Rovers' U17 team have progressed to the semi final stage of the U17 play-offs after beating Southampton's U17, at Staplewood. After Rovers had taken an early lead the Saints pulled a goal back in the 20th minute, however the Rovers team battled hard to regain the lead and came away with a 3-1 victory.

No offence taken and in answer to your question, no the Leicester game isnt the first time that Ive noted his commitment. You would need to be a blind man not to have noticed Souness's antics on the touchline from the day he joined the club. Its just following the pre match remarks by Gilbert the Filbert and Jan's post I thought it was in context to include my observations within my post regarding the Leicester match bearing in mind comments made by the Leicester fan and the tie up between Rovers players now at Leicester.

I was going to post this in the Leicester post match comments, however after reading the above, it may be more fitting to post it here. Well, I’ll freely hold my hand up and admit that I was having doubts about Souness, whilst I hadn’t got to the point of calling for his head, I did feel that he’d lost the ability to motivate the dressing room. In my eyes and to a number of supporters, some of his team selections and substitutions this season have been questionable and his public falling out with players has been unprofessional. However, what is clearly evident is his total commitment to the cause. With both teams committed to battling clear of the relegation zone, yesterday’s game against Leicester wasn’t for the football purist or the faint hearted, so, although engrossed in the game, I found myself being distracted by the atmosphere and other events around the ground. Before I get back to my main point regarding Souness, I must pay tribute to my fellow supporters. Its been a long time since the atmosphere has been so electric at Ewood, in fact yesterdays atmosphere was better than at games last season when we were riding high in the league. Knowing how crucial yesterdays game was, the supporters to their credit got behind the team, even the Jack Walker stand came to life yesterday and very few fans were seen to be exiting early to avoid the traffic hold ups. As an aside and no disrespect to the Riversiders, I found the “Riverside, riverside give us a song” chant from the Blackburn Enders amusing. There were a few other chants created yesterday that I also found amusing, however to avoid litigation I wont repeat them. Anyway back to my main point. Following recent remarks by Leicester supporters, in the fans questionnaire, regarding Souness’s touch line behaviour; during yesterdays game I watched the dug out area more than I normally do and especially Souness’s reactions. In the eyes of opposition fans his ranting on the touchline, may appear unprofessional or as one Leicester supporter stated “disgraceful behaviour that must cause embarrisment”. To the contrary, what is clearly evident, is that the man is totally engrossed in the game and shows his frustration when things don’t go right, he shows his annoyance when events don’t go in his or the teams favour. Whilst I don’t agree with his public falling out with players, some of this seasons performances must be as frustrating for him as it is for the supporters, which has made him boil over, virtually repeating what the supporters have ranted about on the message boards and in pubs and clubs throughout Blackburn and surrounding areas. Having a poor season, following the successful years Souness’s judgement in the transfer market has been questioned, those deals where quite evident yesterday to have been in Souness’s favour. Leicester are made up of Rovers players released by Souness, the only ones who got a game yesterday being McKinley and Bent, neither of which impressed, McKinleys main contribution before being substituted was to get Amoruso booked and was Bent really on the pitch. Of the other ex-player signed by Leicester, Gillespie warmed the bench for 90 minutes, Hignett has gone on loan to Crewe, no sign of Davidson, however he may be injured and Curtis has been released to Portsmouth, where he cant hold down a first team place either. Looking at Souness’s recent buys yesterday; Amoruso after returning from injury, although he does have weaknesses, has been a tower of strength in the defence with his dominance and commitment. Which then takes me to Souness’s star buy, £1 million pounds for a 20 year old third division striker, supposed to be a signing for the future. On yesterdays performance what is Jon Stead going to be in the future. OK I’m on a high after this weeks results, we aren’t out of the woods yet but the first trees have been cut and today for me Souness is the man carrying the chain saw, the team are clearing away the dead wood and we the supporters are the ones chanting Timberrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Match Report by Scotty Souness stuck with the team that played and won so well at Fulham. I have to admit that I wasn't happy with the selection yet again. Winning away from home on a dodgy narrow pitch is one thing but using the same team to win a home game on a lush, wide pitch is another. I guess I was wrong again! We started ok and, if anything, probably looked the better team for the first 15 minutes. Gresko had a deflected free-kick from about 25 yards out well saved by Walker but, apart from that, there was little goal mouth action. Leicester came back into it as the half went on and they had probably their best spell in the game from the 20 - 35 minute mark. They had lots of possession and pumped loads of balls into our box but, significantly, they never managed to create a single worthwhile chance on goal. We defended well. Our goal just before half-time came a bit out of the blue. Lucas Neill, who'd been having a bit of a mare up to this point, played an excellent ball down the channel for Cole to run on to. Cole cleverly crossed across the face of the goal and Dabizas knocked the ball into the net before the on-rushing Stead could. Happy days. So, 1-0 to the good guys at half-time but not much between the teams to be honest. I thought we battered them in the second half. We pressed and pressed but didn't create enough in front of goal - too often the final ball let us down. After saying that Stead, Emerton and Cole all had good chances to put the game out of Leicester's reach. At the other end we were guilty of defending too deep and inviting pressure. On the rare occasions that Leicester pressed we struggled to clear our lines and retain possession. Thankfully, we continued to defend well and they simply weren't good enough to create any decent chances. It was very tense, nerve-wracking, and fraught towards the end but we held out and richly deserved the win. We were the better team, created the better chances, and were more hungry than Leicester. From an individual point of view I thought our forwards were excellent. They may not have scored but they worked their socks off and looked a class above Leicester's forward line. Stead in particular was immense. Our centre-halves also deserve special praise. Both Short and Amoruso coped admirably with the ariel threat posed by Leicester and, in Amoruso's case, he was also one of our best playmakers. People knock him but his positives far outweigh his negatives. We look a different, much better team when Amoruso plays. He was outstanding today. There were many negatives but tonight isn't the night to point them out. None of them are new anyway. Let's just enjoy the win and revel in a fully committed, hard-working, scrappy win when we needed it most. Don't be deceived though into thinking that we're an excellent team all of a sudden. Leicester were shockingly bad today considering it was a "must win game" for them. They looked devoid of ideas and struggled to string more than 3 passes together. Thankfully, we won at home today for the first time since November. Which is obviously fantastic. However, we beat a poor, poor team who fully deserve to be relegated on today's performance. Hopefully this win will spur us on and we'll be comfortably safe from relegation come the end of the season.

An own goal by Nikos Dabizas, just before half time was enough to ensure Rovers claimed maximum points at Ewood this afternoon, when they beat fellow relegation candidates, Leicester City 1-0. Continued click on Read Entire Article Link....

Is that you again Gav

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW This afternoon I had the pleasure of a long and lengthy interview with Rovers' Championship winning keeper Tim Flowers, who is the current goal keeping coach at Leicester City. Click Here to Enter the MessageBoard and Read the Interview. With Rovers playing in a crucial relegation game against Leicester on Saturday, it was ironic that a long standing agreement to interview one of my all time Rovers heroes, Tim Flowers, came to fruition yesterday. Continued..................... Copyright www.brfcs.com 2004.

You may recall some time ago members of this site submitted a number of questions for our Championship winning keeper Tim Flowers, who is Saturday’s opponents, Leicester City’s goal keeping coach. Well this afternoon I had the pleasure of a long and lengthy conversation with Tim, when I submitted your questions. I edited the questions before hand in to subjects to avoid duplication and have transcribed Tim’s replies accordingly. Please excuse any spelling or grammatical errors, but it’s been an exciting day chatting to one of my all time Rover heroes. EVENTS AT ROVERS Posted by: Blueboy How does it make you feel to know that when you had the game of your life in 1995 against the geordies at ewood park - that a grown man was crying, 12,000 miles away in Australia because he knew that we were so close to the pinnacle of the worlds greatest league? It’s always fantastic to find out that you’ve contributed in giving back something to the supporters. Posted by: bellamy11 Does he feel the Newcastle game on VE Day to be the best of his career? That’s a tough one, it’s difficult to say whether it was the best in my career, but it’s one that will live in my memory. I’ve played in a lot of games throughout my career, the memory of the Newcastle game being more about how crucial it was that we didn’t loose, than how I played. Posted by: Jordan (Does he feel the Newcastle game on VE Day to be the best of his career) If not what was the best moment of your career? Best moments, Anfield knowing we were Champions, getting my cap to play against Brazil and the Worthington Cup Final with Leicester. I had a Championship medal then getting to a Wembley Cup Final was a real bonus. Very few people get the opportunity to play in a Wembley final, so I was very fortunate. Posted by: DP Sky recently awarded a save of the decade award to Peter Schmeical. Do you think they completely forgot about the Newcastle VE day game or what? (the one that springs to mind for me was the stop from Ruel Fox near the end) Football is a game of opinions, everyone has different memories of events and judge things differently. Posted by: Radaghast the Brown What was the first thing to enter your mind when Redknapp's free kick flew past you on championship winning day? (I'' understand if the answer is a little too 'colourful' to print (As an aside, thanks for the memories, Tim ) Oh, I could sense the worry from the fans behind me, kept thinking that after all the work that season it was slipping away. By rights we should have won the championship before going to Anfield and nearly threw it away. I kept sensing the crowd reaction, then the roar when the United result came through. In some ways I was glad that we lost, because of all the rumours that Liverpool were going to hand us the Championship. Posted by: colin That Collymore goal. Was the divot created by Tim to mark the centre of the goal or was it just created by normal play? I should have guessed that question, I used to mark the pitch out. Because the Darwen end doesn’t get as much sun, it gets muddier and a groove had developed in the pitch. EUROPE Posted by: Parasyte After the championship win, how dissapointed were you with the European venture? Very disappointed, Al, Micky Newell and myself had been on holiday that summer, and we were looking forward to the European games. Then loosing Kenny was a big blow. We were in a decent group and Spartak Moscow were a very good team, and we nearly got a last minute draw against Warsaw, which might have got us through to the quarter finals. TEAM & PERSONALITIES AT EWOOD. Posted by: Exiled in Toronto What really happened between his pal Shearer and Sutton, which resulted in Al not passing to Sutty in the last 3rd of the championship season? That’s new to me, us players never noticed anything, they were the perfect double act, you only have to look at their goal total in the championship season Posted by: DP The championship squad at Rovers was renouned for having a great team spirit. What went wrong? There was nothing wrong with team spirit, but heads do drop when your loosing. After Ray left, Tony took charge and we dug ourselves out, if there hadn’t been any team spirit we wouldn’t have. Posted by: laughatthedingles what was it like to know jack walker personally? what was he like? I cant say I knew him personally. But he was a magnificent man. He attended every game travelling from Jersey home and away, and it wasn’t because of his position at the club, he just came to watch the team. He was a normal bloke but very powerful man. When I joined the club, I called him Mr Walker and he told me, that if I didn’t call him Jack, then I might as well ###### off. We had some great nights out with him, he had a trick flicking coins into a glass, don’t know how he did it, but he used to bet us, how many he would get into the glass and won every time. Posted by: Exiled in Toronto What were his views of the Rovers managers he played under? Kenny and Ray were magnificent. Roy Hodgson was a brilliant coach, and I learnt a lot from him. He had variety in his coaching and I’m trying to remember and use them now. Posted by: Exiled in Toronto What does Tony Parkes do? He worked closely with Ray coaching the team and his commitment to the club kept us up after Ray left. Posted by: colin Do you keep in touch with any of the Rovers' players from 1995? Al and Micky Newell. And I see Bill Mac everyday at training. I also see Mimmsey as well, as he’s also a keeper coach. At Wolves. I bump in to some of the other lads at games. Saw Jason at Leeds the other day. TRANSFERS Posted by: philipl He was frequently linked with a move to Old Trafford before he came to Ewood. Any regrets? I was never linked with United, but Liverpool came in for me at the same time as Rovers. And I didn’t need much convincing on which club to join as soon as I talked to Kenny. Posted by: Radaghast the Brown Was there any truth in the rumour that Celtic were interested in you before you joined Leicester? Celtic….Not that I know of. I was playing in the second string, when Kidd put me in the team to play Oldham a week before the start of the season. Martin O’Neill was at the game, so I guess he’d been talking to Rovers and wanted to see me playing. Next day I signed for Leicester. LEAVING ROVERS Posted by: Hasta In your opinion was the curtain brought down on your Ewood career prematurely? Posted by: Dr Rich Do you feel you deserved to lose your place to John Filan when you did, especially considering the fact that with all due respect to John, he's hardly been a massive success since? Posted by: Seggie Do you feel any Bitterness towards Brian Kidd for Ending your Rovers career prematurely? Posted by: colin Seriously, and sorry, this one may smart..... You seemed to go from being a championship-winning player to Stockport County's reserve keeper in a very short time. Do you feel you should have been in the big time for longer? (Good luck Tim, you were good.) Yes, I believe my time at Rovers was brought to a premature end, and that’s with no disrespect to John Filan. Managers have their opinions, so you have to accept it if your not first choice. Leaving Rovers was hard but there is never any point in hanging around if your not making any contribution to a team. PERSONAL Posted by: Nayef why did you decide to become a goalkeeper? As a kid I played striker and centre half, but my best position was in goal. I was determined to be a professional footballer, so when I was 12-13 I concentrated my game on being a keeper. I started playing for a Sunday league team and Wolves signed me from there. Posted by: Modi If you had your career over again, would you prefer to have been a goal scorer instead of a goal keeper? No, I’ve had a fantastic time and loads of fun along the way. Posted by: cn174 When you was a youngster which goalkeepers were your role models? Liverpool were the team in my youth and Clements was the keeper to model on, then I signed for Southampton from Wolves, and Shilts another of my heroes was there, which was a great experience training with him. Posted by: roversismylife & cn174 What was the best or most important save that you have ever pulled off? Great keeper for us. Tough one, the Newcastle game was very important for the team, so maybe during that game. Posted by: Parasyte If David Seaman wasnt such a good GK in his day, do you think you would have made a bigger impact on the English game as a whole, and not just your international career? Another tough one, I don’t know. Stepping up from the reserves to the first team, you have to have a run of games to establish yourself. It’s the same at international level. Something I never had. I got my 11 caps over a 6-7 year period. Posted by: ihatethedingles & Seggie What was your worst moment in a Rover's shirt? That we didn’t consolidate our position after the championship, looking back we should have strengthened the team and didn’t make an impact. If you look at the other clubs they have strengthened their squads after winning trophy’s. I didn’t like leaving Rovers the way I did either. Posted by: The Dart Does he think more ex-professionals should become referees? The laws are difficult these days and refs have a bad time, every thing they do is monitored by tv and from supervisors. If players want to be refs, then good luck to them, there would be less bookings if players were refs. Posted by: AlanK What was in Tim`s BOTTLE this Xmas The first Christmas that I haven’t played, so was able to have a bottle of wine with my Christmas dinner, Would have preferred to have missed the drink though and played against Al and Newcastle on Boxing day. Posted by: laughatthedingles Is it true you will need/already need/have had a hip replacement ? (My sister might be able to sort a cheapen out for you!) was this just caused by football? I have my operation in June, They sawed off a top of my leg, installed a metal peg into the bone. The peg is capped with half a metal ball, about the size of a tennis ball. Then it’s refitted into the hip. It will take about a year to get right. At least I don’t have so much pain now and can wellie a ball again. As for your sister, thanks for the offer, give Alan her telephone number, in case I need another op Posted by: laughatthedingles when are you coming back to rovers?? (Thank you for everything you did "england's number 1, england's, england's number 1" ) SATURDAY Posted by: Seggie What does it feel like to have the record for the fastest Red Card for a Premiership Goalkeeper? Thanks for that, it was against Brian Deane who is now at Leicester. He keeps reminding me, he says I wasn’t fast enough so why did I bother. I broke my big toe in the tackle, so it’s recovery coincided with the 3 match ban that I picked up. Posted by: Crunching Tackler & laughatthedingles who would you say are the 3 toughest opponents you've faced? So many, Al, Sherringham, Ferdinand, Ian Wright always gave me a bad time at Southampton, but not at Rovers. Teams, Brazil and Italy, Posted by: laughatthedingles who was the best player you have played with? Al, Matt le Tiss, Lennon, Heskey. Posted by: rover6 Who was the best centre half you played behind? Colin, Henchoz Adams, Palister, oh and I better say Ruddock, or he’ll beat me up Posted by: Crunching Tackler Can you see yourself ever becoming a manager? Don’t know, but I wouldn’t rule it out. I’m currently enjoying my role coaching the keepers, but I’m also doing my UEFA coaching badges. Posted by: 1864roverite which pies he rates as the top 5 Sylvia the cook at Rovers made some good pies. Barnsley pies where ok as well, they used to bring a big tray of them into the changing room. GOALKEEPERS Posted by: Tim Southampton Rover With the increase amount of foreign players playing in the Premier League, do you think England will struggle to produce world class goal keepers like we have done in previous years such as Shilton, Seaman and yourself? Posted by: Big A Only a small number of Premiership clubs have English goalkeepers now. Do you think this trend will continue to the detriment of the national team? No disrespect to non English keepers, but with limited English keepers getting premiership experience it doesn’t help. However there are a number of good English keepers about. Posted by: cn174 The day after Higuita did the scorpion kick in the England v Colombia game did you try it in training? No I was never that supple, Not even with the new hip. Posted by: 92er How do you evaluate Brad Friedel-strengths and weaknesses? He has confidence, has a huge frame, can kick a mile, makes great saves and I don’t see any weakness. Posted by: Parasyte Buffon and Kahn - both always said to be the best GK's in the world. Who would you say is better and why? Would have to say on current performance Buffon. He’s young and a top class performer. Posted by: Seggie Who is the Number One Premiership Goalkeeper in your opinion? There are a number of good keepers in the premier, Friedel, Given at Newcastle, Niemi at Southampton and I was impressed on how Howard adjusted so quick to the premier league. Posted by: modes98 What tips would he give to a young keeper who wants to improve his game? *my uncle was in Tim's year at school in kenilworth* Work hard, be determined and practice all the time. If possible get a coach. When I was a kid I used to practice on my own, kicking a ball against a tree or wall then diving to catch it. Posted by: Crunching Tackler whats the best thing about being a goal keeper? You get gloves to keep yourself warm in winter. And a tracksuit bottom. Posted by: Crunching Tackler What do you think is the most important attribute for goalkeepers? Stopping the ball. Keeping calm, concentration. Good foot work is very important in the game now. Posted by: Crunching Tackler Whats the best advice you've heard? Always work at your game. Take notice of experienced players and coaches. Upton my coach at Wolves always stressed work ethics as did Mike Kelly at Southampton, who coached me in to becoming a premiership and international keeper. Copyright www.brfcs.com 2004.

Rovers reserves tonight came back from 2-1 down to gain a share of the points, against Manchester United, at Christie Park, Morecambe, when Steven Reid scored 10 minutes before the final whistle. Rovers took the lead in the 25th minute when pressure by Byrom, caused United's Spector to deflect the ball past his own keeper. half time 1-0. United with two quick goals, by Jones and Pool looked as if they would collect maximum points untill Reid fired home an equaliser after fine work by Johnson. Jansen and his striking partner Gallagher were often threatening the United goal, and Reid appeared to be gaining in confidence with additional match practice since his injury, and Johnson was a handfull for the United defence throughout the game. Attendance 1447.

Reserves Rovers reserves take on Manchester United tonight at Christie Park, Morecambe tonight. Matt Jansen and Paul Gallagher will lead the attack, with not even room on the bench for out of favour Dwight Yorke. Gray Injury Update Rovers left back Michael Gray, who missed the Fulham game due to an injury, is unlikely to be fit in time for Saturdays game against Leicester. Andy Todd A bit more unrest in the squad, after it is alleged that central defender, Andy Todd refused to be named as substitute against Leeds United, when Souness partnered Short with Amoruso in the centre of defence. Neill Danns Hartlepool hope to retain the services of on-loan Rovers midfielder Neil Danns until the end of the season. Colin Hendry Former Rovers central defender Colin Hendry (brave-heart) is in talks Scunthorpe, about the vacant managers job. U19 WIN Two goals by Andy Reid gave Rovers U19, a 2-1 win against Crewe this afternoon.

Montaigu Tournament, France Blackburn academy player Joe Garner captained the England U16, scoring the first goal in a 3-1 win against the USA. Link to England Results Match Reports.

match report by Jan Well, WHAT a game that was. To be truthful, unlike the turgid dross we've been served up recently- most of which had me shaking my watch in disbelief that there was THAT much time left, this simply flew past. One minute the game had started, then suddenly 3 goals had been scored and the whistle went for half time!! Then, after some paedophile-satisfying half-time "entertainment" we were off again. 4 more goals happened in a minute, and then we got to those 3 minutes of extra time and suddenly we went into a time-warp (As ever) To go back, the first half saw three goals- two of which were scored by Rovers- one unfortunately in the wrong end! The first goal, and I hope everyone is sitting down for this, came from and inch-perfect FORWARD pass from Tugay to Andy Cole. You may know the kind of thing (well if you follow Rovers too often you won't) but more often than not it's the pass that Andy Cole has been screaming for, but ends up with a tame pass-back to Brad. This time Tugs did what Mr Cole wanted, the pass caught Andy Cole ACTUALLY FACING THE GOAL (which most decent passes he's requested this season but never got would have done) and BANG-it was in the net. I had the displeasure of sitting in front of the"young team" today and that was the cue for them- who were already most drunk and obnoxious, to get even more so. They're young, they'll learn, I thought- and as if on cue- they did. Collins John (who???) popped up to score an almighty scramble after a free kick was given away. Cue depression- here we go, I thought. I was right. Just before half time- seconds before, just as we were all saying keep it up to half time, a cross (or might have been a free kick- I was too nervous to notice) came in, and Gresko kicked the ball into our net. Oh ****, I thought, as the announcer gave the goal to John again. (I was at most 15 feet from it directly behind the goal, and I saw Gresko's foot hit the ball). However, everyone was trying their little- really unpleasant bee-imitating socks off. I can't fault anyone's effort- Emerton wasn't on the pitch which always helps in the trying department. We were singing "flitty is a winger"- he was certainly better and more committed than Emerton- more of whom LATER. Half time saw a crowd of pre-pubescent females half-naked in the middle of the pitch doing something which purported to be dancing. I'll agree this sort of rubbish is entertainment only when they produce half-naked men doing the same thing. Going to happen? Thought not. The second half started better. Rovers were shooting towards us. It seemed they liked being near us, as they spent quite a lot of time at our end. We LIKED that. Someone- either Neill or Flitty (thanks the ignorant bloke who insisted on standing throughout the match) I couldn't tell which- put over a peach of a cross and Jonathon Douglas suddenly showed he CAN finish. BANG- it was in the back of the net!! 2-2- yippee- BUT one of the young team behind me decided to take his shirt off. This was a most distressing sight. Not only was he ginger, but had "typically Scottish" colouring- ie has was very, very white indeed. it was a good job I'd already eaten as that would CERTAINLY have put me off my dinner. No respite was at hand. We got given a free kick- we actually got a number of them tonight- and Amoruso shaped to take it. Having seen the one in the first half which was lightning fast and just over the bar, my friend Laura and I worked out that we were right in the line of fire, and started to duck. Imagine our surprise (and delight) when the ball went into the net. We'd got a free kick. We'd scored from a free kick. Amoruso had done it. (To be fair that WAS his talent at Rangers- defending wasn't) We were in the lead again, so more shirts came off. It wasn't big and it wasn't clever and they started running down to the front of our section to get on telly. Note to boys- only do that if you have SOMETHING worth showing. Otherwise cover up. Back to the match. It was end to end stuff. Both defences were poor and to be truthful we still looked nervous. Most of the 50:50 balls went to them. Such is the way of things when you're down there. Just as we were shouting to Lucas Neill to "defend and get the ball off Boa Morte", Boa Morte was past him and bearing down on Brad. It was the wrong end for us, so I didn't see where the central defenders were, but "not protecting Brad" seems to be the answer- again I reiterate it was a long way away! Boa Morte scored. I think at that moment, the whole, sorry season flashed in front of my eyes. SURELY it couldn't be happening again. It didn't!!! Up stepped Jonny Stead and rifled home a shot from another forward pass (see I knew the strikers could score if they ever got decent service). Even at the last, however, we COULD have lost it. It was clear to all of those who were sane (everyone but THAT MAN) that Jon Stead had simply run himself into the ground with about 10 minutes to go. To be fair, someone on the bench noticed this, and Gallacher got his kit on ready to replace him. At that point, the "Ray Harford book of stupid substitutions" was brought out. Instead of doing the sensible, wassock decided to take Cole (who seemed ok) off and put Emerton on. Now, along with most of you, I was quite pleased when we bought Emerton. Not now. He's lazy, and just hasn't the heart for English football. In the last minutes when it was all hands on deck, he- the freshest player on the pitch, lost the ball. Did he A chase back desperately to try to make amends as the others had been doing all night, or B stop and look petulant? Guess what, it was B. Keep him off the pitch until he learns the meaning of effort. Some time later- it seemed about 10 minutes but I think it may have been less- time was by now dragging- the sensible substitution was made. And then it was all over. I just don't know what he was thinking. It could have been the worst substitution of all time. Fortunately it wasn't and we won. 3 more points. Thank GOD. A few words on players: Jonny Stead: We'll have Souness' second choice every time if he's like Jon Stead. He was magnificent. He ran all over the pitch, ran himself into the ground indeed. He's going to be a star. Flitty- Whoever said he doesn't play a captain's part should be shot. He was everywhere. Had to play as the right winger, and played better there than all those wastes of money- sorry "shrewd investments" have done in the past few games. Tugay- I don't normally like this guy, but tonight he was IMMENSE. Again he chased all over and was just determined we weren't going to lose or draw. At the end he sank onto the pitch and couldn't get up. The effort to end all efforts. wonderful Cole- our best player this season without a shadow of a doubt. His work-rate and positioning have been magnificent- even when his team mates have been obviously incapable of supplying the passes he's recommended, he's still managed to get goals. Just a little more hopeful now that we can stay up

After last nights 4-3 win against Fulham, Rovers manager Graeme Souness called on the players to continue with the battling qualities to ensure Premiership survival. Speaking to Sky Sport Souness stated. “They players have found themselves in a testing situation - some have been in that before and some haven’t,” “We have had a go in all the games bar two this season and tonight on a difficult pitch we rolled our sleeves up and had a go. I thought we deserved to win. “We started as a nervous team, when we could have got the ball down and played it, we still lumped it forward. “Our training is all about playing the game properly and in the second half we started to get it down and make better passes. “If we do that in our next five games, we will have a real chance of staying up. “It has been a difficult season. Our fans have not enjoyed it and we have not entertained them. But if they multiply it several times, that is how we feel. “Our cause is all about survival and if that means playing the way we did at times tonight, than so be it.” Souness went on to say “We blew it against Leeds on Saturday by not concentrating at the start and giving them a goal then chasing the game,” “We have to make sure we do not do that against Leicester. We have to show battling performances and try to play football.” Although Souness was happy with the result, he wasn’t happy that the match officials had missed an alleged head butt, on Jon Stead by Fulham defender Knight, stating. “The referee says he did not see it, nor did the fourth official and the linesmen, so we have to run with it Stead also referring briefly to the incident in the 12th minute when Knight appeared to head butt him, but Stead was more interested to stating “We knew that we were still in the game at half-time and all the lads worked hard,” “We put in 100% and that’s what we have to do until the end of the season.” Stead went on to say that he’s learning a lot from his strike partner Andy Cole, “It is a great help to watch these players. They have been there and done it and we are getting there now, “We are linking up nicely and starting to understand each other - we are getting better all the time.” Meanwhile Andy Cole giving a rare interview to Sky Sport, is targeting two wins to keep Rovers up. Stating “It was a big game tonight and we deserved it,” “We have not had much luck this season, but we got a bit tonight and all the lads are delighted. “We want a couple more wins as quickly as possible.” Editors comments. Listening to Radio commentary, and the tv news coverage. I must say our supporters who made the trip to Loftus Road did us proud. Take a bow

At last Rovers pick up 3 points with a win against Fulham at Lftus Road. In a seven goal thriller Rovers took the lead through Andy Cole only for Fulham to equalise 3 minutes later through Collins John. A second goal by John, gave Fulham the lead before quick strikes by Douglas and Amoruso gave Rovers the advantage again making it 3-2. Boa Morte then made it 3-3, before Stead scoted in the 75min to make the final score 4-3 to Rovers.

Just dont let it loose near a collie. My daughter was broken hearted when, my collie swalled hammy in one bite.

Blackburn Reserves were beaten 3-1 by Wolves at Morecambe tonight in front of a crowd of 232. Wolves went in 1-0 at half time and went 2-0 up in the second half before Matt Jansen made it 2-1, however Wolves regained the advantage with a third goal to come away with all three points.

FERGUSON Rovers hopes of Barry Ferguson returning for Saturday's clash with Leeds have proved over-optimistic. Although Ferguson has increased his training, it would appear that he has some way to go before he’s ready for a first team call up. Ferguson is quoted in the media as saying. "I'm doing running and ball work, but I have to build my thigh up before I can consider playing," "I'm in early every morning, working double sessions on muscle-building but there's still that one big step, to play a competitive game." "The idea is to take each day as it comes and hopefully my leg's going to get stronger. As soon as I feel right, I'll come back." What was that about sinking ships In a week when Rovers are preparing for a crucial relegation match against Leeds, on loan signing Markus Babbel is reported in the media, to want to return to Liverpool at the end of season. Babbel told The Independent newspaper: "The plan is that I will go back to Liverpool at the end of the season. I would love to play there again. In a perfect world for me I would be back here playing for Liverpool next season in the Champions League."

Asking a bit much from Jansen arent you. Has he a split personallity disorder.

Two goals by Owen and an own goal by Andy Todd in the first half, and a second half Heskey goal gave Liverpool a 4-0 win this afternoon against an inept Blackburn team. Liverpool: Dudek, Carragher, Biscan, Hyypia, Riise, Diouf (Murphy 71), Hamann, Gerrard, Kewell, Heskey (Sinama Pongolle 85), Owen (Baros 76). Subs Not Used: Henchoz, Luzi Bernardi. Blackburn: Friedel, Babbel, Short (Johansson 45), Todd, Gray, Emerton, Tugay, Flitcroft (Reid 45), Andresen, Gallagher (Cole 61), Stead. Subs Not Used: Enckelman, Yorke. Booked: Flitcroft. Attendance: 41,559. Referee: J Winter

I wouldnt bother tomorrow.

How long am I going to be writing “Another crucial fixture for Rovers”. Whilst the first team visit Anfield on Sunday, the academy team play the second leg of the FA Youth Cup Semi Final at Ewood Park. Liverpool v Rovers After the contrasting displays between the Villa and Portsmouth games, it is difficult to predict, how the team will perform against Liverpool. The record books aren’t very encouraging either with Rovers having only won once in the Premiership at Anfield, back in September 1993, when Mike Newell scored the only goal. For the fans predictions on Sundays game Liverpool Predictions With a large percentage of the squad having been on international duty this week Graeme Souness fortunately doesnt have any injury worries and it would appear that teenage striker Paul Gallagher has recovered from laryngitis to be included in the squad. Rovers Squad : Friedel, Enckelman, Cole, Stead, Flitcroft, Emerton, Tugay, Reid, Short, Todd, Babbel, Gresko, Gray, Gallagher, Andresen, Neill, Yorke, Douglas, Amoruso, Johansson, Jansen. Liverpool have included Michael Owen in their sqad, who is returning from a hamstring problem. Liverpool Squad : Dudek, Carragher, Biscan, Hyypia, Traore, Riise, Diouf, Kewell, Hamann, Gerrard, Murphy, Cheyrou, Henchoz, Baros, Owen, Heskey, Baros, Pongolle, Diao, Luzi. FA Youth Cup Hopefully the academy players can show the first team the right attitude, when they take on Aston Villa in the second leg of the FA Youth Cup Semi Final at Ewood Park tomorrow, when they attempt to pull back a 2-0 deficit from the first leg. After conceding two early goals and a sending off in the first leg, the academy fought a rear guard action, to give themselves a fighting chance of progressing to the final, so tomorrow’s game could be an exciting encounter, something that’s been lacking watching the first team this season. Rovers' team : Drench, Peers, Taylor, L Jones, Barr, Peter, Weaver, Byrom, Derbyshire, Barker, Corvino, Subs. Walsh, Garner, Hodge, Welch. Stopforth, Kick off 2pm. Admission. £3 adults. £1 juniors and senior citizens. Season ticket holders. Free

Well I would think twice about paying £31.50 a game to watch Rovers, this season, let alone pay that much to watch Southampton.

Well with the message board now back in action, most of the talk is reverting to Saturdays game against Portsmouth. With the luxury of having virtually a full squad will Graeme Souness stick with the team that gained three valuable points at Villa Park. Mind you, based on past performances this season there is no guarantee that the players can turn it on two weeks running, not to mention that our home record must be the worst in the league. Whatever team Souness picks this weekend, lets hope there isn’t another post match interview blaming the referee or Lady Luck, as a failure to pick up maximum points against relegation candidates Portsmouth would put Rover back in to the relegation zone dog fight. For all the latest on tomorrows game why not log into the message board and read the fans views. For those who have been away from the site and arent aware of the problems that occured last weekend, please ensure that you read the instructions prior to logging in

If your reading this, you’ll know that our band of techno’s have completed the task of rewinding the elastic band, filled the voids with bottle tops and stuck the site back together with the remains of Souness’s chewing gum. I know they’ve been working like beavers, burning the midnight oil, in getting the site back on line, not to mention some stunning new site features, but don’t ask me what the problems were, as turning the pc on is about my limits, however it has been confirmed that it had nothing to do with a hamstring. Those of us who have been having message board withdrawal symptoms are very appreciative if the work put in by Admin, in restoring the site, so on behalf of the members to all those concerned a big THANK YOU. Talking about hamstrings, these appear to be clearing up at Ewood, with news that Steven Reid could be in line for a return to the first team on Saturday and Paul Gallagher made a welcomed return to the reserves on Monday night, helping them to a 3-0 victory over Bolton. With the other injury casualties Jon Stead and Garry Flitcroft making a scoring come backs last Saturday at Villa and Amoruso getting another run out in the reserves, the injuries are clearing up, the only first team players not available for Saturdays crucial game against Portsmouth are Ferguson, Thompson and McEveley. However Ferguson may, according to the LET, be available for the Leeds game Apologies, due to the site being down I was unable to correct the England U16 call up news item. Zac Jones is in fact a goalkeeper and not a defender, as originally posted.

<font color='#000000'>Blackburn's prolific 15 year old striker Joe Garner has been included, together with Blackburn keeper Zac Jones, in Englands U16's squad for the Montaigu Tournament. Tournament schedule. 07/04/04 v Ivory Coast 08/04/04 v USA 10/04/04 v Italy</font>