United 0 Rovers 0 Well, what do you know another goalless draw? If someone had said to me that Rovers would have got 5 points from the Everton, Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester United fixtures at the beginning of the year I'd have had them committed for insanity. OK, Rovers rode their luck against United with Rooney and Keane hitting the post, but full credit must be given to the defence once again, with The Admiral Nelsen, Todd and Superman Friedel again in top form. Jon Stead ran his socks off in the uncustomary role of sole striker and was praised accordingly by Hughes in the post match analysis, stating. "Jon has worked really hard for the team today. He put in a great performance If he performs like that until the end of the season I'll be delighted" A word of praise should also be given to Steven Reid, who is getting better with every game, who in my opinion will retain his place at the expense of Thompson, who had a poor game, when Savage returns from injury. It was interesting to see that none of the media gave Rovers credit for their defensive display, it was all about Sir Alex complaining about the lack of extra time, maybe it makes up for the Fergie time added at Ewood earlier in the season. May I suggest that even if there had been another 10 minutes added United still wouldn't have scored, as Rovers looked the stronger as the game progressed. And as for an excuse that United's players had been on international duty, well so had Rovers players, many of whom had travelled half way round the world. Well the media and opposition supporters may not like us, but we don't care, we are climbing clear of the relegation dog fight. United: Howard, Gary Neville, Ferdinand, Silvestre, O'Shea, Ronaldo, Scholes, Fortune, Giggs (Keane 6), Rooney, van Nistelrooy (Smith 63). Subs Not Used: Phil Neville, Brown, Carroll. Booked: Gary Neville, Keane, Smith. Rovers: Friedel, Neill, Todd, Nelsen, Matteo, Reid, Thompson, Mokoena (Emerton 68), Flitcroft, Pedersen (Gallagher 78), Stead. Subs Not Used: Amoruso, Tugay, Enckelman. Booked: Stead, Nelsen. Att: 67,939 Ref: M Riley

Phone the LET, they'll run it on the front page. Bloody disgrace, I bet if your computer was working perfectly they wouldn't give two hoots. Bloody gutter press. Forget the LET we fixed it, with the delete button. It was nothing to do with the pc, Gav fell off the chair reaching for the key board. There will be a news item regarding it after we print the story of the missing shelf.

Sod the LET remember Jacks Dream

The spirit of Blackburn’s Greatest Supporter will be watching with interest from his vantage point at the rear of the Blackburn End Stand at the comings and goings from the ticket office during the next few weeks. Seldom has one supporter influenced a Football Club’s history to the point that he was and is adored by his fellow supporters, not because of the money that he pumped into the club but because he was one of them, a working class supporter that brought their dreams alive. Jack Walker who had watched the Rovers from the terraces as a schoolboy, shared his dream of putting Rovers back on the football map with his fellow supporters, shedding tears of joy when his and their team lifted the Premier league championship in 1995. However sadly he never realised his greatest dream of seeing the Rovers lift the FA Cup. Now Rovers are just one step away from Jack Walkers dream, having reached the semi finals for the first time in over 40 years, when they take on Arsenal at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff on Saturday 16th April. This event may never happen again for another 40 years, so it’s time for all Rovers supporters and the people of Blackburn to help fulfil Jack Walkers dream, by cheering his team on to victory at Cardiff on the 16th in their attempt to qualify for the final. As Jack Walker once said what every other supporter feels. "If they don't win then I am bloody miserable on a Sunday." It is now time to forget the problems of travel, kick-off times etc, imposed by the FA, and to get behind the team as the approach the final hurdle before the final. In the memory of Rovers greatest supporters Live the dream that Jack Walker regretably missed.

It is understood that the Gavin Peers, a product of the Rovers Academy, has been told that he will be released by the Rovers at the end of the season. After trials with Bradford City and Rotherham United, the 19 year old defender, has now been offered a trial by Bristol City.

The casual fan cant be arsed to go at 3pm on a Saturday, why would he want to get up at 4am in the morning, to set off to a game kicking off at 12-15. hundreds of miles away.

Dont know if I have miss read that. My thoughts at present are if we get to the final, then those who went to the semi, should get first option on final tickets. Anyway lets not get to carried away thinking about the final yet.

Rovers reserves lost 1-0 away to Bolton this evening despite Bolton having 2 players sent off. Bolton had 2 players sent off - one for a professional foul early on and the other for a ridiculous challenge midway through the second half. Boltons goal being scored from the penalty spot.

N2.........

Rovers reserves take on Bolton reserves tonight away at the County Ground, Thurston Road, Leyland. Kick Off 7pm.

Some odd team changes today. Thompson came in for Emerton, Dickov came in for Stead, and Matteo came in for Nissa. I'm not sure I agreed with any of them. Anyway, we lined up in our now customary 4-1-4-1 formation that's served us well over the last week or two. As has become the norm now, the first half was a bit dull. It was competitive, there were the odd moments of genuine spark and excitement, but mostly it was just another dour half of football. We were marginally the better team and pressed Arsenal into mistakes all over the pitch. However, when they did get it down and start to put their passes together they looked very dangerous. Our defence held firm though until stoppage time. A through ball to Van Persie found him in a huge gap, on the edge of area, right inbetween our centre-halves. Both of them watched him turn superbly and take the ball past Friedel with consumate ease. A great, great finish that was totally out of place in the half of football that had gone before it - but where oh where was our defence. One lapse in concentration cost us dear and we went in at half-time a goal behind. We'd had one decent effort on goal during that first half - a fairly tame Pedersen header that Lehman saved easily. Just before the goal the injured Matteo was replaced by Nissa, and at the start of the second half Todd was replaced by Tugay, forcing Mokoena back into central defence. I hope Todd was injured (well I don't but you know what I mean) because if it was tactical it was a poor substitution. We were, in the main, rubbish in the second half. Our central defensive partnership of Nelsen and Mokoena didn't look anything like as composed as Todd and Nelsen did, and losing Mokoena from midfield meant that Arsenal started to get on top of us in that area for the first time in the game. Consequently, Arsenal started to create chances and only some superb saves by Friedel, and a bit of luck, kept the scoreline the same. Emerton came on for Flitcroft halfway through the second half and, bizarrely, played behind Dickov up front rather than on the right. It didn't make any difference though and we didn't really threaten the Arsenal goal at all until the last couple of minutes when Reid was put through, but he dragged his shot a couple of yards wide. To be honest we didn't really deserve to equalise. Friedel made some good saves again, had no chance at all with the goal, and showed, yet again, what a top keeper he is. Our defence was fine until the goal in the first half, and was dodgy throughout the second half. Nissa wasn't as good as Matteo, Todd and Nelsen were solid but went missing for Van Persie's goal, Neill was ok but still wasted possession as only he can. Mokoena's a better defensive midfielder than centre half. Our midfield competed well in the first half but got slightly overrun in the second when Mokoena was switched to defence and Flitcroft was substituted. Flitcroft did his spoiling job well. Reid competed for everything, looked a (minor) threat going forward, and was my man of the match. Thompson was poor and wasted numerous opportunities to put telling crosses over. Tugay was awful when he came on. He offered us nothing going forward and didn't defend. Pedersen didn't do enough. It's harsh to criticise him after what he's done recently but this lad is now a potential match winner for us. He needs to get involved more and he needs more confidence in possession. He can beat a man when he wants to, he did it a couple of times at the start of the match, but all too often he either loses the ball or turns and passes the ball back. He wasn't our worst player today but he can do better. I'm starting to get really annoyed with Dickov. Actually, that's not fair, I'm starting to get really annoyed that Hughes keeps playing Dickov. He's clearly not fit. Dickov's whole game is based on his work-rate and competitiveness and now he just can't perform to the levels he did at the start of the season. Without those qualities he's just very, very ordinary. He's also clearly getting frustrated himself and, consequently, he's becoming even more of a ball-ache for referees than he was. I actually found myself hoping he'd get sent off today because that would mean he'd miss a game or two. Emerton looked totally out of place as a supporting striker and I don't know what Hughes was thinking of. I don't normally have a go at the ref when I write these reports, and I think we'd have probably lost today no matter who the ref was, but I've got to mention how bad Graham Poll was. I've not seen the game on TV but Poll apparently awarded Arsenal 9 free-kicks in the first 20 minutes without awarding us a single one. I just wonder if our perceived "hard" reputation is starting to precede us now. Throughout the game Poll seemed to favour Arsenal whenever a challenge was made. The most annoying thing though was the man's pettiness. He constantly disrupted the flow of the game by insisting on free-kicks being taken a yard further back or by speaking needlessly to players. Blaming the referee though avoids the issue. We were poor today and I thought Hughes got his tactics wrong. For all Emerton's faults he's better than Thompson at the moment. Stead did nothing at Everton or Liverpool to deserve being dropped for a half-fit Dickov. Once we went a goal behind we had to change our system, but we didn't. And putting Emerton on as a striker when Stead was on the bench was just unbelievably stupid in my book. This report probably seems very harsh considering we were playing Arsenal and we only lost by the odd goal, but we had a real chance today. They were missing half their team, we were confident after recent results, and I really thought we'd win before the game. We didn't imo because of a defensive lapse and poor tactics by Hughes. The game was there for the taking, or at least saving, but we blew it. This was a dress-rehearsal for the FA cup semi. It's hard to be optimistic going into that game now. We failed to beat a hugely under-strength Arsenal today. How are we going to beat them when they have Henry, Bergkamp, Lungberg, Pires and Campbell back? Match report written by Scotty Blackburn: Friedel, Neill, Todd (Tugay 45), Nelsen, Matteo (Johansson 42), Mokoena, Thompson, Flitcroft (Emerton 60), Reid, Pedersen, Dickov. Subs Not Used: Stead, Enckelman. Booked: Dickov, Neill, Reid. Arsenal: Lehmann, Lauren, Toure, Senderos, Clichy, Fabregas, Vieira, Flamini, Cole, Van Persie, Reyes. Subs Not Used: Ljungberg, Taylor, Cygan, Eboue, Owusu-Abeyie. Booked:Clichy. Goals: Van Persie 43. Att: 22,992 Ref: G Poll (Hertfordshire).

I have never seen a Blackburn team working this hard for each other, fantastic! Just a shame about MGP and his awful set pieces, but imo we got the strategy spot on today.. The reason Liverpool didn't create anything to trouble Friedel, wasn't because they just had an off night, it was all down to the hard work from every player in the blue and white, and I feelt proud sitting in pub watching! Now that Hughes has sorted our defense out, we should start working on those counter attack situations. If our passing were a bit better and the wide men could have gotten in position a bit faster then we might have won it. Mokoena along with Nelson and Todd was brilliant today, just BRILLIANT! Hope we use the same tactics for the Arsenal game trying to get force them ouf of playing that "flowing football" @#/?.. Yes we are limited up front but this will hopefully be addressed in summer. In fact it now seems we have an extremely talented backroom staff, so much so that the summer will be an interesting test of the Board's ambition. How far could we go with a quality striker to help bring on Stead and a quality replacement for ferguson alongside Savage? An extremely long way if we continue to be as mean defensively. Match report written by Krislu & Revidge Blue Liverpool: Dudek, Finnan, Pellegrino, Carragher, Warnock (Biscan 82), Luis Garcia, Gerrard, Hamann, Smicer (Riise 45), Baros (Nunez 70), Morientes. Subs Not Used: Hyypia, Carson. Booked: Gerrard. Blackburn: Friedel, Neill, Todd, Nelsen, Johansson (Matteo 62), Mokoena, Emerton, Reid, Flitcroft, Pedersen, Stead (Gallagher 75). Subs Not Used: Enckelman, Tugay, Johnson. Booked: Flitcroft. Att: 37,763 Ref: B Knight (Kent).

Terrible game, crap performance, great result. And in the cup the result is all that matters. We lined up in a 4-1-4-1 formation with the same team that started against Everton. This was odd. Stead finally scores a goal and looks confident again, we're playing against a lower division team who show no ambition at all, we're at home, yet we leave Stead on the bench and only play one up front. Oh well. We started off ok and gradually got worse as the first half wore on. In the first 3 minutes Pedersen hit a cracking free-kick from about 25 yards out onto the post - Walker was just watching it and hoping. Then about 10 minutes later Dickov was played through but rushed his shot when composure was required. And that was about it from us. We had lots of possession, passed the ball neatly at times, and created absolutely nothing. Leicester worked hard to deny us space in the final third but we made it easy for them by lacking any sort of width or creativity. As the half wore on Leicester came in to it more, kept the ball a bit better, and started to exert some pressure. They never really looked like scoring though and only had a snapshot from a half-cleared corner to show for their efforts. 0-0 at half-time and a very bored crowd. We started the second half as badly as we'd finished the first. Leicester set the tempo, pushed a few more men forward, and comfortably contained what little threat we had. Changes had to be made and Stead came on around the hour mark to replace Mokoena, meaning a change in formation to 4-4-2. Not much changed though. We still huffed and puffed without looking dangerous at all. Emerton came on for Reid with around 25 minutes to go and that seemed to be the catalyst for us to slowly get on top. Straight away Emerton beat his full-back and crossed for Pedersen to "score", only to have the game brought back for an earlier foul on Emerton. To be fair, the Leicester players had stopped once they heard the whistle, allowing Pedersen in. But the incident gave us a lift and we started to stretch the game and get behind a tiring Leicester team for the first time in the match. Another good cross from Emerton fizzed across goal where the in-coming Neill seemed to be pulled back before he could apply the finish. Should have been a penalty. Pedersen then fired a close to the corner flag free-kick across the six yard box that somehow managed to evade any sort of touch. The breakthrough eventually came with ten minutes to go. A cracking cross-field ball from Neill was instantly controlled by Pedersen. He drove into the area, drew the defenders tackle with a neat back-heal, and was brought down for a nailed on penalty. The ref waited what seemed like an age before giving it. Dickov stepped up and blasted the ball into the net without any sort of finesse at all. Who cares? Leicester threw on their subs and had a real go towards the end but we survived reasonably comfortably to see out the game. 4-1-4-1 worked so well at Everton because Everton were committed to attacking, being the home team. The formation allowed us soak up their attacks and hit them on the break with runners from midfield linking up with the lone forward. At home though, against a team who weren't remotely interested in attack, it didn't work. There was no space to break into, any runners were easily tracked, and our lone forward was marked out of the game. Our wide players lacked the pace or creativity to beat their markers and nobody in a Rovers shirt had the skill or courage to run at Leicester and try to commit some of their players. Instead we knocked the ball around in an attempt to draw them out - they stayed put. What it did do though was tire them out, and our superior fitness showed at the end. Once we'd switched to 4-4-2, once Stead and especially Emerton had been introduced, we started to exploit the spaces that appeared late on and created some chances at last. Friedel had nothing to do. Johansson was beaten once or twice by Gillespie but did ok in the main. Neill played well, especially in the second half when he pushed forward well at times and set-up the penalty. Probably my man of the match. Todd and Nelsen coped well with their giant forward although I didn't think nelsen was quite as composed as he usually is. Thompson wasn't great and gave the ball away at times. Reid was solid enough, tackled well, won headers, but didn't give us much going forward. Ditto Flitcroft. Mokoena was excellent as a defensive midfielder and covered the defence superbly. Emerton made a real impact when he came on and we should have scored from one of his crosses before the penalty. Dickov was poor today and seemed more interested in scrapping with Leicester's defenders, but he's scored the goal that's sent us into the semi-final so that'll do for me. To be fair to him, he had preciously little supply. Stead did ok without ever really getting a chance at goal. We played crap, I think we started with the wrong formation, and I'm sure any neutrals watching on TV must be wondering how the hell we're in the semi's. But we are there and I'm delighted. If we keep playing crap and winning all the way to lifting the cup no-one on here will care. Roll on Cardiff, we're unbeaten there remember. Match report written by Scotty Blackburn: Friedel, Neill, Todd, Nelsen, Johansson, Mokoena (Stead 56), Thompson, Flitcroft, Reid (Emerton 67), Pedersen, Dickov. Subs Not Used: Enckelman, Tugay, Matteo. Booked: Dickov. Goals: Dickov 83 pen. Leicester: Walker, Kenton, Dabizas, Dublin, Maybury, Gillespie, Williams (Hughes 87), Gudjonsson, Nalis (McCarthy 86), Tiatto (Connolly 87), de Vries. Subs Not Used: Hirschfeld, Stewart. Booked: Dabizas, de Vries, Tiatto, Gillespie. Att: 22,113 Ref: N Barry (N Lincolnshire).

"You can see in the post match interview just how much this means to Stead. This is exactly the kind of player we need at this club." - tcj_jones I was impressed with Thommo's comments in the same interview. Just after Stead had been questioned about his lack of goals and appearances, Thommo mentioned that all the lads in the squad were right behind Stead and the team's lack of creating chances for him when he (Stead) did play had also been a part of the problem. Very impressed with the team's organisation, workrate and determination today; even if we aren't exactly providing a big threat to the other teams in terms of attacking play, we're keeping them out at the other end superbly. Tactically, Hughes got it right today and Everton found it hard to create decent scoring chances against a very well organised and hard working Rovers team. Everyone played well, but Reid impressed me the most, putting in alot of good work at both ends of the pitch and getting invloved in alot of our best play. Flitcroft and Thompson both came back into the team to put in solid displays and Mokoena seemed to be in the right place at the right time on most occasions, protecting the back four well and winning alot of aerial battles. We didn't miss Savage and Emerton as much as I thought we might, so perhaps there's signs that Hughes is starting to build on a promising squad. Very pleased for Stead, he took his chance very well despite seeming to struggle early on in the game and you could see from his celebrations that it meant so much to him. Hopefully that will give him the confidence to find some form get back amongst the goals. Let's hope Dickov's injury isn't as serious as it looked on Sky and he doesn't have to miss any games, he made a pretty promising start to the match and we'll need his experience and hardwork in the next few matches. I have to admit I thought Everton would have had a bit more about them, considering their position in the league, but were pretty average at best. They'll need to do alot of work in the summer if they qualify for the CL, because based on what I've seen of them against us twice and in other games on Sky, they don't have alot of attacking options and will struggle against quality European opposition. Fair play to them so far, though, it gives the rest of the league some hope that there's still a chance for the 'smaller' clubs to compete, even without spending milions of ££ every summer. Match report written by Percy & tcj_jones Everton: Martyn, Hibbert, Weir, Yobo, Pistone (McFadden 76), Carsley, Osman, Cahill, Arteta (Ferguson 24), Kilbane, Bent. Subs Not Used: Wright, Stubbs, Plessis. Booked: Weir, Carsley, Cahill. Blackburn: Friedel, Neill, Todd, Nelsen, Johansson, Mokoena, Reid, Flitcroft, Thompson, Pedersen, Dickov (Stead 14). Subs Not Used: Enckelman, Short, Tugay, Gallagher. Booked: Mokoena, Stead. Goals: Stead 71. Att: 32,406 Ref: P Dowd (Staffordshire).

Looks as if things have changed for the better in Cardiff Bay. LINK

From what I remember its was rough, in the 80's and 90's - extremely rough. My company had a shop there (Moira Street) which we eventually closed because they either were held it up, or had vans driven into it each weekend or it was set fire to it. There was also on one occation a dog fight started in the shop and people formed a circle and bet on who was going to win.

So we now know who to blame for the game being played in Cardiff, early kick off, and travel arrangements.

Due to Rovers continued success in the FA Cup, their Premiership game against West Brom due to be played on Saturday 16th April, has been re-scheduled for Tuesday 26th April 2005, kick-off 7.45pm.

3 yellow cards for a defender is not the sign of a dirty player.

From the fans point of view, the worrying factor all season has been, “Where are the goals going to come from.” Once again, with a 4-5-1 formation, Rovers showed their weakness in front of goal. Now I'm not knocking the formation of only playing one striker up front, but it has to be the right personnel who can hold the ball up and bring the midfielders into play. For all his industrious energy, an injury carrying Paul Dickov is not the answer. I would go far as saying that due to his manner of play, with his continuous moaning to referees, claiming for a foul every time that he backs into a defender, Dickov is more of a liability that benefit, and I wonder if when a genuine claim is made, the ref brushes it aside like the kid who cried wolf to many times. I wouldn’t have been at all surprised if Graham Poll hadn’t sent Dickov off on Saturday for his continuous moaning throughout the latter stages of the game. Mark Hughes has done wonders in gelling the Rovers defence, his next objective is to rejuvenate the forward line, persisting with Dickov as a solitary striker is in my opinion a receipt for disaster. Without stating the obvious, if you don't score you don't win. Whilst the glory of the FA Cup, will bring back some of the supporters, however the current negative attitude is killing the entertainment factor. Failure to provide entertainment will result in lower attendances, when the team needs all the support it can get, now that the gap at the bottom has closed to just 6 points. The majority of supporters attend games not to admire technical merit but to see a winning side and the ball hitting the back of the net. If Hughes wants to play with one striker up front, then maybe it's time for a rethink and bring in Jon Stead, who doesn’t carry the same moaning reputation as Dickov, and also has more pace. The end of his season long goal famine at Goodison must have lifted his confidence, followed in my opinion by a good display at Anfield midweek. For the next few weeks Rovers have to forget the Cup and concentrate on Premiership survival. The gap at the bottom has closed to 6 points and if Rovers don't resolve their goals for ratio the relegation dog fight will go right to the last game of the season. Click here for fans views on the game

Rovers 0 Arsenal 1. Post Match Editorial. In his post match interview Mark Hughes stated. "We did okay in the first half, but conceding the goal when we did, deflated us a bit and we struggled in the second half. "We found it really difficult to get any sustained momentum and we lacked a bit of energy. We huffed and puffed, but the longer the game went on, the less likely it looked that we would get a goal." The last comment being the most telling and worrying comment, bearing in mind Rovers are joint lowest scorers in the Premiership. Saturday's game was a dress rehearsal for the FA Cup semi final, and if Rovers don't resolve their forward line options I dread to consider the outcome when Arsenal are at full strength. continued.................

Let me put it another way, he's annoying me that much now that, if he's our best option up front next season, then I will join the armchair fans.

I’ve said it that many times; “Where are the Rovers goals going to come from” For all his running around, Dickov is not a natural striker. The only reason, in my opinion, that he’s retaining a first team place is because of his industrious energy in running around the park and the lack of other options up front. Thanks to Souness’s ego we lost the only class forward we had last season. Whilst Cole may not have been prolific in front of goal, his presence gave Stead the opportunity to capitalise on the space left as defenders concentrated on controlling Cole. Once again, with a 4-5-1 formation, Rovers showed their weakness in front of goal. Now I’m not knocking the formation of only playing one striker up front, but it has to be the right personnel who can hold the ball up and knock the ball down to bring the midfielders into play. For this formation to work there is a need for a big strong and fast centre forward, not a knee high to a grass hopper player who couldn’t out pace a donkey on Blackpool beach. I would go far as saying that due to his manner of play, with his continuous moaning to referees claiming for a foul every time that he backs into a defender, Dickov is more of a liability that benefit, and I wonder if when a genuine claim is made, the ref brushes it aside like the kid who cried wolf to many times.

I heard that whisper here, Judas

ROVERS have been allocated 30,797 tickets for the FA Cup semi-final with Arsenal at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday April 16th (kick-off 12.15pm). Full details of the ticket application process (along with a booking form) will be contained on a special information leaflet which Rovers intend to distribute at the turnstiles at this Saturday's Premier League fixture with the Gunners. Early information, reveals prices could be:- £25, £35, £45, £55 (there are half-price concessions in the family enclosure). Tickets are likely to arrive at Ewood Park by the middle of next week and will go on sale to Season Ticket Holders from Good Friday. Rovers supporters will occupy the North End of the stadium - a repeat of the glorious Worthington Cup triumph in 2002.