I was too young to be at the 1960 games but I can certainly confirm the game at Pompey. In fact we had been one down at Ewood (neil Webb scoring) and came back to win 2-1. Then at Pompey in one of my all time favourite games, we went 2-0 down (Neil Webb scored both of them) and stormed back to win 4-2 with a Garner hattrick- the last scored when he was flat on his back and still managed to hook the ball in. Garner's second included a mesmerising piece of wing work by Brotherston who I am sure beat his full back three times before crossing to Garner who had made space for himself on the edge of the area and volleyed it home. Delirium on the open end!

Tomorrow is Everton's 4,000th game in top flight football for the anoraks out there. They are easily ahead of all other clubs. I like this Everton preview of the game. Makes a lot of good points. I liked the description of Emerton as a rich man's Stan Lazaridis.

A (temporary?) solution to the squirrel problem.

Brilliant deal by Rovers! According to Newcastle's accounts, they paid £1.65m compensation to Rovers to pinch our failing management team. Even better- Glenn Roeder might step up to take charge when Souness is sacked. What would the world of football comedy do without Fat Freddie and Newcastle United?

More good news for Gav.

I will just say: Blackburn Rovers 0 Newcastle no midfield 3

Can I suggest the answer is you are all correct? 1) Savage is one of the best midfielders in the Premiership. The evidence is not only in the Optim and Opta statistics but in the fact that, mysteriously, the best midfields in the country somehow don't get going against Rovers. Arsenal on Saturday being the latest case in point. 2) That said Savage has recently been making mistakes which directly led to goals- all three Arsenal goals involved Savage "failures" if you are being harsh and moaning about a blonde haired mop being close to where the action was. Number 2 came straight from a mis-hit Savage pass. Sounds like one of the Charlton goals was down to Savage as well. 3) Savage does go in for histrionics which are downright embarassing and often stray into the realms of being disgraceful. To what extent this is the nature of the player or simply goes with the territory of putting the opposition's professionals off their game, I don't know, but some of it is pretty nauseating.

In other words, Bentley isn't a natural forward. Shame about the Rovers supporters missing the game but surely it is better to watch the game seated than be stood up outside the ground?

Great preview 1864- glad your mate Ste rates Duncan McKenzie so highly amongst the great players that have graced the Toffees in recent decades. I cannot see Everton winning this one which has set alarm bells ringing that we'll come a cropper! Given Rovers seem to be making a habit of winning spectacularly, I'm going for a rousing 4-2 (I know Everton don't score but something not quite right at the back for Rovers at the moment) to bring the punters back to witness the following week's dull as dish water 0-0 with the Hammers.

Brilliant result and well done everyone for making this thread such an entertaining read! Of course, I had the benefit of knowing the result. The press seems to be focussing on Charlton's woes rather than the Rovers' achievement - so when did they become more interesting than us? Very good news to see three fringe players scoring- the increase in competition for places can only be good. Does the flak Savage received from some quarters mean that Steven Reid had a good game? On the down side, our defence was described as "sleepy"- was that Todd or has some of the lustre gone from the Admiral? Whatever, a brilliant result. Would prefer not to be facing Arsenal or Man U next round but whoever we draw home or away is going to be a tough match at this stage. Half the clubs left are Lancastrian so there is a three in seven chance of getting a derby draw to get the pulses racing. One side point, I clicked on a story about Rovers and found I was reading about Doncaster. Those lads from Donny are doing very well but they've got to remember there's only one Rovers....

It is frustrating that of the youngsters coming through, the two with the most natural gifts are the two which seem to have had the biggest mindset problems- Gally and McEveley. Hopefully Jay's injury is not serious but if its the knee that was dislocated it could be a big problem. Incidentally, Drench is out on loan at Morecambe so it is still six out with the return of Jemal. If any of the loanees are to break through into our Premiership side, I'd expect to be hearing rave reviews by now. That isn't happening which could explain the decision to have three youngsters training with the senior squad now. Combined with the emphasis on youth in the Reserves, the Rovers are showing that youngsters can progress from the Academy which must help the club in recruiting the better talent out there. I noticed that Chief Scout Terry Darracot has retired by the way. Been with the Rovers 12 years and has been a good servant of the club.

Chelsea are averaging 3 goals per game at Stamfoed Bridge and Arsenal are averaging 2.4 per game at Highbury.

Interesting read AESF. A couple of corrections - only the North End and Clock End will be demolished and new built, the other two stands will be converted and the pitch will become a communal garden- a bit like it is now but they'll change the grass mono-culture. - Kuqui's shot actually went out for a throw in several yards upfield from the goal line. Kuqui is not my idea of an ideal forward. But I wonder if certain posters would give him as much stick if he were called Cook and came from Kirkham? Incidentally I agree that some French buildings have a lot to teach the English. Especially as much of it is designed by British architects who have to go to France to find clients willing to pay for their brilliant designs.

Andy Reid played in the same game the guy who wrote that piece watched yesterday.

No wonder the world is a strange and terrifying place for you if you misunderstand so much when you read. The subject of my sentence was Blackburn Rovers, not Zura. i.e. The current Blackburn Rovers squad + a quality striker signing + a creative midfielder signing + Zura signed permanently = a Blackburn Rovers side good enough to expect to get points when visiting Arsenal. PS Both you and den are right about Savage. Most teams visiting Highbury get mauled in the midfield (even post-Viera) and Savage was the single most important reason Rovers turned in such a good performance. Having said that, Savage lost the ball cheaply at the end of the First Half and two passes later it was in the back of our net. Arguably, he should have been tracking back with Fabregas to stop him getting time and space 30 yards from goal for the Arsenal opener and van Persie skinned both Gray and Savage for that stunning third.

The bet looks a bit safer now- Wigan's gate against Spurs yesterday was almost identical to the gate we got against Spurs at the start of the season. With Wigan now slipping down the table, their gates will probably slide as well.

Their interest in Rovers is whatever Jack told them it should be. They are acting in trust to execute the wishes of Jack Walker. I think its therefore fair to say they are exercising both a financial and a sporting interest- the track record since 2000 would support that not least the way they released the best part of £20m to keep Rovers in the Prem the season we came up. That is the reason why I am allowing myself a hint of optimism about the transfer window but whether funds are available I am certain will be crucially dependent on the next six/seven league games. Lose the lot and they might dig deep to buy someone to keep us out of relegation trouble. Win enough of them and they might dig deep to secure a decent shot at Champs League qualification. A middling performance and I think they will be very careful. Does that bring us back on topic?

I have no idea and doubt BRISA will get an answer either as these sorts of documents are quite rightly kept very private. There is the capital sum and annuity we all know about plus the ability to distribute surplus funds made by Walker Trust businesses to beneficiaries which include Rovers- the proportions seems to be a tightly kept secret. We have seen that the Trustees are allowed to make loans and convert those into capital contributions as they have done that. Whether the Trustees are allowed to increase the share capital (Rovers have very nearly issued all the shares they are authorised to) or make part or total disposal of the club is completely hidden. If there is a clause in there requiring "Rovers to wash its face" as Jack had said on occasions, we are in trouble. On the other hand Jack might have inserted words telling the trustees to cough up if the Manager asks but that seems unlikely remembering Souness weeing with the willy he's got but I suspect such leeway would also be conditioned by the level of confidence the Rovers' Board had in its Manager's judgement. Of course, there maybe limits in Jack's Trust document- ratios and absolute numbers beyond which the Trustees cannot go in funding the Rovers in which case we could be stuffed already. The most likely scenario is that there is some broaqd directional wish to support the Rovers which is subject to interpretation by the Trustees. As such they are bound to listen to the opinions of the family in deciding how to interpret the document Jack left. If I were the family, I would have been much better pre-disposed to saying positive things about the Rovers if average attendances at Ewood hadn't fallen by 7,000 in a little under four years. But the ultimate decisions are made by the Trustees and the family can only offer their views and wishes. John Williams is probably mounting a massive charm offensive right now with the Trust, his fellow-board members and the family arguing that we've got a gem in Mark Hughes. Trustees should back Sparky with cash as Rovers have a fantastic opportunity to move up to a higher level right now both financially and in football success at a cost which is far less than would likely be needed in the future. To that extent, it is enormously beneficial to have a Chairman and a Managing Director who are so highly regarded and have the credibility to argue the case for the Trust advancing money to the Rovers. On the other hand, the Trust has not liquidated any assets to the best of my knowledge so whilst not hard up, it might not have the odd few million lying around looking for a home. But that is all pure guesswork. Jack would have been balancing his instructions between the interests of his two great loves- the future of his family (for generations to come) and the Rovers. What would you write into your Will if you had been Jack?

Agree about Thomo starting on Wednesday- would be hard to drop either Sav or Reid but remember we prospered against Charlton at Ewood with Emo having one of his best games for us. Nice problem for Sparky to have. Bellamy has a £6m release clause to any Champs League qualifying team which can be exercised this summer ONLY. Chelsea and Liverpool don't worry me but the Mancs and Arsenal (numerically replacing Berkamp) do give me concern as both are cash-constrained as would practically any other club disrupting the "big 4"- except Newcastle! I agree that based on yesterday's performance, Rovers are probably just one creative midfielder and a quality striker plus Zura's permanent signature away from being good enough to go away to Arsenal EXPECTING to come away with at least a point. Exciting times to be a Rover.

Man City apart, we've played excellent football in all our recent games from what I've seen and read so now there is no reason why we shouldn't give it a really good go in all the games coming up from now to the end of 2005 (add Wigan away and Pompey home on Jan 2 becomes a bonus- the way Wigan have started their run of fixtures against top half teams suggests they will not be looking anything special by the time we go there 31 December). This period is the one that will define our season as Rog has pointed out. The overhang of away games played gets evened out by a run of more home than away games so this is also a big challenge to the Rovers supporters who do turn up to forget the empty spaces and generate a great atmosphere at Ewood. In my view, West Ham is going to be the litmus test to see how far we have improved since that totally unexpected embarassment in the second half at Upton Park. Everton is a tricky one- local derby against a good team on paper that is badly misfiring is a one-off game which could go wrong without being a pointer for either side. Feeling optimistic so I am not going to suggest how many points we will get from this run. However, if we have designs on European qualification through our league position, par for the course to 31 December has to be set at 12 points- 3 wins and 3 draws- defeats against Boro, West Ham and Wigan have to be avoided. Opening the Transfer Deadline period on 30 points would hopefully give the Trustees sufficient confidence of a decent pay out from Sky with relegation a sufficiently remote possibility this season to be willing to back Sparky with a bit of investment in the transfer market if he finds some amenable targets.

Downright disloyal of Jack to go and die of throat cancer like that, wasn't it Vinjay?

Sorry- missed out the word 'away' when I typed that.

Feeling pretty flat apart from not being able to forget the rather dirty looking lady who anchored the French TV coverage of the game. The French have MGP and Toogs v Fulham as the Premiership's 3rd and 4th best goals of the season so far BTW. We didn't look like getting a point but 3-0 is a travesty of a scoreline- but not as outrageous a result as the Newcastle game. We had more attempts on goal and shots on target than the hosts. Good points: - we knocked it around really well and we certainly quietened the Arsenal supporters in the bar. - Bellamy again looked a class act - Best game for a while from Reid. - MGP, Savage, Emo had decent games - Thommo looked sharp when he came on. Bad points: - Todd should not be playing in place of Zura - We missed the class Tugay would have given us. - Gray is a bit vulnerable to lapses of concentration again - Was it 8 corners we had? Anyway 7 were rubbish - Kuqui isn't the guy to unpick a top class defence, particularly when Sol Campbell is even bigger and uglier than he is - Reid's shooting was a lot more adjacent than it sometimes is but did he actually get one on target? - Ref was a bit of a homer. Reid's booking was a nonsense and the Arse got freekicks for fouls which weren't given when Rovers were fouled. - We now have the joint worst against goals record in the Prem.

Perhaps this will put the legend that was George Best into context. I was travelling with my parents in Estern Europe in 1966 whilst the World Cup was happening. I lost count of the number of times the conversation went: "Where are you from?" "England" "Ah! George Best".

Thanks for posting that Flopsy. Left me breathless watching it (makes me almost thankful Rovers got relegated before colour TV!- a couple of shots of Blackpool chasing Best's shadow there).