1-1. Petrov and McCarthy.

3-0 to the Rovers. Hughes' fitness regime comes up with the goods.

Benni you LEGEND.

Jeffers!!! Boo yah!!!

Maestro Tugay!!! 1-0 thanks to a 30 yard screamer.

http://www.rovers.premiumtv.co.uk/page/New...~921738,00.html

It sounds like we're struggling.

Hence the wink. Certainly didn't want to take away from Gray, who wore the scar from that incident. I would be wearing a few crushed bones, I suspect, if I came across Rooney. :ph34r: ***BREAKING NEWS*** Obviously all previous posts have been putting on a continual disappearing act and consequently don't exist, so listen up! The match is live on television on British Eurosport!!! Who woulda thunk it? You can also see Blackburn Rovers in the flesh at Ewood Park! Don't make the mistake of flying to Switzerland! We better damn win too, seeing as I put money on us. That was on the assumption that Savage would play. I hope he does play. That'll learn me for putting money on early.

I'd like to see Wisla Krakow replicate the gesture.

Right back is not Emerton's favoured position, but he has been playing some of his best football for us there! And he's been one of our best players too. So the favoured position excuse can't be taken into account. McEveley all the way for me. Give him a few games and I'm sure he can put in a regular performance for us, even if not spectacular. Gray is too much of a liability in better times and was not even rated when we were struggling against relegation by Hughes. Fair play, he did put some doubts to bed last year but he's off-form again and this fully grown adult in his 30s is being knocked around by 19 year olds off the field. I'm optimistic for this one. 2-1 to the Rovers. McCarthy and Bentley to continue their brilliant scoring records. Both score off each other's rebounded shot.

I bloody well hope it's not the start of a bad run because three consecutive losses should be nearing the end of a bad run for a European quality team.

My spirits are unusually high for this one. We'll demolish them 3-2 (3-0 up and West Ham pull two back, flattering their abysmal performance). Wahey.

Ha. Mark Hughes made mention of the "micro-climate" at Ewood park just now in an interview on Radio Rovers. I find it strange that Henchoz is getting a game, especially since we have Andy Todd on the bench.

Prediction: 1-0 to the Rovers after 120 minutes. Pedersen Gamst to score from a penalty kick.

I had $10 on Rovers to win or draw. Amazingly enough, I've found that betting has no influence over the result whatsoever. And unlike some on here, I never bet against us. Which made the loss to Bolton all that more gut-wrenching.

Hello and welcome to the board. 1. If the game against West Ham was a five a side, how would your team line up? Json Brown, Aaron Mokoena (manager mark Hughes said at a fans forum that his name would be first on the team sheet in a five-a-side, if I remember correctly, so that is good enough for me), Brett Emerton, Robbie Savage, Shabani Nonda. 2. Who have been your best and worst players so far? Morten Gamst Pedersen has probably been one of the worst. It seems these days that his team mates are simply not willing to channel very much play through him at all, and besides, he has not found the net this season, which is just about the only reason why he was in the team last year. He missed a sitter against Wisla Krakow in the UEFA Cup last week and really dos not deserve his place in the side anymore. Andre Ooijer had a terrible start but has improved, while Jason Roberts has not scored due to a combination of injury and poor form. Our best player has surely been Benni McCarthy. He has scored approximately one goal every two matches and has been a fine replacement for Craig Bellamy. Emerton has finally come good for Rovers, as I always knew he would, playing at right back. His fitness and intensity and genuine willingness to run his socks off has made him one of the best, if not the best player, for the team this season. He has kept Lucas Neill out of the position. David Bentley looks to be coming good as well on the right wing. His crosses have brought us goals and his team mates seem to channel a lot of their play through him. 3. From a less than spectacular start, you seem right back on course (Sunday's madness aside)! What has sparked the transformation? It simply took a while for our side to gel because it was considerably different than last season's team. This is especially true up front where we have four new strikers all vying for two places. McCarthy took a short while to come through for us, but he finally did and we are all the better for it. Ooijer and Khizanishvili have also been improving their pairing in central defence. 4. What are the strengths and weaknesses of Mark Hughes? The manager's strength is the amount of preparation he puts into each match and with training. It is a big separture from the Graeme Souness days when the defence was more often than not very leaky and the teamlooked tactically inept come the final two years of his career. Rarely do we seem to get beaten tactically under Hughes. We are also fitter and we know from not just Hughes but the players that he wants to have the fittest side in the Premiership. Training sessions are done at match competitiveness. I always have blind faith in our manager, so he has no weaknesses. Well, sometimes he is a bit stingy with substitutions. 5. Which combo forms your best striking duo? McCarthy and Nonda. They seem to be a brilliant combination - McCarthy as a poacher and Nonda as pacey striker. Plus they are both the best ability wise - they are shades above Roberts and good old Francis Jeffers, although Nonda really has not produced the goods as of yet. I would like to buy him permanently, though (he is on loan from Roma).

-----------------------------------Friedel----------------------------- -----Neill----------Khizanishvili----------Ooijer----------Gray----- -----Bentley--------Mokoena-----------Emerton--------Peter----- ----------------------McCarthy-----------Nonda-------------------- Substitutes: Brown, McEveley/Todd, Gamst/Gallagher, Roberts, Savage/Jeffers I think that line-up is a decent chance. Hughes has said he is not afraid to use his squad, but on the other hand he wants to win every game that comes our way. This is a compromise between both of those opposing forces. There is no pressing reason to change our goalkeeper or our central defence pairing. They should be able to handle if looked after properly by the fitness staff. With Tugay pushing on in years I certainly wouldn't want him to play this game, and with Savage injured/tired (and Reid injured too), it looks like a makeshift central midfielder needs to be moved in. Emerton has done the job there for Australia and I'm sure he could do a job for us. He can run all day and should prove a good temporary replacement for Savage. To make up for the right back position we could move Neill back there and bring in Gray again on the left. In the wide midfield positions, Bentley is doing well and most of our play is being channeled through him, so it wouldn't be the wisest thing to drop him. Gamst has been playing terribly and that terrible miss in the UEFA Cup has made it clear in my mind that he needs to be dropped at some point. Now could be the time to continue the development of Peter. Up front I don't know much about the condition of McCarthy and Nonda. Whatever the case, I'm sure they can both start at least and substitutions can be made as appropriate.

Match statistics.

We'll never live this game down because of the way it panned out. Absolutely despicable to miss two penalties and to lose despite domination. :'(

Bolton have only been involved in one league match this season where there have been more than two goals scored. Generally they are host to low scoring affairs against Rovers, and we recorded two 0-0 results against them last season. Bolton will play a very tight and very physical game, and I'm not exactly sure we're up for it. If we had a seven day break then I would fancy McCarthy to get a goal, since I think it has been his poacher's instinct that we have been missing from these encounters. However, with the heavy schedule I think he might be out of the game due to the pure physicality of the affair, especially if we fail to get men up to support him. A 0-0 draw is a likely result, but it won't be a bore because there is no doubt bound to be some controversy! They'll probably target Savaggio again.

(Please don't use that word again) off with your revisionist history. The scoreline was 2-1 and that's all there is to it!

Are you going to come back to eat humble pie?!

BENTLEY! Take that pretenders!!! Pretenders. They're just a bunch of pretenders. I knew we'd beat this bunch 2-1. It's been a stroll in the park when looking back. We could have scored more. One step closer to European glory!

Whatever happened to bookings for simulation? Referees are far too lenient on the subject.

Don't knock The Sav! Well done blondie.