Hmmm. Was gutted yesterday, a last minute pre Christmas deadline kept me at work past 6pm yesterday so didn't end up making the game, think I'll email the customer today with a huge thank you looks like they did me a favour! It was all so predictable as others have said. We showed last night that we just can't handle the expectation levels, it's also twice in 31 days that we have been out played by the bottom side at Ewood, concerning. I have a feeling that this could be the start of another Mowbray horror run unfortunately, whilst we did well at Bristol, I'm not sure we're good enough to play without Dack for any length of time. I just don't know who is going to score the goals, I've seen nothing to suggest that Rothwell can step up in that position, and I just don't see Holtby as that sort of player.

Pure speculation. See what comes out of the club in the next few days. We have proved we can play without him like at Bristol, but whether we can do that on a consistent basis I'm not sure.

So looks a decent crowd tonight, but I'm guessing we'll still be playing to a completely empty Darwen End Lower?

Nah the December 2000 game definitely wasnt compulsory for the coaches, although it was advised that you did so. I remember clearly getting the train into Blackburn for around lunchtime that day and there being quite a few there getting the train over to Burnley, quite a police presence too. You are correct that the tickets weren't allowed to go on general sale though. The cup game in 05 was compulsory for coaches for the original tie, but wasn't for the replay as I travelled over to the game with a dingle pal of mine, we walked down Cravens Brow before and after the game with many other Rovers/Burnley fans and there wasn't a hint of bother.

The beauty of the one in December 2000 was that it was a 4pm KO, and the coaches weren't compulsory. What on earth happened that day for the over the top rediculous restrictions to be put in place afterwards apart from them lot going into Burnley uptown centre and smashing up woolies etc?

Most already covered in here, Tugay against Liverpool in 06, beating Utd in 02, Leeds on boxing day in 92. Couple more I'd like to throw in are - Man City and Palace away in 94, two huge wins on the way to the title. Alan Shearer scoring his 100th goal for Rovers against Spurs in 95. 2000 against this years opponents Birmingham, superb solo Matt Jansen goal before slamming in an injury time winner in front of the Blackburn end.

That Fabio Nunes actually looked like he could have turned out ok, remember him playing against Birmingham at home under Berg and thought he might be decent. Left winger. Wonder what happened to him. That Edinho though, remember he played the first half against Leicester under k*an. Awful.

I think for someone to qualify for a worst 11, they have to have played enough games to make that opinion, anyone who has only played a handful of games shouldn't really be considered IMO. So i'll go with... Steel, Orr, Ward, (W) Brown, Henley, Feeney, Lowe, Akpan, Murphy, Varney, (C) Brown

Yeah I think that could kill any potential followings at Hudds or Forest to be honest. I've got my tickets for both aswell could have saved a fortune!

Sorry this ended up being longer than I thought! My Grandad was a huge Rovers fan, and my mum was/is a huge Rovers fan too, she was a bit of a tomboy growing up, she went on Ewood all through the 70's and early 80's up to giving birth to me, she tells me all her friends used to joke that she would actually give birth to me on the Nuttal Street stand, what a sight that would have been! Due to a marriage breakup when I was a baby, and relocating us Cheshire where my grandparents had moved to she had a few years off going to Ewood when I was born, and started up again around 1988 taking me on infrequent visits as a very uninterested 5/6 year old. She tells me my first game was a home game against Oldham at the start of the 88-89 season, followed by an away game against Stoke shortly afterwards as that was only a 15 minute train journey for us. I literally have no memory of either game, or the other games we attended during that and the following season, I was more interested In running around and playing at the front of the stand apparently with some other children. My first real interest in Football was during Italia 90, something seemed to click there as a 7 year old, I was hooked and watched every bit of the tournament I could, started using all my spare time kicking a ball around in our back garden. I started taking an interest in club football the following season, wasn't particularly bothered about Rovers as they were 60 miles away and you got very little coverage of clubs like that back then, my mum took me to a few more games early on in 90-91 season, I vaguely recall actually watching a bit more of the matches but still wasn't too fussed, I was actually a bit more interested in Liverpool as I think literally everyone supported them in my school back then, with the odd Man Utd/Stoke fan knocking about too. Everything changed in January 1991 just after Christmas, my mum got us tickets to the Rovers/Liverpool FA Cup tie, with the carrot of watching Liverpool and being the envy of all my school pals I was itching to go, and this is where my first real memory of Rovers comes in, I had my old Rovers Perspex shirt on despite only really being excited to see Liverpool, I would say that changed within 5 minutes of getting into Ewood, I couldn't believe how full it was and the atmosphere was rocking. Simon Garner scored and the place erupted and sounded much louder than my other visits to Ewood, I was genuinely hooked and actually cried when Mark Atkins scored that last minute own goal, despite my tears my mum and grandad were absolutely beaming, they knew that they achieved the goal of making me a fully fledged Rovers fan. From then on I have been an absolute Rovers fanatic, constantly asking them when the next match we could go was, and my mum from then on took me every home game she could, which for a single parent, who didn't drive was some dedication, because the trains were not very frequent to our town back then we used to leave at 9am and get back at around 8pm most games. We got season tickets after promotion in 1992, and with the exception of the Coyle season I have had them ever since. Other great memories growing up are going down to Plymouth with my mum and grandad for the weekend on bostocks coaches for the game in 1992, getting the train to Wembley for the play off final in the same year, and going to Oldham in 1993/94 with my grandad which turned out to be his last ever away game, and moaning at him the whole way on the mammoth walk from the old Oldham Mumps station to the ground and back again. The best one though is obviously Anfield in 95, we didn't get tickets for it to which we were genuinely gutted about, but a couple of my mums friends were Liverpool season ticket holders, and obviously knowing my mum was a lifelong Rovers fan, single parent etc, they very kindly gave us there season tickets for the day so we could attend the game, my mum surprised me with them on the morning of the game, and never mind favourite Rovers memory I think this is my favourite memory of my entire childhood, they even drove us to the game and went to watch it in a local boozer, an incredible gesture that I have never forgotten, and one I would like to think I would repay to someone if there was ever a similar situation.

Didn't it take a wicked deflection?

Maybe we should try and sign a load of Portugese players?

Yeah I thought the same, especially if the Brum game is on the dreaded red button.

You never know, win the next two home games and we might sell out for Hudds or get very close, knowing Rovers though we'll get 1 point out of the next two games and we'll have just over a thousand there.

Just watched them links back. That 15/16 goal of the season competition is the sorriest goal of the season competition I have ever seen.

Haha, took me a good few minutes to see what you had amended. Yes, of course it's the knockout stages which I look forward too.

Suppose if I had to pick a side out of this miserable decade it would be, in a 4-4-1-1 Robinson, Salgado, Nelson, Mulgrew, Olsson, Conway, Dunn, N'Zonzi, MGP, Dack, Rhodes Subs - Raya, Hanley, Emerton, Cairney, Hoilett, Gestede, Graham

I tend to ignore the group stages in both competitions, a load of prolonged nonsense to me. I love the group stages though, even though there are a few clubs from the same countries I like to think of them as the old European & Uefa cup's now.

The best comment I ever saw about Wigan was that they are "Accrington Stanley on steroids". No idea if it was someone on here who said it or I read it on twitter etc but it has stuck with me ever since ?

Pretty sure Santa Cruz had left before the decade got under way.

I think another thing confusing you is, Although Villanueva did play and score in this game, he made his debut 5 months earlier in a league cup game against Grimsby (I think) and also scored in that game too.

Probably because he has had 4/5 months of regular football against men. Have to remember that he hardly played any real football for the whole of last season.

Always think that when you start to believe nonsense like the bit in bold, it will will come and bite you in the behind. It would be very Rovers like to pick up 3/4 points from those fixtures. The Wigan & Birmingham games will be a completely different kind of pressure for the players and manager, I think every Rovers fan in attendance and watching from afar will be expecting to win these games, a good test to see what this current players are made of. I'd personally go for the same 11 as Saturday, apart from Dack and Armstrong in for Brereton & Bennett, maybe Downing back in at left back, but Bells pace might be crucial against Lowe. JRC is well behind in the pecking order at the moment, I'd be very surprised if he starts a league game this season. Going off recent form and with the tickets so cheap, I think we could be in for a surprise with the gate for this one. Just a shame it isn't a Saturday, although if it was I highly doubt that it would be a tenner a ticket.

I've just noticed that "livefootballontv.com" has our boxing day game down as live on the red button. I thought something had come in where the holiday games couldn't be shown unless it was sold out or close too? Interestingly it doesn't have any games on the red button listed for Sunday 29th or New Years Day, as I'm presuming these must be fair game to be shown too?

Johnson certainly played like he had been on the sauce that day.