This report says the attempted move was cooked up some time ago and reveals why Rangers think they are in a strong position. Meanwhilst the Newcastle papers are following the story. Interesting how they seem to think £5m is the Rovers' valuation. Apparently there were moves recently to force strict disclosures on agent activities and payments initiated by the Football League but the Premiership big boys vetoed it.

I am absolutely certain that is the agent's game and it stinks. Rangers are as much the victims as Blackburn Rovers are. I think the all round cold language in this report on Sky says it all.

The Scottish edition of The Independent have just speculated that souness will make a bid. I am pretty confident Ferguson will remain at Rovers whilst Rangers are on their own bidding. Much less so when the question changes from stay or go to a choice between places to go to.

Paul, I don't know what the Ferguson deal was for sure but I am reasonably confident of the following: - the "certain" part amounted to £6.5m - of that, a little over £2m seems to be outstanding at the moment (remember Ferguson was bought after Chelsea had paid cash down for Duff and Rangers were desperate for liquidity so I would give that number a great deal of credence) - up to £1m more would become payable contingent on Scottish caps and Rovers' European qualifications I don't think any of that has been triggered. Nothing official has got out about what has been offered. My guess is that despite the Boumsong sale, Rangers are not flush (the £52m rights issue still left them £25m or so in debt). If, as I strongly suspect, John Viola has orchestrated this whole thing, then I expect he has unsettled Barry before going to Rangers and persuaded them to make a bid- quite possibly any silly number just to test the Rovers' resolve. If the £3.5m is true, then it is very cheeky. Rangers have been persuaded to chance their arm and of course it has been in nobody's interest to disclose formally what has been offered. Rovers rejected it without any "waste of fax paper hyperbole" (can't Brum afford a modern fax machine by the way?) and presumably Viola hopes the news of Rangers' bid will cause others to enter the fray. However, this might have been misrepresented. It could be £3.5m cash plus £2.1m debt forgiveness making £5.6m in reality. That would tally with some of the more serious comments in the Scottish papers over the week-end which were in the £5m to £6m bracket. I would expect that the key people at Rovers have decided a price at which they would sell but only three or four people within Rovers and the Trustees are in the know about it after the Parkes debacle. It will go to the full board as and when the bidding gets serious.

1) And your evidence of Newcastle coming into the bidding is what? 2) Ferguson has said nothing yet. Look at what Aberdeen had to say about what his agent gets up to. 3) I'd keep off the abuse of Ferguson as I believce we should be strongly communicating we want him to stay.

I completely agree MB- well said. Ferguson has not yet shown what he is capable of on a consistent basis. However, the combination of some shrewd work in the transfer market and Hughes/Bowen guidance and I believe we should have considerable grounds for optimism that a Rovers built around his talents would become a very attractive and effective force in the Premiership.

I don't know where the £5m number came from. Either Rangers have slammed in a new and seriously big bid in which case Rovers both have time to exploit the window and to make a few phonecalls of their own to other known admirers of Ferguson, or I expect Rovers to fight this one with enormous vigour. If Ferguson is going, it could be a great pretext for Rovers to say they were looking to pair Ferguson with Savage but now that is not possible they are looking elsewhere.

Some quotes from the Aberdeen Press and Journal of 29 November last year: Aberdeen boss Jimmy Calderwood has blasted Charlie Miller's agent, John Viola, for trying to engineer a move for his client. Miller is keen for a move back to the SPL and Viola had suggested he was being earmarked for a switch to Aberdeen. However, Calderwood has now hit back at these claims by suggesting he has little interest in the Brann Bergen schemer. ''It's a case of his agent trying to get him a move. It would be nice for John to phone me and tell me I'm interested, though,'' Calderwood told the Press and Journal. ''That's the normal thing to do. I've not spoken to John and I can't remember the last time we did speak. He's not got any of our players. "When Charlie is fit, he is a very good player. When he was mentioned last time it jogged my memory a little bit because you tend to forget about him being in Norway. "With no disrespect to Brann Bergen, I'm not sure how strong they are but if Charlie can't get in their team, he won't get in ours. "A fully fit Charlie Miller has lots of qualities but if I want to bring him here I'll say it myself, I'll not get an agent to say it.'' A possible insight into Ferguson's agent's modus operanda.

Good point. Interesting to see that Rangers themselves are indicating that John Viola initiated this thing (presumably to avoid tapping up accusations) and that Barry himself is not quoted - yet. If Barry remains tight lipped we stand a very good chance of holding on to him unless Rangers can find a decent amount to pay for him- at least what we paid- and I don't think they are that flush. Remember they still have debts of over £20m after the £52m in jection and they didn't get as much as they had hoped for. I am afraid it is only a matter of time before one or both of Moyes and Souness reckon Rangers have done a good enough job of loosening Ferguson from Rovers. At least in those circumstances we should get a very decent price for him. Great pity because I was really looking forwards to seeing Ferguson and Savage together.

These are rip off prices.

The Scots papers saying Rangers are going to offer £6m is another worrying sign of this being serious. ...and I was really looking forwards to a Ferguson/Savage central midfield becoming one of the best in the Prem.

The person with the motivation in all this is always the agent who gets his cut on the fee. I got worried when the LET ran the story today. I know I said we should be prepared for a lot of departures in January but Barry was not one I had in mind.

The Rovers have not done badly out of me over the past thirty plus years. Anyway waggy go and moan to Cardiff- they are the villains in this case.

Not the brightest thing to do perhaps. The refs will be watching for him now and no doubt the Pompey players will be looking to "test him". As if we don't already have the worst disciplinary record in the Prem.

Try as I might I couldnt find that in the FA Cup rules. It merely refer to decided by agreement. These are the FA Cup Rules. Look at Rule 25 requiring the pricing to be set by mutual agreement then look at where the rule with regards to season tickets assumes that the club's usual pricing applies. That effectively points to usual pricing for games as the expectation for FA Cup games and becomes the de facto guideline where mutual agreement cannot be achieved. Mutual agreement gives both Rovers and Cardiff an effective veto over charging anything other than the home club's usual ticket price. Cardiff have clearly exercised that veto. I don't particularly blame them. At least 1,000 of their supporters will travel for the game and the £24 ticket price is only a portion of their total spend on travel, booze, food, programme, ticket. Do you think any Cardiff supporter will not be coming for one of the biggest games of their season because the entrance ticket is £9 more than they might normally pay? Cardiff will have looked at the Rovers' experience of gates when ticket prices have been decreased- the Bournemouth game in particular. Had 17,000 taken advantage of the lower prices for that League Cup game, Rovers would have had a basis for arguing for heavilly discounting this replay's ticket prices. As it was only 7,000 turned up and so there was never the remotest possibility of Cardiff agreeing to the sort of pricing many on this MB are arguing for. The object of your anger should be Rovers fans not responding to reduced prices, not the club. Fans regarding the FA Cup as something inferior to league games is a very recent phenomenon. It used to be the case that on occasions clubs charged a premium over ordinary league entrance fees for FA Cup games because FA Cup ties drew bigger gates than league matches irrespective of who the opposition was.

No, but the starting point is the Rovers' usual prices. If no agreement is reached, I understand that Rovers Category B prices apply by default. Anything below that has to be agreed by Cardiff as it reduces Cardiff's gate receipts.

Did you read my post above? Cardiff made the decision.

"The cost of the tickets is determined by both clubs. Therefore IF Rovers progress through to the fourth round, we'll have to see how accomodating Colchester are, as opposed to Cardiff City." This is what Lee has posted on the official board. So for all of you moaning about Blackburn Rovers' management, go away!

Shame I am not in the UK because my track record at Pompey is pretty good- seen two wins, one draw (in which we threw away a two goal advantage) and only one defeat at Fratton. With the nightmare February/March just two games away now, it is going to be so important to keep the improvement going. Without doubt, we are capable of winning at Pompey but being so disrupted at the back by suspensions is going to be a big ask to keep the clean sheets going. OK so Matteo might not be a big miss but Lucas Neill has been immense in defense and having both full backs fresh could be a bit too much. On the injury front, Ferguson's groin strain is likely to keep him out of the game but Tugay, Bothroyd and Amo all come back into the reckoning (although the official site omitted mentioning Amo) plus Mokoena and hopefully, Ryan. Presumably the Exeter replay further delays Spector's loan period at Rovers although if Spector were to get a start with the Rovers, this has to be the one with both full backs out. So, I think we will conceed but I am sticking my kneck out and predicting Rovers to score twice at the other end for no other reason than we will have to sooner or later! Portsmouth 1 Rovers 2 with MGP coming off the bench to get a late winner.

The BBC quoting Sullivan saying he wants to leave Birmingham. But the moment Savage uses the same argument Sullivan gets all upset.

Taken from a Norwich web site: "Before Mark joined Reading, new Welsh national team coach Mark Hughes had given him responsibility for the Welsh Under 21 team. Mark was promoted to Assistant Manager for the Welsh national team before joining Steve Bruce in a similar role at Crystal Palace in June 2001. Mark followed Bruce to Birmingham City (again as Assistant Manager) in December 2001 where they led the Blues to promotion to the Premiership via a Play-Off final victory over the Canaries. Birmingham's presence in the top flight and the struggles involved with that led to a club vs country row at the end of August 2002 when Bruce suggested that Mark retires from his position with the Welsh Under-21 squad. Eventually Mark stepped down from his role with Wales. Bowen and Birmingham parted company towards the end of June 2004 due to a contractual dispute." The BBC report: "Bruce wants Bowen to concentrate fully on his coaching duties with Birmingham. Hughes had hoped to find some middle ground with Bruce, but that seemed to have been dashed this week when the Blues manager said there could be no compromise. Although disappointed with the situation, Bowen says he understands the position and insists there is no rift between himself and Bruce. "Bowen said: "Steve Bruce is one of my best friends in football and we have always had a good relationship. There is no fall-out with him about the Wales issue, not one cross word has been exchanged between the two of us. The situation with Wales is that naturally I am disappointed because I have been doing the job with them for the past two years. But Birmingham City has to be the priority over everything and I understand that." "I've never quit on anything but it is a fact that Birmingham have said they need me with them full-time in the Premier League at this juncture. But as things stand I have to concentrate 100% on club matters and there is not an issue with Steve Bruce or anyone at the club about that." Two days later, the BBC reported Birmingham boss Steve Bruce saying: "I cannot see any sort of compromise at all that can happen. We will issue a statement later in the week. Basically, I need him here. He is essential to me. I cannot have him away from the club. Next month, for instance, Wales are away for 10 days. It's bad enough him being away for a day let alone a week." With Wales enjoying one of their best run of results for 10 years, Bowen is understandably reluctant to sever his Welsh ties. "I was gutted not being in Finland, but really chuffed by the result and the performance. I just hope something can be worked out. I missed being involved, but I know Eddie Niedzwiecki stepped in and did an excellent job - we all know what coaching routines we do. I can't really comment on what is going to happen now, but I have talked to Steve Bruce and he knows how important Wales is to me. But I understand that there is a lot of work for me here at Birmingham, certainly at the beginning of the season. I just hope something can be worked out so that I can be involved for the next match with Italy." And although Bruce is sympathetic to Bowen's plight of missing out at one of the most exciting times in Welsh football history, the Blues manager is standing firm. "I can understand Mark Bowen's disappointment as he has done a good job with the national side. But his allegiance must be to our club. I cannot see any way of him even joining the Welsh a day before a game." Taken from the Football Association of Wales: "Birmingham manager Steve Bruce, who was against Bowen keeping both roles, said: "I can't see any way we can compromise." "Wales manager Mark Hughes wanted Bowen to at least continue in some way. When Birmingham made it clear they did not like the arrangement, even if it meant him not joining the international squad untill the day before the match. "But Bruce wants Bowen's services 100% of the time to help Birminghams cause in the Premiership. Bruce said: "The club will be issuing a statement on this matter later in the week but I can't see any sort of compromise at all on this matter because, basically, I need Mark here at Birmingham. He is essential to me." Of course, in the end, Mark Hughes triumphed and Mark Bowen came back as the Welsh Assistant Manager before following Sparky to Blackburn. I cannot find any quotes at the time that Bowen left Birmingham but I remember that Bruce said a few less than pleasant things and I have a recollection that Bowen made a tart riposte about the Brum set-up. I guess that for Bruce this is deeply personal- he cannot stand being beaten by Mark Hughes again although it is interesting to read in Bruce's pre-Christmas diatribes, he was blaming agents and Everton for turning Robbie savage's head!

The same Brum that tapped up David Dunn who had the Brum deal all agreed even before Rovers made their improved contract offer.... This all comes down to a peevish vendetta against Mark Bowen who moved on from St Andrews and spoke out about the nature of the Brum regime. All this ranting is not making it any easier for Savage to make his peace with Brum- but keeping savage at St Andrews is now not what Sullivan is about.

I think you will find that Everton were credited with about 6,500 fans so the price promo for the Charlton game put at most 700 extra into the Rovers' areas. Incidentally, having watched both games, the BBE and Riverside looked to have more empty seats for Charlton than Everton. Even taking your numbers at face value, a 90% reduction for children resulted in a 12% increase in attendance. Without knowing the adult/child mix, it is impossible to calculate but it seems highly likely the club did not benefit financially from the promotion. Let's see what the Cardiff gate is compared with the Bournemouth gate. Unless Cardiff attracts considerably less than 5,000, then the club will have made the correct decision financially. As already pointed out, the pricing would be jointly decided with Cardiff and as beneficiaries of 42.5% of the gate money (and in all probability sending 1,000+ fans who would pay pretty well whatever is asked), Cardiff for sure would not support reduced prices given the poor way the Blackburn public has responded to price promotions since we returned to the Prem. The clinching discussion probably went like this: Cardiff- looking at your recent cup attendances, we anticipate around 9,000 Rovers fans and 1,000 Cardiff fans. Rovers- we normally drop our prices to encourage more to come; typically a reduction by more than half. Cardiff- For us to agree to you dropping the prices by more than half can you must guarrantee that we will get the take from a gate of over 20,000. Can you do that? Rovers- No Cardiff- Charge a price for us both to make the most money then. After all, we do not expect to be still in the Cup so this is our last payday from the competition this season.

That SG (together with the abysmal Charlton attendance) is the rub. THE BLACKBURN FANS ARE NOT RESPONDING TO THE CLUB'S PRICE INCENTIVES. So all the whingeing on here is just so much posturing and hot air. The days of price incentives equalling full houses at Ewood have sadly gone. The club is making the right decision in experimenting with "full" (actually discounted) pricing for this game.

I agree, the guy is not a sympathetic character and the way he has behaved since signing his new contract at Brum is not exemplary. If he has spoken untruths about his parents' health, it is difficult to think of a much lower thing to do. I always felt that Savage, Bruce, Sullivan and Brum deserved each other. In his defence, Sullivan has clearly talked about wanting away from Brum to avoid travel difficulties. No difference for Savage who has a home in the North West already and his parents to consider. Whilst everyone was getting the Brum to Wrexham map out, everyone was forgetting that the Brum training ground is on the south east side of Birmingham adding a lot of time to that particular journey. PS yes I'd forgotten about the booking- at least he'll come to Ewood with his suspension served!