American. You are in a pub or restaurant with a half-eaten meal and a half consumed drink, nobody smoking. A non-smoker walks in and doesn't light up. A smoker walks in and lights up. Can you tell the difference and the need for a ban? Malta has changed from a place where restaurants, cafes and bars were purgatory for our family to be being extremely pleasant- we can go anywhere since the smoking ban came in a year ago. Sure, there are a few places where its not enforced but they aren't places we would go to anyway. But if we go into a non-smoking environment, we can keep it that way.

They are all massive games now but boy are we going to kick ourselves if we don't draw level on points with Spuds on Monday night.

On the basis of the first half of Brum v Chelsea, I remain convinced that our season's defining games will be at Pompey and Brum and that Chelsea will be beatable.

Having listened to the Boro commentators three times this season, I have to say I quite enjoy Bernie Slaven and his side kick on www.100centuryfm.com Put them on just now to listen to the Basel v Boro game.

I am amazed nobody wants Big Phil.

1) The guy still has awful positioning and concentration lapses but I am struggling to think of right backs I would swap him for. 2) OK WC year, he's producing the goods- its down to our management to keep him producing. 3) Massive sign of confidence in Rovers all round if he signs a 4 year deal BEFORE Germany. 4) If he gets snaffled after a good WC, his transfer fee will be astronomical if he's signed the 4 year deal.

1) Our executives are well paid but extremely parsimoniously paid by Premiership standards. You would probably find that their pay looks as bad at the bottom of the Premiership league table as our attendances do. 2) Revidge, just ask yourself- what is the most discretionary outlay a football club has? I doubt you will find anything as easily controlable as transfer fees. That missing seven figure number probably DIRECTLY equates to transfer fees not spent.

I keep telling you folks, there will be Rovers fans in Paris cheering for Barca...

The £13 yield per seat is borne out by taking annual income from attendance and dividing by total annual attendance. I think they take the Executive packages and boxes into the Commercial heading. The decline in attendance from 26,000 in 2002/3 has cost the club: 6,000 this season, 4,000 last season and 2,000 the season before in average gates. Rovers have averaged playing 23 home games per season so that is 276,000 x £13 not received which comes to £3,578,000 income the Rovers have not received as a result of the gates decline. However, the accounts would suggest a disproportionate drop off in higher-priced tickets pointing to a loss of closer to £5 million. Whether it is £3.6 million or £5 million, there will be calls from supporters to spend that money which doesn't exist in the transfer market this summer.

Well, I still think Jan's post is worthy of a Grooby! ... and if 'drog adds up the numbers on the home page, 50% of BRFCS respondents started supporting in 1989 or earlier. Incidentally, is 'drog auditioning as one of the miserable old gits?

Spuds luck is going to run out. They again did not look convincing. Arsenal is the club that worries me- both for getting 4th or not getting 4th but winning the CL.

jan, that was a superb post. It seems very few people in Blackburn have realised just what they have in the town. In fact hardly anybody on these boards recognise it.

Steve Bruce moaning again.... Can't BIG CLUB do any of this in-fighting in private?

Ahn from Duisburg?

Steven Reid talked up in this Guardian report

Wandering a little off topic but I cannot help but thinking we Rovers fans are a war-wearied jaundiced lot. Look at the table this morning: 1. Chelsea 2. Man U 3. Liverpool 4. Spurs 5. BLACKBURN ROVERS 6. Arsenal Had anyone told me that would have been the top of the First Division Table towards the end of March 2006 at any time between 1966 and 1990, I'd have been absolutely amazed and ecstatic. This Premiership League table is a beautiful wonderful sight irrespective of whether we blow it over the last seven games. Enjoy it, paste it up, savour the moment folks. And for all the jeremiahs out there, it could get better. Stop looking at the Walker/King Kenny years as a one-off. We might just have the best manager in the game of football since Brian Clough. Different style, less spectacular progress but Hughes is potentially THAT good with as good a back room team behind him. And we are in the lucky position that RFW is enjoying an Indian summer with his mouthpiece Bobby Charlton talking about him going on forever. If Man U had doubled over the Rovers and not the other way round, the pundits would have been talking of a genuine race for the Premiership title this season. Chelsea going backwards at the moment is taking the pressure off the Mancs. The most obvious destination were Hughes to leave us is therefore not vacant and there appear to be hardly any other positions in England coming vacant in the next twelve months or so we would have any need to be worried about. I am very confident that we have the set up at Ewood to not only punch above our weight but to punch a great deal harder yet. This is a really exciting time to be a Rover.

He's a cross between both of them. A right tubbing for Brum should set the Baggies up nicely to make a right nuisance of themselves at Spurs. I don't expect anything but a Spurs win but the Baggies have a decent track record at WHL.

For our friend from Hull without a back button. Games in hand are Boro H and Brum A but their regular fixtures are a bit tricky.

Boro 4-3!

Boro defended that like they defended MGP's free kick. Got to fancy Notlob to win this now unfortunately.

Very entertaining Colin. Wigan got elected to the league in place of Southport having set a record for the number of applications made. Another "Cup Final". If Hughes sets the Rovers lads up the right way, we should win either 2-0 or 2-1. Attendance around the 20,000 mark.

Before anyone gets too excited, those two seasons saw 4th place with an abnormally low number of points. The previous three seasons were much more usual with 4th collecting between 66 and 71 points.

When the Rovers are pulled up before the FA at the end of the year for disciplinary reasons, I hope they take the Opta tables of fouls and hand balls etc with them. Whilst it will need a few more Liverpool derby type games (Everton 8 yellow and 1 red!) to rob us of the bad boys spot on cards given, I wouldn't mind betting that our ratio of cards per infringement is easily the highest in the Prem and that we will end the season fairly middling on number infringements committed. That said, I bet Rovers v Chelsea will be tasty on the card count.

Sorry den, I got it wrong. It used to be the case that a caution was mandatory but not any longer. Makes Savage's card v Boro even more puzzling doesn't it?

That should be a red if it prevented a goal scoring chance or a yellow otherwise.