You just know that as soon as we are being taken seriously as contenders for 4th, it is all going to fall apart for Rovers. We are bound to get reffed out of it against Liverpool. Liverpool might be good enough to do it without any help- that Manc draw with Sunderland means the scousers can dreamof second again and Spuds will be fancying their chances against the Mancs on Monday. It will still be an interesting afternoon today- I expect that 4th will look a long way away when all the games have been played but Bolton and Wigan will both lose to make 6th more within reach provided we don't blow up on the run in.

In 2002 we had a 26,000 average gate and ticket discounts produced above average crowds. In 2006 we have a 20,000 average crowd and ticket discounts have not produced an above average crowd in any of the four games they have been tried in. I don't understand it either.

Excellent post Tris. At the end of the day, there is a breach of copyright committed by the Pubs. They legally bought an illegal product but my recollection of the law is that the illegal product is returnable to its rightful owner. As BSkyB have established the apetite for Prem games around the World, they will steadily up the price to foreign broadcasters. It is like a promotional sale to introduce Argentinian wine at the moment- wait 'til we get the taste and watch the price rise. Clough got it right- in time real prices for live attendance will drop to near to nothing and as the Mancs et al HAVE to bump their prices up, Rovers will start winning new audiences on price competition. Of course, this depends on the Prem hanging together collectively but it is such a life and death issue that apart from the kamikazes at Newcastle, most Prem clubs are now in the hands of the most professional management they have ever had. In my view, Rovers are very fortunate not to have redeveloped the Riverside. In a few years they will HAVE to redevelop it to provide a massive behind the scenes pleasant supporter environment which is superior to the pubs and clubs. The ticket price will have fallen but Rovers will make their money out of hosting thousands of people for hours and hours outside of match times- it will cut traffic congestion as well. At present, nobody in their right mind would prefer the concourses to being in a pub- that is going to have to change.

Very pleasantly surprised Pompey got a point after that first half! 'arry's post match comment is a classic: "Lua Lua went off and did his treble back somersault with pike and twisted his ankle. It wasn't the cleverest thing he's ever done." So the finger nail chewing goes to the armpit (but rather our "worries" than Pompey's). Next two games gives us the dubious benefit of knowing what the other challengers have done. Arsenal's remaining fixtures look reasonably straightforwards except for a couple of meaningless games against Villarreal in the mix. As Waggy says, Spurs have a couple of very tricky ones. But so do we. Looking to season end, five wins out of five will see Rovers cheering Barca in Paris, four wins and a defeat might well be enough to get fourth. However, Spurs' four points advantage with five to play is beginning to look a decisive edge. Trouble is we might well lose the next two and it will still have been a great season even if we do. 54 points from 35 should still see us in 6th and a certain UEFA slot but a nail biter to defend it over the last three games.

I think we did too good a job softening up Pompey. No way are they going to come back from going behind again.

No doubt there is a substantial legal bill although I think the rest of the Prem were backing the Rovers in this.

Ask the medics? Is there a doctor on the board?

If Rovers lose, we'll know about it. If it goes to an out-of-court settlement, we won't know as neither party will want it publicising- the insurance industry to avoid others being encouraged and Rovers to avoid other clubs bumping up transfer prices. If Rovers win, both parties might petition some form of secrecy of settlement details. So could be we won't hear.

Gav will win his bet in one game!

http://www.thesoccerforum.net/2006/04/10/s...-blame-bellamy/ More Bellamy gems as the Press finally get him to talk to them.

http://www.thesoccerforum.net/2006/04/10/s...-blame-bellamy/ More Bellamy gems as the Press finally get him to talk to them.

Given Emo had a lot of time to see it coming over, why didn't he get his head onto it? Even he would have netted that one. Much easier chance than the one that fizzed by MGP two minutes earlier when he was two yards out with two defenders and the keeper diving in.

Rooney can have March player of the month for his one man demolition of Arsenal yesterday.... The Guardian match report gives an interesting insight into Bellamy... Blackburn, pushing hard for Europe, were equally frustrated, having twice surrendered the lead. Craig Bellamy, whose lack of charm off the field is as pointed as his qualities on it, as Newcastle would confirm, scored two fine goals with the first of exceptional quality. Bellamy walked out of the tunnel to warm down afterwards and said: "With defending like that we deserve [nothing]. We want to be up there where the elite are and to do that we've got to see out matches like this. But this is a tough place to come. "I didn't lose my way at Newcastle," he added, touchily, after another question. "I proved my ability but it's not nice when you're being branded a destructive influence. At Blackburn everyone has supported me." Bellamy is probably the difference between an average side and one challenging for a Champions League place "Craig has his critics but he's playing some great stuff," said his manager Mark Hughes. "He's always been demanding of his team-mates. I don't have a problem with that. He just wants to be the best he can be."

RFW is talking up the Mancs' title chances. I don't know about that after ten man Chelsea destroyed West Ham yesterday but our game against Chelsea could be interesting. The remaining fixtures of the top two are of course disrupted by our Chelsea fixture being delayed by the FA Cup semi-final. REMAINING GAMES CHELSEA Bolton (a) Everton (h) Man Utd (h) Blackburn (a) Newcastle (a) MAN UTD Sunderland (h) Tottenham (a) Middlesbrough (h) Chelsea (a) Charlton (h) Of course, it is handy for us that Chelsea are going to Bolton and the Mancs going to Spurs with both of them having to win (yes, I am discounting Sunderland getting anything except relegated at OT). Run that fixture list forwards and Chelsea will come to Ewood either as Champions if they have beaten or drawn with the Mancs at Stamford Bridge or just one point ahead of the Mancs and the whole country willing us to beat them if RFW conjures a win down there in the Chelsea v Mancs game. Of course if we beat or draw with Chelsea to keep the Championship alive on the last day then Alan Shearer's farewell will be over-shadowed by Chelsea beating Newcastle to win the Prem at St James' Park or Newcastle handing an unlikely Premiership trophy to the Mancs. Either way, it would seem to be a rich metaphor for the end of his career.

Sorry to interupt the doom and gloom but is that a 6 point gap I see between us and 7th place? 4 Tottenham 33 15 58 5 Blackburn 33 6 54 6 Arsenal 32 28 53 7 Bolton 32 7 48 8 Wigan 33 -2 48

Watching Liverpool against an out-of-sorts Bolton. Liverpool are certainly beatable based on the first 40 minutes.

Ever thought of becoming a Pro-zone salesman AESF? Sounds like they need a license at Ewood.

Gav ought to win his bet now. In fact if the Blackburn/Liverpool public's imagination is grabbedby Sunday's game, the leeway could be made up in one match- surely 28,000 is a feasible number? Signs that things are going rightish behind the scenes. But even with the drummer, Rovers gets a huge thumbs down for crowd atmosphere.

4th is still possible as 69 points is still possible- it "just" needs 5 wins out of 5! Granted an Arsenal win at Man U will push 4th into the realms of extremely unlikely. We should be able to top the other clubs in the race. Spurs were not convincing against a very wonky City (5 defeats on the run for them now) and are definitely going to drop points. The big question is whether Rovers are seeing a slow unravelling of good form as opponents work us out or an Easter Sunday revival? 5th is still very possible and 4th could be with some good fortune. Arsenal are a point behind us at the time of writing.

Having watched it live, we were comfortably the better footballing team but allowed them a good start and to recover after both goals. Hughes will be very angry that probably precisely what he spent all week coaching the lads not to do is exactly what happened. Thankfully Neill and Sav can start tackling again. Reid didn't have a good game but he stood upand was counted. The problem with MGP, when he plays badly, he disappears in a powder puff. Bentley was the only creative element in midfield and besides Bellars brilliant swivel and shot, the second goal was all down to him. We did control chunks of the game but made very little from it. The prime reason for that was that Dickov was even worse than he was against Wigan. He was very fortunate not to get sent off and I am sure the ref compensated by booking Bellamy the first time he opened his mouth when pulled up for an offside which was marginal but a correct call. After these two games, I rather hope City take Dickov off us. I would not be surprised if Hughes were not looking for two strikers this summer. The clubs we compete at the top end usually have four international quality front line strikers (that is how Boro hjave survived to the UEFA semi-final) and we have got one with the others basically Championship players living off rich pickings.

Once again, where is this stupid negativity coming from? After we had lost at Spuds we were looking at five winnable games. We won 3 drew 2 lost 0. 11 points out of 15 against 5 banana skin teams. What the ^^^^ is there to moan about??? We have the best striker at Ewood since Shearer, the best keeper we've ever had and a pretty decent set of players in between. Hughes is absolutely spot on with his comments once again which is a heck of a lot more than can be said about some folks' hearing or reasoning.

Franchise United The Glazers' take over offer revealed that they would have to pay £61m a year in interest before they took another £109m loan at 11% interest to cover the interest payments for the first two years. £21m profits (last published accounts) doesn't go very far in that context. Whether Glazer has re-financed or not will be reflected in whether he sticks to the transfer fee cobenant- £60m max over five seasons with a £26m limit in this season with the season limit progressively reducing as he moves towards the 2010 deadline of repaying the Hedge Funds or handing over control. Anyway, the Mancs late run this season has saved RFW from the chop as Gill has confirmed he will be boss for next season. The more this goes on, the more likely a Clough-style denouement becomes.

Fantastic preview- like the addition of the Toffee! I hadn't realised that our recent record against Liverpool is so bad so it must be time for Sparky to impart that magic again. Man U's record against Liverpool was dire for twenty odd years but when the Mancs started winning that fixture, they didn't stop. Liverpool's motivation will be interesting. If the Mancs beat Arsenaland Sunderland at home, Liverpool will be close to being out of the race for second. Equally, if Arsenal are beaten and Liverpool beat Bolton, they will be within one point of making 3rd place a mathematical certainty when they come to Ewood. I wonder what Bennitez is going to do with the luxury of five meaningless fixtures at the end of this season? For Rovers, to keep a realistic CL chance, it will be a must win if we haven't collected three points at Pompey this afternoon and a "don't let that gained ground go" game if we have won at Fratton. But then we have been saying things like that for a few games now and hopefully will be looking at a tenth "Cup Final" fixture when we play City.

Have a look at the start of the thread... and their profit is towards half that in the last two seasons.

The League Cup win for the Mancs, even with their big gates was probably worth about as much as the Arsenal v Juve two legger. So the Mancs (Glazers) are still in the soup unless they have or are in the process of substantial re-financing. The G14 break-away is probably what the Glazers are banking on at the end of the day. The Prem are very sensible moving to get the next TV auction done in the next few weeks and including internet rights as part of it. The Glazers are held by their promise not to break collective Premiership rights and hopefully there are enough clubs to get the 14-6 majority to redistribute the income more evenly. If I were Abramovich, I'd vote for redistribution just to cripple the Mancs. The national debt of Malta is only a bit bigger than that of the Mancs.