I thought the fifth day might not happen Went for the Friday as I'm told there is a good chance of seeing both sides bat rather than one side just sat at the crease all day! Apparently we have seats side on to the wicket so I have a fighting chance of seeing the ball. Tell you what I know bugger all about this except I have a VERY excited 12 year old on my hands. Isn't sport just fantastic.

Hope to see you there Scotty. Our Matthew loves cricket and is a junior member of LCCC; this entitled him to make an early application for the Test. We applied about three weeks ago and got the letter on Saturday.

Just got a message to say our four tickets for the Friday, 12th August, have been allocated and will be sent out in March. My first Test Match, better be a good one.

Quite agree phil and I've been vociferous in my opposition to anything other than a 3.00pm Saturday. just thought I'd better own up about quite liking the 5.15 ones. Not keen on any other times though and I agree with all you say.

Blackburn Rovers have been handed an away tie at Ninian Park against Cardiff City in the third round of the FA Cup. With all the current Welsh connections it was perhaps inevitable the Rovers would be drawn against Welsh opposition. Looking for good omens in the cup draw? Well there are no all PL ties and 13 PL clubs have been drawn against Championship opposition, along with Man Utd v Exeter and Yeading v Newcastle this should make for an exciting weekend of cup football, possibly leading to a very open competition in the following rounds. Rovers recent record in Cardiff is of course very good, winning 2 - 1 on our last visit to the city. More of the same please lads Ties to be played on the 8/9th January Arsenal v Stoke Swindon/Notts Co v Middlesbrough Man Utd v Exeter Plymouth v Everton Leicester v Blackpool Derby v Wigan Sunderland v Crystal Palace Wolves v Millwall Yeading v Newcastle Hull v Colchester Tottenham v Brighton Reading v Stockport/Swansea Birmingham v Leeds Hartlepool v Boston Milton Keynes Dons v Peterborough Oldham v Man City Chelsea v Scunthorpe Cardiff v Blackburn Charlton v Rochdale West Ham v Norwich Sheff Utd v Aston Villa Preston v West Brom Rotherham v Yeovil Burnley v Liverpool Bournemouth v Chester Coventry v Crewe Watford v Fulham Ipswich v Bolton Portsmouth v Gillingham Northampton v Southampton QPR v Nottm Forest Luton v Hinckley/Brentford

Yep, I listened quite carefully yesterday, I was that bored I had to do something. There was little doubt the drummer was joining in rather than starting songs. PLus I thought he was quite restrained in his beating. It was clear there was little singing to be heard other than 'Blue n White Army', 'Get Into 'em' and the usual stuff. Didn't hear 'You are my Sunshine' but there was chorus of When The Blues Go Marching In' So where were all the classics?

Spot on, absolutely correct.

Dark Sky ahead Initially I was very against the idea of 5.15pm kick offs but after two in a row my view has changed. I appreciate this isn't good for the travelling fan, home or away, but I like having the whole day in front of me and footie. In our household Saturdays are busy and most things come to a grinding halt at 1.00pm as we start to get ready for the game. The late kick off makes a big difference to the day and I actually prefer this to a 3.00pm KO. On the attendance debate, a conversation I had with a club insider suggests it is NOT just Rovers who are struggling to sell seats. Apparently even the top three are finding this increasingly difficult, although their problems are masked to some extent by their crowd size and perhaps also because there is strong demand from casual fans who have not been able to purchase tickets in the past.

He was complimentary about Rovers as a club and the current team on Radio Rovers

Well then.......we didn't play badly just lacked any sort of creativity. Rovers were up against a Spurs side with fewer attacking ambitions than a herd of manicly depressed lemmings in cold turkey.............and we still couldn't score or even begin to create a decent chance, Gally's one shot accepted. God that was boring.

Just a reminder guys One question for all the critics, how is it we never hear any of these classic songs and chants? The drummer probably only plays for 20 minutes at most in a game. Leaves you 70 minutes to prove your point - will we hear you on Saturday? I shall be all ears ...... but I don't think I'll be surprised.

Speaking of waggy, which we weren't, but as an aside can anyone fill me in on where he went after Rovers? Certainly a name conjure memories from the past but I haven't a clue what happened to him after leaving Ewood. Bought a pub? Carried on playing?

Scott Sellars and Damien Duff - are we talking club legends or greatest players? Even if we answer the question it's still difficult to chose between the two. Thinking about Sellars, he comes from an age when football was different, maybe better. My over-riding memory of Sellars is of him on the far side of the pitch, the pitch was crap, facing the Darwen End, head down and looking disinterested. Very often Simon Barker would swing a ball out from the right and Sellars would be off. Skinny and light-weight in appearance he used to look too frail to be a footballer, common-sense said the right-back just had to whack him and that would be Scotty done for the game. He did get whacked a few times but more often than not he left defenders looking pretty stupid. Scotty scored in the second most memorable game I've seen at Ewood. Two nil down in what, ten minutes, to Derby County, the season lay in tatters and from somewhere the team found four goals to send the Ewood crowd wild with delight. The rest is history, without Sellars we might not be here today? The only game I can recall to match that one is Newcastle in 95 - VE Day. Damien Duff - Scotty has said it all in an excellent post. I would only add that Duff is fabulous, fabulous player and, importantly, a true role model for the young fans of today. How can we decide between the two? Personally I would argue Scott Sellars playing in the PL would be every bit as good as Duff. Give Sellars the pitch, the training facilities, fitness regimes etc. and his talent would have developed even further than it did. I suspect my vote will be as much for football past than for the player himself. I can't see much else to chose between the two finest left-wingers to grace Ewood in my time.

I'm pretty indifferent about the drummer but I'm full of admiration for anyone who is prepared to beat his hands raw every game for the team. One question for all the critics, how is it we never hear any of these classic songs and chants? The drummer probably only plays for 20 minutes at most in a game. Leaves you 70 minutes to prove your point - will we hear you on Saturday? I shall be all ears ...... but I don't think I'll be surprised. Or is it just another moan?

All I can say is I was out of my seat appealing without even seeing the replay. It was a nailed on hand-ball.......a couple of weeks ago we would have conceded the goal, if you get my drift. I feel we are beginning to make our own luck, working very hard, the players are amazingly fit, defending and attacking as a team. An excellent all round performance today. My only concern is we should have scored at least two more. We don't have a player who will get 15+ in a season so it is essential the midfield take turns to pile forward into those positions. We can't rely on our strikers for every goal. Emerton, Reid and Ferguson should be capable of 5-6 each in a season. Bring on Spurs!!!!!!!!! - a very big game if we are still level on points (come on Boro make it a perfect weekend).

Having little to do at the moment I googled a couple of names PEDRO (Accronym) Pneumatic Energy Detector with Remote Optics ________________________________________ No entry found for Ostenstad. Did you mean Astounded?

That's right Paul mate, we'll get you one way or the other ! Now that's enough comedy - like Scotty said can we get back to bickering please.

This is an attempt to help - it's our job around here. Can I just remind the MB of a couple of things for everyone's benefit: It's always a good idea to try to understand the style of a poster. With members such as tashor it can be a little tricky Give folk the benefit of the doubt (something I'm getting better at ) Secondly these racism topics do get a little heated. This puts admin in a difficult position. If we close the topic to avoid the rows we are straight back to the censorship arguement, leave it open and things deteriorate. We like the site to be self-policing and occassionally we have to ask everyone to cut out the jibes, especially so on these topics. This is not aimed at any single individual, please just play nicely. Thanks Paul

Now i'm sure admin can delete threads - where's the button gone Glenn?

Oh good......I'll be back later when I've found my sense of humour

I'm probably setting myself up here - are you serious about that bob? £5m after 3 games? and a total of £13m?

My kind o' poster you are buddy There again I'm a rabid racist bully-boy... Nice to see another intolerant fascist join us here... You take the Yids and I'll deal with the Coons... WELCOME................... @#/? Before telling tashor he's a @#/? it might be worthwhile reading some of his other posts - this would give you a flavour of his style. A style that is referred to above. Everyone: While I'm at it this is a topic that always raises the level of debate. It would make life simpler if the personal insults that a number of members have made could be stopped. It isn't necessary and defeats your own arguement. Thanks

Just goes to show it's always worth checking asecond reference book!