jim mk2

Ewood looks empty !

FA officials are in Lisbon tonight with a view to offering the England job to Scolari. The governing body have certainly not taken the easy option this time - watch out for a massive anti-Scolari reaction from the press and leading figures in English football.

Has Glazer's illness plunged United's future back into doubt in one stroke ?

All very calm, reasoned and rational but football ain't like that. We lost again, we could lose a coveted place in Europe and I'm teed off about it. It ain't looking good: Newcastle have the momentum and we've lost it. Hughes needs to conjure a win or two from somewhere or it's bye-bye Bellamy at the end of the season.

With the exception of Kaka surely ? Fantastic player.

Surprised to find this match in the "heaven" thread. Hell would be more appropriate. My uncle, a lifelong supporter before the final, refused to go to Ewood again after Rovers' dismal showing at Wembley and the tickets scandal, which was never proved but caused the club immense harm for years afterwards. He was not alone. Talk to the older generation in the town and many will shake their heads (and not from the effects of Alzheimer's) at the events of that day.

Irrelevant. Might as well say look where we are now compared with 1964-65 or 1994-95. Fourth place is probably put of reach now but considering the lack of quality in the squad (Bellamy, Nelsen and Friedel excepted), sixth position and a place in the Uefa Cup would be an outstanding achievement by Hughes.

Nelsen's last-ditch tackles, interceptions and general reading of the game were a bit more than "OK". He was also having to do the work of two men: Zurab is not physically strong enough for the Premiership IMO. I thought Hughes got it wrong tonight. Wigan's success away from home this season is no secret so I would have expected him to counter their tactics. Only in the last ten minutes or so did Rovers provide any sort of threat. PS: judgment has no middle "e".

Ehhh ??? Come off it Simon. Even a one-eyed Tory such as yourself must have noticed the immense contribution of Nelsen. He made at least three goal-saving tackles that I can remember.

You mean a foul on the keeper ? Made up for the one that wasn't. Overall, Rovers were poor, an opportunity missed. Jewell got his tactics right, defended deep and denying bellamy space. We were very one-dimesional in attack and were lucky to get a point.

Champions League.... we're having a larf.

Rovers have been off the pace from the start. Only Nelsen's brilliance has prevented them being more than one goal down.

Rovers are getting worse. This could easily be 3-0 to Latics.

Jewell has done his homework, Rovers are being outmanoeuvred. Hughes must change it quick.

Rovers 1-0 down. Garbage.

That half was pretty awful. Wigan the better team.

Illogical. Pubs and football grounds ..... public places. Private homes ..... not public places. Not difficult is it ?

Strange how Neill's form has improved in World Cup year. The LET says "long-term" deal but I understand it will be for as many as a further four years, which is far too long for an average player who will be 33 by the time the new deal expires. Older players such as Neilll should be on one-year deals and have to prove each season that they are worth another one. With a four-year deal tucked into his overtailored trousers, Neill might well revert to the mistake-ridden comfort zone he has frequently inhabited in the past.

Drinks all round then. Mine's two sugars. Tottenham were so fortunate to win the game (and beat us) they must be destined for that fourth place. Bad luck on West Brom too; I bet Steve Bruce breathed a sigh of relief.

Sir Robert McAlpine warned in 1999 that the project was "unworkable" .... which is one reason why Bovis pulled out, but Multiplex were determined to go ahead with construction at virtually any price in order to break into the British market. Wembley is an embarrassment to the FA but the greater blow has been to Multiplex, who have lost credibility because of their inability to manage the project and have seen the company's value reduced sharply because of the decline in the share price. I doubt if the founding Roberts family are happy either, having forked out a considerable sum of their own money to keep the project going. Thankfully, unlike the Millennium Dome, none of the cost overrruns from the project are being picked up the taxpayer and are entirely a matter for Multiplex.

Don't worry about it Exiled. He's actually an Englishman with a mighty big chip on his shoulder because he couldn't hack it here and ran away to a convict colony. Hence his bitterness.

This article sums it all up. http://sport.guardian.co.uk/london2012/sto...1725858,00.html Basically, Multiplex bit off more than it could chew, ie management failure from the outset. If dave the machine minder could read he would realise that.

Listen to him RAF: he's an expert on copying machines.

I'll make a comment: you're talking nonsense as usual. Search the web and you'll find any number of stories of management failures regarding the Wembley project. Multiplex may be a big company in the tinpot economy down under but have been found out in the big league.

Roberts, that's the chappie. Went to his house on Shadsworth once. How many Rovers players live on Shadsworth now ?!! Rovers' crowds of that period were generally 17,000 to 20,000 as I recall with more for the Lancashire derbies. Interesting that Rovers' gates are slowly reverting to that level now, showing that the inflated crowds of the Walker years were an aberration.