If you look at the Yellow card timings, the four to either side were handed out at roughly the same time- our first yellow was to Bellamy which was a stupid one. Savage's was stupid as well, Tugay had it coming and Dickov was extremely harsh but he had been warned and it looked bad even though he missed Neville with the challenge he got booked for! So you can hardly claim the Yellows were preventing us from tackling- none of the defenders got booked. As for the penalty- it was a nailed on penalty inside the area. I don't know what the UK coverage was like, but even the United-loving Sky coverage we got in Malta replayed the incident twice and said something to the effect of "it was a clear firm two handed push, in the area (silent gulp)". The linesman missed it all ends up and I think the prospect of eleven snarling reds in his face might have helped his myopia. That said, the Rovers crowd missed it as well as there was very little noise from them about the decision. One final comment, Bentley was superb in the first half. The first time I thought there was a good case for signing him permanently. The second half reminded me why not though.

Keith Barker scored in a friendly for Cercle last night.

Newcastle hitting the buffers. The debt at £90m is bigger than most were thinking it was and as it nearly equals the asset value under-pinning it, no more borrowing for Fat Freddie and co. They are also getting into territory where it will be of dubious legality to carry on splashing out big dividends. So, I wonder why this story has been placed with its appeal to big rich Russians and a £75m price tag placed on the club? NEWCASTLE ARE FOR SALE FOLKS and Souness is lucky again- he is safe so long as he doesn't get them relegated. Or until FF changes his mind again....

Cardiff 1 Blackburn Rovers 1

It is very good. A thought that struck me when I read the mutual discount with a Prem club idea: - One of Rovers or Burnley are going to end up with Accy Stanley playing league games on the same day as them next season. Rovers should get in there now and agree with the Police and Accy Stanley that Rovers and Stanley league games should not clash and a joint season ticket for Stanley and Rovers games introduced. Stanleys' gates have been woeful by Conference standards but a Christmas gate of 3,000 showed the potential for folks going to them rather than Ewood. Better to embrace this development rather than get hurt by it. I was disappointed that the PR agency idea didn't appear. Believe an 01254 number popping up and "Hello, I'm Blackburn Rovers PR" will be just as ineffective as having no PR. The media is in London- the Rovers' PR has to be in London. Fact of life, if it is considered worth investing in PR, at least spend the money effectively.

Brilliant First Half with two well-matched teams, Rovers didn't get going second half but contained the Manc attacks fairly comfortably. I expect shots on/off target numbers are pretty equal. Yes Savage and Kuqi should both have scored inside the first six minutes but Rooney was thankfully wayward as well. Just hope Savage has scored by the time we go to OT because he's getting into scoring opportunities but not believing in himself putting them away at the moment. When we were on top MGP and Bentley were having superb games and Kuqi was causing real problems. In the second half the two wide players disappeared, Kuqi was back to an agricultural level and Nelsen's passing became awful. Have to say Reid really looked good for the short time he was on in place of Tugay and the Rovers were beginning to change the balance of play as the final whistle went. MGP's goal was so sweet- a volley that reminded me of Duffer at his best! I thought Rob Stiles was pretty fair and handled the game well. The linesman should have spotted the entireless needless shove by Fedrinand on Bellamy in the box- it was pretty blatant. Smith's lunge on Savage was awful and I think he would have walked had Savage not grabbed Rooney round the neck in the ensuing melee. As it was either they both went or they both got the yellows which Stiles gave them. A really bad foul by Wes Brown on Bellamy where he left his studs in the back of his knee early on went unpunished. And a really stupidly bad decision against Kuqi when Van Der Saar got upended by Brown which led to Bellamy mouthing of for his yellow. Enjoyed it and although its an outside chance, we can still make the Final. 2-2 after ET at OT?

Rovers have five full internationals on the bench and the Mancs don't! The Manc central midfield looks weak- if we can kill them there we are in with a real chance. That said I wouldn't have started with Todd and Kuqi but lets hope they prove me wrong. I think the Carling Cup games go out without restriction over the internet.

Another party pooper. Mancs are at full strength except for Saha starting in place of Van Nistelrooyd. Rovers starting with Gray, Savage, Tugay, Bentley and the only surprise- Kuqi with Bellamy.

In other words, the lowest Rovers v Man U crowd since Ewood was rebuilt.

Buying tickets before the 5pm deadline hopefully! I know its just an Asian Betting site but it doesn't half make sweet reading! Now come on Rovers, don't let us down tonight.

Thanks a LET When the home town newspaper spends 75% of its article interviewing Mark Hughes bigging him up for the Manc job, what hope is there? The LET has to be the biggest load of garbage going- sack them and put Jason in charge.

A Burnley view of the Cup. Seems wierd that even those who are willing to pay to see the goals on line cannot do so. I see that the latest goals web site has been busted off the web.

Interesting insight- good to hear that Sparky is creating the same impression inside the club that those of us looking in from the outside are getting. We are obviously in very good hands.

Its on live at Ewood Park at 8pm but you've got to get tickets by 5pm. I think its only on TV internationally. By the way- that weak Man U squad. Am I missing something or did I not see the names of all RFW's current first XI there? Perhaps this quote from the old bruiser is the give away: "I will make changes from the FA Cup game at Burton because I have to look at the City match on Saturday morning." He's telling the truth- he's dropping the second XI he put out at Burton and going full strength tonight.

Is it any wonder the Wigan public are not out in force tonight? 10,000 for a Reserve team match is pretty good in fact.

No

For all those who moan about the stewarding at the Blackburn End- read that article's comments about how a Rangers' fan found our stewarding at the Darwen End. Really embarassing for Rovers.

Sod the post code- sitting at my PC whilst on the phone I could get any postcode anywhere in the World but asking them who eat bananas with their feet or who the Axe is would sort out the chimps!

Anyone spot the logic flaw in this piece by Reuters which has been picked up and used by press around the world (including the Times of Malta which provided this quote)? "Manchester United risk another cup upset tomorrow when a side chastened by drawing with minor league Burton Albion face Blackburn Rovers in the League Cup semi-finals. "Three days after United's humiliating 0-0 FA Cup draw and three before they meet City in the Manchester derby, manager Alex Ferguson has to find a team capable of avoiding defeat in the first leg at Ewood Park. "United, who will face either old foes Arsenal or Wigan Athletic in the final at Cardiff on Feb. 26, have a hectic schedule of matches after adding an unwanted FA Cup third round replay at home to Burton on Jan. 18."

Wonderful! Relegation beckons for sure- BIG CLUB might get ahead of the Baggies but Pompey's new signings will see them safe.

To stop Man U supporters infiltrating on the night. I bet that goes by the board if their are a lod of Rovers fans trying to buy tickets on the night though- first I've heard about it reading it on here just now.

I think you have hit a key point there BNSG. We've always been unfashionable or patronised but the last twelve months has seen a concerted media attack on the Rovers prompted by Whinger and Moanrhino (thaanks Waggy) giving us a bad mouthing after we'd put their teams thru' the mangle. In fact, truth be told, Rovers v Chelsea was one of THE classic games in the Premiership last season. I think the statements from Hughes and JW in the Press are first class but perhaps the club needs some high quality PR management from a London agency (this is something you cannot bring in-house; it cannot be bought that way) to up the profile positively and news manage next time somebody precious gets either a blue or white elbow where they didn't ought to. As for a stunt? Rovers 5 United 0 and some ole football tomorrow night?

It works out as W8 D6 L4. Season to date is W9 D3 L8. W10 D0 L8 in the remainder of the season would also get us to 60 points.

Sorry to quote myself but this was how on 3 January I analysed us getting to 60 points. I thought 60 points was the highest realistically achievable toal then and I still do: Which begs the question, how well can we do this season? Ten home games to go which includes the top three and Arsenal so not quite the benefit of numeric home advantage it looks on paper.- I'd guess four points out of twelve from those games. The other home games include three more derbies- Bolton, Wigan, Man City- given the unpredictable nature of these sorts of games, say five points out of nine. Then three games against strugglers- Villa, Boro and Sunderland- should yield seven points out of nine given the way Hughes has made us more ruthless than Souness did. Away trips to all the relegation-haunted clubs could be tough on the physio room- Sunderland, Pompey, Brum, West Brom should see us unbeaten on those vists, eight points out of twelve. That leaves visits to Everton, Charlton, Newcastle and Spurs- win two, lose two for six points out of twelve. So another 30 points giving a grand total of 60 would seem to be very possible without making any wildly optimistic assumptions. Everton came 4th with 61 points and Liverpool 5th on 58 points last season. Interesting times ahead...

Excellent points by Revidge. I think his analysis of why we have slipped disproportionately is bob-on and should be taken verbatim into the report (even though it adds another writing style!). However, I think Rev missed a point. The report doesn't say the Asian support isn't an issue, it says it is so important an issue that it deserves a separate meeting as a topic on its own if I read it correctly.