Don't see why on the basis of what I just posted: I'd have thought 5 aways qualified as regular away support. Can't say I'm too worried, anyone who really wants a ticket and makes the effort will get one. If that means queing all night or a long morning on the phone that's what I shall do.

Must confess I hadn't considered the time element. I do think the regular away support (ST holder or not) and those who went to Cardiff should get first shout. Having endured our three home cup games I feel I've earnt a trip to the Turf so I'd be pretty fed up if an ST holder who hadn't attended any of those games got a ticket ahead of me. Perhaps the club could do two days for the Away Regulars, then two days for those ST holders with three home cup stubs? Etc, etc. Surely it's all on the database?

Season ticket holders who have been to all three cup games? Been away so I've had 24 hours thinking about this and no news from anywhere. Seems to me it should go like this: 1. ST holders who went to Cardiff 2. Away ST holders 3. Non ST holders who went to Cardiff/regular away travellers That takes up about 1200? 4. ST holders with Bournemouth, Cardiif replay and Colchester (that's us in ) 5. ST Holders 2 out 3 above 6. ST holders 1 out of 3 above 7. ST holders 8. Open sale Given the very poor attendances at the three home cup games those who did turn up should get first shout in relation to the games attended. I can't make up my mind about those who've been travelling away in the league all season - do they qualify for cup competitions? I seem to recall Tris saying the Watford-Liverpool game stubs for Liverpool fans included a game two years ago at Ewood in the Coca Cola.

Agreed MB it is very difficult to draw parallels between football and "normal" business. What you say is very true. Player misbehaviour would not be tolerated in any other industry - you have to wonder why it is in football? The only parallel I'm trying to draw, because I believe this to be very true, is between the product and the customer base. In these two, very closely connecte areas, we can draw comparisons with other industries. As a general rule producers are selling into an ageing market. There are fewer young people, who have more money in their late 20s/30s and broader horizons; for them Ewood or any other PL ground on a wet Wednesday is not very attractive. I think all the basic rules of marketing apply to football and the number one and two rules are: Understand your customer's wants/needs and how your product can uniquely satisfies those wants/needs. I haven't had time to read jim's link from Leicester Tigers but "Twenty to 30 years ago, the club gave season tickets to children at rugby-playing schools. Those children are now the core of our loyal support,” says everything. I've bored people with it before but my kids all had to be turned away from Utd to support Rovers. It worked, sure I think they will leave Lancashire and not be regulars at Ewood but they will always be Rovers. Now we are not talking baout the entire population leaving Lancashire so if you grab enough while they are young enough the fan base will be there in 20 years. The seats are empty now so what diffrence does it make. Perhaps make it free for all games except the obvious ones and include a voucher guaranteeing priority when the big boys come to town?

We could be on a winner here. My lad will be touching down in Sydney at the moment we kick off - if the plane is on time. He'll be doing all that customs, immigration stuff as Rovers grab a stunning victory

Spot on but not for debate in this thread or we'll get nowehere at all.

Great posts from tashor and speeedie. mhead - I'm not quite sure how to respond to yours but my view is Rovers have got the pricing about right but I would suggest the following would be better: 1. Under 8s free. 2. 8-16 roughly where it is now up to a maximum of £100 3. 16-21 - young adult price which is affordable for either the individual to pay per match or the parents to buy the ST. This doea mean in the BBE not stuck in the outer reaches of the Riverside. Young people want to be in the BBE. 4. Adults it's about right. Lancashire United. I can't see that working and my gut reaction is I follow Blackburn Rovers and not tangerine and blue halves with black shorts or whatever PNE wear these days. Manc Blue Like you I don't have the inclination to do all the research but a gut reaction would be: Derby - much larger catchment area than Blackburn? Forrest - don't know Charlton - you can get a bus from Maidstone to Charlton, provided by the club, for £5. I understand they have a very good community programme. West Brom - two promotion seasons plus two PL seasons Reading - new stadium, good progress as a club Saints v Pompey appeared not to be a sell out yesterday Going on further into your post I am NOT calling the club. This problem is deep rooted and does not lay just with Blackburn Rovers. We see the symptoms of the disease because we are so small by comparison to others. In my view, and hindsight is wonderful, the clubs have blown the Sky money by paying average players obscene amounts of money when this should have been put into developing the clubs themselves. There was a belief the fans would just continue to turn up to watch the best league in the world. Well they don't. We've always had poor (!) players but now the fans expect much. much more because of the money and profile these players enjoy. True I never sat in Nuttal Street thinking "he only gets a few bob so what do I expect?" I'm afraid "use it or lose it" doesn't wash with me. I earn my living trying to sell products, the next time a customer won't buy do I tell him "to use it or lose it". In business it's often very difficult to see what is wrong with your product because it is YOUR product. On Friday, and I'm repeating myself, it was suggested the club can't see the problem is on the pitch because they are paid to to watch it. This wasn't my insight but I think it could be very, very close to the mark. "Colin, Colin show us your arse" - personality, emotion, committment. It isn't much to ask but the present crop have none of these characteristics. How can we feel connected to this team? The suggestion that Sky could level the playing field with an equal distribution of money would be an excellent starting point, coupled with salary caps, reasonable wages allied to win bonuses and attendance bonus. The game was still great when Liverpool dominated for 20 years from 1973 to 1992. Why? Leeds, Derby, Forest, Villa, Everton all won a Championship (9 between them) despite Liverpool being the all powerful team. In 13 years of the PL we have moved to a situation where it's a three horse race and the rest simply do not have a chance of winning.

One last point - in five years it's unlikely any of my kids will be regulars at Ewood. Simply because they won't live in the area and there will be too many other distractions in thier lives. Rovers operate in a declining, ageing market place and they are doing very little to understand or address that problem.

I decided to spend some time thinking about my reply to theno's post, in the meantime Alan has posted many sound points that cover much of my own view. "Use it or lose it" is frankly absurd reasoning. It should be more on the lines of "Rovers provide it or lose us". I don't know what industry you work in theno, in mine and countless others the business that fail to move with the times and/or understand the market place is the one that goes down. To provide some non-football examples - corner shop/supermarket, local cinema/multiplex, decent pub/chain monstrosity, local sports facility/leisure club. All, IMO, examples of businesses that have failed to address a dwindling market and consequently lost their customers. Football has one great advantage - basic loyalty. The problem being loyalty is born at a very early age. If children are not taken to Ewood by their parents they will NEVER decide to go, they'll take the easy option of supporting Utd, just like they take the easy option of a Playstation unless parents make them do something else. You may have heard it all before thenodrog but what you fail to acknowledge is the world has changed. Not in forty years but in just ten. It's not a question for the uncommitted of paying money for something that may happen in the future. If Rovers fail to provide the entertainment quality the public expect the "supporters" will simply not attend. I'm not whinging, I'm stating facts. I'll carry on going, it's the thousands that don't you should be addressing. I've made damn sure my three and one other child have grown up supporting Rovers - trouble is not many others do the same. You blast young fans who ask for a cheap ticket. Twice I've asked how you expect an eighteen year old to find £28 to attend a game. You fail to reply because there you don't have an answer other than Use it or Lose it. No logic in that. Garner, Sellars, Barker, Gennoe, Patterson, Price, Keeley, Beamish, Mail, Miller, Reid, Brotherstone, Fazackerley, Hamilton, Rathbone, Parkes, Branagan, Wagstaffe, etc. I deliberatley ignored many from the 90s. Maybe not one could make a mark in the PL but I know one thing - they at least appeared to care for or respect our club. We don't have a single recent arrival at Ewood who has demonstrated an ounce of passion for Rovers. It was more fun sitting in Nuttall Street or standing in the enclosure because you could at least believe it mattered to the players. As for the big signings. Savage, hmmmm, a footballer many have despised in other teams colours. Fine we paid £3m, so what. We have signed "a hard working, high profile midfielder". In my view I should hope we have. If you pay £3m you expect hard work - we'll see what happens in the next few games. Bellamy £6m plus £2m a year wages.? Tell you what Craiggie Boy for that money I'm expecting 20 goals a season and for you to walk off that pitch so knackered you feel like doing nothing other than going to bed. Do they care about Blackburn Rovers? Frankly thenodrog I don't think you have the slightest idea what the average football fan feels about the players he/she is expected to support. While the PL clubs in general fail to address this matter they walk a dangerous tightrope. When Sky pulls the plug, and they will, football in this country will die over night. Look around you, how many 18-25 year olds do you see at Ewood? I know for a fact Rovers do not understand the attendance problem is quality and committment on the field. Why is that? Because all the people who are supposed to find the answer are PAID to watch! Simple really....when you think about. Just look at Ferguson. He clearly no longer wants to play for my club. If he stays till the summer he will earn more in that time than I shall between now and retiring. Players like him make me want to vomit, he trueli is not fit to wear the shirt or captain the club..........and Rovers expect us to support them? The sooner BF leaves for Glasgow or inspires Rovers to magnificent victory the better. I'll try not to boo him but I sure as hell won't be cheering from the rooftops when he walks on the pitch.

Discussed the same subject with a few die-hards on Friday night, all went to the game on Saturday. Our conclusion was very simple - two years of crap football. The problem is the club do not recognise this as being the number one issue they face. If the product is crap, and it is, people will not pay to watch it. During the second half yesterday I started thinking about Wednesday and the arrival of Chelsea. We don't have a single player to get excited about watching, they probably have 20 or more. It's as simple as that. Our team is basically full of very average journeymen, as are most PL teams. The playing field needs levelling out before Englisg football dies on it's feet. I've said before we need a hero. In days gone by there was always a player you could relate to, someone who'd die for the cause, someone to make the hair on your neck stand up. We have none of that, I feel no connection with any of our squad, none of them excite me, attending Ewood is a grind. Sat in the FS yesterday I was cold, miserable and ill. I counted down the second-half minutes till we could could go home. I still go but this is how I feel, is it any wonder that yesterday we were down to the hardcore 7-8000? ......and I'm not the only long-term, never-say-die fan who feels like this.

Someone needs to say it - there's no doubt philip is English, nor is there any doubt he followed Rovers for many years before moving to Malta and was a board member before he moved. OK?

None.....but that's adifferent topic.

.....and I'm getting near suicidal over this one. Everyone has lost out. Seems to me there are two solutions; either we sell Ferguson to Rangers for a reasonable sum £4 - £6m ish or Ferguson gets himself on the pitch on Saturday afternoon, works his balls off and inspires Rovers to a 6-0 victory. Cos if he's in the team and doesn't perform the crowd reaction will be horrendous, probably on a Dwight Yorke level....and I have to say if Ferguson plays, he doesn't perform and we lose,I'm not sure what language you may hear from the FS. What a mess.

I'm really looking forward to this match. It's a bit like the Arsenal visit of two or three seasons back when they were really flying. OK we may well get stuffed but Rovers will be up for this, Chelsea are a fabulous team so it could be a great night to watch a game of footie.....and if we could nick it, well that would be a real buzz!! I shall go to Ewood in hope rather than expectation but you never know........... I do hope Duffer plays and we can all give him the standing ovation he deserves beforehand.

Sums up the situation well Paul - more succinctly than my long rants.... Maybe but nowhere near as entertaining!

Yorkshire Blue Hughesy PABBY Capt KAYOS Matt CUFC

Apologies for the late start on this week's preview which has been beset with technical problems. We only met Matt last week and swapping e-mails hasn't worked very well, then his PM seemed to coincide with last night's mini crash on here. Saturday presents Rovers with an excellent opportunity of progressing to the 5th round, a home tie against lower league opposition is as much as any PL club can hope for. After the Cardiff and Bolton games this fan isn't feeling quite so confident, I'm hoping Sparky has made his views on our last two performances very clear to the players. Personally I'll settle for any sort of victory - we need to progress and avoid the sort of fixture pile up a replay plus the postponement of the Norwich game would bring. As the earlier thread on this game had some good posts I have cut and pasted these into this one to get things going. So without more ado from me then it's over to Matt who is the Media Manager for Colchester United: To get started can we talk about Neil Danns? Most Rovers fans are aware he’s playing very well for Colchester, have Rovers let a potential Premier league player go or is he now in the right league for his talents? Dannsy has now played around 20 games for the club and has made a big impression in each one of them. When he returned to Rovers after his loan spell was completed, we missed his enthusiasm on the pitch and his return to the team in late December after signing permanently saw that energy return to the side. At this early stage, it is clear that he has got potential to go far in the game and it is his willingness to run and run that will take him to where he wants to go. At the very least, he is going to be a top half of the Championship player and, depending on how he kicks on personally in the next two or three years, he could well return to the top flight. What is for certain is that he is a player who is very popular in so much as he always plays with a determination that the fans like to see. He has made all the right noises about giving it his all for Colchester United and the early signs are that he can carry the burden of expectation that his first spell at the club put on his shoulders. Moving onto the rest of the Colchester team, what are your strengths and weaknesses (we won’t tell Sparky!). Who should Rovers watch out for? Of late, our strength has to be our back line. In 2005, we have recorded five clean sheets in our last six games and our defensive record of 32 conceded in 28 games is the second best in League One. We had been struggling to score goals of late, but put that to rest with a 5-0 win over the Saddlers in midweek. There were more goals in the game, and we performed well against a disappointing opposition. But perhaps our biggest plus is our ability to rise to the big occasion. Last season we made it to the Fifth Round of the FA Cup, beating Coventry after a replay and taking Sheffield United all the way in a 1-0 defeat. Already this season, we have beaten West Brom in the Carling Cup and then in the next round taken Southampton to the wire in a 3-2 defeat in which we led at one point. That fearlessness has done us well in the bigger cup ties and, if we get off to a good start at Ewood Park, the lads can rise to the occasion. Lower league clubs look to the FA Cup to provide a financial windfall. The Us have been lucky enough to be drawn against the mighty Rovers. The Rovers have priced tickets at £20 adults (£15 for season ticket holders) and £5 juniors – how do Colchester fans feel about this? Given we only attracted 9,150 for the Cardiff replay, are we depriving you of a pay day or would you prefer to see the ground at least half full? Prices were similar for the cup ties at Coventry and Sheffield United last season, so there haven’t been too many grumbles from our supporters. What you have to bear in mind is that Layer Road holds just over 6,000 so anything over that – especially 12,000 upwards – would represent a bigger pay day than playing at home. The Southampton game saw the other end of the spectrum where the tickets were priced cheaply due to half term and the 20,000 gate there produced a cracking atmosphere. If Rovers fans come out for this one and the gate is in the region of 15,000, I think both U’s fans and the club would think that it would be a good day for the bank balance. Roughly speaking how many Colchester fans can we expect to see on Saturday. Does a ticket price of £20 encourage Colchester fans to travel or would you have the same number attending at £28? Coventry saw us take 2,500 fans, Sheffield United 3,500 and in the Carling Cup on a Wednesday this year, we took a further 2,500 to Southampton. Sales are – by Tuesday – around the 1,000 mark, so I would be surprised if we took anything less than 2,000 supporters to this one. The £20 is a decent price, because fans can often pay £18 on a matchday at home games in League One and our supporters paid £23 to go to Swindon on New Years Day. I think the £28 may have seen less travel, so you’ll get a decent following on Saturday. Rovers have been struggling with attendances of late, opinions on this vary enormously. Obviously we play in different leagues but it would be interesting to know how Colchester approach the issue of increasing attendance. What is the club’s role in the local community and do you feel the club is enjoying the growth in gates and interest reported from the Coca Cola leagues? Our problem in terms of attracting new crowds is two fold. Firstly, our geographical location is 15 minutes from Ipswich, and 25% of their support comes from homes with a Colchester post-code. In their premiership days and since, they have attracted a lot of the floating fans from the town. We are also close to London (50 minutes by train) and the population of the town is now largely non-Colcestrians. There are a lot of commuters who go to work in the City and also a lot of London overspill in our population, meaning many will go up to Spurs, Arsenal or West Ham. Our second problem is our facilities. Layer Road is approaching 100 years of age and the facilities show that. With Colchester being a relatively prosperous town – and increasingly so – people are more inclined to spend their money elsewhere whilst the facilities do not come up to current requirements. Our attendances have stayed pretty steady as a result and we have averaged about 3,600 for the last two or three seasons. Our role in the community is a strong one however, and the club’s community sports trust is rated as second only to Charlton in its outreach into the local population. They perform a wide range of sporting and educational activities and whilst they are independent financially to the club, the needs and benefits of the two organizations run closely in tandem. With that in mind, the two parties are currently working with the town’s council to bring to fruition a 10,000 seater community stadium with facilities on site to carry out activities seven days a week. This has been a long running affair, but recently we were given tacit permission from John Prescott to push on with our plans, meaning we could be in our new ground in just under two years time. On Monday night we suffered a miserable home defeat against the mighty Bolton. What relevance does this have to the cup game for Colchester? I think perhaps it can work one of two ways and much of it depends on how the Rovers fans react to the defeat. When we went to Southampton in the Carling Cup, the Saints were struggling in the league and their players were low on confidence. When we took an early lead, their supporters soon got nervy and the cycle of their players getting more nervous and the fans getting more agitated continued. As said above, I think the fact that we have held our heads up high on previous cup outings against higher division sides will stand us in good stead for this game Many thanks to Matt for his contribution, enjoy your trip to Blackburn and the games itself. I'm sure Rovers fans will make all our visitors from Essex very welcome.

Not only can't they afford to buy him, logic says they won't be able to pay him either! BF must be picking up £40k a week at Rovers. Roughly speak £2m per year and he has 2.5 years on his contract = £5m.

Each of those situations is different: Unsworth - proof footballers and their wives have too much money Thatcher - I don't know the story Hendry - wasn't Mrs H very ill, or had been, at the time? Savage - just a smoke screen and he's NOT running away from the limelight Ferguson - spoilt brat who's unable or not willing to hack it in the PL. If I can't be a star I'll go back to Rangers and be the great returning hero.

It's nothing to do with football. You forgot that his wife doesn't like it down here and wants to go home and wives always have the final say . . . don't they ?? To repeat myself, it will take only a small increase in the offer from Rangers for Ferguson to be on his way. It is unrealistic for Rovers to expect to recoup £7 million for a player they paid too much money for in the first place. To be honest Jim, I don't believe the family issue. I'd agree family should always come first, however the arguement for high-profile sportsmen/women is a different. Ferguson has to stick it out for six months, at worse two years or so. Most families would sit down and discuss this before reaching a sensible solution. Rovers fans are presented with the easy option - one that shows Ferguson to be a weak and spineless individual. If the family issues are true the Fergsuons are rather immature people with too much money who can't hack it in the real world. While the rest of us get on with life.

I reckon we must have got Amoretti by mistake...... I've never liked Ferguson as a player or personality and have not really been able to see his contribution to the team - he certainly is not the "top, top player" Souness promised us. Saying that the last two matches I've seen - Cardiff and Bolton - we were diabolical without Ferguson, though I've seen us play very badly with him in the team. Barry Ferguson returning to Glasgow suggests one or more of three things to me: 1. He knows he isn't good enough for the PL 2. He doesn't have the courage to stick it out in England, at Ewood or elsewhere, and prove his worth. 3. He wants the money and the easy option of "starring" in the SPL So the queston to the Rangers fans is why on earth do you want this guy back? His motives are very questionable and I'd guess are driven by money and a desire for an easy life. That isn't going to resolve any of the difficulties Rangers FC face. During his time at Ewood he has done nothing to prove he has any of the qualities ascribed to him as player or person by Rangers supporters.

Awful game. Rovers were very poor missing both Ferguson and Dickov. Impressed by Mokoena. Bolton are a rubbish team. I had a lot of respect for Allardyce before tonight, not any more - and that has nothing to do with the penalty. Diouf is a cheat, I'd be ashamed to have him in my team. 0-0 would have been a fair result. 20,056 Looking forward to Saturday and then Chelsea.

How about a little chorus of "Viola is a w*****" La, la, la, la, la, la, la - scans quite well

Beautiful early morning in Chorley. As I got near to Manchester airport it clouded over about 10.30 Right now it's cloudy and cold near the airport, snow wouldn't surprise me but dry all day so far

Just phoned up for an extra ticket and was EIGHTH in the queue