Quite a generous report from 1864, I thought this was a very poor performance and even worse game.

The main problem was that the whole team was at least a couple of yards off the pace which I can put down to only one of two things:

a) Feeling the pace after several very important games in quick succession.

or

The "phew" factor and mentally relaxing after virtually guaranteeing safety on Wednesday night.

I suspect it was more than a).

Not one player performed anywhere near as well as he is capable. As such the game barely rates a mention.

That said it is harsh to be overcritical as the players have been superb recently.

This article says that UEFA will tell the FA to select Liverpool.

That article says nothing of the sort.

The rule clearly states that if the Champions League winner does not qualify through domestic League position it is then up to the National Football Association (The FA) to make the case out for the team in question (possibly Liverpool)

No doubt in practice if the FA intervened then the decision would go in Liverpool's favour, but if hypothetically they declined to get involved then it would be tough according to a literal interpretation of that rule.

Of course it seems ridiculous that a country otherwise entitled to 4 teams can not field a 5th in those unusual circumstances.

It's not possible to slander a club but by way of example if a tape could be obtained of the post match comments on talksport on saturday imo much of the stuff said about Todd was libellous and a lot of ill intent on Hughes' part was also implied.

speeedie is right though, we somehow need to woo the press back on our side, not alienate them further.

Blackburn Rovers-v- Tony Parkes’ Select XI

Tuesday, 17th May 2005

At Ewood Park

Kick-off 8.00 pm

Tony Parkes Select X1.....................

1) John Williams

2) "The mole"

3) Rob Coar

4) Graeme Souness

5) Gerald Jackson

6) Stanley Ternent

7) Alex Ferguson

8) John Bond

9) Andy Payton

10) Dean Saunders

11) Phil Boersma

I've been saying Matteo is underrated, whilst pedersen is overrated, for a long time now.

Matteo, defensively is excellent [and that's what we needed].

As for pedersen, yes he's scored some great goals and shows good skills with a dead ball. His all round game though, is well below par. He can't beat a man and he's dead slow. Gives the ball away a lot as well.

I'm sure plenty will disagree with me?

I think your assessment of Pedersen is harsh Den.

He's won us numerous points with crucial goals/moments of inspiration this season.

Yes his all round play could sometimes be better. But he's one of those players that currently you daren't leave out or take off because he's always likely to win you the game with a flash of inspiration.

He is only young and I'm sure his contribution over 90 minutes will improve as he gets older.

Was thinking about this the other day. Whilst he is nowhere near as good a player (yet) I bet his goals return compares quite favourably to Duff.

I've never rated him, granted, for the reasons I've mentioned.

You seem to be right at the other end of the scale and particularly rate him as a good holding midfielder.

Somewhere inbetween the two most observers seem to be of the view that Flitcroft has been poor for this season at least.

It's a game of opinion and it would be a poorer one if we all saw the game exactly the same. By way of example I particularly rate Savage in the same role, waggy judging by the above does not.

No need to get personal about it.

Taken from a Newcastle site,they're not happy .................

Funniest thing I've seen for a while that!

Anyone know where I can buy the poster? Jan's probably in production as we speak.

Flitcroft does not battle, he puts in a couple of tackles a game and coasts through the rest of it.

Bollax.

Well thought out and reasoned reply.

I preferred your (excellent) match report.

Agree with just about everything everyone's said.

Frankly I thought we were safe on 36 points. On 39 even with other sides to play each other we're not quite mathematically safe (are we?) but are firmly into "if we go down I'll show my **** at the top of the townhall steps" territory.

Given the significance to Palace I was amazed at how open and freeflowing last night's game was. I thought they looked a much better proposition than either Norwich or Saints before them but lacked any sort of cutting edge. (Can't think who that sounds like)

Special mentions: Matteo - can't quite agree with Brownie that the criticism he's had this year has been unwarranted - he's played most of the season like he's had his boots tied together. However since coming in for NEJ six games or so ago he's looked a totally different player and credit to him for that.

Todd: Great performance and character in all the circumstances. Proper Captain's stuff.

Reid: Getting better and better. Along with Stead my man of the match last night and indeed for the last umpteen games. Shame that his finishing wasn't steadier on a couple of occasions. The end of the season will come too soon for him the form he's in. The hub of the team at present.

Stead: Fantastic performance in terms of holding the ball up and all round play. Runs his socks off just like Dickov but gives us so many more options.

But (and it's a big but) for a striker, he should have found the back of the net. If he can rediscover his scoring touch and maintain that performance level he'll be some player.

Very enjoyable stuff. Again. Another home win. Again.

Who knows John Williams will have to amend his normal doom laden "survival is the aim" message for next season's season ticket package if we carry on like this!

Everyone who plays pro-sport will have picked up pre-existing conditions (knocks, cuts, breaks, dodgy injections etc.) which would invalidate any insurance policy.

True, but Dahlin's condition clearly went well beyond the normal bumps and bruises sustained by footballers.

Any how it's not the situation that the policy is not paying out at all, the appeal court decision would seem to affect quantum rather than liability.

So it's a case of fingers crossed and let's hope we get as much as possible.

When the player doesn't have "a pre-existing condition" of any kind.

I can't remember the exact wording of the original ruling but remember thinking it would cause ructions in the insurance industry as it tended to nullify the standard "we don't pay out in the case of pre-existing conditions" clause central to insurance policies.

Still we may get something, even if a much lesser amount.

By continuing to imply that Flitcroft and Thompson don't battle you are showing yourself up to be a complete buffoon Rev.

Flitcroft does not battle, he puts in a couple of tackles a game and coasts through the rest of it. Anyone with an ounce of sense only have to look at the effort put in by a half fit Savage to see the difference. (Granted he didn't have a particularly good game last night)

Maybe to say Thompson doesn't battle is not quite the right analysis but there's a difference between battling to some effect and not being able to do a single thing right as has been the case with Thompson for several months now. He's clearly a better player than that (or was once) so the reason for his performances is a mystery to me.

"Play with 10" was the shout from one wag behind me when Thompson stripped off last night. Trouble is, no-one was disagreeing and this comment brought chuckles of amusement rather than the righteous indignation it should have done had Thompson been performing to an acceptable level lately.

The difference this season Waggy is that everyone is that with the odd exception (both of whom didn't start last night) everyone is battling like mad and doing themselves great credit anyway.

So there would be nothing to be gained in terms of spirit by bringing the youngsters in.

Last season there would have been as as clearly no-one was prepared to perform for Souness.

Not surprised by this at all. Thought the original decision in our favour was a very surprising one.

looks like Amo might have to clean his boots if Toddy gets his marching orders

Surely Craig Short is far more deserving of one last hurrah in a Rovers shirt than Amoruso?

He may well be a very nice guy off the pitch but the sight of him warming up on the touchline sends me into a cold sweat.

I wish someone would show Hughesey a tape of Amo's last outing, the 4-0 reverse at home to Boro and our Uefa Cup games last season before he is tempted to do anything daft.

Good grief - do you not think this is starting to get a bit silly now? I wanted Souness to go as much as anyone but this constant slagging of him is getting a little tedious now.

Like any manager Souness needs time to rebuild the squad and turn Newcastle into "his" team. Only then will we be able to judge if he's been successful there or not.

Do I think he'll be a success? Couldn't care less to be honest.

Fair point, but the more clubs there are performing desperately poorly the better it is for us!

The fact it is a "big" club makes it frankly even more satisfying. The fact it is Souness who took us on exactly the same downward spiral makes it "priceless" as they say in the ads.

Does anyone else think that the club make some sort of counterattack to all the nonsense that has been spoken since Sunday? I read Reid`s comments today and the players are very angry and upset by it. Lets hope that Palace suffer tomorrow.

I was thinking that Tony, the Club has been very quiet in the face of all the unjustified flak that has been flying around, even if not defending the on the pitch happenings, a spirited defence of the club's supporters wouldn't have gone amiss.

Having had a few days to reflect the level of criticism the team has been subject to is totally uncalled for. There is nothing at all wrong with the team's overall style of play. However there is no need for the sort of studs up knee high challenges perpetrated by Flitcroft and Savage, and on another day Thompson's unnecessary petulance would have seen him enjoying an early bath. I'm sure we can cut those sort of things out without in any way compromising the team's competitiveness.

The most unjustified attack in the National Media was that on the fans. When the hysteria finally settles down, fair minded analysts might just recognise the occasion as an imoportant day. It was a day that the average football fan finally drew a line in the sand and refused to be taken advantage of any longer. To me it wasn't so much the early kick off time, or the venue, but the refusal of the FA to make available adequate numbers of reasonably priced tickets particularly for kids. For those who had to disappoint little Johnny, it must have been a desperately difficult decision to make but they may just have done the game a favour in the long term.

Agree entirely with tash, Todd has already protested his innocence therefore MUST plead not guilty.

On an objective and impartial hearing it would be impossible to prove his guilt on the basis of the video clips................ we shall wait and see.

Have to pick up on a point in jim's post. I may be wrong but I thought I had read elsewhere the referee had seen the incident but viewed it as accidental which was why he failed to mention it in his report as opposed to not seeing it?

If that is the case the FA decision to override him and charge Todd is disappointing and smacks of big club bias.

.....on a similar note, imagine if 'little' Bolton upset everyone & capture the 4th champions league spot??.....& Everton get 5th, leaving the once mighty Liverpool sweating on a UEFA cup place or even the inter toto???

I`d p155 myself laughing if that happened!!!

For the general good of the game I'd love to see unfashionable Bolton clinch the 4th Champions League spot.

However from a strictly selfish point of view I think it would be a very bad thing for Rovers if they were to do so giving them for the first time a significant financial advantage over us.

As an aside, how crap are Newcastle?

Not half as crap as they will be by this time next season if GS and his "coaching" staff are still there.

Good to see he has them conceding the standard four goals a game already.

There was one cracking call into Talksport yesterday.

Rodney Marsh (who to be fair had given Hughes some qualified support) was bleating on about what a great final Man Ure v Arsenal would be and how the whole nation wanted this dream final etc. etc.

Someone rang in disagreeing saying that everyone was sick of ManUre and

arsenal and no neutrals wanted to watch a match between Arsenal,who writhe about in agony everytime anyone goes near them and ManUre, who swamp the referee everytime a throw in decision goes against them.

Unsurprisingly this call was met with a "don't know what he's talking about" attitude from the presenters.

It had me banging the car dashboard in approval though.

Quote from the PeopleBut look at every single Blackburn player and ask yourself: Where's the flair? Where's the imagination?

Where's the flair?

Ask Graeme bloody Souness thankfully 2-0 down v ManUre and heading for a drubbing.

(Can't believe I would ever watch a ManUre v Newcastle game hoping for the Red Scum to win.)

Ignore 'em.

Pundits are always contraversial, trying to make money off the back of footy. Fans buy into it, reputations are made and lo and behold Blackburn are evil.

Pile of.

Doesn't really bother me Bryan, just making the point we should be prepared for a lot more of this sort of (crap) coverage.

Been listening to Talksport all the way back up and was amazed at the vitriol being directed towards us by the presenters.

Todd may well have let himself down although having seen the replay I don't think it's conclusive. Other than that despite a couple of bad challenges from Flitcroft and Savage I didn't think the game was overly physical but it was all "Only one team came to play football" "Football was the winner" "Todd's a cowardly thug" etc etc.

Only Rodney Marsh tried to partially defend us by saying that Hughes had no choice but to play in this manner given the personnel at our disposal. Although he was very scathing about Todd.

Then (get this) a Wigan, yes Wigan fan had an e-mail read out in saying we were an embarrassment to the Premiership because we'd only taken 15,000 to a semi final!. (Well it was probably nearer 18,000 but don't let that get in the way of a good story)

Rodders was in full agreement with this saying it would be embarrassing if a club took 15,000 to a semi final "played on the moon." The presenters then decided in their wisdom that this was because Rovers fans don't want to watch our ugly style of play. A Rovers fan tried e-mailing in about the £45 tickets but this was badly explained and swiftly dismissed saying they didn't understand the point being made.

It seems clear that we are currently the new Wimbledon or Millwall of the Premiership as far as the media are concerned, the team everyone loves to hate.

Looks like we'll have to put up with this sort of coverage for the forseeable future until we can add more flair to our game.

I had a feeling it wasnt going to be our day, from the minute I got smacked in the face by the ball during the players warm up.

That will teach me not to pay attention. There I was admiring the stadium then wham bang, I get a thunderball smack in the face and my specs go flying.

A big thank you to the lass who caught them, before they dropped to the lower tier, my glasses that is

It wasn't the most successful trip for me either.

Some twonk ran into the back of me on the M6 yesterday.

I was a tad disappointed with our performance today. In the first half we had the ball in numerous promising positions but seemed to lack the confidence in our own ability to make something happen, preferring instead to knock the ball backwards and retain possession.

The game plan was obviously not to concede and after performing extremely well for the first 35 minutes it was obviously crucial to get to half time at 0-0. I felt however we took our eye off the ball slightly for five to ten minutes, Brad bailing us out with a terrific double save before we actually did concede.

In the second half we tried hard and showed a little more ambition but never really looked like scoring.

If there is one criticism I would have of Hughes's tenure so far it's his continued preference for playing Dickov as a lone frontman when I think it is plain for all to see that he can not fulfill that role. Today Stead looked sharp when he came on but should have had at least 25 minutes,it's unrealistic to expect him to do anything in six minutes.

Still hopefully we can learn from this and with our new found resolve there may well be other big occasions like this to look forward to in future if we can sort out our lack of creativity and firepower.