Have to disagree Den, I'm not normally one to defend referees but I thought the ref got both big decisions basically right with the exception that the red card for Tugay was exceedingly harsh. I thought at the time it was a penalty and slow motion replays confirmed my initial instincts. Tugay caught the Spurs player with his trailing leg, Definite penalty but it was inadvertent as he was going one way and the Spurs player the other so to send him off was extremely harsh. I actually got the impression that the ref wasn't going to send Tugay off initially but our players persuaded him to consult with the linesman in the vain hope of getting him to change his decision. Unfortunately it appeared the linesman indicated in his view Tugay was the last man earning him a belated red! Similarly two minutes later I wasn't up in my seat screaming for the Mido handball and I was wondering if I'd missed something. Again on slow motion Mido clearly controlled the ball on his chest and it might just have brushed his arm slightly on the way down. I wouldn't have given it and would be livid if the same thing was awarded against us. Other than those bits of controversy it was a very poor game with precious little quality on offer from either side - Tugay excepted. By far his best game of the season -we all know about his silky skills but his work rate today put most of his younger colleagues to shame. Henchoz played really well and looked far more assured than Ooijer but where were they for the penalty incident? Bert didn't seem on his game today. Gray was back to last season's excellent form - see ya Lucas don't let the door hit you on your arse on the way out. Savage wasn't quite up to full speed but still did a decent job of stopping Spuds from playing, especially after we went down to ten men. Bentley had an off day - quite rare for him recently. What was MGP even doing on the pitch? - He has a cracked rib hasn't he - and it showed. A virtual passenger throughout. What does that say to Peter and Gallagher and any other youngster hoping to be given their chance? Sorry, thought the front two were really disappointing once again. When the ball comes into the area neither of them seem prepared to attack it, they seem to want the ball right on their head or to their feet or they ain't interested. On the plus side the sending off seemed to fire us up a bit and as others have said I thought we played a lot better with ten men than eleven. A point was better than I was expecting before the game and hopefully that and a decent result on Thursday night can kickstart the season again.

Except that poor old Tugay got sent off trying to cover an area the 2 centre backs should have been covering after they went AWOL.

It's pretty trendy to knock Vinjay on here and he might even be a closet dingle but regardless of his motives and despite his unique style he does have some good points trying to get out. The one mistake he makes is that the Club and Trust Fund are run by the Walker Trustees who are completely separate from the Walker family. If for example Fred is now worth 600m that's his prerogative and good luck to him. Aside from that there are some fundamental questions that need answering: How do the Trustees see their long term relationship with the club? Why has funding for the current manager dried up when the previous incumbent received excessively generous backing? What is the progress or otherwise in finding additional sources of investment. After all that was one of John Wiliams main tasks on the formation of the new superstreamlined board. We can't be that bad a bet with little or no external debt and new TV deals in the offing. To whom is John Williams accountable if things aren't going so well? If push comes to shove are we prepared to do what is necessary to make sure we actually benefit from the new TV deals? However Vinjay's best point is about the seeming obsession with completely irrelevant discussion about the drummers. Ho hum.

Can we get a point without Savage in the side? Personally I don't think so. 0-2 tomorrow, the chronic lack of investment in the playing side of things since Hughes took over to be highlighted once again and game on as far as the relegation scrap is concerned. After which things might start to gradually improve and tomorrow may be the low point of the season.

Grrrr.............. "Punching above our weight" I despise this phrase which John Williams came out with some years ago to excuse below par performances. We are not "punching above our weight". We are exactly where we deserve to be at this moment in time (i.e. sweating after four poor performances and straight defeats) We only got to the Premiership (twice) due to the benevolence of one man, who also put a superb infrastructure in place. Thanks to that for all but two of the Premiership years we've been buoyed by large amounts of TV money plus the added bonus of the Trust Fund. Weights don't come into it. Could someone please explain why we should possibly not be stronger than the promoted sides every year?

You can also compensate for lack of out and out pace by shifting the ball about quickly and effectively. A well struck pass travels far quicker than a player can run. When you're not doing this, and there's no movement off the ball either, sheer pace is the only way left to trouble the opposition. We don't have that last resort "catch them on the hop" type outlet since Bellamy left, so we'll either have to be a lot cuter with our movement or a lot quicker and more accurate with our passing or preferably both.

Was speaking to a United fan who was in the Darwen End today and he said the behaviour of the travelling support was extremely poor including: The Portaloos in the Fernhurst being set on fire and becoming unusable Fans ripping off the metal shutters on the bar areas inside the ground and generally vandalising anything they could get their hands on Seats being stood on and mistreated until they cracked or snapped Sounds like it's going to cost us a fair few quid

Bloody hell. Extremely harsh that, unless there was stuff going on behind the scenes we aren't privy to.

Getting the topic back on track to the subject of Gally, it's fairly obvious why he doesn't seem to be getting a fair crack of the whip, McCarthy, Nonda and Jeffers are Hughes signings, Gallagher is not. That's not a particular criticism of Hughes, it's a characteristic displayed by all managers. His lack of time on the pitch certainly can't be connected to his performances, by and large when he's come on he's done well we've looked far more potent as an attacking force. On the flip side it's becoming obvious to a blind man on a galloping horse that Jeffers has about as much chance of making it at this level again as Matt Jansen. However I would imagine Hughes will persevere with him for a bit longer as he will be loath to admit he was wrong. Which again will be to Gallagher's detriment.

It's a sad sign of how poorly we're playing at the moment when some are relieved we only got beaten one nil in a home fixture regardless of the opposition. We beat them twice last season for heavens sake and Southend didn't seem to have too many problems mid week. Spurs has now become a huge game, we really must take something out of it to break the losing sequence. Just as importantly we need to see the team starting to work for each other again, players battling for the ball as if their life depended on it, players moving off the ball and making themselves available when we have possession, and the front two need to start putting in an honest shift and trying to stretch the opposition backline. It shouldn't all be down to Savage, the other players need to start taking some responsibility as well.

Absolutely spot on Gordon whenever we had the ball there was no movement off it whatsoever from anyone. No-one seemed to really want it badly enough. This was also extremely noticeable during our first poor run in the first four games of the season.

Couldn't agree more. After the obvious midfield problem that's the other major contributory factor in our alarming slump imo.

Sorry that's absolute rubbish in my opinion, the mancs won at will, it was a matter of when not if they were going to score. And it was only kept down to a respectableish 0-1 by the over rated Rooney having an off day. We created nowt. But even worse was, if in doubt against a technically superior side get in their faces and rattle them. We didn't even try to do that. Until Savage returns god knows where the next points are coming from.

He probably means it would hold back Bentley's development. Like someone else said I think Sparky's comments have been dragged way out of context to make a newsworthy story. All he basically said was that anyone in their right minds would want him if he became available and it was viable financially. Somewhat unlikely on the face of it but if you suspend disbelief for a moment it would theoretically be a great move for both parties. Massive exposure and increased commercial and TV revenue for the club. Star billing and a regular starting slot for Beckham which he ain't going to get at the "big four." Plus if he moved to us he could move back to leafy Cheshire rather than live in Newcastle. Even if it doesn't happen it's encouraging to see us linked with such a mega name.

Sorry ozzie, I couldn't believe what I was reading when I saw that. You'll be urging us to hug a hoody and befriend a Burnley fan next!!!

Not unusually the 3 page review of Saturday's match in the LT had nothing to do with Rovers but was an interview with Sparky waxing lyrical about the RFW's career at United and his methods. "Ah well" I thought. "At least Andy Neild has managed to write a piece without directly championing Mark Hughes for the United job." Then I turned back a page to the fans jury and the question was "What do you think of all the speculation tipping Mark Hughes successor at Old Trafford?" I nearly choked on my lunchtime butty. The only bloomin' speculation to that end has been in our own local paper!!!! I've rarely seen his name mentioned elsewhere. As for the game itself I rarely if ever go into a match thinking we'll lose but this is the exception that proves the rule. Minus Savage, with them in their best form for five or six years, and if we play like we have been doing ever since Krakow away a 0-3 or 0-4 reverse beckons.

The RED SCUM have indeed been deservedly beaten 1-0. Hilarious for tonight but the worst possible result for us re:Saturday.

Good post. Well managed, there's no real reason why Rovers Premiership future should end in the forseeable future. On the contrary, given the gulf in TV revenues really we should be comfortably better than the 3 promoted clubs each year. On the flip side of the coin, poorly managed, big crowds are little guarantee of success as Leeds have proved and Newcastle are proving.

I wouldn't go so far as to say he's put many to shame but I would say Peter's performed a lot better in terms of his all round play than MGP when he's been on the pitch. It's still a difficult call though because even when he's playing poorly there's always the possibility that MGP will magic up a wonder goal out of nothing.

I have to disagree with that, Hughes is fielding virtually the only starting eleven he can with the players available to him. We've fielded virtually the same eleven players in recent games both in Europe and domestically so how is that treating Europe as a priority? Where it's gone pear shaped is that we gambled on only having two central midfielders in the summer (and Tugay who should really be a luxury 30 or 40 minutes here or there option) and we've been unlucky enough to see Savage and Reid injured at the same time. Was it an operational decision by Sparky or lack of funding? I suspect the latter but I suppose we'll never know.

No surprise at all about today's result, a continuation of the poor form v West Ham and for 75 minutes v Basle except even worse. Arguably as bad as we've played under Hughes. Once again the bottom line is we can't cope in midfield without both Reid and Savage. We're suffering badly from the lack of investment in the squad in the summer. Savage has become our Bellamy, we need to wrap him up in cotton wool because without him we're stuffed. That said there were still a lot of very disappointing performances in other areas of the pitch. The two centre backs got shrugged off the ball time and time again and just aren't imposing enough as a pairing. We need Todd back in that side. The midfield was non existent and the front two were once again extremely disappointing - waiting for the ball to come to them rather than vice versa. Bentley was the least poor performer today which wasn't saying much. No leaders on the pitch today and worrying times ahead. Hopefully we'll still have our heads above water by the time Savage and ultimately Nelsen and Reid return. One consolation though, it certainly isn't going to be dull this season, competing for the UEFA Cup on one front and battling against the threat of relegation on the other!

Rubbish, if in doubt blame Gray. The second was down to Zurab and he had a mare throughout. He and Ooijer aren't physically strong enough as a pairing.

Despite the deep embarrasment seemingly felt by the sanctimonious brigade on here who seem ashamed to venture out of their front door because of our crowds, Rovers attendances seem entirely consistent, with those of our nearest geographical rivals i.e. Preston, Burnley and the lowish 20,000 turnout at Bolton v Wigan today. On a related note, don't know if it's been mentioned specifically but the Dog on Revidge and the Hordens in Feniscowles plus 2 Pubs in Darwen were reported in the LT yesterday as having had satellite equipment confiscated.

Sorry the quote from JW was possibly misleading in isolation. What he was saying was that they couldn't experiment with the cut prices and then dump them after one game, they had to persevere with them as far as possible consistent with still giving ST holders value. He wasn't saying they couldn't do them again etc. Alan were exactly was that articlee you saw - can you reproduce it on here? It seems to be in direct conflict with what Egerton Vernon said c2001 when he said that the Trust fund was for the benefit of all the Walker Businesses and was a dynamic fund supplemented by profits from all the businesses. This was to counteract the suggestion that there was to be an ever diminishing pot for Blackburn Rovers. Of course there may have been a distinct sea change in policy since then. (Although shouldn't they still abide by the original wishes of the settlor i.e. Jack?) What we really need is an up to date and clear statement of intent from their Trustees regarding their relationship with the club. Are they committed long term to the club or are they looking to sell? (I think we already know the answer to that) Whilst they are still involved with the club, shouldn't some net transfer funding be made available to our exceptional young manager? etc etc. A key subject for BRISA to pursue?

Ideally what we need is something not with a huge capacity, but with about the same capacity of the Riverside or very slightly more and which is aesthetically appealing and fairly unique - instantly recognisable across the world so that when Sky home in, people across the world will instantly recognise it as Ewood Park. And not for the wrong reasons because they're looking at a potting shed. In the past we as a club have shied away from redevelopment of the Riverside or even spending money on repositioning cameras facing the more attractive three sides of the ground preferring to spend any available money on the team. That's quite sensible but I really think in the current climate we need to explore every angle and option of making attending a match at Ewood seem a more attractive proposition. As a side issue, redeveloping the Riverside would temporarily restrict capacity, possibly encouraging people to think a little harder about their purchase of tickets and season tickets.