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.

I hope Hughes and the team are approaching the two games in a far more positive frame of mind than most of this m/b. As we've seen this season United have one outstanding player in Rooney and are still a good side. However they're still a pale shadow of the great teams Ferguson built in 1994 and 1999. The only area of the pitch in which they clearly have the edge is up front. But as a poster above mentioned if our "flair" players Bellamy, MGP, Bentley and Tugay are on song during both legs we have a realistic chance of going through. Also praying Gray is fit and available. 0-0 in the first leg wouldn't actually be that bad a result given the impact of the away goal rule. I think however there'll be a few more goals. Rovers 2 (Bellamy 2) Red Scum 1 (Rooney)

Amen to that Smiffy, couldn't agree more. Don't think most people realise how close Souness was to crippling our Club for good.

Lot of interest in our game then. Everyone seems more interested in bloody Liverpool.

I thought overall we did really well today. We always did just enough without overextending ourselves and notched a couple of quality goals in the process. A performance of great potential from Peter. A couple of superb assists for two of the goals and seemingly a very good dlivery from corners and set pieces. Bellamy is absolutely top drawer and his importance to us simply can't be overstated. Even his presnce on the bench makes us a different proposition. Another top quality striker should be a transfer window priority if we are to realise the potential of this very promising looking season under our outstanding young manager. Matteo was very poor which is hardly a surprise, so was Thompson which was very disappointing considering you'd have thought he wanted to make an impact.

Well if pointing out, as I did, that we played poorly but still bagged the 3 points is being pessimistic then that's a new one on me. It's actually an extremely encouraging sign.

Disagree with LD. It's maybe a bit strong to say that Portsmouth should have won but I don't think it's stretching it to say it could easily have been a draw. We weren't particularly good in the first half, but having got to 2-1 it seemed to me as if we were guilty of gross complacency in the second half, we seemed to think as if we only had to come out and tip tap around to ensure the 3 points. Only Savage showed any drive in the second period apart from Bellamy who set up two practically open goals. Reid was outstanding first half. Kuqi was awful throughout ohat basis Dickov can consider himself very unlucky to be taken off. Matteo's statesque performance was a reminder of why we used to have problems in that position prior to Gray's resurgence. Neill and Zurab deteriorated as the second half went on. Still prefer Nelsen and Todd in the centre. Poor performance on the night, nevertheless three points, nine out of nine. Onwards and upwards.

Modes, Tyrone's ratings are absolutely spot on. You must have had your blue and white/beer goggles on or been at a different game, we had a right off night tonight and got away with the result! Nothing wrong with that!

On TalkSport about a week ago there was an interview with Alan Oliver a senior reporter who writes for the local paper up there. He spoke very sensibly and eloquently and said that he had alwys a huge supporter of Souness rght from the start and even when he was under fire but that he could no longer support him after the nature of the recent away performances against Wigan and Liverpool and the controversy about bringing that young lad back from injury too early.

Whalley New Rd. just past Bastwell heading towards Brownhill. Used to be Stanleys.

Excellent performance today, after only winning once away up until a few days before Christmas, the team have showed far greater steel and determination in winning three tricky looking away fixtures in ten days. The success has been built by going back to basics in defence. A month or so ago we'd started to leak goals in Sounessque fashion again. Zurab played today instead of Todd but in all 3 games weve looked far meaner defwensively. I thought both full backs were particularly impressive today, areas in which we tend to have struggled in recent times. Gray in particular having against all odds come back from the dead just seems to get better and better. In midfield Savage did a superb job of stopping Wigan play. IMO he is starting to get towards the fom he displayed at his previous clubs. I've never seen anyone cover as much ground in the cause. If only he'd been at the club for the last ten years. I was also very pleased for Reid who really has done nothing to deserve being left out. Bentley and MGP showed signs of returning to some sort of form, if those two and Bellamy were firing on all cylinders I'd say we'd have a realistic chance of beating ManUre over two legs. Up front Kuqi and Dickov did their best but it must have been completely galling for Wigan at 2-0 down to see Bellamy coming on. After that had we not been protecting our lead as much we looked as if we could have scored at will. Emerton and Thompson weren't bad options to throw on either. The bench is looking far stronger these days. Great following, the weight of numbers meant we got some proper football songs for once instead of the usual silly "2 pounds per hour" and "There's only two/three of us singing" Top day out.

Tough game, Wigan on a right roll, but I refuse to believe they're significantly better than us if at all. Entertaining 2-2 draw.

I raised the question of minikits at the Fans Forum a couple of sessions ago. Tom Finn made a note. Add that to mugs and tankards, Rovers footballs, ties, towels, glassware, cufflinks, pens, watches, soft toys, boxer shorts, night appareil, bed linen and just about anything else under the sun you could name that you used to be able to get at what now passes for our club shop and now you can't. Then again I just like complaining for the sake of it.

Au contraire, most people on here won't criticise the club even when they're clearly in the wrong because they think it makes them a better supporter. I got horrendous flak on here about Grabbi and Souness. (But I was right with the benefit of hindsight) At least Preston Blue has had the decency to express his concerns. What's the point of a messageboard, Fans Forum, or BRISA if you can't criticise the club when they make the occasional foul up?