (when Ryan Nelsen is out), and I can't understand why Robbie isn't our captain.

Good to hear the Rovers fans are in good voice. Two away goals normally means you have a very good chance of going through. Normally. This is Rovers though.

Yes that's Kuqi in a nutshell. Far too clever and intricate.

Rovers 2 - 0 City An incredibly boring game settled by a penalty that shouldnt have been, and a goal that was well offside.

I'm sure he got Player Of The Season the year Rovers were relegated. Honest?

If I was Mickey G I'd be having a quiet word with the likes of Reidy, Nelsen and Todd, and perhaps be paying the chavsters a little 'visit' at home. People are taking this too seriously. Gray is entitled to a drink, aslong as it doesn't affect his health. Apparently, he's been at it for years including when he was at Sunderland - and he's a local legend up there. He seems like a good lad, and you can't slate him for not being good enough - the manager shouldn't have bought him! We definitely have the hardest team in the Prem though - Rooney or no Rooney.

You haven't really said anything at all there Roy have you?

Anyone heard Scott Matthews' song Elusive? Quality. Very haunting, but brilliant to chill out to. I think it was Joe Wiley's record of the week a couple of weeks ago (not that that means its anything special ) Listen to it here - http://www.myspace.com/scottmatthewsmusic

1-0 Rovers Pedersen/Gamst/Morten whatever he is called now.

I somehow doubt that Hughes brought in a defender 'instead' of a central midfielder. He may have planned to buy a defender, or indeed Ooijer, all along. Like I said before, I think maybe it was a case of there not being the right player available, rather than not choosing to sign a player in that position. I think we all know (including Mark Hughes) what we need to add to our squad.

I think maybe it was more of a case of there not being the quality midfielder available at the right price, rather than Hughes simply resting on his laurels with his midfielders. On the other hand, we may have a star in the youth teams that is on the verge of breaking through? I'm glad that Hughes hasn't simply 'splashed the cash' just because it's there to be spent. We will bide our time, evaluate properly how our squad is performing this season, and then buy reinforcements in January if need be. We may find that, compared to other clubs of similar size i.e Everton, we have the upper hand in the transfer window come January.

I'm sure one day the brfcs.co.uk fans consortium will buy a major stake in the club! If we all put a tenner in, and we invest it in shares - who knows we may one day be running the club. Vinjay and Rover The Moon could be negotiating our transfers

Yes great business by the Rovers - £2.5m for a player that we now simply will not need is excellent. By my reckoning we've got about £6m* left to spend - if things aren't going well in January I expect Hughes to strengthen without hesitation. An attacking central midfielder and a left-back would finish our team off in my opinion. *= Profit on summer transfers plus original kitty must equal AT LEAST £6m surely???