Rovers playing well and dominatingy, but Nelsen fortunate not be booked for foul on Jimmy Floyd.

I tottered away from Craven Cottage (having had a barrel load of whisky trying to keep warm) thoroughly fed up after another abject performance that was a disgrace to the famous blue-and-white halved shirt. I have had enough of half-hearted displays from Emerton and sincerely hopes he leaves the club in the transfer window and the sooner Delaney replaces the idiotic Neill the better. That they are both Australian is only a co-incidence. Hughes needs to get back to basics and make Rovers the difficult team to beat that somehow managed to avoid relegation last season. If that means a packed midfield with Mokoena in the team to protect the defence then so be it. After watching Rovers condede so many soft goals this season a few 0-0 draws would make me exceedingly happy.

The Rovers store has turned from a Marks and Spencer into a Matalan. The whole family used to buy Rovers merchandise for Christmas - great-grandparents, grandparents, mum, dad, kids, aunties, uncles, the lot. Not any more. The choice of goods is limited and the little that is available is of poor quality. B***** about service and b***** to the fans. The shop is outsourced for one reason only - to save money in the short term. John Williams' and Tom Finn's salaries and expense accounts have to be paid for somehow.

Now here's a good reason for attending the Wigan match. Dave Whelan has announced that all Rovers suporters entering the JJB Stadium will be given free pies as a "thank you" to the club he was proud to represent as a a player in the late 1950s/early 1960s. I've ordered mine, with a double helping of peas and gravy.

The story was reported by the LET and a Manchester-based agency but none of the national news agencies had a line about it - probably because Bellamy being injured isn't news anymore. Lift and dust.

Strangely, there is no mention of Bellamy being injured on the Press Association wires. If true it will be back to basics for Hughes over the next month with a packed five-man midfield and trying to eke out draws where we can. I'd be happy with a 1-1 with West Ham for a start.

As far as I am aware Barcelona were not up to their eyeballs in debt with foreign absentee owners who in order to make their bankers happy have to make a turn on their "investment" within a very short period of time. Barcelona were able to spend their way out of trouble by buying players such as Ronaldinho. United do not have that option.

Wonderful to watch an empire slowly crumble until it is nothing but dust. The first crack in the wall was Ferguson's misguided decision to stay several years ago. United have won the league since but that was misleading: Ferguson and United had passed their peak and were on the way down. The next bricks to tumble were the fallout with Beckham, who became the first of United's golden generation to leave the club, and Ferguson's increasingly inept deals in the transfer market to replace his ageing squad (Djemba-Djemba and Kleberson anyone ?). The pace of decline has quickened in the past year with the decline in form of key players such as van Nistelrooy, Scholes, Giggs and Ferdinand, the obvious divisions in the club that led to the departure of the talismanic Keane, the decision of Vodafone to pull out (no one wants to back a losing horse) and now this, departure from Europe. The Glazers were fools, making the equivalent mistake of buying the stockmarket when it had passed its peak and was about to enter a severe downturn. They will be sitting at home now, doing their sums and working out how they are going to service their massive debts without the income of European footballl. Do not be suprised if the club's prize asset, Rooney, were sold and the highest earners, such as Ferdinand, transferred to get him off the payroll. Then there is the question of replacing the lameduck Ferguson. Who would want the job with the best players too old and no money to replace them ? United are in freefall and it is marvellous to behold. And to think in a few years it will happen to Chelsea too.

The Walker Family at about £680 million are in there but it interesting to note that the combined wealth of Gold and Sullivan is more than 1 billion, putting struggling Brum third in the richest owners' list. All of them pale in comparison to Abramovich of course. Bergkamp has been on a huge contract at Arsenal for a long time and is said to have invested his earnings wisely. Likewise Robbie Fowler, who owns streets of houses in the Oldham area. Surprised not to see Flitcroft in there as he is also a property "entrepreneur".

Bolton are averaging more than 25,200 in the league this season so it is highly likely that "floating supporters" in the Darwen/Chorley/Horwich areas have switched from Ewood to the Reebok. Not surprising really in view of the dire "entertainment" served up at Ewood last season and the fact that (unbelievably) Bolton are seen as "sexier" because of Big Sam's high media profile and the club's good run in Europe. Beating Arsenal last week did them no harm either. Rovers giving Bolton a good stuffing at home next month might go some way towards winning those fans back.

Gascoigne has been arrested over an alleged assault according to reports today. If he somehow manages to live as long as George Best I'll eat my trilby hat.

Yup, a leaky defence and an inability to score goals = lost matches. Very odd phenomenon. "Playing well" + losing >> declining confidence >> lack of ambition >> poor form >> more defeats = relegation. Seen it many times dear boy.

It's worrying that we are reported to have "played well" in our last two league games yet have lost on aggregate 5-0. Teams "playing well" but losing usually end up in the relegation zone.

Typical Rovers to flop after an uplifting performance in the previous game but David Moyes showed what a good manager he is today by spotting the frailties in the Rovers defence when he attended the Charlton match in midweek. Lots of huff and puff from Rovers today but again no cutting edge. Tugay was poor. Two new signings needed in January to make sure of a mid-table position at the end of the season and avoid becoming involved in the relegation battle.

Read the previous post: the 56,000 refers to the Burnley match of 1960. The official attendance for the City match was about 42,000.

The Manchester City FA Cup match in 1969 ? Frightening to see the crowd swaying back and forth on the Riverside and at the Blackburn End. The barriers must have been under tremendous strain (not to mention spectators' bodies). For 56,000 to be in Ewood they must have been sitting on the roof of the stands.

With regard to Everton-Rovers connections, your interviewee was obviously too young to remember Fred Pickering and Sir Keith Newton, who both played for both clubs. Wales intertnational Roy Vernon was another and not forgetting of course dear old George Sharples, probably the best £10,000 Rovers ever spent. Of the players mentioned McKenzie was the most talented but could be a terrible showpony at times. The class player was Newton. Bellamy to run riot in 3-1 Rovers win.

The 6,000 (!!) Newcastle fans who travelled to Wigan tonight stayed behind after the game to demand the sacking of Sourchops.

Damn. I was going to have a pop at Hughes and Savage. WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYY

McEveley out for the season. Medial knee ligament is detached from the bone and will require an operation.

McEveley was substituted after 15 minutes tonight. Either a bad injury or he's so bad he was taken off.

Eh ? He played first division football from the age of 17 to 27 - that's ten years at the pinnacle of the English game. How does that count as a third of a career ? Anyone who does not recognise George Best as one of THE greatest players of all time does not know football.

Load of crap, even by your standards.

Ahh, Craven Cottage, circa 1975, them were t' days. I can see Georgie now curling one round the flailing Paul Bradshaw from 25 yards in a 2-0 defeat if I remember rightly. Bobby Moore was playing too and Glenn Keeley got himself sent off for a stupid tackle (nothing new there). It is entirely correct that there should be a minute's silence for the finest player to emerge from these islands. Anyone who loves football would have loved George Best. RIP.

It's nowt to do with grieving. Best's public profile when he was a player was greater even than Beckham's (plus ten times the ability). His passing will be sad but also the chance to celebrate the God-given talent of one of Britain's greatest sporting figures. Incidentally, it has been reported that "Best carries a donor card and has said that when he dies he would like his organs to be used to help others". Georgie boy always did have a sense of humour.