jim mk2

Is that correct ? Trafford Borough Council have threatened to close Old Trafford unless ManU sort out their standing problem.

As far as I am concerned, those who stand up and refuse to sit down are making my life and that of others a misery by spoiling my enjoyment of a football match. That makes it anti-social behaviour in my book. Your suggestion that away clubs should supply their own stewards to supervise their fans is an excellent one and may be the answer to the problem.

And therein lies the problem. Supporters have to stand because the ones in front are standing too. And what happens if you ask them (as I have done done many times, politely) to sit down ? They either laugh in your face, give you verbal abuse or threaten you with violence. These idiots stand because they know they can get away with it. Stewards/police should remove all those fans who stand up throughout the match without due regard for those sitting behind them. They should be ejected from the ground and banned from Ewood.

Standing up at football matches is another form of anti-social behaviour in my view. The club has to take firm action to deal with this growing problem. The only way as I see it is to adopt a "zero tolerance" approach. All those "supporters" - home and away - who persist in standing up, to the detriment of law-abiding fans who are happy to watch the match sitting down, should be thrown out of the ground and banned from the ground. These are the same morons who continue to defy smoking bans on trains and in restaurants, the same cretins who litter the streets instead of putting their rubbish in a bin or take it home, the same imbeciles who endanger other people's lives by breaking the speed limit on the roads. They should not be allowed to attend football matches until they have learnt how to behave properly.

I voted for Duggie but Fergie was a wonderful player too. More of a crowd darling than Duggie, if I remember correctly. The size of the vote for Ripley is ludicrous. Fifty years from now, people will wonder who he was.

Revidge Blue takes a break (where is the old chap ???)

philipl calculates his annual tax return

I would imagine Premiership managers looking at line-up and rubbing their hands with glee. If we are honest, that team would struggle in the first division. Somehow, we have to scramble for points until January and then hope that the board releases funds for at least four new players.

adopted scouser and one of "rellies" have quiet night in

Cheshire Blue's two up two down missed out on the national property boom

bluephil and thenodrug attend Blackburn Conservative Club's annual meeting

Tris gets spanked by his Mum after losing his job at Guinness

As a post-script, Saturday reminded me of the abject 4-0 thrashing Rovers received at the hands of Birmingham City at St Andrews in the FA Cup last season. Rovers did not look intersted that day and they showed the same lack of enthusiasm for the cause against Boro. What does it take to motivate lazy, multi-millonaire so-called professional footballers?

How can he clear out Souness's dross with little money to spend and the transfer window closed for ten weeks (by which time it might be too late anyway)? Or do we have to accept relegation as inevitable in order to rebuild and start again? If he did not know already, Hughes is now fully aware of the monumental task he has taken on in trying to save us from relegation. If he is a manager for the next ten years, either with Rovers or elsewhere, this is the toughest test he will ever face. He is inexperienced and is going to have to learn very quickly. The only way (as I see it) that we can avoid the drop is for Rovers to adopt Everton's old "dogs of war" approach and battle and scrap for every point. Every week. The trouble is our dogs are so old you can't teach them new tricks.

I remember that goal. Some Villa friends of mine remember it too. In many ways Fergie was more of an Ewood hero than Duggie. Fergie had a temper, though; he was sent off for knocking out Trevor Hockey against Coventry in 1967. That 2-1 defeat cost us promotion back to the old first division. In an ideal team, Fergie would play right wing and Duggie, as has been mentioned, at inside left. The trouble is the oiks struggle with the concept of inside left. Ripley is not good enough to lick either of their boots.

If you knew your history of Blackburn Rovers, the club you are supposed to support, you would not write that.

That Pele chap (whoever he was) wasn't a bad player either.

There speaks the voice of experience. To anyone who does not vote for Bryan Douglas, the greatest player to wear a blue and white shirt, I hereby give warning that I shall personally come round to their hovel and stand on their heads.

Middlesbrough have far too much quality for us. Plus our international players will be knackered. Rovers 1 Boro 2

Is that the first time we are in agreement? Strange days indeed.

No it is not. Mr Bigley's killing was appalling, barbaric etc etc and devastating for his family but a "tragedy" (a much overused word), certainly a national one, is a cataclysmic event, such as Aberfan in 1966, when 144 people, most of them children, were buried under a falling slag heap. Mourning Mr Bigley at an international football match was inappropriate in my view.

Eriksson will never drop Beckham, although perhaps the player deserves to be. Beckham is getting a fair amount of stick in the papers (despite his brilliant goal) for his kamikaze performance in the second half. It is being suggested that he got himself deliberately booked (therefore missing the next game) because he did not fancy the trip to Azerbaijan (sp?) and it is not the first time that he has pulled off such a trick. Andrew Cole never played for Eriksson again after picking up a suspension and Alan Smith was left out of the squad for a year after being sent off and banned. Beckham is likely to receive more lenient traetment however. Any euphoria over England's performance should be tempered by the fact that Wales were pretty awful.

Give it a rest. Your cricket crowds are the only ones in the world that boo the opposition (especially England). Nowhere else in the world (not even in roughneck South Africa) does this happen. One or two thoughts on the England v Wales match: 1. Those who decided that an international football match is an appropriate place to mourn Ken Bigley made a serious error of judgment. What happened to Mr Bigley was appalling, but his death was not a national tragedy. Prayers for Mr Bigley and his family in church on Sunday morning, yes, but a football match, definitely not. 2. There was much talk before the game of reviving the Home International Championship. The reaction of the neanderthal England and Wales fans who booed the respective national anthems of both countries, their general behaviour throughout the game plus the disrespect shown to Mr Bigley, showed why it should NEVER be revived. 3. Wayne Rooney has reaffirmed my faith in football. To see such a brilliant talent in an England shirt makes my old heart leap with joy.

Surprised no one has mentioned that yesterday (Oct 9) would have been John Lennon's 64th birthday. Birthday greetings and a bottle of wine to him.

Souness's erstwhile side-kick Andrew Cole has had his ban extended from three to six matches by the FA today. COLE BAN ADDS TO FULHAM WOES By Alex Lowe, PA Sport Fulham’s season was plunged into further crisis today when the Football Association found Andrew Cole guilty of two charges of bringing the game into disrepute and doubled his suspension from three to six matches. Cole, one of two Fulham players sent off in last month’s fiery Barclays Premiership clash with West Brom, was dismissed for throwing punches, including one attempted haymaker, following a clash with Baggies midfielder Neil Clement. The former England striker has already served a three-match suspension but attended a disciplinary hearing held at the FA’s headquarters at Soho Square today and was found guilty of using abusive language to a match official and violent conduct. For the abusive language Cole was given an extra two-match suspension, to start immediately, while the violent conduct carried a one-game ban. He was also slapped with a £10,000 fine, plus costs. Fulham were tonight making no comment on the penalty, though its severity has alerted the Professional Footballers’ Association who were to make further enquiries before giving any reaction. Cole, who was fined by the club for his dismissal, will now miss the crucial league fixtures against Liverpool and Aston Villa plus the Carling Cup tie at Birmingham as Fulham attempt to turn around their season. They have secured just two victories and four defeats from their eight Premiership matches. On Monday night, without Cole, Fulham became the first Premiership side to lose to Crystal Palace this season and had Ian Pearce sent off in the process. Pearce became the fourth Fulham player to be dismissed in four matches, following the red cards shown to Cole and Papa Bouba Diop at The Hawthorns and Liam Rosenior in the Carling Cup win over Boston. Manager Chris Coleman, facing a disciplinary charge himself for comments made after Fulham were beaten in controversial circumstances by Arsenal, now has the international break to ensure Fulham’s fraying edges do not unravel entirely.