A first goal at Ewood Park for Andy Todd, helped Rovers to a deserved point against Newcastle at Ewood Park this afternoon, in front of a near capacity crowd. Newcastle took the lead as early as the 6th minute when Dyer left the Rovers defence flat footed, for a one to one confrontation with Friedel. Rovers however bounced back, when the quick thinking slipped a free kick to the unmarked Dickov, who turned and shot past the unprotected Given in the Newcastle goal. Within 10 minutes Newcastle however regained the lead when Robert's bending free kick curled into the top left hand corner of Friedel's goal. Rovers came out all guns blaring in the second half and within 10 minutes of the restart Todd poked home the equaliser after Given had failed to control a stinging Thompson shot. Rovers: Friedel, Neill, Todd, Johansson, Matteo, Reid (Thompson 45), Flitcroft, Ferguson, Emerton, Dickov, Stead (Gallagher 88). Subs not used: Pedersen, Enckelman, McEveley. Yellow card : Flitcroft. Goals: Dickov 26, Todd 54. Newcastle: Given, Taylor, Andrew O'Brien, Hughes, Elliott (Bramble 60), Milner (Bernard 70), Dyer, Jenas, Robert, Bellamy, Kluivert (Ameobi 45). Subs Not Used: Harper, N'Zogbia. Yellow card: Elliott, Robert. Goals: Dyer 6, Robert 34. Ref: M Messias(Uriah Rennie) Attendance 29,271.

Match Reoprt by Scotty I'd been looking forward to this one for a while. I don't like Newcastle. Never have. I hate the way they think they're such a huge club (despite winning nothing) and the way they think they've got "the best fans in the world" (despite having next to no fans 15 years ago). And now they've got Souness. I was looking forward to this. We started badly. We seemed too eager to get involved initially and gave away lots of soft free-kicks. This gave Newcastle the impetus early on and they started to press. A well worked move saw a cracking ball find a brilliant run from Dyer. His pace beat our pathetic attempt at off-side and, one-on-one against Friedel, he finished expertly. You simply can't play off-side when there's no pressure on the player playing the ball. I learnt that at junior school. Newcastle's confidence returned and they started to play some good stuff. They kept possession in midfield and attacked with menace and it took all our resolve to keep them from running away with the game. But make no mistake, our team has got real heart. Back we came thanks to a great free-kick from Ferguson. We won a free-kick about 30 yards out. Ferguson slotted it quickly to an unmarked Dickov who instictively turned and shot past the on-rushing Given. These are the type of goals Dickov scores - instictive finishes where he doesn't have time to think about what he has to do. We didn't push on though and Newcastle deservedly regained the lead. This time they won a free-kick 30 yards out but the angle was against Robert. No matter, he curled a fantastic shot around the wall and into the near post side of the net. I came on here with the intention of giving Friedel a slating for his positioning but, seeing the goal on tv, I'm not sure Friedel could have done much about it. It was a great strike from Robert - sometimes you've just got to clap the opposition. So, 2-1 down at half-time and that probably refelcted the first half play. We were fantastic at the start of the second half. Thompson replaced the injured Reid at half time and he added some extra creativity to our play. Within 10 seconds of the restart Emerton was played through but his left foot shot was too weak to beat Given. Thompson and Ferguson both had real chances to score before we finally got the equaliser. Ferguson was given the freedom of Ewood to fire a low shot at Newcastle's goal, Given saved but couldn't keep hold of the ball, and Todd (yes, Todd) knock in the rebound. I say knocked in, his finish was less than convincing (I think it bounced three times before it crossed the line - this from 4 yards out) but they all count. For the next 10 minutes there was only one winner. We murdered Newcastle but we just couldn't turn our pressure into goals. Either the finish was off target or our final ball let us down. And, as always in football, we started to pay for our profligacy. Newcastle slowly clawed their way back into the game and, for the next 10 minutes, they got on top. Our defence struggled to cope with the pace of Bellamy and the sub Ameobi and Newcastle started to carve open some real openings. Fortunately, a combination of good luck and good defending kept them out. In the last ten minutes, in a game that ebbed and flowed throughout, we got on top again. We built up a real head of steam and once again it looked like there was only going to be one winner. But the substitution of the ref seemed to count against us as the delay halted us in our tracks, just when we looked like winning the game. Both teams broke against each other at the death but the game ended in a draw and perhaps that was a fair result in the end. It was a strange game to judge really. We defended well yet we conceded two soft goals. Friedel could be faulted for the free-kick, and I'm sure he will be in some quarters, but I thought it was fantastically struck and would have beaten most keepers. Perhaps the wall could have been better. Todd and Nissa were solid, Neill played well again, in fact only Matteo let the back four down. He was the one playing Dyer on-side for Newcastle's first and I thought he looked poor defensively throughout. In midfield Ferguson was absolutely superb. A majestic performance. I've slagged him off in the past, quite rightly I feel, but today he was behind everything we did that was good. His quick thinking led to the first goal, his shot led to the second, but his general play was outstanding throughout the whole game. Man of the match by a mile. Would it be churlish of me to mention though that Newcastle's midfield might not have been the most competitive in the world? The rest of the midfield did well and outplayed Newcastle's. Flitcroft protected the defence well, got stuck in, ballsed up possession from time to time, but overall was easily the most competitive midfielder on view today. Emerton looked class at times but his final balls were not always met with the finish they deserved. Reid played well before his injury and Thompson gave us something extra in the second half. Our forwards weren't good enough. Dickov did a lot of things well, he took his goal superbly and frequently held the ball up and laid it off dangerously, but he also wasted possession a lot and never, never, linked up with his strike partner. It didn't help that his strike partner was crap. Stead was awful today. I've defended him in the past, and I still think he's going to be a top player, but the lad's so lacking in confidence it's untrue. He was just poor today and he should have been subbed long before he was. Another thing I must mention today was the amount of stoppage time we were(n't) allowed at the end. The ref had to be subbed due to an injury. This must have taken at least 3 minutes to sort out. Add to that the ref's first stoppage for treatment and the 4 sub's then I'd have thought that there should have been at least 6 or 7 minutes of stoppage time. When the board came up with 3 minutes the whole ground couldn't believe it. And make no mistake, Newcastle were more grateful for the lack of time than we were. Summing up todays game is difficult. We're a tough team to beat, the way we fought back today after going behind twice was excellent and shows the spirit and fight we've got in the side, but we've got to stop going behind. If we can get the first goal and then show the same spirit then we'll win games. We need better forwards to do that though. Dickov plays well most of the time but rarely links up with his partner. The rest of our forwards are inconsistent. We need a forward who can give us more options and someone who has a proven goal scoring record. Dare I say Hartson may be the answer! For the first time this season I genuinely think we're too good to go down. We've just got to start proving it.

Well Newcastle are getting in to the Deano school of schoolboy defending. The space Dickov was given for his goal, I could have driven a tractor and trailer through it.

Would second Martin & Johns comments about the weather. Travelling North tomorrow morning, would be good to have a weather forecast before 11 am. Cheers Alan

Who would have imagined when the fixtures where released what a crucial game the Boxing Day fixture would be. The main attraction at the time was a home fixture, but as usual events in football come up with strange coincidences. During his reign as Rovers manager, Souness had been linked with every managerial vacancy going, but surprisingly no one saw the sudden departure to Newcastle. Over the years, there have been a number of player transfers between Rovers and Newcastle, Jones, Given, Gallagher, but the most upsetting for Rovers supporters was the sale of Alan Shearer to Newcastle. Over the years those wounds have started to heal and it would have been appropriate if Rovers could have given Shearer a farewell cheer in his last season, before retiring. Since leaving Rovers Big Al, has had the habit of scoring on his visits to Ewood, however he will miss this game due to injury, but hopefully he will grace the ground to allow the fans to give him one last cheer of appreciation for all he did during his period at Rovers. I don't however believe for one minute that Souness will get a cheer of appreciation from the fans. Football supporters are very fickle and they wont remember all that he did for Rovers in his first three years at Ewood, i.e. Promotion back to the Premier, Worthington Cup, finishing 6th and qualifying for Europe on two occasions. What the fans on Boxing Day will remember will be the last 12 months of unattractive football, the falling out with star players, the sale of Dunn, Duff and Cole and some very poor transfer deals. In front of a near capacity crowd the result of this game could have a major impact on both managers. Whilst Rovers are desperate for points to climb out of the danger zone, Mark Hughes will be given time by the fans to resurrect the fortunes of Rovers, however, there are already rumblings of discontent from the Toon Army with Souness the target for most of their anger. With the vast array of talent available to Souness, Newcastle should have the fire power to score, however I believe that there is a better team spirit at Ewood than St James's Park these days and I don't believe Rovers players will need firing up for this fixture as they attempt to put one over their old boss. I suspect, more than one of the current first team, having fallen out with Souness at some time, will be determined to pick up maximum points, which could result in an exciting afternoons entertainment, especially in the technical area, should Rovers be awarded a disputed free kick, or a penalty. Something in my bones predicts a home win to Rovers, from a disputed penalty and Andy Todd getting the vital touch to spoil Souness's Christmas. What is certain a defeat for Newcastle and both sets of supporters will be in Toon and singing from the same hymn sheet regarding a manager, who lady luck has deserted. Rovers 2 Barcodes 0 Dickov (pen) Todd (deflection off his hand, after Emerton corner to back post. ok Im being silly with the last bit) MERRY CHRISTMAS

Height: 6-4 (1.93 m). Weight: 202 (92 kg). Born: May 18, 1971, in Lakewood, Ohio. Previous Clubs Galatasaray, Liverpool Club: Blackburn (English Premier League). American international goalkeeper Brad Friedel’s first experience of the English Premier League was with Liverpool, who signed him in December 1997. However after starting no more than 25 Premiership games in 3 years at Liverpool, he became surplus to requirements, after Gerard Houllier signed Dutch keeper Sander Westerveld at the start of the 1999-2000 season. Graeme Souness who had worked with Friedel at Galatasaray, and much to the surprise of many a Rovers supporter, signed him up on a free transfer in November 2000. He soon became Rovers' number one - and won many plaudits for a series of fine displays for Rovers and at the 2002 World Cup with the USA. In the 2002-03 season he excelled and was included in the Premiership Team of the Season after recording 15 clean sheets. Made his 150th Rovers start in 2003-04 season A veteran of three World Cups, he is the second-most capped goalkeeper in U.S. National Team history helping the USA to the quarter finals of the World Cup in 2002.

MERRY CHRISTMAS From all the backroom staff, mods and admin at BRFCS.CO.UK Click HERE for seasons greetings from the members of BRFCS.CO.UK scattered throughout the world.

MUTV and the BBC are reporting that United's 18 year old, American defender Jonathan Spector is to join Rovers on loan for the rest of the season.

Rovers midfielder Neil Danns has joined Colchester on a permanent basis after being on loan to the East Anglian club earlier in the season, where he scored four goals in 13 appearances. Since returning to Ewood his appearances have been limited to reserve team games. Dann’s who came through the Rovers academy, progressed in to the reserve team, however his first team appearances were restricted, resulting in him spending time out on loan to Colchester, Blackpool and Hartlepool.

Prolific reserve team striker Jemal Johnson has been called up to the First Team squad for the first time and has been handed the 28 squad shirt number. So far this season, the New Jersey born, 20 year old, has scored 6 goals in 15 appearances for the reserves.

Rovers have agreed the transfer of South Africa captain Aaron Mokoena from Racing Genk of Belgium for a sum in the region of £600,000 and should be available when the transfer window opens in January, subject to a work permit. Mark Hughes is reported on the official Rovers web site as saying. "Aaron is the captain of South Africa and can play in central defence or the centre of midfield," "We have agreed a deal with Racing Club Genk of Belgium and with the player." "He has impressed us during training. He is a great athlete with pace, a good organiser, a very vocal character and he will be a good addition."

It looks as if the game will generate the best gate of the season, even the Jack Walker is selling out. (the empty seats there this season has been very noticable) This game could therefore be very crucial for the Rovers, not just to pull away from the relegation zone, but also as a catalyst to draw back some lost supporters. A good entertaining win, could do a lot to encourage returning supporters. ps Im moving from the BBE, to the JW stand for this game, so all the family can sit together. Is there a specific dress code for the JW. are YOU ALLOWED to wear football shirts, scarfs etc or do I need to get a tartan rug.

As the January transfer window is about to be opened, the mind games have already started, with Rovers and Birmingham starting to play the cat and mouse game. As reported yesterday Rovers have rejected a bid from Birmingham for Paul Dickov, with Rovers Chief Executive, John Williams, stating: "We rejected the approach and Paul also made it clear that he was very happy here and had no intention of leaving" In the meantime, Birmingham Managing Director Karen Brady has called a reported bid from Rovers for Robbie Savage "derisory". Media sources including the BBC web site are reporting that Rovers have offered £500,000 up front for the Welsh midfielder, with the fee rising to £2.2m. However the Birmingham MD is reported as saying that the bid was a waste of fax paper and that Savage was not for sale. Other media sources would indicate that Rovers have agreed a fee of £600,000 with Racing Genk for South Africa captain Aaron Mokoena. Whilst it's all speculation and rumours at the moment, it will make interesting reading over the next few days. For more rumour and speculation plus what the fans think of prospective transfer targets. Click Here - Messageboard ForumTransfer Topic

Looks like a sell out on Sunday, struggled to get 3 seats together in the Jack Walker Stand.

Having not watched Everton a great deal this season it is difficult to say whether they had a bad day on Saturday, what was clear on the evidence against Rovers, as the Blackburn End chanted, Champions League Your Having a Laugh. It was clear from the start, Moyes’s tactics was to pack his midfield, defend deep and rely on the break away, which only reflects as a complement on how far Mark Hughes has brought the team on in the last few weeks. If aliens had arrived at Ewood on Saturday, with no knowledge of the teams, based on the team that dominated most of the game, they would have clearly mistaken Rovers as the team second in the league whilst Everton looked like a team void of ideas and struggling at the foot of the table. For Rovers it was a game where to points were lost, but for Everton it was one point thankfully gained. Whilst Friedel hardly raised a sweat, only having to par away a chest height shot from Marcus Bent, Nigel Martyn had to earn his wages and without timely clearances by his defenders, including a clearance off the line by Hibbert, he would have been picking up the ball from the back of the net, on more than one occasion. The one occasion that he did, after substitute Gallagher had broken through was ruled as being offside by the ref’s assistant. Rovers for their part, whilst being the dominant attacking force throughout the game, even with the loss of Craig Short in the 20th minute where never troubled at the back, with substitute Nissa Johansson having a sound game in his preferred position of centre back. Johansson’s defensive partner Todd made one of the most bizarre tackles of the season and got booked for his endeavor, when after loosing possession dived head first across the path of an Everton player, could have been Cahill, but I was laughing to much at the time to take note. Todd’s ground height dive wouldn’t have gone amiss at Twickenham and although it was not a dirty challenge it did block the Everton attack, resulting in Todd getting the only Rovers yellow card of the afternoon. For their part Everton received two yellow cards, whether referee Halsey was making allowances for the game being a North West derby but another referee may not have been so lenient on the Merseysiders methods of blocking players and holding up play. Whilst Bothroyd continued to end up on his backside, Dickov must have wondered whether there was a sign on his back saying, climb all over me. Bothroyd and Dickov, now there lies a tale, whilst there is no complaints regarding their work rate, for strikers they are goal shy. Having sorted out the defence, Rovers attacking force is now a crucial factor that Mark Hughes must now address. Whilst sound at the back, (touch wood, fingers crossed,) we are not scoring, a crucial factor if we are to gain maximum points. Gallagher looked the business when he came on as sub, but unfortunately he never performs to his full potential whenever he starts a game. With the game coming to a close it looked as if Rovers would get their just reward when, Emerton, who had given Everton’s defence a torrid time all afternoon, unleashed a shot from 20 yards only to see it clip the upright and go out for a goal kick. For Everton, it was a point gained, but on Saturdays display Rovers have more chance of Champions League football next season, than the Merseysiders. Rovers: Friedel, Neill, Todd, Short (Johansson 21), Matteo, Reid, Flitcroft, Ferguson, Emerton, Dickov, Bothroyd (Gallagher 83). Subs Not Used: Stead, Pedersen, Enckelman. Booked: Todd. Everton: Martyn, Hibbert, Weir, Stubbs, Pistone, Carsley, Osman (McFadden 64), Gravesen, Cahill (Ferguson 63), Kilbane, Bent (Watson 87). Subs Not Used: Wright, Yobo. Booked: Hibbert, Carsley. Att: 25,191. Ref: M Halsey

Well spotted 92er.

Bolton 2 Rovers 3 Rovers academy stars tonight knocked local rivals Bolton out of the FA Youth Cup 3-2 at the Reebok, with goals from, Welch, Barker and Garner. Rovers took the lead on 13 minutes, when Ralph Welch thundered home a 25 yard shot into the bottom of the left hand corner of the Bolton goal and increased their lead 10 minutes later through Keith Barker. In the 25th minute Bolton pulled it back to 2-1 with a tap in from Sissons and despite dominant play by the Rovers Bolton equalised shortly after the break, when Fojut headed home a corner. With Rovers taking control of the game and dominating play, Rovers regained the lead when Joe Garner scored from close range in the 55th minute. Bolton: Sam Ashton, Rhys Powell, Danny Stott, Dale Whitehead, Jaroslaw Fojut, Mark Charlesworth, Robert Sissons, Bradley Hill, Karl Luisi, Luke Magill (Sean Mountford), Craig Knowles (Matt Cassidy). Subs not used: Kevin Connolly, Michael Roddy. Rovers: Zac Jones, Tony Kane, Ryan Woods, Gary Stopforth, Craig Barr, Eddie Nolan, Ralph Welch, Bryan Hodge, Keith Barker, Joe Garner, Joel Byrom Subs not used: Sergio Peter, Frank Fielding, Rostyn Griffiths, Raffaele DeVita, Mark King

Can you give us a clue, is it animal vegetable or mineral. As I'm sure it doesnt spell MGP.

Stats ... .. .. P. W D .L ..F A Pts Everton.. . . 17 11 3 3 21 14 36 Blackburn ....17 .2 8 7 16 30 14 I get the point Colin.

The game started quite brightly with Rovers making some chances. Matty Derbyshire should have done better when put through but his shot smacked into the post after beating Weaver. A neat throughball then put Donnelly in a one-on-one situation but Weaver saved well. A freekick on the edge of the area was blasted in by MGP but the busy Weaver was equal to it. MGP wasn't getting a lot of the ball on the left flank. The most impressive players seemed to be the Rovers midfield trio of Danns, Harkins and Donnelly. All of them put themselves about in the tackle and we kept possession well. Derbyshire went off, presumably due to injury. He hasn't really impressed me recently and I never really trust him in front of goal. Peter came on and MGP moved up front where he was much busier and more impressive. Despite this, City were the first to score. BWP forced a good save from Drench, but he flapped at the resultant corner and their centreback (whom I believe was called Delaney) volleyed in from about 10 yards. To go into the break would have been a tad unfair but Rovers struck back right at the end of the first half. Donnelly broke down the right and squared the ball. MGP showed a touch of class by dummying the ball through his own legs which drew the defender in, and Peter cracked the ball in, nutmegging Weaver along the way. Rovers came out on fire and three goals in fairly quick succession saw off Citeh. First a cross from the left (I believe from Peter) was headed in by Harkins. Then a swift counter attack brought a second for Peter when Weaver failed to deal with a shot which he should have saved comfortably. Finally, a through ball exploited the pace of Johnson who finished with aplomb and caused the City captain to have somewhat of a hissy fit. From then on it was simply a case of closing the match out. Jemal showed a few neat touches to leave City defenders on their respective arses. A few Rovers got kicks for their trubbles as a frustrated City started niggling. A 427-strong crowd saw a match that ended a comfortable 4-1 win. match report from bellamy 11

After conceding an early goal Rovers reserves fought back to beat Man City reserves 4 - 1 tonight at Christie Park, Morecambe, in front of a crowd of 427. Rovers scorers. Peter 2. Harkin, Johnson

Is this a private arguement, or can anyione join in. We should never have sold Roger Jones to Newcastle.

Gossip Pages Newcastle goalkeeper Shay Given wants to leave St James' Park and is eyeing a January move to Arsenal or Manchester United. (Daily Mail, The Sun) Arsenal want to fund a move for Given by selling Edu to Real Madrid for £3.45m - but the Spanish giants will only pay £2m. (Daily Mail) If the above happens, who would be on the top of Newcastles shopping list.

Ahhhhhhhh, come in Brad Friedel, we appear to have found a new scapegoat.

This is a must win 3 points game. I will not allow defeat, if it has to be dogs of war tactics I dont care. For once I will accept a none entertaining boring backs against the wall display as long as we defeat Everton. Victory is a must. 1-0, 2-1, 3-2, I dont care - we just must win, or Christmas in our house is cancelled. I just couldnt cope with a certain member of our family, with his smug face posing in his Everton shirt, when I pick him up from the airport next week.