I fail to understand how you reach the above conclusion based on a book about Manchester United and a story on the potential sale of Blackburn Rovers. Another case of shooting the messenger.

Apart from a stonkingly good match, my greatest memory of that day was Ewood a sea of green and white of the Plymouth fans. I found most of them very pleasant and determined to have good day out. Those around me took defeat well and shook hands after the match....... ........ which is more than can be said by some Rovers oiks who thought my friend supported Plymouth and tried to pick a fight with him walking back into town. Unfortunately, in the 1970s there were plenty of cretins wearing blue and white scarves.

Mihir Bose is a respected, experienced sports journalist and I would treat the story seriously. He has obviously had a tip from someone inside the club.

If that is correct then the club is making itself look foolish. It's little "details" like that which people notice and is usually indicative of poor management.

Why not ? The world does not stop at the weekend. For many of us, Saturdays and Sundays are normal working days. A few telephone calls between a small number of key people is all it would have taken.

It's your continuing defence of the club on any issue that is ridiculous. Good managements react to changing situations quickly. The light should have gone on in Williams' overpaid brain on Saturday night that because of Rovers' improved form there might, just might, be a chance to boost attendances and rake in extra cash between now and the end of the season. And those new attendees might even come back next season. Ding ! Geddit ? The ticket office should have opened for business on Monday morning with a package in place. As it is, it only confirmed its longstanding reputation for lack of enterprise and being extremely difficult to deal with.

They're called "Dads", unless of course he isn't.

Fleet Street's love affair with Arsenal is back on again after last night's triumph in the Bernebeu. And who do they play next but none other than those dirty monkeys from up nawf ! Rovers had best be well behaved this weekend or the press will have a field day, not to mention those nice Blackburn supporters on Match of the Day. What better time then to show the nation what a good side we are. 3-1 to us, followed by much bleating from Wenger and his metropolitan cronies.

Which is exactly what we don't need. Besides which, entering the InterToto smacks of desperation, the sort of thing Newcastle or Villa do because they have to be "seen to be playing in Europe". I want Rovers to play in Europe but by qualifying properly through league position. Now that is what excites me: a desperate end-of-season dash for points, not entering Europe via a spurious two-bob trophy played during the hieght of the cricket season.

Bad idea IMO. Clubs that have entered the InterToto in the past have gone to struggle badly in the league. I don't want another relegation battle on the remote chance of a good run in Europe thank you very much. Hughes should forget about the InterToto and concentrate on improving Rovers' dismal league form.

I was sat in the Nuttall Street stand for the Tottenham game, at the Blackburn end where the stand was at a slight angle (why was it built like that?) It was the finest performance I have seen from a Rovers team bar none.

No such club as Notts Forest. It's Notts County and Nottingham Forest.

My thoughts exactly. It's a legacy from the Souness (him again) era. The players' mindset is still to avoid relegation, make sure their £1 million plus salaries are protected for another season and then mentally switch off and go through the motions until they go on their summer hols. Not good enough Mr Hughes.

I've met McClaren several times and he is one of the few genuine "nice guys" in football. His problems at Middlesbrough are only temporary.

In a desperate bid to raise cash for their failing investment, it would appear the Glazers are prepared to sell the Old Trafford name to Middle East sponsors in the same way that Arsenal's new ground is to be called Emirates Stadium. A sponsorship deal worth £56 million over four years is being lined up and to appease irate United supporters, the ground would be called "Old Trafford supported by Qatar Airways", or something similar. Now, I would not like to see Ewood Park renamed for historical and sentimental reasons but in the cut-throat Premiership all avenues for additional revenue should be explored. So how about it for Ewood.... the Tommy Ball Stadium ?

John Williams says in his annual report that "the club must try harder and we will" to address the decline in gates. He could do worse than spend an evening in pubs like the Horden Rake and ask the locals why they no longer atttend matches at Ewood Park. He might learn something.

I didn't think my old memory was playing tricks. Scroll down to Sitcom Sequel. Good old Guardian eh ?? http://football.guardian.co.uk/news/thekno...,594032,00.html

Colin, it didn't take a managerial genius to turn Rovers around. Any supporter with a bit of football nous knew which deadwood had to be cleared out and Souness had the great fortune to inherit Jansen, Duff and Dunn as they were approaching their peak. In Souness's favour, in addition to promotion and the League Cup triumph I'll never forget Rovers' performance at Celtic Park when we played some of the best football I have seen from the men in the famous blue and white shirts. However, the manner of his departure, and the state he left the club in, left a sour taste, hence the continuing opprobrium. Souness was a controversial player and he caused strong feeling among supporters in his managerial career. I think he rather enjoyed it.

Wrong there, me old fruit. Lenny Godber was a Villa fan. Reasonable effort though. 7/10

Oh joy of joys. Couldn't happen to a nicer man. The arrogant git.

Read and enjoy Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson accused Blackburn Rovers of playing a poor brand of football in which “they foul all the time” and slammed referee Phil Dowd’s decision to send off Ferdinand. Ferguson said: “Rio did it twice in two minutes while their centre-back Andy Todd committed about 10 fouls in the first half and was not punished." "It says a bit about how they play. I could not honestly defend them. If you look at the stats, it was foul after foul" On the incident which left Savage on a stretcher, Ferguson added: “Rio says he hasn’t touched him so I will just have to see the video.” Ferguson added: “Tonight we didn’t get what we deserved. They (Blackburn) didn’t really play any football at all in the first half and they were just surviving yet they were 3-1 up. “We equalised, then there was a schoolboy error at the back between Rio and Van der Sar and the penalty was harsh... the ball was just going straight to van der Sar and it was a soft penalty from the linesman.” Blackburn boss Mark Hughes revealed Robbie Savage had been left with a badly gashed shin after a late challenge which earned Rio Ferdinand a red card. Hughes said: “I have not seen it again but I thought at the time it was possibly a poor challenge. “But thankfully Robbie is going to be okay, he has got a badly gashed shin but I think it shook him up more than anything when it happened.” Hughes hailed hat-trick hero David Bentley, who marked his first match since making his move from Arsenal permanent with a match-winning display. Hughes joked: “I was just saying to David he should have saved that for his contract negotiations last week and he may have made more money. “He is a young man with a great future, he has had a great night and I hope he is going to have many more for us. He just needs games at this level because he hasn’t had that many and he is getting better all the time. “He is doing a job for us because obviously we are missing key players up front and have done for some time, but David has gone up front with Shefki Kuqi and really had a go.” Hughes is now targeting an even greater prize for his side as they begin to push towards the major European places. He added: “It was a fantastic night for us because we showed real desire and commitment and were very positive from start to finish. “They were always going to throw everything at us in the last 15 minutes but we withstood that and for us to do a double over United for the first time in 75 years is a fantastic achievement and fully deserved. “Our league form is as good as anybody’s and we have got to sustain that for the rest of the season. If we can do that we could get even greater rewards at the end

Don't be silly. Ferdinand was England's outstanding player in the 2002 World Cup. Nights like tonight remind me why I still love football and Rovers despite all the heartache they continue to bring after 50 years of supporting them. Well done the lads and well done Mark Hughes.

First league double over United since Second World War.

Bentley scores !!!

Rovers really under the cosh.