Buying tickets before the 5pm deadline hopefully! I know its just an Asian Betting site but it doesn't half make sweet reading! Now come on Rovers, don't let us down tonight.

Thanks a LET When the home town newspaper spends 75% of its article interviewing Mark Hughes bigging him up for the Manc job, what hope is there? The LET has to be the biggest load of garbage going- sack them and put Jason in charge.

A Burnley view of the Cup. Seems wierd that even those who are willing to pay to see the goals on line cannot do so. I see that the latest goals web site has been busted off the web.

Interesting insight- good to hear that Sparky is creating the same impression inside the club that those of us looking in from the outside are getting. We are obviously in very good hands.

Its on live at Ewood Park at 8pm but you've got to get tickets by 5pm. I think its only on TV internationally. By the way- that weak Man U squad. Am I missing something or did I not see the names of all RFW's current first XI there? Perhaps this quote from the old bruiser is the give away: "I will make changes from the FA Cup game at Burton because I have to look at the City match on Saturday morning." He's telling the truth- he's dropping the second XI he put out at Burton and going full strength tonight.

Is it any wonder the Wigan public are not out in force tonight? 10,000 for a Reserve team match is pretty good in fact.

No

For all those who moan about the stewarding at the Blackburn End- read that article's comments about how a Rangers' fan found our stewarding at the Darwen End. Really embarassing for Rovers.

Sod the post code- sitting at my PC whilst on the phone I could get any postcode anywhere in the World but asking them who eat bananas with their feet or who the Axe is would sort out the chimps!

Anyone spot the logic flaw in this piece by Reuters which has been picked up and used by press around the world (including the Times of Malta which provided this quote)? "Manchester United risk another cup upset tomorrow when a side chastened by drawing with minor league Burton Albion face Blackburn Rovers in the League Cup semi-finals. "Three days after United's humiliating 0-0 FA Cup draw and three before they meet City in the Manchester derby, manager Alex Ferguson has to find a team capable of avoiding defeat in the first leg at Ewood Park. "United, who will face either old foes Arsenal or Wigan Athletic in the final at Cardiff on Feb. 26, have a hectic schedule of matches after adding an unwanted FA Cup third round replay at home to Burton on Jan. 18."

Wonderful! Relegation beckons for sure- BIG CLUB might get ahead of the Baggies but Pompey's new signings will see them safe.

To stop Man U supporters infiltrating on the night. I bet that goes by the board if their are a lod of Rovers fans trying to buy tickets on the night though- first I've heard about it reading it on here just now.

I think you have hit a key point there BNSG. We've always been unfashionable or patronised but the last twelve months has seen a concerted media attack on the Rovers prompted by Whinger and Moanrhino (thaanks Waggy) giving us a bad mouthing after we'd put their teams thru' the mangle. In fact, truth be told, Rovers v Chelsea was one of THE classic games in the Premiership last season. I think the statements from Hughes and JW in the Press are first class but perhaps the club needs some high quality PR management from a London agency (this is something you cannot bring in-house; it cannot be bought that way) to up the profile positively and news manage next time somebody precious gets either a blue or white elbow where they didn't ought to. As for a stunt? Rovers 5 United 0 and some ole football tomorrow night?

It works out as W8 D6 L4. Season to date is W9 D3 L8. W10 D0 L8 in the remainder of the season would also get us to 60 points.

Sorry to quote myself but this was how on 3 January I analysed us getting to 60 points. I thought 60 points was the highest realistically achievable toal then and I still do: Which begs the question, how well can we do this season? Ten home games to go which includes the top three and Arsenal so not quite the benefit of numeric home advantage it looks on paper.- I'd guess four points out of twelve from those games. The other home games include three more derbies- Bolton, Wigan, Man City- given the unpredictable nature of these sorts of games, say five points out of nine. Then three games against strugglers- Villa, Boro and Sunderland- should yield seven points out of nine given the way Hughes has made us more ruthless than Souness did. Away trips to all the relegation-haunted clubs could be tough on the physio room- Sunderland, Pompey, Brum, West Brom should see us unbeaten on those vists, eight points out of twelve. That leaves visits to Everton, Charlton, Newcastle and Spurs- win two, lose two for six points out of twelve. So another 30 points giving a grand total of 60 would seem to be very possible without making any wildly optimistic assumptions. Everton came 4th with 61 points and Liverpool 5th on 58 points last season. Interesting times ahead...

Excellent points by Revidge. I think his analysis of why we have slipped disproportionately is bob-on and should be taken verbatim into the report (even though it adds another writing style!). However, I think Rev missed a point. The report doesn't say the Asian support isn't an issue, it says it is so important an issue that it deserves a separate meeting as a topic on its own if I read it correctly.

Very obviously, we are heading for 50/50 Mancs and Rovers at Ewood tomorrow. At the moment 12,000 people are sitting in 23,000 seats so there are bound to be Mancs everywhere if they sold out the Darwen End last week. Rovers are going to have to win across two away games to get to Cardiff.

RAF, 17 points between 8th and 9th? 17th survives on 31 points when 17th place already has 19 points and there is a January transfer window arms race going on between Pompey and everyone else down there? You obviously enjoyed yourself but I think the final table will be much more traditional apart from Chelsea and Sunderland as outlyers. If Rovers get 70 points, they will be in the Champions League, no ifs buts or maybes. (Liverpool came 5th with 58 points last season)

I was feeling very low about the likely attendance until seeing that Wigan have not yet sold 10,000 for tonight's game. Expected to be 11,000.

From the team picture, even the Academy employs its own PR officer so I'm sure the club does. Unfortunately, PR is only as good as the media its going into and that is distinctly second rate. Superb pieece of work. I agree that the Asian support issue needs to be addressed separately. Here is my tuppence worth: - the big issue is the decline from 26,000+ average gate to 19,000 average gate this season in three seasons of Premiership football- I don't subscribe to the view it will recover appreciably in the second half of the season as there are too many televised games and odd kick-off times. If we were going to get a kick start to this season's gates rising it would come Wednesday night: Man U at home in a Cup semi-final!!! - there is a sub-issue that Kidd's reign got rid of a lot of support that had been acquired by King Kenny but the first two seasons in the Prem seemed to have brought that back. However, the dips in Rovers' form and entertainment value (don't forget Rovers were pathetically unentertaining in addition to only winning 5 home games during two back-to-back seasons), have meant that the 5,000 fans who deserted with relegation have deserted again. In short, we have gone from a base support of 7,000 in the '80s to 17,000 in the '90s/'00s but there is another 5,000 to be had which goes if the entertainment isn't good enough. How do we get that back. - I used to go on the Blackburn End when it was standing. I could pick my spot so there was zero chance of trouble but be close enough to enjoy the atmosphere and join in the singing. I have been on the Blackburn End once since it went all seater- I just did not like being stuck in one seat next to God knows what. I'm not being snobby- the Chavs thread elsewhere on here says it all for me. I go to a football match to be entertained, not watching a drunk in case he throws up over me. Obviously the regulars can pick their seat and the Blackburn End is fine but the first time supporter is taking one big lottery ticket in terms of where they are sitting and with whom, from being deafened by the drummers to being with Grade A Chavs. - Therefore I always go in the JW upper and that is from where the comfortable socio-economic group ABs have gone missing. They don't buy season tickets any more because they have busy lives which cannot fit around all the different kick-off times plus as it has become more deserted, that area it has become less pleasant to be in accelerating the decline. I know that the sort of season-ticket holding family groups I used to be surrounded with when I had a season ticket in the JW Upper don't go any more. - The point about Stadium catering etc. is a good one. This is 2006, there are thousands of good examples of how to serve/shift large numbers of people in small amounts of time without employing armies of staff. Just a matter of good practise but I do think the bar areas etc are terrible (even though they are better than most grounds) if you compare Ewood with spending £32 on a seat at the opera or theatre (that is the price range competition we are in- that has to be the benchmark for facilities). Perhaps more relevant, the best multiplex cinemas should show the Rovers the level they should be aiming at behind the scenes for the non-corporate customer. - Parking is a BIG bug bear. All the places I used to park are now residents only. That adds getting on for an hour to going to Ewood which when that is detracting from the time I would otherwise be spending with aged parents is for me frequently the difference between going and not going when I am in Lancashire. Sprinting from where I used to park to Ewood was OK, running a mile is not on at my age! - Marketing drive aimed at other areas. Driving over from the Fylde on matchdays used to be a solid cavalcade of Rovers scarfs- not any more. That is the largest area of under-footballed population closest to Rovers, go for it in addition to the drive in Lancaster/Morecambe. - TV has made a mess of things but there's nothing to be done about that. However, live illegal TV coverage of games should be stamped out in all bars around Blackburn- that alone I am sure would put 500 to 1,000 straight back onto the gates.

The Bolton reserves are pretty tasty- Vaz Te and Nakata (sp?) amongst those who will be stepping in. Plus Nolan, Davies and one other back from suspension. So no particular African advantage to Rovers. Going to be very tough- everything points to another 0-0 draw.

Good post but going front to back: Start with Dickov and Bellamy- the Mancs will have one if not two debutants so the pace of our two could well spring an unpractised offside trap. Their newbies are unlikely to have had to cope with anyone quite like Dickov before and didn't Rio Ferdinand nominate Dickov as the player he most hates playing against? Kuqi to do what he does best- come on after Dickov has run himself into the ground for an hour and give the Mancs defence an altogether different sort of physical challenge they won't fancy. I expect Hughes will start with Bentley- he has more of a footballing brain and likely to play the odd very good pass. He's also getting an understanding going with Neill and he can have devastatingly good five minutes during a game which Bert rarely does. I don't know how physical Evra will be against him- if Hughes has Evra analysed as a quick brute, Bentley won't start. Otherwise, Bert to come off the bench and hopefully do what could be needed by then- head down and run with the ball to the other end to protect the Rovers' scoreline! Tugay and Savage worked a treat at OT. We are only going to win this one by doing what we did there- taking the game to them. Our passing is going to be the key to winning this one and Tugs on form (as he is now) and having had a little rest could be (needs to be) a more potent weapon for us than Scholes is for them. PLEASE let it be Gray. He certainly had a great game at OT and although he's vulnerable when Christina runs at him with pace, tell me a full back who isn't? Certainly the current large version of Matteo would have big problems. Zura rather than Todd for his pace and better reading of the game. Todd also is slightly more likely to give away free kicks- sometimes really stupid ones. I doubt Todd's added physicality bothers Horseface or Shrek so chose the better footballer in Zura.

Perfect result for Rovers. We had a bit of a stroll against QPR whilst the Manc club will be collectively mad and depressed by their trip to Burton. Even better, they have an extra game before the second leg and judging by the RFW's reaction to the Exeter draw last season will put a full strength side out for the replay.

This QPR web site made Ainsworth their man of the match. Good report by the way.

Just copied this from the BBC web site covering Sunderland v Northwich: "Jon Stead hits the post from three yards when it appeared easier to score after pouncing on Julio Arca's parried shot. Fans are singing "Premiership you're having a laugh" - it is uncertain which set of supporters"