jim mk2

Palace being a London club, I would be interested to know if a larger number than usual press contingent have reserved seats in the press box for tomorrow night. Lee ?

The FA will decide tomorrow (Tuesday) whether to take disciplinary action over Todd.

The boys in the press box stick together and they usually take a collective line (safety in numbers !). The problem is the media is London-based, whereas up to 15 years ago every national newspaper had a Manchester production base with its own staff that gave their Northern editions a strong regional flavour. There is the added problem that the press have never forgiven Rovers for winning the title ten years ago. Hughes is strong minded enough to ignore the criticism and to stick with the tactics that have taken Rovers out of the relegation zone. I fully expect Rovers to come out fighting on Wednesday night !

Stayaway fans shame Rovers .......... says the headline in tomorrow's papers with picture of empty seats at the Millennium Stadium.

Listening to Talksport in the car on the way home was depressing but not as depressing as the match itself. Let's face it: Rovers were poor and let the club and the fans down on a big occasion. My only observation on the team: What did Dickov do to justify staying on the field for 90 minutes ? I'm fed up of watching him 1) falling over the ball 2) miskicking it on the few occasions he has it at his feet 3) arguing with referees 4) winding up opponents 5) being generally useless. If he is at the club next season it must be only as third or fourth choice striker.

Wonderful to see the look on Sourpuss's face last night as another potential trophy eluded his dismal club. After the manner in which he left Rovers, and the pathetic bunch of demoralised players he left behind, only an idiot would not revel in his discomfort.

As a matter of interest philip: Are you jetting back from your tax haven for the match ? And if not, why not ?

From memory,it was the sogning of Gilliver, the following season, that led to the radical change. Huddersfield refused to pay compensation so we ended up with John Coddington. Codddington in defence; O'Mara up front. Nightmare.

Apologies if this has been posted elsewhere but agencies have reported John Williams admitting that the club may have fewer than 15,000 fans in Cardiff on Saturday. Williams has blamed the FA for the low turn-out after claiming that they have messed up the semi-final weekend by staging both games at the Millennium Stadium. He said: “It will be a great effort if we can take 15,000 fans under the circumstances of high ticket prices, the long journey and the kick-off time. “The FA have made it difficult. It’s a bad decision, not only in terms of location, but coupled with the kick-off time, it has become a very difficult trip for our fans. “The alternative of staying at home to watch on TV is clearly going to affect our attendance on the day. “It would have been better for our fans and better for the game if the semi-final was at Villa Park. "We could fill the Millennium Stadium for the Final. We have done it before when we won the Worthington Cup in Cardiff. "But it’s a tall order for us to get anywhere near selling 30,000 tickets for a semi-final and, sadly, we won’t.” Meanwhile, Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson blames Arsenal for leaning on the FA to get Cardiff chosen as the venue for this weekend’s FA Cup semi-finals. In the latest twist in the long running United-Arsenal feud Ferguson said today: “Apparently it was Arsenal who forced this through. “I think they wanted it at Cardiff last season instead of Villa Park. We are looking forward to the semi-final but it’s a terrible burden on the fans with it being at Cardiff, particularly the Newcastle fans. "The editor of a newspaper said United fans were being arrogant and that they’ve had plenty of semi-finals whereas Newcastle haven’t. "I don’t think that’s the point. The point is the cost to fans. And how many accidents will there be on the way down? It’s a long journey compared to, say, Leeds. I just don’t understand it."

Martin Britt. We were conned into signing another crock. Did he ever play? One game, which we won. Britt was a good player, but with a very bad injury when we signed him. Thank you West Ham. I would like to nominate a couple of 1970s duffers - Martin Fowler and Paul Round. Awful.

Agreed. This is a PR disaster waiting to happen. The club must be able to estimate now how many tickets they will sell in total. A press release should be issued before the weekend blaming the FA. Williams is unlikely to want to upset the FA however, so perhaps supporters organisations/websites (?) should do it for them ?

Really ? The news editors live in the area and have their nose to the ground. They know what is being is said in the clubs/pubs/workplaces of the town and have published an article stating why a large number of supporters won't be going to Cardiff. Negative may be, but the truth. It hurts sometimes.

Dog bites man: no news Man bites dog: news. Twas ever thus. If you want nice happy-clappy stories where the all the world is hunky-dory, buy the Family Circle.

As I said earlier, because the LET is not the club's PR mouthpiece. If there are negative articles, it is because they reflect the general feeling of the Blackburn public.

Of course it is! A long term publicity ban from Williams as a result of a fall-out between the LET AND brfc would see the LET off quick style. What else of substance is in it apart from Births,deaths and marriages's? Some clubs have tried banning the press over perceived "negative" stories, notably Gillingham, but they always relent. Bad publicity is better than no publicity. I doubt if Williams could ban the press anyway: the league's sponsors (Barclays) would do their pieces. Her Majesty's Press will not be denied.

Oh dear, oh dear. Shooting the messenger again. The LET isn't (or shouldn't be) a PR mouthpiece for the club. If fans are facing a nightmare journey (which, with a 12 o'clock kick-off time 200 miles away they almost certainly will be), the paper will be reporting the story. If it's an old billboard and the story has been overtaken by events, you should complain to the newsagent. Blaming the editor of a paper that generally avoids controversy and is very fair to Rovers anyway, is silly.

Absolutely no chance. United are always strong this time of year and they are playing well. 2-0 defeat.

If it were BR still running the railway you'd be OK. It's Virgin Cross Country and Arriva Trains Wales you need to worry about.

Met him an a cricket tour to Shrewsbury. He was a wizard spin bowler (used to play Minor Counties) and was also the groundsman at Shrewsbury FC. He gave us a tour of Gay Meadow (didn't take long) and showed us the famous coracle that they kept in a cupboard under the stairs ! Not sure if they still have or what happened it. It must be worth a fortune as it is part of football folklore. Probably got flogged on ebay.

Are you sure ? Oliver Holt has worked for the Mirror for the past three years.

Appalling game of football but a welcome point. Hughes has set Rovers up 4-5-1, which has made us harder to beat but is excruciating to watch at times. Whether it is good enough to beat Arsenal in the Cup is doubtful. We should survive easily now. The test for Hughes next season will be to inject more skill and creativity while keeping the team defensively sound. Should be interesting.

MCEveley scored after 2mins v Stoke tonight

You didn't hear what he said off camera.

Can vouch for the above. For the Worthy final I avoided the motorways and approached Cardiff down the valleys from the north (came through Caerphilly I think). Went home the same way. No problems at all. Parked in the city centre near the university right outside a pleasant pub and only five minutes walk from the ground.

Don't the BBC have first refusal ? Presumably they will take ManU v Newc, so that match will be on the Saturday.