I am with Nayaef on this one (although we have had previous disagreements!) 5-0 Chelsea a right real spanking for Rovers. Chelsea are on a roll and are looking invincible as they want to sow the title up as soon as they can. If they win at home to Brum, then spank Rovers I think they will only need another 5 wins to virtually guarantee the title. Now thats frightening

2-0 Rovers

Scotty a little bit more for the Thatcher line. Yes his house did get burgled twice, on the 3rd occasion he actually did a "Fergie" and dished out some summary punishment. Following that "indiscretion" he was threatened by some low life for beating his mate up in front of his partner. That is the real reason behind him wanting out on mankchester

thing is prso It is well documented that Rangers cannot AFFORD Barry Ferguson at the going rate. Murray for all hismoney is NOT willing to put up or shut up, he just expects that a previous relationship with BRFC is just the same as when Souness was in charge. The story has changed. John Williams will stick to his guns although I do expect fergie to return home to Glasgow. I Rangers truly wanted him then they would pay the going/asking rate. Rovers have further made it clear that the final payment is not an issue in these dealings. Rovers will have already budgeted for the August payment due to Rangers and on that basis we will want the fee to be as near as dammit to our valuation of the player. Its simple really. You dont pay you dont get. ps by the way can we not give you Amoruso as a lightweight in the transfer, I mean you pay us 5 million and we give you him for free

actually the official away fans were 2022 according to BWFC now thats a pretty damning verdict on their own club.

he should be investigated on being incompetent

then we would have no target man

yes, lets use amo as a target man. All shotguns and bows/arrows welcome at Ewood Park on Saturday afternoon

well my view is as follows. There is not a lot of positives I can take out of this game, we were absolutely crap friedel - needs to come for more crosses. niell - did okay and was probably our best attakcing player todd - steady defender, again showed composure when elbowed mokoena - did a lot better than against cardiff emerton - showed glimpses but not enough support thompson - cannot play in the middle, that is clearly obvious SAVAGE - did okay on his debut pederson - good start but faded. Why cant he run at defenders when the opportunity is there ? gallagher - was he on the pitch ? bothroyd - load of rubbish the big soft southern nonce. stead - needs an injection of confidence and a serious break from the first team johnson - probably did more than both Gally and bothroyd did together. a fine debut from the youngster. the game was an awful spectacle, an awful display and a sparse crowd from both sets of fans. JHC 20k for a local derby match versus Bolton ? a few pointers I picked up on. If Shrek wants a new donkey for his new film then look no furhter than bothroyd. The boy is a shocking example of a young player in the big time. Whoever gave him the latest emeeeele 'eskey video needs shooting. 6ft 3 plus and he cant win a header, cant stand on his feet, cant run, cant shoot, cant pass in fact just what does he do apart from take up a place in the first 11 ? Gally is clearly unable to play alongside this muppet of a centre forward. Rovers need to ditch him now. Stead needs faming out away from the club if only to get him playing 90 minutes regularly. Dickov is going to need a striker alongside him and Rovers have no option but to loan a half decent player/journey man - Carew/Mccarthy/Euell - someone who can just score a goal from the centre forward position. Thompson is NOT the man to play inside alongside Savage. He is clearly short of nouse in the middle. I doubt whether tugay could also. Ferguson was sorely missed and is that player we need. Defensively again okay. Even big Dom played well. I am distraught at the result as My Wife, Daughter and Father in Law are all bolton and being in the house with them right now makes me wants to throw them all out in the cold of night, christ even the dog has it in for me tonight ! the one shining light ???? my new Adidas gloves kept my hands nice and warm

please please please let him have the mother of all debuts and score the winner for us to take us 2 points above Brum. Now that would be nice to look at the following morning and then sending emails to Mr Gold and the like ! Come on Rovers, if there was any extra incentive then that is it

he is in the squad for Mondays match.

The ref is mr Bennett - a card freak of the highest calibre amongst mr d'urso

There is no doubt brum have come from the serious depths of despair, far greater than where Blackburn have been at their lowest. The problem with mssrs Gold and Sullivan is that they cannot in any way keep their bloody big gobs shut. If they dont appear in the media for a day or so they have to remark about something in particular just to get the name noticed. If something goes against Brum then mssrs Gold,Bruce and Sullivan think they have the right to say whatever they want. Its only that that gripes us. A chairman should not be commenting on the size of another club when his own club are indeed a very small outfit and NOT amongst the echelons of the elitist group of clubs in the Premiership. They never will be. Dont get me wrong, not all is a bed of Roses at Ewood. But our business is conducted professionally and OUTSIDE of media circles. When birmingham realise this error, a serious error of misjudgement from the outside looking in, then maybe, just maybe they may just get a few more supporters with a positive view. Imagine the outcries when Bruce upsticks because he wont stay if he has no money to spend, look at what bcfc have done, they could only afford to loan a player as they spent all of their budget in the first window. As for Savage not being allowed to play in the return game. If he did it would easily be the best atmosphere at that ground for many a moon. I have visited brum 5 times. And only twice have I witnessed any kind of atmosphere. Both occasions Rovers won. Says it all really.

I'll second that Alan but also add the goal in the WC Cup final as well

Gee thanks

interesting read Boarder crossings Steve Wilson It came as no great surprise when Barry Ferguson put in a transfer request this week after just 18 months as an uncomfortable and under-performing Blackburn Rovers player. The Scotland skipper has evidently failed to settle at Ewood Park since moving south from Ibrox for £7.5million in August 2003, even after taking over the club captaincy this season. Ferguson: Family never settled in the north west. (AdamDavy/Empics) Despite twice leading his former side to domestic trebles, in 1999 and 2003, captaining his national side and being rated as one of the finest products of the Rangers youth system, Ferguson simply couldn't cut it in England. A swift return to the Scottish Premier League and the familiar surroundings of his former club seems to be Ferguson's wish, and one that will be granted. After the fanfare that greeted his arrival south of the boarder, this tacit admission of failure will be of huge disappointment to both Blackburn and a legion of Scottish football fans, constantly called upon to defend their country's league in the face of, often ill-informed, criticism from their English counterparts, convinced as they are that Scottish football begins and ends with the Old Firm. And that even the two Glasgow giants exist in a rarefied world where they are only ever tested on the European stage, where they usually come up short. It wasn't always that way of course. Time was when no English team, or at least no English team intent on seriously challenging for silverware, could do without their own legion of Scottish exiles. The names are too many to list here in their entirety but where would English football be without Denis Law, Billy Bremner, Matt Busby, Bill Shankly, Tommy Docherty, Dave Mackay, George Graham, Kenny Dalglish, Jim Baxter and Alex Ferguson, to name just a few of the players and managers who developed their extraordinary talents in Scotland before bringing them to bare in the English game. Regardless of which team you follow, or even what country you pledge your footballing allegiances to, it is undeniable that until the last two decades, Scottish football, now the subject of scorn, brimmed with talent. Long before the birth of the Premier League and the influx of continental players that has erupted in the last decade, the Scottish top flight was a steady source of supply for an inordinately large percentage of the players in the Football League and especially the old First Division. It was not only quantity that Scotland provided; a seemingly endless stream of superstars brought their footballing genius south to illuminate Stadiums in a 'foriegn' land. This is not to mock or belittle modern Scottish football. It is more a lament that the abject decline has been so dramatic. And that its consequences reach beyond its own boarders. The well of Scottish educated footballers is at the point of drying up after years of plundering by English sides. Scotland gave England the notion of a passing football style (one of the reasons that early international competition between the two sides was dominated by the Caledonians); they gave the English league two of the greatest and most successful managers of all time in Bill Shankly and Sir Alex Ferguson; the Wembley Wizards gave a complacent England side a footballing lesson in the famous 5-1 victory of 1928. To underline the point, seven of that famous team were plying their trade south of the boarder at the time. But, along with the misfiring Ferguson, in the last ten years, the Scottish Football League has offered, amongst others, the following - how times have changed: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Neil McCann: Rangers - Southampton, £1.5 million, August 2003 A tricky attack minded midfield player, McCann went down in Rangers folklore thanks to the two goals he scored in a tempestuous encounter - is there any other kind? - against Celtic on May 2, 1999. In what was the Gers' 100th league victory over their fierce, impassioned rivals, violent scenes pervaded the encounter, mostly on the pitch. Referee Hugh Dallas had to receive treatment for a head wound after being hit by a coin; three players were sent off; there were several pitch invasions and one Celt fan fell from the upper tier of the stands. All of which served to make McCann's legend; that and the fact that his goals ensured that Rangers clinched the title at Parkhead for the first time in their history. McCann started his career as a Dundee trainee but moved to Hearts after just 1 appearance. After impressing for the Dark Blues he earned a £2 million move to Ibrox in 1998. The switch to Southampton came at a time when McCann's star was slightly on the wane and after 21 appearances in his first season he tallied 0 goals. The 2004/05 season has seen a regression in what was already patchy form with just 10 games this term, 5 as sub. In the five games that McCann has started this season Saints have a record of won 0, drawn 1 and lost 4. Nicknamed Terry after Dennis Waterman's hired muscle character in the show Minder, the £1.5 million pay off that Rangers took for McCann looks like just the kind of deal Arthur Daley himself would have been proud off. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kenny Miller: Rangers - Wolves, £3 million, January 2002 Tipped as one of Scotland's great white hopes for the future at the turn of the centaury, Miller once attracted interest from both Leeds and Arsenal. Bags of natural talent, pace and the ability to shrug off defenders seemingly at ease marked him out as one for whom success was a formality. Transfer listed Kenny Miller currently earning his wage outside the Premiership. (AlexLivesey/GettyImages) After starting life on the books of Hibernian, a loan spell at Stenhousemuir allowed him the freedom to play his natural game and, as is the way with fresh talent in Scotland, one of the Old Firm came calling. 38 appearances for Rangers drew 11 goals in a season and a half at Ibrox. But, unhappy at not being automatic first choice, he was loaned to Wolves at the end of 2001 and a return of two goals in five matches convinced the Midlands club to part with £3 million for his services on a permanent basis. Finding the net 24 times in the Midlands club's promotion-winning 2002-2003 season, Miller looked to be settling in to the English game and fulfilling some of his huge potential. Goals in Wolves' 1-0 victory over Manchester United in January 2004 and in the 1-1 draw against Liverpool four days later hinted at good times ahead but relegation has seen him, along with the rest of his team, struggle. Unable to force his way past George Ndah and Carl Court in the starting line up earlier this season, Miller put in a transfer request but injuries have allowed him back in and 11 goals from 24 starts is perhaps warning that he should not be written off completely just yet. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stephen Glass: Aberdeen - Newcastle, £650,000, July 1998 Already a Scotland under-21 international when he moved south under freedom of contract - a fee still paid because of his tender years - Glass was viewed at St James', briefly, as the man to fill the void left by David Ginola's departure on the left wing. With pace and a great crossing ability he initially impressed but injury in February of his first season resulted in a loss of form and Glass barely registered on the starters list again. He did make the Scottish full-international side shortly after the transfer, coming on as a substitute in a 2-1 win against the Faroe Islands but, despite the travails of the national team, he has not featured again since. Two seasons at Watford brought greater first team action and ended in the summer of 2003 with a return to Scotland and Hibernian. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Giovanni van Bronkhurst: Rangers - Arsenal, £8.5 million, June 2001 If Arsene Wenger is the master of the transfer market; able to pluck unknown world class players from abroad for favourable prices and sell them on for a profit, then the summer of 2001 was the urbane Frenchman's one forgivable blind spot. Arsenal forked out £25 million pounds on fresh talent in that particular off-season. They did not spend wisely. Charlton fringe player Franny 'fox in the box' Jeffers accounted for £10 million, Everton benchwarmer Richard Wright cost a further £6 million and, just as wastefully as it transpired, Giovanni van Bronkhorst was coaxed down from Rangers; a snip at just £8.5 million. Across three seasons at Highbury van Bronkhorst, or Gio as he prefers to be known as these days, started just 31 games in all competitions and never lived up to his billing as the natural replacement for Barcelona bound Emmanuel Petit. Tried in a variety of positions, including left-back, Gio never settled into a successful side and eventually got the move he craved last summer to Barcelona, becoming an integral part of compatriot Frank Reijkaard's La Liga pace setters after spending a season's loan there last year. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Steven Crawford: Raith - Millwall, undisclosed fee, July 1996 & Dunfermline - Plymouth, Free, June 2004 Winner of the player's player of the year in the Scottish First division whilst a youngster at Raith Rovers in the 1994-95 season, Crawford's rise through the Scottish game was to suffer stops and starts despite his early promise. His debut for the national team came whilst still at Raith as he scored the winner in a 2-1 victory over Ecuador but he was to wait a further six years until the second of his 23 caps was handed out. His first foray south of the boarder was to Millwall where he was an ever present when available. 11 goals in 40 league starts resulted in a £360,000 move to Hibernian where he averaged around a goal every 2.5 games before being offloaded to Dunfermline. A consistent goalscorer at East End Park, his five years there reignited his Scotland career and tempted fellow Scot Bobby Williams into taking him to English First division new boys Plymouth Argyle on a free transfer. Crawford was a regular for the Pilgrims in the first half of the season, scoring seven goals for the club but the stay was to be a short one. Confirming Plymouth's long held reputation as the furthest outpost of English football, geographically, Crawford complained of chronic homesickness and with several interested parties in the SPL, signed for Dundee United, his second English experience even shorter than his first. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pierre van Hooijdonk: Celtic - Nottingham Forest, £4.5 million, March 1997 Whilst 29 goals in a promotion winning season may not represent a true footballing failure, you will be hard pressed to find a Forest fan who remembers the Dutch striker with anything approaching affection. Pierre van Hooijdonk: Loyalty is a bonus. (TonyMarshall/Empics) A phenomenal goalscoring record in Holland earned the muscular van Hooijdonk a move to Celtic where his 26 goals and a Scottish Cup win in his first season endeared him to the Parkhead faithful. His quality never questioned, and his venomous free-kicks almost unparalleled, van Hooijdonk's Achilles Heel was always his temperament; an acrimonious departure from Parkhead in 1997 merely a taster for what was to come. Nottingham Forest's 1998/99 Premiership season began without van Hooijdonk. Still back in Holland, he contacted the club only to let them know that he had gone on strike, claiming the club had reneged on an agreement to let him leave. He eventually returned to the starting line-up but was sold for £3.5 million to Vittesse Arnhem at the end of the campaign. Van Hooijdonk further incensed Forest by serving them with a writ for outstanding monies including, incredulously, a hefty loyalty bonus. Since leaving Forest he has enjoyed a successful, if nomadic, career. Benfica, Feyenoord - where he scored 52 goals in 61 league appearances and earned a Uefa Cup winners medal in 2002 - and Fenherbahce have got good service out of the moody forward. And a ten year international career brought him 37 caps, albeit including a Dutch record 35 from the bench. Feyernoord fans may have recorded a single called Put your hands up for Pi-Air which charted in the Netherlands prior to the 2002 UEFA Cup final but you won't get many requests for it at the City Ground. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ian Durrant: Rangers - Everton, loan, October - December, 1994 A Rangers legend, Durrant moved for an ill fated spell with Everton in 1994 in a loan deal. He and Duncan Ferguson were strangely packaged together as a two-for-one offer, as he tried to rebuild a career shattered by injury. The last bit of transfer business that Mike Walker was to undertake at Goodison, Durrant turned out just five times for the Toffees (once as a sub) and whilst Big Dunc was making a name for himself under Joe Royle by bagging the winner in a Merseyside derby, Durrant was shipped back to Ibrox. Durrant was perhaps before his time in being a box-to-box midfield general who was also blessed with great passing ability and vision. In 14 years with the Scottish giants he won 10 titles, 3 Scottish Cups and 7 League Cups but was never the same player after the horrific injury he infamously suffered in 1988. In a Scottish league match against Aberdeen, at Pettodrie, a reckless, some suggest premeditated, foul with studs raised by Neil Simpson threatened Durrant's career. In fact extensive surgery on a shattered knee took three years to put Durrant back on the pitch. The incident sparked a bitter rivalry between the clubs' fans that exists to this day. The crowd favourite sued Simpson for loss of earnings and took a settlement of £300,000. Durrant retired three years ago after a short spell, including a losing appearance in one last Scottish Cup final, at Falkirk. In all Durrant played 283 times for Rangers, scoring 27 goals in the process. At Everton he played five games, once as a substitute and failed to find the net at all. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Eoin Jess: Aberdeen - Coventry, £2 million, February 1996 & Aberdeen - Bradford City, Free 2000 Supposedly the subject of a mooted £4 million bid from Serie A giants (back then at least) Torino in the early 90's, Jess' passing ability and, especially, his eye for a goal from midfield made him one of the hottest properties in the Scottish game during the majority of his eight productive seasons at Aberdeen which included 50 goals in 201 league starts. Half-way through the 1995/96 season Coventry City paid £2 million for his services, still a club record transfer receipt at Pittodrie, but he failed to produce the sparkling form that had made him a regular in Craig Brown's Scotland squads. Just one goal in 18 months at Highfield Road led to a swift return to Aberdeen at a net loss to the Midlands club of £1.3 million. More goals and England came calling again, this time in the form of a Bradford City side fighting in vain against relegation from the Premiership. Perhaps Jess' best season in England came in the Banthams' first season back in the First Division when he grabbed a respectable 14 goal haul. Currently playing at Nottingham Forest where he has struggled to win over a large section of the fans and only really got a settled place in the side during Joe Kinnear's brief tenure as manager. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lorenzo Amoruso: Rangers - Blackburn Rovers, £1.4 million, July 2003 Like Ferguson, Amerouso arrived in English football courtesy of the Graeme Souness' Rangers connection at Blackburn Rovers, a £1.4 million purchase in July 2003. A solid centre back with a willingness to put himself about when necessary, Amorouso nonetheless came to England with a reputation for being error prone. A £5 million signing from Italian side Fiorentina back in 1997, the imposing, pony-tailed defender and Rangers club captain had his critics north of the border, but amassed 226 appearances for the club and won the SPL title three times. The transition had seemed to go perfectly when, one game on from scoring the winning goal in a Scottish Cup final, he scored the opening goal in a 5-1 mauling of Wolves on the opening day of his first Premiership season. However, a few erratic performances as Blackburn sank towards the foot of the table probably meant that the five month lay off with a knee injury came as some kind of odd relief. Four wins out of five games with Amorouso restored to the side at the tail end of the season did help preserve Blackburn's Premiership status but suspicions remain over his concentration and pace, or rather lack of it. Mark Hughes certainly doesn't trust him: the Italian has yet to start a game under his new Welsh boss. Sponsored Links Bargain Scottish Football on eBay.co.uk You'll find anything from football shirts and boots to ticket stubs, programmes and stickers at fantastic low prices on the UK's Online Marketplace. Buy It. Sell It. Love It. eBay.co.uk. (www.ebay.co.uk)

very clever is it not. birmingham may have its fair share of brainless half wits, so does any club. You seem to gloat on the fact that your supporters love to create or have violent confrontations, well for me that sums your whole small club attitude up. You are a minority when it comes to "Premier" clubs, your a major minority when it comes to the trophy cabinet, you have the worst following supporters when you actually take some away, we have seen the birmingham faithful in its full throes, 2-0 in the old div 1 when a certain duffer and bent notched the goals tht left you stuttering for the play offs, the 4-0 win at your place in the FA Cup really showed just how passionate a place like st andrews is, like a morgue on a sunday morning. Dont come on here clouting your weight about how hard you lot are. Violence is for low lifes, but then again the whole football world has seen that much with your chairman and manager conducting their dirty washing in the media, and then, lest we forget, mrs goody 2 shoes K Brady. Says it all really. now then, where's your Savage gone ? where's your Savage gone ?

spot on scotty lad. birmingham have surely cemented the fact that they are the small club with the ponderous slating of all thing BRFC in the media. Maybe they did it to raise the selling power of the newspaper that sullivan owns eh ? BRFC and Mr Savage have conducted themselves professionally and have not resorted to the taunts issued from the deep dark blackness of the second city ! Cant wait to play them and really rub their noses in it, I will definately be earing a riot helmet on that day

some very interesting thoughts over the last few posts regarding BF. However On this occasion surely the whole deck of cards is with BRFC. they dont have to sell. rangers have failed to make suitable offer. rovers have made it clear they still want BF to stay at the club. rovers are not in the position of having to sell. the player is under contract with 2 1/2 years to go. rovers pay his wages. if rangers wanted him back then they would move heaven and earth just like rovers did in their pursuit of Savage. rovers are not conducting the transfer speculation it is the media and BF's fat agent viola and there are only a few days left of the transfer window. So that puts the ball well and truly into the corner of RB nesbitt fc. If they want him then they must pay the going rate. Surely Viola,Murray and Ferguson must realise that. If Fergie does not get his move and throws his dummy then he gets fined, plays with the stiffs and does not get any bonus money, therefore he loses out, same for next window, if RB nesbitt fc fail to make the right offer then again he stays and plays with the stiffs, therfore continually missing out on the big money. The only way for him to benefit is that when he does actually move, having played with the reserves he would just be about fit enough for the monopoly league that is the scottish premier league. Yes he can play at home crowds to 52k yes he can play celtic 4 times a season plus the possibility of 2 further cup ties against them and yes he can go and visit the likes of motherwell, hearts, dunfermline and the like instead of the mighty grounds that are old traford,highbury,coms,anfield,Ewood,st marys's et al. # so thats my view, take it or leave it

shearer and garner or shearer and sutton or shearer and newell

lawro strikes again, we may as well not bother playing the match. by the way I wonder just how his predictions have featured this season. Anyone any ideas ? btw Dickov is SUSPENDED

easy this one adult tickets across the board £10 junior tickets £5 under 10 £1 upper tier Darwen End fill it with school kids This would ensure that with the alleged 2000 following from Colchester there would be a crowd of around 20k. Looking at the ticket prices already issued Rovers have missed the boat

nice one phil

there is a report circulating that IF Savage plays at Birmingham Rovers will have to foot the estimated £100,000 police bill for the match policing. I have only seen the smaller reports stating he is actually out of the game. I have not seen this from a Rovers point of view. big club ? my arse

philipl in answer to your questions 1. no 2, no 3. yes they most definately are. Rovers are not conducting their business in the papers, that is left to gold,bruce and sullivan as well as the whinging brummie fans, it is also left to fergie and his agent viola who are making all the noises (or rather not fergie its ust his agent) and old big eck and his numpty chairman. All Rovers are saying is yes they had a bid, yes he put a transfer request in and yes theyturned the bid down flat. a few for you how many moons are there in the solar system ? how many kilometres can an a330 fly without a fuel stop ? why is tony blair still the PM ? can you solve a23ddce-345ddfex23sedws43+1a if g=3,f=1,a=1009 ?