Could you make it 162 miles please

Rumour. No names or clubs have been mentioned. Allegedly a young premiership international and a friend is said to have taken 2 women back to a Central London hotel after meeting them at a night club. Detectives are investigating claims by the women of "sexual assault". and whether there is a need to pursue a case against the men. For legal reasons please do not speculate names Thanks

Eddie's right, if this is right Bellamy out until November then Rovers only have 2 experienced premiership players, Dickov and Jansen, plus premiership rookies Kuqi and Johnson.

It is believed that a scan yesterday in Leeds revealed damage to Craig Bellamy’s knee, that will result in him missing games for up to three weeks. At this stage it is hoped that the injury will not require an operation. Bellamy has been plagued with injuries since joining the Rovers in the summer, and has only started three premiership games to date. His latest appearance on Saturday, against West Brom, lasted only 14 minutes, when he limped off after jarring his knee. This latest injury could result in Bellamy missing the games away to Liverpool and Chelsea, plus the home game against Birmingham and the Carling Cup game at Ewood against Leeds. Message Board Discussion HERE

Now that had me laughing out loud, cheers den

Berger off

Another 2-0 win against the Baggies. Rovers reserves beat West Brom reserves at Christie Park, Morecambe. 2-0 tonight with goals from Andy Taylor and Keith Barker. Rovers welcomed back to the team, David Thompson after a lengthy lay off due to injury and Amoruso also got another run out after injury along side Andy Todd, in the heart of the defence. Match Report, Courtesy of Rovers Official Web Site

Match report by RevidgeBlue Very much a case of all's well that ends well on Saturday. After such a great result at the theatre of merchandising you would have expected us to come out really buzzing but conversely the first half was appalling, as bad as anything I can remember under either Hughes or Souness. No obvious enthusiasm, commitment, movement off the ball or anything. The non stop contribution of Savage was sorely missed during this period. The second half saw an increase in tempo, plenty of huff and puff, but no real improvement until the introduction of the 2 substitutes Emerton and Mokoena on 65 minutes. For some reason we then finally found the real urgency and desire which had been lacking for the previous hour, permanently penning the Baggies back on the edge of their area. Nevertheless with 15 minutes to go it looked like being a thoroughly unsatisfactory afternoon. I had just been thinking how Kuqi and Dickov looked as though they didn't have 5 goals in them between them all season when Kuqi suddenly pulled out a great header from out of the blue for the first. A few minutes later he was gifted a second and everyone goes home happy. Excellent result but we'll have to play a lot better than that most weeks to get anything. The best thing was obviously the two goals for Kuqi. I'm still far from convinced by him but you can't help but like his attitude and the added confidence derived from the two goals might just help him discover his touch and lead to a big improvement in his performances.

Rovers 2 Albion 0 Apart from the enforced change in midfield, due to the suspension of Robbie Savage, Rovers retained the same team that beat Man U. at Old Trafford last week. Whilst Albion changed from their normal 4-4-2 formation to play a 4-5-1 formation with Campbell as the lone striker. It was therefore not surprising that with West Brom’s packed midfield, chasing down every ball, it didn’t allow Rovers, especially Tugay, any opportunity to express themselves, resulting in the first half turning out to be a dire spectacle of misplaced passes, with neither team taking control of the game. West Brom made the first clear chance, in the 6th minute when Friedel saved from Greening’s, however from that point Friedel wasn't troubled through out the remainder of the game. For the remainder of the first half there was little goalmouth incident, apart from a header from Kuqi, shortly after he’d come on for the injured Bellamy in the 14 minute. The second half began more lively, with Rovers attacking the Blackburn End, bombarding Kirkland’s goal. Rovers came close on a number of occasions with a couple of Pedersen free kicks and were denied a couple of penalty claims, when Dickov and Pedersen were pushed in the penalty box, however it looked like another of those days when the ball wouldn’t hit the back of the net. On the hour mark, Hughes made a double substitution, bringing on Mokoena and Emerton for Tugay and Bentley, which gave Rovers a bit more bite in midfield and a more attacking influence down the right hand side. After a countless, string of corners Rovers eventually gained their reward, when Kuqi rose above a packed Albion defence to convert a Pedersen corner from the left hand side. Que, the flying Finn’s impression of a Lancaster bomber belly flopping on landing as he celebrated his first premiership goal for the club. No sooner than the ground had stopped vibrating, Kuqi was bombarding the Ewood turf with another goal celebration. With Dickov and Kuqi chasing down on an underpowered back pass by Albion’s Davies, two minutes before the end, the Finn was first to the ball and slotted it under Kirkland’s body into the back of the net. Rovers: Friedel, Neill, Khizanishvili, Nelsen, Gray, Bentley (Emerton 61), Reid, Tugay (Mokoena 61), Pedersen, Dickov, Bellamy (Kuqi 14). Subs Not Used: Todd, Enckelman. Booked: Neill, Nelsen. Goals: Kuqi 80, 88. West Brom: Kirkland, Albrechtsen, Curtis Davies, Clement, Robinson, Gera, Chaplow, Wallwork, Greening, Kamara (Horsfield 78), Campbell (Ellington 67). Subs Not Used: Moore, Watson, Kuszczak. Att: 20,721 Ref: U Rennie

Man City London branch, season ticket holders were complaining last night, that its virtually impossible to get public transport in time to get to the game at 11.15 am. They say that the kick off time is due to coverage in TV China.

Poor first half, better second half. Flying Finn Flies In Anyone notice how over weight Rennie has got. Thank goodness he doesnt do a Kuqi celebration belly flop.

Rovers 2 Albion 0 Apart from the enforced change in midfield, due to the suspension of Robbie Savage, Rovers retained the same team that beat Man U. at Old Trafford last week. Whilst Albion changed from their normal 4-4-2 formation to play a 4-5-1 formation with Campbell as the lone striker. It was therefore not surprising that with West Brom’s packed midfield, chasing down every ball, it didn’t allow Rovers, especially Tugay, any opportunity to express themselves, resulting in the first half turning out to be a dire spectacle of misplaced passes, with neither team taking control of the game. West Brom made the first clear chance, in the 6th minute when Friedel saved from Greening’s, however from that point Friedel wasn't troubled through out the remainder of the game. For the remainder of the first half there was little goalmouth incident, apart from a header from Kuqi, shortly after he’d come on for the injured Bellamy in the 14 minute. The second half began more lively, with Rovers attacking the Blackburn End, bombarding Kirkland’s goal. Rovers came close on a number of occasions with a couple of Pedersen free kicks and were denied a couple of penalty claims, when Dickov and Pedersen were pushed in the penalty box, however it looked like another of those days when the ball wouldn’t hit the back of the net. On the hour mark, Hughes made a double substitution, bringing on Mokoena and Emerton for Tugay and Bentley, which gave Rovers a bit more bite in midfield and a more attacking influence down the right hand side. After a countless, string of corners Rovers eventually gained their reward, when Kuqi rose above a packed Albion defence to convert a Pedersen corner from the left hand side. Que, the flying Finn’s impression of a Lancaster bomber belly flopping on landing as he celebrated his first premiership goal for the club. No sooner than the ground had stopped vibrating, Kuqi was bombarding the Ewood turf with another goal celebration. With Dickov and Kuqi chasing down on an underpowered back pass by Albion’s Davies, two minutes before the end, the Finn was first to the ball and slotted it under Kirkland’s body into the back of the net. Rovers: Friedel, Neill, Khizanishvili, Nelsen, Gray, Bentley (Emerton 61), Reid, Tugay (Mokoena 61), Pedersen, Dickov, Bellamy (Kuqi 14). Subs Not Used: Todd, Enckelman. Booked: Neill, Nelsen. Goals: Kuqi 80, 88. West Brom: Kirkland, Albrechtsen, Curtis Davies, Clement, Robinson, Gera, Chaplow, Wallwork, Greening, Kamara (Horsfield 78), Campbell (Ellington 67). Subs Not Used: Moore, Watson, Kuszczak. Att: 20,721 Ref: U Rennie

continued from front page. What happened last season?? The last day of last season saw the end of the most dramatic relegation battle since the start of the Premiership. Four teams, only one could stay up and West Brom started bottom of the league. Norwich started in 17th place but they were overtaken by Southampton early on, and Norwich went on to lose 6-0. Geoff Horsfield scored for the Baggies and they were then in poll position. Palace got a penalty to overtake the Baggies, before Richardson scored! The Baggies’ game was won, but they still weren’t staying up. A late equaliser from Charlton against Palace saw West Brom move back up into the safe 17th place causing huge celebrations from the fans after a nerve-jangling last day. This time last season?? Rovers played West Brom on the opening game of the season – it ended in a 1-1 draw after Craig Short equalised for Rovers. However Rovers fans left Ewood confused after our lineup contained not one, not two but three left backs and a left winger in some sort of 4-1-3-2 formation! We also saw our one and only glimpse of de Pedro in a league game (and how ace he was!). Another 1-1 draw followed at the Hawthornes with Emerton getting the equalising goal for Rovers. Players for both teams?? I can only think of one player who has played for both clubs and that is the one and only Simon Garner! A hero of the blue and white halves, he left for West Brom after Rovers gained promotion to the Premiership, being replaced by Alan Shearer. He scored 9 goals in two years for West Brom before moving onto Wycombe. Anything else about West Brom?? Both Rovers and West Brom were founder members of the football league in 1888. West Brom were the first team to use the ‘deanocard’ season ticket system, Rovers followed the year after. Altogether Rovers have recorded 49 victories against West Brom, Albion have won 41 times and there have been 27 draws.

Match Preview by CN174 Rovers now sit in 12th place having beating Man United at Old Trafford for the first time in 43 years!! The mood is certainly different to just a few days ago when we was all worried sat on just five points, what a difference 90 minutes can make! West Brom haven’t had the best of starts to the season and they fell to another defeat yesterday, this time by Charlton. They sit 18th in the table with five points and a goal difference of –5. Their only victory so far has been against Portsmouth, whilst they have also suffered defeats to Chelsea, Birmingham and Wigan. West Brom’s big signing of the summer was Nathan Ellington for £3m from Wigan. West Brom look to have quite a decent set of strikers – Earnshaw, Kamara, Horsefield, Campbell, Ellington and Kanu. They also brought in Chris Kirkland on loan from Liverpool as he looks to regain his England squad place. Their major outgoing player was Jason Koumas, a player who Rovers were rumoured to be interested, who went to Cardiff. Fans views and predictions - Click Here continued click read entire article

Unfortunately he didnt. What are Ipswich playing at. loosing 3 - 0

Sorry but there is no guarantee, over the last 5 seasons we had a run of 3 opening day fixtures at home. 2001/02 away Derby 2002/03 home Sunderland 2003/04 home Wolves 2004/05 home West Brom 2005/06 away West Ham

Rovers reserves lost 2-0 to Man City reserves tonight. Goals: Miller 44 pen Richards 53 Amoruso making his first appearance of the season, played the whole 90 minutes.

Lorenzo Amoruso returns to action, tonight when he lines up along side Andy Todd in an away Reserve game against Manchester City. Tonights game will be Amoruso's first game of the season after under going knee surgery in the summer. Whilst Todd returns after his 3 game suspension, plus sickness that resulted in him missing Saturday's win against Manchester Unit. Meanwhile Rovers defender, Jay McEverley, currently on loan to Ipswich will line up for the tractor boys against Burnley at Turf Moor this evening. After good displays for Ipswich, McEverley has been put on stand-by for the England U20, who play Holland at Turf Moor later this month.

Rovers Carling Cup tie against Leeds United at Ewood Park, will take place on Tuesday 25th October. Kick off 8pm. UPDATED 10.45pm Ticket Details to be confirmed. Although Leeds United.com are tonight reporting that ticket prices will be £12 adult and £5 for oap's and juniors. UPDATED Again 5pm Tuesday The official site has now confirmed the ticket details prices are as stated above, with the addition the young adult season ticket holders also at £5.

In my match pre-view of Saturday’s game against United I stated, “Fear is the greatest evil”, “Whilst Rovers shouldn’t relax or take United for granted, the greatest evil in respect of the game would be negative tactics, not the fear of United.” How refreshing then, it was to hear that Mark Hughes had elected to start with a 4-4-2, line up with Bellamy and Dickov leading the attack against United, who had elected swamp the midfield in an attempt to combat, the perceived tactic of Rovers normal 4-5-1 line up. A tactical master stroke by Hughes, that resulted in an exciting spectacle of fluent attaching play for the travelling fans, that even had the media applauding the Rovers performance. Match Report-Click Here

Match Report by Scotty The team news before the game was greeted with complete shock and surprise. It seemed Hughes had picked virtually every attacking player we had to play away at Old Trafford!! Bellamy and Dickov up front, Tugay in the centre, Bentley on the right, Gray at left back - all incredibly attacking. And we started well. For the first ten minutes we took the game to United and looked sharp. We competed well in midfield and always had an outlet ball thanks to Bellamy's intelligent running down the channels. We created a couple of half chances as well but failed to put them away. But United soon came back at us and, for the next 20 minutes or so, gave us a bit of a going over really. They created chance after chance, not just half chances either, but thankfully their finishing was awful and most of their shots failed to hit the target. But even during this period we weren't out of the game and we managed to create two gilt-edged chances on the break. The first saw Bellamy running down the right wing and hitting a tremendous cross towards Dickov in the middle. Unfortunately the ball bounced up to an awkward height and all Dickov could really do was throw himself at the ball with a diving header. As a result he couldn't direct as well as he'd like and Van de Sar made a comfortable save. The second chance found Bentley, after a bit of a scramble, in yards of space in the area with just the goalie to beat. It was a good save in the end but Bentley should really have scored. No worries though as shortly afterwards we did score. Pedersen whipped in a free-kick from the right touchline, a number of players tried, and failed, to get a touch, and the ball drifted gloriously into the far corner of the net. We saw the rest of the half out fairly comfortably and went in at half-time with the lead. Hughes tried to shore things up a little at half-time by replacing Tugay with Mokoena, but we all knew that United would come out firing and that's exactly what happened. The introduction of Rooney in particular sparked a spell of United pressure, we failed to hold onto the ball long enough to relieve the defence, and eventually United got their equaliser. A great turn and shot from Rooney was spilled by Friedel, and Van Nistlerooy followed up with a simple tap-in. A rare mistake by Friedel, but why didn't any of our defenders anticipate the rebound? The thing that impressed me most about this Rovers performance was the way we reacted to the equaliser. Instead of sitting back and clinging on for a point we rolled our sleeves up and took the game back to United. We started passing and running with the ball again, Emerton (on as sub for Bentley) in particular made a difference and gave us an outlet ball, our full-backs continued to push on and link up with the attack, and we genuinely looked the better team again. As a result we fully deserved our winner. A cross from the right was half-cleared by United's defence, but we kept the pressue on and forced Scholes to give the ball away on the edge of the area. Gray slipped a pass to Pedersen who rocketed a great shot into the roof of the net from another tight angle. It's becoming his speciality. We saw the game out fairly comfortably after that and got a win at Old Trafford for the first time in my lifetime. Let's start at the front. Bellamy was fantastic - my man of the match. He makes some fantastic, intelligent runs and his pace is always a threat on the counter-attack. He works his socks off as well and never let the United defence settle all game. Dickov also worked hard and was ok generally, but still didn't look as sharp as he should. He probably needs a couple more games before getting back to his best. Bentley did a lot of good things on the ball, should have scored, and used possession well. He seemed to tire in the second half though and was replaced by Emerton - who made a real impact. On the other flank Pedersen had a great game. Apart from his two goals he looked a threat throughout, linked up well with the forwards, and was tidy on the ball. In the centre Savage did what he always does, worked hard, scrapped for the ball, broke up opposition attacks, and generally unsettled United. Tugay was fairly quiet imo and was subbed at half-time for Mokoena, who defended well in the second half. Our full-backs attacked superbly throughout and linked up with the forwards at every opportunity. However, I thought both defended poorly at times and United were allowed to put far too many crosses into our box, especially in the first half. Nelsen was, yet again, great in the centre of defence and impresses me more with every game. His partner Zurab also played well, took a couple of knocks for his trouble as well, but battled bravely on for the cause. He's composed on the ball as well and was often the start of our counter-attacks. Friedel made a mistake for United's goal, but also made a couple of great saves at vital times. All in all it was a fantastic, totally unexpected, victory. The way we achieved it though was the real surprise. We took the game to United and gave them as good as we got. Sure, they could, and probably should, have scored more goals than they did, but then so should we. Now that we've got our forwards fit, it seems that Hughes may have decided that attack is our best form of defence. If he has it could be an exciting rest of the season. Man Utd: Van der Sar, O'Shea (Bardsley 57), Ferdinand, Silvestre, Richardson, Fletcher (Rooney 55), Smith, Scholes, Ronaldo, van Nistelrooy, Park (Giggs 69). Subs Not Used: Howard, Miller. Booked: Ronaldo. Goals: van Nistelrooy 67. Rovers: Friedel, Neill, Khizanishvili, Nelsen, Gray, Bentley (Emerton 75), Tugay (Mokoena 45), Savage, Pedersen, Bellamy, Dickov (Reid 63). Subs Not Used: Kuqi, Enckelman. Booked: Savage, Bentley, Bellamy. Goals: Pedersen 33, 81. Att: 67,765 Referee: P Dowd

Some selective editing there cletus. Why would the clubs reduce ticket costs when they can see that fans are already planning 3 months in advance to attend the game. Both clubs know the supporters are going to make it into a day event to celibrate new year. So why would they consider reducing cost when they have a captive audience.

Matt Jones, had to retire from the game due to injury.

My apologies for "tarring all with the same brush", it was not intended that way. Those that know me, would know that I enjoy a pint before and after a game. However as you stated, like the majority of supporters I dont drink to a point that I spoil the entertainment of those sat around me.

There is a saying “Fear is the greatest evil”, which until recent times was one of the main factors when players ran out at Old Trafford. Teams were over awed by the magnitude of the stadium and the quality of players lining up in the red shirts. Visiting teams and officials were intimidated by the atmosphere; together with the touchline antics of the clubs management constantly chewing gum and checking his watch. Even the mascot portrayed the evil aspect in the form of a Red Devil. Forgetting their free flowing attacking prowess, that they were once renowned for, like so many clubs United have taken up the mantle of preventing the opposition from scoring. In the top half of premiership this season, only Spurs and Wigan have scored less than United. Rovers go to Old Trafford on Saturday on the back of a confidence building 3-1 win against Huddersfield, when Bellamy opened his scoring account for the club, with two goals. Whilst Rovers shouldn’t relax or take United for granted, the greatest evil in respect of tomorrows game is negative tactics, not the fear of United. Link to fans views and predictions