He played well apart from the fact he left his shooting boots at the JJB. The only thing he looked like he lacked yesterday was a bit of confidence. Before the sending off he was playing far too deep and only attempted his trademark surging runs (which is when he is most effective) once Notlob were down to ten.

As I suggested would happen at the start of the season, with the games now coming thick and fast Bellamy seems to be struggling because he didn't get any sort of pre season in. I also said at the time another striker would have been a huge advantage before the end of the last transfer window. Now the need for a top quality reinforcement is so critical it's screaming at Sparky. If ever there was a time for the Trustees to relax the purse strings a little this is it.

Surprised anyone bothered replying to this thread, my initial reaction was "spence is obviously a dingle on a wind up" Todd, Reid and Gray are three of our better players. Kuqi isn't really good enough at this level, (nor is Dickov) but usually neither want for effort or commitment.

In theory only. He just retreats into his natural positions in midfield/out wide leaving a huge void up front. He is an offensive midfield player. End of story.

Very disappointing, we played ten men for an hour but only put Bolton under any concerted pressure for the last 15 or 20 minutes after both Kuqi and Bellamy (fit or not) came on. I think Hughesey should be fined a month's wages every time he starts a game 4-5-1. Surely he must realise we can't play that system effectively by now. Before the sending off every time one of our players had the ball he looked up and there wasn't a single attacking option ahead of him. If Emerton's header had been a couple of inches lower it's actually a very good goal and a whole different scenario but we only really looked like we were going to score on a couple of occasions which isn't good enough. Other than that the match was memorable only for the woeful refereeing of the inept Mike Reilly who not unusually managed to incense both teams. I've never seen anything like the incident when Dickov was nowhere near Jaaskelinen as he cleared but yet Bolton were awarded a free kick OUTSIDE the area proving the keeper should have been penalised for handball. And it was the first time I've seen it to be deemed an automatic free kick every time we swung in a corner or free kick.

1) I agree we stood by him more than honourably for the duration of his last deal when arguably we might have been perfectly entitled to terminate for breach of contract. I presume we would have taken legal advice on the matter. If we did indeed stand by him when we didn't have to that was our decision, not the lad's fault. Don't forget that it works two ways. If we took that stance it wasn't out of being soppy and sentimental, it would have been a calculated gamble in the hope that our 10m asset would recover his previous form. 2) No-one forced the club to offer him a new deal in the summer. Again not Jansen's fault. 3) No-one has forced us to release him from his current deal. Jansen was not getting first team football and asked to be released from his contract. If Hughes believed there was the remotest possibility of getting either a modest fee or an appearance based fee I'm sure he wouldn't have acceded to Jansen's request. Totally different from the Ferguson scenario IMO which I agree we handled extremely badly. Mind you personaly I'm not yet 100% convinced Jansen can't do a passable job at this level. However if Hughes is convinvced of that he's done the right thing and has to live or die by his decisions

I don't think Jansen's done anything wrong Gordon, we didn't HAVE to offer him a new deal in the summer, it would obviously have been wiser to draw a line under the whole sorry saga then. If anything the situation was brought about by our seemingly seeing enough potential in the lad to offer him another deal, but then denying him the run of games he needed to prove or disprove his capabilities once and for all. I'll never understand that one. Granted he shouldn't have been arseing about on a scooter in Rome four years ago. But everyone is human and he seemed a really genuine and likeable lad. I really hope he enjoys an Indian summer to his career. Starting AFTER today.

Have to disagree with Will, I thought the atmosphere from the 6000 Roverites was blinding at the last OT semi final. "You've only come to do your shopping" - sums the job up perfectly. I'll be there. Part of me is loath to contribute a single penny, let alone 31 quid, to Glazer's mortgage debt but it's a semi final and I can't not go and support us in those circumstances. Plus the more I rerun Wednesday's game in my head the more I think we can pull off an upset if we take our A game to the Theatre of Merchandising.

Agree on that. Watching it live I thought a United player had instigated a career threatning challenge on Sav and another United player had pushed Stiles over. I was expecting 2 reds. Watching the replay on TV, Smith hacked Savage down from behind. Savage put Rooney in a headlock thinking it was him, and the ref fell over. Three yellows was fair. But didn't Bellamy get a yellow when Van Der Saar collided with one of his own players?

Although 1-1 isn't an ideal score to take out of the home leg, you have to be pleased we're still in the tie after such a dire second half. We were electrifying for the first fifteen minutes and should have been two goals up. After that our performance gradually deteriorated as the game went on and it was no real surprise when we went one down. We didn't pick up a great deal after that and it took yet another special goal out of the blue from MGP to get us back in the tie. I thought we could then get to half time and regroup but.................. We never came out of the dressing room in the second half. We looked disinterested, second to every ball, and no-one was moving for each other. If we'd have played any deeper we'd have been in the Darwen end with the Manure fans. Thankfully we defended well. The United side of 5 or 6 years ago would have absolutely mullered us, but thankfully this bunch are distinctly ordinary in comparison and couldn't punish us. Must say Kuqi is normally full of hustle and bustle but his contribution tonight in this our most important game of the season was a disgrace. He wasn't moving freely at all but in his defence he seemed to me to be clearly limping on his right ankle throughout and I was amazed he was not taken off. Only Reid and Dickov showed the urgency that had previously been sadly lacking when introduced as substitutes far too late. So on the face of it we blew our chance in the second half tonight. Although something inside me says we can't possibly play as badly again at OT as we did in that second half tonight. And I'm not sure United can do any better. The disappointing thing is conceding an away goal.

Without them getting the two away goals! Damn you Hughes! Haven't felt this amount of stomach churning anticipation before a game for years. We're playing so well I EXPECT us to win tonight. Never mind that, this is what it's all about, not talk of survival etc. Once again LET'S DO IT FOR JACK.

The article is written by Andy Neild. I didn't particularly read the article that way to be honest although on a second reading I see what philip L means. There's a very peculiar approach to the Rovers from the LET at the moment. Before the recent City game all the pre match build up centered around Andy Cole. The suggested pre match bet was on a Cole hattrick. Before the Arsenal semi it was all "Newcastle fans wouldn't need any encouragement to get up at 5 in the morning to go to Cardiff" blah blah It's as if the sports editor (who supports Liverpool) is trying to wean locals off following Rovers and follow the big Manchester or Liverpool clubs. All his columns are geared towards Liverpool/Everton/United/City. Who cares about them? The paper should be geared towards Rovers stuffing it up them big time. In the meantime of course they're more than happy to take Rovers advertising money.

Unfortunately arriving so late in the day, all that money invested in the impressive glossy is completely wasted. If it had arrived a week ,or even three or four days ago it may have been a different matter. Apologies if I'm restating the bleeding obvious but it obviously needs restating until the club co-ordinate their PR exercise properly from the ticket office upwards.

Unless Ferguson is convinced the referee will help them overturn any deficit at OT. After tonight's result the powers that be, Sky, and the advertisers must be seriously crapping themselves over the prospect of a Rovers v Wigan final. Good though it would be for the health of the game as a whole. IF Ferguson does underestimate us and/or puts out a very weak side AND we play to recent form there's every chance we'll give them a right pasting later on tonight. THEY could be out of the tie by the second leg. I don't think he'll take such a gamble. Probably just mind games.

You've lost me. So because we apparently can't spot a Mancunian pretending to be a Blackburnian we give up altogether on any attempt to sell tickets to our own fans?

No. In the current climate it's absolutely ridiculous. A bit of common sense from the TO staff and a couple of straightforward questions should be more than enough to establish "roversness" We must be the only club in the country that tries to fill it's ground with away fans and makes it as difficult as possible for our own fans to get in.

A rolling season ticket on permanent DD would have a similar effect TD. People would hopefully already have always paid for part of it, (or even not know exactly where they stand ) thereby reducing any incentive to give it up.

Here goes: Historic drop in attendences. - If the average crowd the season after winning the Championship was "only" 27,700 with Shearer et al on board then it's probably unrealistic to expect to achieve that sort of figure in the forseeable future. A figure of 24-25,000 would be a more realistic medium term target whilst we are outside the very top bracket. As such the average figure of over 26,000 at one stage of the Souness reign was a remarkable achievement. A lot of supporters get unnecessarily hung up about our attendances but even in the current dip we have to remember that our level of support per head of population is far greater than the big City clubs, and we have come from average gates of 7-8000 around 1990. - This is a personal view but I'm sick of hearing the Chairman/supporters moaning about crowds dropping after we finished 6th/ got in the UEFA Cup etc. We got in that enviable position through a lot of skill and hard work and then reacted by selling our two of our best and "sexiest" players in Dunn and Duff who were also players the fans could truly identify with having come through the ranks. You can argue until the cows come home about whether this SHOULD happen and that you're there to support the team and not an individual player etc. but to me it's an indisputable fact. Crowds suffered and never recovered as their replacements failed to either perform or capture the hearts of the fans. That's gone now and is old history but the relevance for now is that I would expect a similar negative reaction if we achieved a similar lofty position this season and promptly sold say Bellamy and MGP. Asian Support - Ever changing demographics mean it is in many ways disingenuous to have a debate about attendance issues concerning Blackburn Rovers without considering the impact of the Asian community. This is the single most important challenge facing the Rovers management. Starkly the Club has 2 choices 1) Attract far more support from that section of the Community or if not 2) The Club will have to draw in support from a wider geographical area. Interestingly the Asian representative on the Fans Forum claims there is still a perception (wrongly IMO) amongst the Asian community that it would be intimidating for them to attend a match at Ewood. This would seem to be at complete odds with the view that the atmosphere at Ewood is now too "nice" and family orientated. National Issues In many cases these are self evident (players wages v behaviour, Sky, silly kick off times etc) and in theory should be less of a concern because they affect all clubs equally. However they impact on us far greater as a club because we have a smaller fan base. Therefore whilst the City Clubs probably have a similar percentage turnover of disaffected fans not renewing tickets every year they will in the short to medium term have far more "mugs" willing to take the absentee's place than us. Eventually even they will start to suffer. FSF comments about price Presumably these are aimed at Premiership clubs as a whole rather than Rovers who generally can I think do no more about reducing prices. It is against Premiership regulations to charge away fans more than home fans for the same type of seat. Can anyone quote an actual example of this happening? A legitimate loophole is to have a bona fide membership scheme and charge members less. Category A games With attendances having dropped steeply it seems to me the whole rationale of categorising games and pricing them accordingly is now redundant. This is undoubtedly a legitimate way of increasing revenue where the game would sell out anyway. However with the ground a third empty for some games and nowhere near selling out for the "big" games there is no valid reason in terms of increasing attendances why prices should increase. The current thinking is presumably to maximise revenue from the away support, a strategy I have always argued that is counterproductive to building long term home support at Ewood. "Bussing in" fans from elsewhere As I understand it the club tried this for a period, mainly from Lancaster University, and the surrounding area with limited success. This doesn't mean to say that it shouldn't be tried again over different areas with greater persistence. As mentioned above the club have to get their support from within the town with the obvious implications that entails or look further afield. Charlton apparently bus in several thousand fans from the Kent area for every home game. Marketing/PR Sadly most of the bad PR emanating from the Club over the last few seasons has come from within from the then chief executive John Williams and previous manager Graeme Souness. Whether it be constant messages about survival being the aim, the cups not mattering, the manager rather being at dinner with his wife than playing in the UEFA Cup, or the manager leaking to the press in season ticket renewal week that there was no money to spend, the general effect of the vibe coming out of Ewood was to turn off the supporter. New manager Mark Hughes is absolutely first class with his approach and PR but it will take some time to win back people lost over the last couple of seasons. Another aspect of marketing is that the club shop is now awful in terms of stocking a varied range of Blackburn Rovers merchandise. Good point about the LET. Perhaps the club and the paper could promote a slot advertising ticket offers on a set page on a certain day so fans know exactly when and where to look. Use of existing spaces/facilities. The club have already missed the boat in terms of developing the Riverside with a Hotel attached. Since Uncle Jack drew up the initial plans, three hotels have since been built near J4 of the M65, one at the Fernhurst and one each by Travel Inn and Travel Lodge demonstrating the need was there initially. Redevelopment of the Riverside would involve the Trustees in some capital expenditure but the club need to look at building it with suitable leisure facilities incorporated as a potential opportunity to get more young people used to going down to Ewood on a regular basis. Ticketing Promotion of ticket offers is currently very poor. Discussion took place at the beginning of December at the last Fans Forum as to potential incentives for the Portsmouth game. It was stressed by several members that whatever was done it had to be done quickly and publicised well in good time for Christmas. Christmas came and went and I think I saw one ad about the kids for a quid incentive two or three days before the game. I agree entirely we are still panicking far too much about that one off Man City game all those years ago. I noticed the other night in the LET that anyone with a "ticket history" can purchase tickets for the ManUre game. In many ways I feel we are trying to lock the stable door after the horse has bolted. When we could have filled the ground with floating Rovers fans for big games in seasons gone by we made it as difficult as possible for them and took the easy option of giving one third of the ground up to away fans. With large parts of the ground (including away sections) now empty, there's no real case for any restrictions at all. BUT if we are to persist with the "ticket history" policy the term itself is a bit misleading and needs clarifying to the wider public. If infers you need an extensive history of buying tickets whereas in reality as I understand it you only need to have been to ONE previous game! I'm convinced most floating fans still don't realise this! -Pay as you go tickets What a great idea! Don't let this one drop! Could it be run as well as/in conjunction with a cash only turnstile? (Possibly even a limited number of cheaper seats on a first come first served basis) We need to make it easier for people to attend on a spur of the moment basis. Rolling season tickets A must for me. Might reduce drop offs and would minmise monthly payments for those paying on a DD basis.

A lot of work has obviously gone into this document. If you guys will permit me I will put some work in of my own and provide my detailed opinion later in the morning.

Oooo............ Mclaren at ManUre, yes please! The evil empire would crumble to dust faster than Glazer's loan interest is accumulating. Sadly for the rest of the Country, can't see it happening. We're likely to stagger on from an ineffectual Swede to an ineffectual Englishman as figurehead of our national side.

Hmm.......... seem to recall some not appreciating the same "say what you see" approach for the local paper. Excellent article from Jordan though. The RFW has been a past master of letting his interest in transfer targets be known through the media. Houllier and Liverpool tried it on as well with a non stop barrage of publicity about their supposed interest in Duff, and supposedly being prepared (derisory) bids.

About as difficult a draw as we could have had, but on current form we're one of the top 6 sides in the country and they're certainly not. We have to go there convinced we are going to win it.

I'm sure he also said at one point in the quote of the season that Dyer converted up front would score more goals than Bellamy this season. I'm not normally an apologist for GS but a long while ago when things started going awry down here a friend of mine who's had a triple heart bypass was convinced that there was no way Souness could possibly perform his managerial functions properly due to the effects of the medication he must be on. He did seem to be doing well for a period then seemed to reach a point whereby ever since both at Rovers and Newcastle his decision making and conduct has been so bizarre it's no surprise at all things went pear shaped and you wonder if there's anything in it.

I think it would make sense to go for the same starting X1 that beat them so convincingly at their place, which would mean from memory Zurab and Nelsen at the back, Gray at LB,Tugay and Bentley in midfield and Dickov and Bellamy up front. In midfield, if Scholes breaks into our box, hopefully Savage will do a decent job of tracking him unlike when Flitcroft has observed him fom the halfway line in the past. Reid will be a great asset to have on the bench and hopefully will figure at some point. Great point about Peter. I was thinking the same myself. He has earned a spot on the bench IMO after Saturday and he could be extremely useful as a "secret weapon" being a player they'll be completely unaware of. Anyway not overly worried about ManUre who are fairly ordinary in comparison with years gone by. I'm far more worried about the performnce of the referee as Blue Blood rightly pointed out.

On a side issue Burton have thoroughly outplayed ManUre's second string in the first half of their FA Cup tie. 0-0 although you would expect superior fitness to count in the second half.