So you weren't supporting Rovers against the left footers, Janice ?

To be fair to Souness (never thought I'd say that), Rovers played Celtic off the park in Glasgow, one of the best displays of passing and movement I've ever seen from a Rovers team. O'Neill showed his quality as a manager in the second leg at Ewood, however, when Souness got it badly wrong on the night.

Are the two events related perchance ? For Rovers' sake, please stay in the US !

Most of the 'bandwagoners' deserted the club when Rovers were relegated three years previously and does not explain why attendances have fallen off a cliff in the past few seasons.

Years ago, Brian Clough said that televised football would eventually empty football grounds and that spectators would have to be let in for free. With the present rate of decline at Rovers that time is fast approaching ! For various reasons I watched the other night a video of the home match against Charlton in April 2002; sunny day, end of season match, a few hundred from Charlton but a crowd of about 26,000. Where have they all gone ? What is puzzling is why Rovers' gates have collapsed so spectacularly in such a short space of time while clubs of similar size and in towns of similar profile such as Bolton and Middlesbrough have been less badly affected.

At the last home match of the 1982-83 season (I think) Rovers played Chelsea (!!!) in front of about 3,500. Chelsea fans stormed the Blackburn End and I seriously thought that day professional football as a spectator sport was finished.

Rovers feature in tonight's Panorama programme into the 'bung culture' in English football. The programme claimed to have filmed Harry Redknapp, the Portsmouth manager, "tapping up” Andy Todd when in fact it shows Peter Harrison, the player's agent, attempting to interest Redknapp in the Rovers defender, who was said "to want a change". "I’d take him, without a doubt. I like him. I think he’s a tough @#/?," says 'Arry, who would appear to be in the clear because at no time did he ask Harrison to speak to Todd on his behalf. As would be expected, Chelsea are implicated in so-called 'bungs' (usually involving Harrison), and Sam Allardyce is the manager who might have the most cause for worry, but the programme is also of interest because of the insidious role of agents in initiating transfers.

Investing in children is never money down the drain. Those kids may have moved away because of university/work/travel but many of them return to where they grew up and some return to their roots later in life (as I did). If they were like me, those years away would have strengthened their love for Rovers more than ever.

0-0 draw, dire game.

Resting one of your best players for the Merseyside derby......... ?????

Don't know if this has been posted elsewhere but it appears Bellamy did not play against Everton because he was told by Benitez to "take the weekend off". His dream move would appear to have soured already.

Rovers may have told the players not to drink but I would be very surprised if they adhered to it. The drinking culture is ingrained in English football, particularly in those days, and Rovers players were known around the town for having their favourite watering holes. I remember seeing Malcolm Darling drinking heavily in the pub one Friday night in the late 1960s after being told he had been dropped for the following day's match. He was at it again the next evening. I sat next to Alan Ball, Malcolm Macdonald and Alan Hudson in a London pub in the 1970s and they stuck away more lager in two hours than I drink in a month.

Three comments from Metropolitan type Ian Brown on Radio 5 Live: "Only 19,000 at Ewood park today, a comment on the interest of the local public here" "£3 million for Jason Roberts a good piece of business for Wigan" "Blatant penalty for Chelsea but justice for the one they were denied in the first half"

“I don’t suppose I’ll have a relationship with Roy again” — Quinn wrote in his book after one Ireland fallout. “There is the possibility that Roy Keane wouldn’t play if I was involved” — Quinn on talk that he could join Peter Reid in an Ireland management team. “They can rot in hell” — Keane on Quinn and Steve Staunton. Funny game football.

To be announced tomorrow. "World-class" manager according to Niall Quinn.

1 SOCCER Blackburn Nightlead EMERTON TO EXTEND EWOOD STAY By Ian Parkes, PA Sport Brett Emerton is poised to become the latest Blackburn player to commit his future to the club. Despite the disappointing departure of Craig Bellamy to Liverpool earlier in the summer for £6.5million, Morten Gamst Pedersen, Steven Reid and Ryan Nelsen have all signed new deals. Now Australian winger Emerton looks set to follow suit, potentially before Rovers start the new Barclays Premiership season against Portsmouth at Fratton Park on Saturday. Despite speculation linking Emerton with a move to Middlesbrough, Rovers manager Mark Hughes confirmed: “Brett should commit in the next day or so. “We’ve been talking to him for a number of weeks, and certainly in the last couple of days to try to come to a resolution. “Apart from a few i’s to be dotted and t’s crossed, we’re near to saying Brett will be with us for another two or three seasons. “He’s a player who gives me a lot of options. He is very versatile in that he can play wide, at full-back and he can make breaks from the centre of the park. “He has the ability to carry the ball from one end of the field to the other, and that’s why other teams have coveted him this summer.” The same applied to centre-half Nelsen, with Portsmouth in particular trying to prise the New Zealander away from Ewood Park. Nelsen, who will miss Saturday’s clash on the south coast with a hamstring injury, has signed a four-year extension to ward off predators. “It was important we put that one to bed, and I’m delighted we have been able to tie up Ryan for another four years,” added Hughes, who signed Nelsen on a free transfer from DC United 18 months ago. “He is an important part of what we are trying to do here and that is why we wanted him tied down for a longer period. “It did drag on somewhat, and there was the irritation of Portsmouth in the background, but we were able to see them off. “We made it clear from the outset we weren’t going to let him go, and we gave him a new contract because we felt he deserved it. “Given his circumstances, and the fact he came from America, he was probably on a lesser wage than his talents deserved. “We’ve shown how we feel about him with the level of contract he now has, and I’m looking forward to working with him for the next three, four years “But it shows how far we have come because this time last year nobody wanted my players, now it seems everybody wants them.” Nelsen never had much inclination to quit Rovers for Pompey in any case and added: “I’m delighted to have sorted things out. “Blackburn gave me the opportunity to play in the Premiership in the first place, and it’s a privilege to be here another four years. “I never once thought it was time for a change. For me it’s about ambition and success, and with the manager committing and the new signings, all the news coming out of Blackburn has been positive. “As a player that’s what you want to see, so when I was offered the new deal I never thought twice about it. “Portsmouth were never an option. I’ve been more worried about my hamstring injury.”

Clayton certainly wore 4 for most of his career but Douglas only wore 10 in his latter years when he moved to inside left (attacking midfield in modern parlance). He is better remembered as an outstanding right winger for Rovers and England so his number should be 7.

Did anyone have the foresight to invest in Villa shares four weeks ago ? The day O'Leary was sacked the share price stood at 375p; at the stockmarket's close today they were at a record high of 537p.

Because many people, particularly the elderly, do not like credit cards because they perceive them as buying on the "never never" - on old term for HP - and have no idea how to use them either. Pin numbers are a difficult concept for 80-year-olds who cannot remember their name some days. To ban the use of cheques would be to disenfranchise alot of people.

Twice over the past 20 years I have inadvertently slipped into the red and incurred charges. One polite telephone call (to First Direct) pointing out my previous exemplary record has done the trick and they have refunded the charge. Would thoroughly recommend First Direct by the way. Two developments in the banking world: current accounts without fees even for those always in the black may soon be a thing of the past and using cheques as a means of paying for goods in the shops are on the way out as everyone is forced to use plastic. Cheques are now banned in many stores in the US and Asda and Sainsbury to name two have started to experiment with a ban here.

How did you make it to adulthood ?? I remember the falling sensation quite clearly; nightmares these days usually involve rising interest rates or Souness returning to Ewood.

To be confirmed tomorrow.

Rod Liddle's view on theme parks. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,...2291195,00.html

Derek Dougan, not to read but rather burn and the **** on the embers. Not forgiven him for 1960.

British firms looked at the contract and thought it unworkable, which has proved to be correct by the problems suffered by Multiplex. WNSL, the FA and Multiplex are at loggerheads and the whole sorry mess is destined to end up in court, rumble on for years and cost even more money in lawyers fees.