Blackburn are reported to be in an advanced stage of agreeing a deal to link up with Belgian First Division side Cercle Brugge. It understood that the Belgian club would to act as their feeder club to the Rovers, allowing Rovers youngsters can gain first-team experience in Belgium and Rovers getting first choice on any Cercle players .

match report by den Neither team managed to get the ball down and pass. Everything was up in the air. A bad start for rovers when Tarek Sakali was carried off after about two minutes. It seemed like a bad injury. A late tackle by their number seven, and Sakali was in pain. He didn't get up and the stretcher was needed. Carried off with his right leg in one of those light weight casts they use. Matt Derbyshire also had to go off later in the first half. The first half neither goalkeeper had a save to make. To be fair to Gillingham, they defended very well, worked very hard and gave rovers nothing to work with. First half injury time Gills took the lead, simple cross turned in at the near post. Second half rovers upped the tempo, although never playing the football they obviously can, the lads got back into the game with a goal that gills keeper should have stopped. A long shot from a direct free kick bounced over the keepers arms. Rovers clinched what was probably a deserved win with a Joe Garner goal, heading in from an inswinging corner. Difficult to pick out the best players, but Sergio Peter looked very skillful. He played on the left wing after Sakali's injury. Gavin Peers played well as did most of rover's defence. Keith Barker was always available, but nothing would fall for him tonight. The pick of the bunch was Joe Garner, when he came on. He seems to have a lot to his game. Always available, no little skill and moves well. Strong on the ball as well.

Blackburn youth team came back from a goal down at half time to beat Gillingham 2-1 at Christie Park, Morecambe to go through to meet Manchester United in the next round of the FA Youth Cup. Half time Rovers 0 Gillingham 1. Edusei 45min Second half Andy Taylor scores for Rovers 72 minutes. Rovers take the lead in the 81st minute through Garner. Blackburn : Drench, Peers, Andy Taylor, Weaver, Luke Jones, Walsh, Peter, Byrom, Derbyshire (Garner 30min), Barker, Sakali (Stopforth 2min) Subs not used : Barr, Zac Jones, Hodge, Thomas. Gillingham : Knowles, Cornielle, Dumas, Chappell, Howell, Marsden, Wallis, Boorman (Monoh 86min), Carew, Edusei (Purcell 86min), Jarvis. Subs not used : Partleton,Ibrahim.

SQUAD. Drench, Peers, Andy Taylor, Weaver, Luke Jones, Walsh, Peter, Byrom, Derbyshire, Barker, Sakali, Barr, Zac Jones, Stopforth, Hodge, Garner, Thomas.

Match details posted by roversmum Edited by Alan75 Cracking match. All the lads did really well against stiff opposition. They battled the whole time and certainly in the second half dominated the game. Some good saves from Enckelman Michael Taylor - one for the future and Sinama-Pongolle was injured as a result of a clash between the two. Jemal Johnson was brilliant. Ciaran Donnelly good . Jerome Watt had an excellent match. Johansson solid at the back - very good defending by all. Jansen did some good runs, lots of heading of the ball, came close to scoring. Martin Andresen made some class passes and got himself into good positions for the ball which unfortunately weren't always taken advantage of (only real negative part of the game). Referee obviously a Red - I've never seen so many free kicks awarded, blatant handballs missed and a couple of very dubious offsides. Liverpool players went to ground every time anyone went near them..... There were only a few of us Rovers there but nice to hear the crowd silenced by Rovers display especially a group of very noisy kids! Gresko didnt play and seemed to have a bit of a limp. He sat in the dugout for the match. Spoke to Martin Andresen in the car park afterwards; nice bloke, said he wasn't quite fully fit yet but was hoping to get a first team start very soon.

Blackburn reserves held second in the table Liverpool to a 1-1 draw at the Deva Stadium Chester, thanks to an early goal by Jemal Johnson. Rovers took the lead as early as the 4th minute when Johnson collected a through ball from Matt Jansen, to calmly shoot past the Liverpool keeper from the edge of the penalty area. Liverpool got back into the game in the 16th minute with an equaliser by Smyth, but the Rovers second string were determined not to loose the game, coming away with a well deserved point. Final score 1-1.

Seeing that atc brought this topic back to the top, we might as well merge this one and the Souness topic.

Blackburn play Gillingham in the 5th Round of the FA Youth Cup TONIGHT 24th February at Christie Park Morecambe. kick off 7pm. Gillingham qualified by beating Watford 1-0 in the 4th round, whilst Rovers beat West Brom 6-2.

RESERVES Blackburn striker Matt Jansen returns to action tonight against Liverpool Reserves at the Deva Stadium, Chester. Jansen who was rested on the weekend after a head injury in the reserves last week, is joined in the reserves tonight by first team players, Gresko, Johansson and Andresen, who has yet to make his first team debut, following his signing during the January transfer window. Team. Enckelman, Donnelly, Gresko, Andresen,Taylor, Johansson, Morgan, Johnson, Jansen, Nelson, Watt. Subs. Yelldell, Harkins, Black, Weaver, McKay. Stead Jon Stread, who has made a big impact since his transfer window signing from Huddersfield could be missng for up to 3 week, as a result of a hamstring injury that he picked up on Saturday at the Valley. Rovers other casualty of the Charlton game, Gary Flitcroft could recover in time for the Southampton game on Saturday.

Rover's first goal for the U17, was scored by Joe Garner. However although 6 (six) of the Rover's players are claiming the second goal, during a goal mouth scramble coach Ian Miller is putting it down to a Crewe own goal.

There were mixed results for the Blackburn Rovers Academy teams this weekend, with the U17 winning away and the U19 loosing at home. U17 Crewe 0 Rovers 2 U19 Rovers 0 Manchester City 2.

Match Report by pg Edited by Alan75 I got to see my first Rovers match in five years today. I certainly chose a rather eventful game to watch. A fairy-tale game.. until the last 30 seconds Rovers conceded an early goal with a good turn and shot by Carlton Cole. We then managed to get back on top for the majority of the first half and dominated play. Emerton fired on target and then layed on a sitter for Douglas who missed, whilst Stead hit the woodwork twice. At that point you had a feeling that it was going to be 'one of those days'. Charlton scored a second with a very easy goal, leaving Brad Friedal fuming. TV replays show that Gray played the Charlton player onside whilst both Babbel and Short were pushing up towards the edge of the 18 yard box. Flitcroft was substituted quite early (we are all assuming it was for an injury) bringing on Tugay to partner Todd. So our central midfield went from bad to worse. Todd was struggling a lot with his positional play IMO and often seemed to caught in no-mans land... neither comitting and closing down players and making tackles... or backtracking and covering other options. Charlton replied with some late pressure in the first half and the half-time whistle couldn't come soon enough. Cole came on and once again we had the majority of play. Todd soon came off for Yorke and it was 4-3-3 time again. The Cole chance was a lucky break, but we did deserve it. Lots of relentless pressure for the Rovers, shots on target from Cole and Tugay. Late in the second half, Jensen finds his way through the Rovers defence and is left one-on-one with Friedal who makes a super close-range reflex save. I said to my wife (who was attending her first ever match) "It could be a game-saving save!". In the 90th minute, the fairly tale was complete and the whole Rovers end went wild and Friedal was a hero... ...until Jensen hit a screamer of a volley that sailed into the top right hand corner. Funnily enough, I wasn't that gutted about it. Once we had equalised I realised that there was probably a few minutes left on the clock, so I was thinking to myself "Please please let's not concede another goal." I always knew it was a possibilty... So overall - factors in the loss were : 1) No strong midfield presence. 2) One soft goal (Charlton's 2nd). 3) Missing our chances. 99 times out of 100 Claus Jensen will hit that volley somewhere into Row Z. Today he was lucky.. but that's football. Overall - I paid 20 quid and was entertained. A thrilling game,the wife wants to come again, and neutral friends of mine enjoyed themselves immensely. On that level at least, it was a good day out.

The joy and excitement when Brad Friedel equalised in the dieing minutes, was short lived when substitute Jensen scored in the final seconds to give Charlton a 3-2 win at the Valley this afternoon. Goals by Carlton Cole in the 10th minute and Euell in the 36th minute gave Charlton a 2-0 lead at half time. Rovers got back into the game in the 74th minute with a goal by Andy Cole, and with the clock ticking down Brad Friedel came up to score Rovers equalister. But his efforts were spoilt when Jensen got a winner in injury time for Charlton. Charlton : Kiely, Kishishev, Perry, Fish,(Fortune 15) Hireidarsson, Young, Holland, Euell, Stuart, Di Canio(Konchesky 88), Cole(Jensen 76). Subs not used : Royce, , Johansson, Blackburn : Friedel, Babbel, Short, Todd(Yorke 58), Gray, Neill, Flitcroft(Tugay 28), Emerton, Douglas, Gallagher, Stead(Cole 45). Subs not used : Enckelman, Andresen. Referee: Uriah Rennie Attendance 26332 Link to MATCH REPORT

Whilst discussing Scottish players, Souness stated to Radio Lancashire today that he believed that despite Blackburn's Lorenzo Amoruso being Italian he should be allowed to play for Scotland. "I think that Scotland should be looking at every possibility, because right now they're in trouble in terms of the quality they have. "They don't have the strength or depth they've always enjoyed, particularly during my playing career," "In the time I've been interested in football, I think this is the weakest Scottish group of players there has ever been."

Charlton have announced that they expect tomorrows game to be a sell out in the home section and there are only restricted view tickets available in the away end.

Despite fears that Barry Ferguson would miss the whole of the season, following his knee injury at Newcastle, Blackburn manager Graeme Souness has revealed today that Ferguson could be back playing within five weeks. Souness is reluctant to bring back the Scott to soon, and ideally would rest him for the remainder of the season. However league position may force the Blackburn manager to bring Ferguson back into the team, once he has recovered. Souness is reported in the media as saying "On Monday, he'll (Ferguson)be thrown into the second phase of his rehabilitation, He's taken five days off to get some sun on his back, then he'll be involved in running and maybe kicking a ball. "I'm hoping he'll be back in a month to five weeks, but I know that Fergie is determined to get back playing as soon as possible."

Having had a free weekend Rovers travel tomorrow to Charlton hoping to continue picking up points, however from past visits to the Valley, it hasn’t been a happy hunting ground for Rovers in recent seasons. Despite going into a mini slump since the transfer of Parker, Charlton will be boosted by the news that manager Alan Curbishley has signed a new contract that will keep him at the Valley until 2007. With the clubs around Rovers playing each other, and Boro playing in a North East derby, a win for Rovers would help their climb up the table, especially with a home game coming up next week against Southampton who are currently just 4 points ahead of Rovers. With a number of Rovers players having been on International duty during the week, Souness may decide to rest one or two players, especially jet lagged Lucas Neill who played for Australia, in Venezuela. However on the brighter side Brett Emerton who missed the trip to Venezuela, due to an ankle injury, should be fit for tomorrows game. Craig Short could also be in contention for a recall following his recovery from a back injury. Alan Curbishley has also selection problems due to injuries, however Matt Holland has recovered from a neck injury and Jason Euell is also likely to be available for tomorrows game. Charlton : Kiely, Kishishev, Fish, Perry, Hreidarsson, Stuart, Young, Holland, Euell, Cole, Konchesky, Johansson, di Canio, Fortune, Bartlett, Jensen, Thomas, Royce. Blackburn : Friedel, Gresko, Babbel, Todd, Short, Tugay, Johansson, Flitcroft, Stead, Gallagher, Emerton, Cole, Yorke, Andresen, Gray, Douglas, Todd, Enckelman. Referee : Uriah Rennie

After Jon Stead, gained his first England U21 cap last night game against Holland, his striking partner at Blackburn came on as substitute tonight, to gain his first full international cap for Scotland against Wales.

A single goal by Jemal Johnson gave Rovers all 3 points this evening at Christie Park, Morecambe against a very impressive Manchester City reserves team. Johnson's well placed shot to give Blackburn a 1-0 win, was the result of fine work and an excellent cross into the area by Watt. Matt Jansen had to leave the field in the 16min, with what appeared to be a neck injury after an ariel clash with a City player, which resulted in 7 minutes of injury time being added to the first half.

Rovers academy teams continued their wining way, when both teams came back from Merseyside on Saturday, with maximum points U19 Liverpool 1 Blackburn 2 Rovers scorers. Johnson and Peers U17 Everton 0 Blackburn 1 Rovers scorer Byrom

QEGS Blackburn will meet Millfield, in the ISFA Cup Final at the Walkers Stadium, Leicester, on Monday 8th March. Kick-off is 7pm. Tickets can be purchased in advance from QEGS (Tel: 01254 686300). They will also be running coaches to Leicester, please contact the school for more details. Tickets are £4 (including a 20 page match programme). Executive tickets are also available at £20, see the ISFA Site for details.

Jon Stead must be wondering when he's going to wake up, within the last couple of weeks he's moved from third division Huddersfield to Premier League Blackburn, scored the winning goal at Middlesbrough on his debut and then the equaliser on Wednesday night in his home debut against Newcastle. The new goal scoring hero of Ewood Park's rapid rise and impressive displays have now earned him a call-up to the England Under-21 squad, who play Holland at Hull on Tuesday. Stead told the Rovers Official website: "A letter arrived at the training ground and it's obviously a great thrill." "All the lads are pleased for me. I'm having a good season and you always live in the hope of these things. Obviously moving to Blackburn and the Premiership, plus getting a couple of goals, has helped enormously."

Blackburns 19 year old striker Paul Gallagher has been called up to the Senior Scotland Squad to play Wales on Wednesday.

After beating West Brom 6-2, Rovers will now meet Gillingham in the 6th round, on Tuesday 24th February at Christie Park, Morcambe.

Match Report by Scotty Edited by Alan75 My heart sank when I heard the team before the game. No Short (what's wrong with him now?), Douglas on the left still and, worst of all, Gallagher relegated to the bench. I thought Cole had to be brought back into the team but not at the expense of Gallagher. Anyway, in the first half all my fears proved to be groundless. We were superb, probably the best we've played at home since the opening day of the season. Emerton and Neill tore Newcastle apart down the right, Gray overlapped brilliantly down the left, and Tugay, playing in a more advanced role than usual, pulled the strings in midfield. We snapped into every tackle, competed for every high ball and generally bossed the game. All we needed was a finish. Off the top of my head Douglas (2), Emerton, Babbel, Cole, and Stead (2) all had presentable chances to open the scoring - they all missed. We had a couple of scares at the back but the back four and Friedel dealt with them comfortably enough. So, we went in at half time at 0-0 but we had played them off the park. There was a nagging feeling though that we would regret not scoring while we were so on top. Sure enough, the second half started and it was like the two teams had swapped shirts. Suddenly Newcastle were a yard quicker and they started to put us under a sustained period of pressure for the first time in the game. Robson had obviously tore a strip off them at half time. They won a series of corners and, from one of them, a hopeful cross was allowed to bounce in our six yard box. Friedel and Babbel collided with each other in an attempt to clear the ball and Bellamy was left unmarked at the far post to finish off a difficult chance. Our confidence sapped, theirs grew. The next twenty minutes or so saw Blackburn chasing the ball as Newcastle kept possession and looked threatening whenever they went forward. However, our defence held out somehow thanks to some good challenges, some bad finishing by Newcastle, and a bit of luck. Following the replacement of Douglas with Gallagher, we gradually started to come back into the game. Emerton, who had been well shackled in the second half by Newcastle, started to get a bit more freedom. Gallagher made some of his increasingly impressive runs from the left and the forwards started to retain possession a bit better than they had done previously in the half. The equaliser eventually came and it was no surprise that Gallagher was the catalyst. He was found after another good run into the inside right channel and his cross was superb. Stead still had plenty to do though and his finish was precise. Blackburn being Blackburn we still had a nervous last five or ten minutes to endure, especially one particular scramble where Newcastle seemed to have at least five chances to score but fluffed them all, but we held out and earned a well deserved point. © 2004 BRFCS.com