On the tenth anniversary of Rovers winning the Premiership Championship it would appear that the nucleus of the championship team will be turning up for Tony Parkes Testimonial game on the 17th May, with Kenny Dalglish managing the Tony Parkes XI. It is reported that the team will include: Tim Flowers, Bobby Mimms, Tim Sherwood, Colin Hendry, Ian Pearce, Jason Wilcox, Stuart Ripley, Super Atko, Mike Newell, Alan Shearer, Simon Garner, David Speedie and I understand there are many more players who'll be involved. Two player reported to be in attendance are Damien Duff and David Dunn however due to injury are unlikely to play. Due to play-off involvement for Derby Jeff Kenna isn't likely to be there and neither is Chris Sutton who is involved in a Cup Final with Celtic.

HA HA HA HA HA. As soon as I saw Pearce mentioned I knew Hannah would emerge from the shaddows.

However comes up are more than likely to go back down, the competition will be tougher next season with only 20 clubs in the Premiership instead of the current 22. Would be good to get a local derby with Noblot less travelling and a certain 6 points.

Rovers welcome Fulham to Ewood Park for the last home game of the season on Saturday. In recent seasons we’ve had quite a few battles with Fulham; going back to the old division when Fulham did the double over us as we both got promoted. However since then we’ve had the upper hand, loosing two and winning five of our Premiership games. Several of these have been particularly memorable and our two trips to Loftus Road must provide fond memories while earlier this season Rovers produced one of their best performances of the season as they comfortably beat Fulham 2-0. For a full pre match review please CLICK HERE

Former DC United Washington and New Zealand captain Ryan Nelsen is reported to want to sign a new contract with Rovers. The media reports suggest that Nelsen will sign a new contract once Rovers obtain a full work permit, as his current contract is based on a working holiday visa scheme, which allows him only to stay for 18 months. When he signed as a virtual unknown on a free transfer, he wasnt eligable for a full work permit due to New Zealand being ranked outside the world's top 70 footballing nations. Mark Hughes is reported to have said. "Ryan's proved himself at this level and we look forward to rewarding him accordingly," Whilst The Admiral is quoted as saying. "This is a great club and I owe Blackburn a lot, so of course I want to stay here, I'm really enjoying myself. “I know my agent and the club are in talks at the moment but I'm just concentrating on playing, I don't really get involved in stuff like that, I leave all that to the suits. Talks have only just started but I'm just concentrating on trying to win games for Blackburn. That's all I'm worried about right now." Nelsen is currently 3rd in the brfcs - Player of the Year Poll LINK HERE

Typical United ploy, trying to upset Rovers with just a couple of games left. Another rumour being circulated by the media, that United want to sign Shearer. After nicking David May we should start playing fire with fire, how about making a bid for Cantona, not that I'd want the kung Foo expert, we could let him rot in the reserves.

I was chatting to a City fan after the game last week, and he says the rumour around Maine Road is that Rovers are after Flitcroft. Allthough he did put himself about on the water logged pitch, the main thing I remember him doing during the game was having that headed goal disallowed and the low shot towards the corner of the goal after he was put through by Rosler, that Flowers tipped around the post Sorry I havent got any official link, personally I cant see it happening, why would we want another midfielder

Is there going to be a new away shirt. Anyway I heard in the Trinity Street chippy that the new shirts will have detatchable collars so Batty wont damage it when he rips it off.

I hate to agree with you, but this is typical of Rovers throughout history. They build your hopes up and then let you down, how many times did we get near to promotion and then fall at the final hirdle. Remember when under Howard Kendall when we failed to make it into the first. How many times under Don did we go to the play offs. We only just scraped through against Leicester, thanks to Steve Walsh bringing down Speedie. I knew when City scored their 3rd goal, that the wheels were coming off, and the defeat against West Ham has now convinced me that we are going to loose out again. I have tried to be optimistic but I cant see us getting anything out of our next 2 games the way we played against West Ham, the team have lost it. We have now conceded 6 goals in our last 3 games, bring back Mimms for the Newcastle game, Flowers has become a liability.

Rovers reserves finished the season last night with an away 0 - 0 draw against the Wolves to finish 4th in the Barclays Premiership Reserve League North. Man Utd Res P28 W19 D6 L3 GF68 GA23 P63 Man City Res P28 W16 D6 L6 GF55 GA32 P54 Aston Villa Res P27 W15 D6 L6 GF57 GA36 P51 Blackburn Res P28 W11 D12 L5 GF45 GA17 Points 45 Birmingham Res P28 W12 D7 L9 GF37 GA36 P43 Wolverhampton Res P27 W9 D9 L9 GF32 GA31 P36

In a season that started dramatically with the departure of Graeme Souness to Newcastle and the failure to win a game until the appointment of Wales manager Mark Hughes in Mid September, there are now only two games remaining of the season. Whilst the season has been a roller coaster ride with more downs than ups, players have come and gone during the period that Mark Hughes has attempted to configure a settled side. Whether you love or hate specific players each has played some part, in ensuring that Rovers qualified for the FA Cup semi final against Arsenal in Cardiff and in retaining the clubs Premiership status. Now is your chance to show your appreciation of the players and in particular the player who in your opinion has been the most consistent and worthy of the title Player of the Season. Link VOTE HERE

Goal king Alan Shearer will join Tim Flowers to play in Tony Parkes's testimonial game at Ewood Park.on Tuesday 17th May, when a Tony Parkes 11, takes on the current Rovers team. Parkes told the club's official website: "To get confirmation from Alan and Tim is a great start. They were both huge stars with Rovers and they had no hesitation in agreeing to play." More names to be confirmed later.

I understand that it was a gentlemans agreement with Barry Fry that the Trophy Cabinet wouldnt be used. However there is a train of thought that Trevor Francis refused to use it on safety grounds. Prefering Crystal (Palace) Glass

This last weekend the entrepreneurs of football denied the fans by refusing to let the manager field his strongest team. The only benefit of all the media coverage of this restriction on Robbie Savage plying his trade at St Andrews was the over-shadowing of a dismal display by the Rovers, who appeared to have signed off for the summer. The only consolation being that Jon Stead managed to double his goal tally for the season. Birmingham: Maik Taylor, Melchiot, Cunningham, Upson, Lazaridis, Pennant, Johnson, Nafti (Blake 59), Anderton (Clemence 22), Heskey, Pandiani (Morrison 84). Subs Not Used: Martin Taylor, Vaesen. Booked: Heskey, Morrison. Goals: Blake 61, Heskey 80. Rovers: Friedel, Neill, Todd, Nelsen, Johansson (Tugay 67), Emerton (Gallagher 76), Reid, Mokoena, Flitcroft, Pedersen (Thompson 59), Stead. Subs Not Used: Short, Enckelman. Booked: Mokoena. Goals: Stead 13. Att: 28,621. Ref: B Knight

So did I, after seeing him at Old Trafford. He wasnt in the squad, and sat with the fans. What made me think of him as a good bloke was that he wore his Rovers shirt, name and number. Classic.

Radio reports this afternoon, that Rovers are to excercise the option of extending midfielder Tugay's contract for a further year have been greeted with approval by Rovers supporters. As one board member has said. Absolutely fantastic news. In thirty years of watching Rovers he is undoubtedly far and away the best creative midfielder I have seen don the blue and white. Link to Message Board Reaction on Tugay's contract extension

West Brom 1 Rovers 1 Another point in the bag as Rovers bounced back from a goal down at half time to share the points with the Baggies at the Hawthorns tonight. West Brom took the lead on the half hour mark thanks to a Richardson free kick, but within 20 minutes of the second half Rovers equalised through Bret Emerton, who gathered a cross field pass from Pederson, to fire the ball in to the top-left of goal. Possession: West Brom 51% Rovers 49% Shots: West Brom 9 Rovers 15 Corners: West Brom 6 Rovers 4 West Brom: Hoult, Albrechtsen, Gaardsoe, Clement, Robinson, Gera, Wallwork, Richardson, Chaplow (Kanu 63), Campbell (Scimeca 63), Horsfield (Earnshaw 79). Subs Not Used: Moore, Kuszczak. Booked: Horsfield, Robinson, Scimeca. Goals: Richardson 32. Rovers: Friedel, Neill, Todd, Nelsen, Matteo, Emerton, Reid, Mokoena (Tugay 56), Savage (Gallagher 87), Pedersen (Thompson 83), Stead. Subs Not Used: Flitcroft, Enckelman. Booked: Matteo, Neill, Pedersen, Todd. Goals: Emerton 64. Att: 25,154 Ref: S Bennett

So do I. It's probably that they've never been a threat to anybody. I like them as well. Spent a lot of my youth watching the Baggies in the late 60's when my father worked in the Midlands. At the time den they were a threat, and even in the 70's. They had some great players then. And played some wonderfull attacking football with great wingers. Chippy Clark, Willie Johnson, Laurie Cunningham.

Dont Shoot the Messenger The following items are at present pure media reports, they are based on a point of view that may contain speculation as well as fact. According to some media sources, Rovers are showing an interest in Portuguese club, Porto’s striker, Benni McCarthy. It is understood that Rovers have had the South African striker watched and his close relationship with Rovers defender, Aaron Mokoena could help swing a deal in Rovers favour. It is understood that a transfer fee of £3million would be required by Porto, which is half the fee that Newcastle are reported to want for Craig Belllamy, who is also being linked with a move to Ewood. Bellamy currently on loan to Celtic is reportedly valued at £6 million and commands a salary of approximately £45,000 a week. Rovers are also been reported to have renewed their interest in signing Benfica’s Croatian striker Tomislav Sokata, who will be available on a free transfer this summer. Rovers will however have competition from the likes of Porto and Malaga for the Croatian strikers signature. Meanwhile, out of favour central defender, Craig Short is being linked with a summer move to Sheffield United.

To quote David Dunn. Do you read supporters internet web sites, and if so have you ever read the fans message board on this site ? (www.brfcs.com) Yes, once or twice, but most don’t have any idea about football so I don’t anymore.

Parkes served the club as player, coach and has served as caretaker manager on 6 occasions. Parkes joined the club in 1970 from Buxton, making his debut against Swindon Town on the 5th September 1970. After over 400 appearances scoring 46 goals Parkes retired from playing in 1982. Originally a centre forward, however he was converted to a midfielder and became a regular in the team during the reign of Gordon Lee, winning promotion from the 3rd division in the 1974-75 seaon. After breaking his leg in February 1980, he retired from playing to take up the role of coach at the club, and was one of Daglish's back room staff during the Championship season.

Tony Parkes takes centre stage at Ewood Park once again on Tuesday 17th May, when a Tony Parkes 11, takes on the Rovers in a testimanial match as a reward for his 30 years service to the club Tony Parkes left Rovers earlier in the season, as part of Mark Hughes shake up of the back room staff. Click Read Entire Article for Brief History of Tony Parkes at Ewood.

Post Match Managers Comments Mark Hughes: "It was a bit of a struggle for both teams. The conditions did not lend themselves to flowing football. "We never looked in any danger of losing. We felt we had the better of the chances and play but couldn't get the breakthrough we deserved. "City were well organised. They kept their shape and got men behind the ball and made things difficult for us." Stuart Pearce: "It was one of those games where it was a scrap. Sometimes you have to do that in the Premiership. "Both sides cancelled themselves out - they had one lone striker with 10 players behind the ball. "It wasn't pretty at times but we have come away from home and kept a clean sheet so I am happy with that."

Match Report by Scotty After the hysterical media outbursts following our semi last Saturday it was always going to be interesting to see how the team reacted tonight - they'd either be fired up by the criticism or they'd be bogged down by it. But this is the new Rovers under Hughes and we really shouldn't have doubted them. Their character shone through and we thoroughly deserved the win. Stead came in for Dickov as expected but Savage in for Flitty was a surprise, and not a nice one as it turned out. Other than that though we lined up the same as we did at Cardiff. The scare stories about Andy Johnson not being fit for Palace proved to be untrue. We started the game well and created chances right from the off. We were quicker to every ball, passed the ball better than Palace, pressed them into mistakes all over the pitch and really should have scored. MGP swung in a series of dangerous looking corners, one of which Stead got his head to and brought a smart save out the pyjama-wearing Palace keeper. Nelsen was also left free from a free-kick but hit the outside of the post when he really should have done better. Those were the two most gilt-edged chances but there were other half-chances in an opening 25 minutes that we totally dominated. However, slowly but surely Palace started to come back into it, we started to lose possession too often as Palace increased their work-rate, and the half was petering out towards a stalemate. Right on the stroke of half-time though we won a free-kick wide on our left, Savage swung a superb ball in towards the edge of the 6 yard box, and Pedersen just about got enough on it to send the ball in off the underside of the crossbar. A goal we deserved for our earlier efforts, but it hadn't looked like coming. Savage was replaced by Tugay at half-time. Whether that was down to injury or the fact that Savage was one foul away from a red card is anyone's guess. I thought we played really well in the second half. Palace had to come out and attack us and we took advantage of the extra space available, only poor finishing let us down. I lost count of the number of good chances we spurned - not half-chances but really good clear-cut opportunities to score - but in the end it didn't matter. Of the one's I can remember, Matteo hit the side-netting when it looked easier to score, Reid missed a sitter of a header from a glorious Emerton cross, Emerton brought a good save out of their keeper with a low shot to the far post, Stead failed to control a great through ball that would have put him clean through, Reid ran clear through on goal for half the length of the field only to be let down by a heavy final touch, and Stead hit the keeper with a poor finish when one-on-one at the death. There were probably more and if we'd scored six Palace couldn't have complained. At the other end Palace hardly offered a threat. Our defence coped easily with Johnson's pace and driving runs, and only Routledge looked capable of creating anything for the visitors. I think Friedel had to make two saves all match and they were both fairly comfortable ones. All in all it was as convincing a 1-0 win as you're likely to see. We looked a decent team and Palace looked like a team going down. Our defence was superb yet again. Friedel didn't have much to do but did what he had to well. Nelsen was as strong and composed as we've come to expect, Todd was excellent in everything he did and received a huge ovation from the crowd before, during and after the match. Matteo struggled at times with Routledge but did well in the main, and Neill had another good game. In fact, Neill's had a few good games recently (Cardiff excepted) and is starting to look more like it. Savage was fairly awful today. He didn't look fully-fit to me and he mis-timed challenge after challenge. He deservedly got booked for one of the "tackles" and then could easily have been sent off minutes later. He also wasted possession on a number of occasions. In fact, about the only thing he did right was put in an excellent cross for the goal. Reid carried on his recent good form but really should have scored a couple. Pedersen was dangerous on set-pieces but, yet again, didn't do too much in general play. But, yet again, he scored the winner so how can you be critical? I'd say he's got to be doubtful for Saturday though judging by the way he was limping around at the end. I thought Emerton had a really good game and tore Palace's left back apart at times. His runs actually had an end product most of the time tonight. Mokoena did his job as well as ever, and Thompson got a run out towards the end but didn't have much chance to make an impact. Up front I thought Stead was superb, my man of the match. He worked his socks off, his running off the ball was always intelligent and dangerous, his control and touch were excellent as he held the ball up when we needed him to, he won a lot in the air and showed a strength I wasn't sure he had, and his passing was spot on. The only thing lacking was a finish and you could tell he wasn't happy as he left the field at the end. If he keeps playing like that though the goals will come.

After Saturday's 0 - 0 draw against City at Ewood, when both teams cancelled each other out, in what appeared to be an end of season game with nothing to play for, Mark Hughes is quoted as saying. "It was a bit of a struggle for both teams. The conditions did not lend themselves to flowing football. "We never looked in any danger of losing. We felt we had the better of the chances and play but couldn't get the breakthrough we deserved. "City were well organised. They kept their shape and got men behind the ball and made things difficult for us." Rovers: Friedel, Neill, Todd, Nelsen, Matteo, Mokoena, Emerton, Savage (Thompson 69), Reid, Pedersen (Gallagher 76), Stead. Subs Not Used: Flitcroft, Tugay, Enckelman. City: James, Onuoha, Dunne, Distin, Jordan, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Reyna, Barton, Musampa (Croft 77), Fowler (Bradley Wright-Phillips 86), Sibierski. Subs Not Used: Thatcher, Weaver, Mills. Att: 24,646 Ref: C Foy Link to Match Report