A hasty press statemennt saying one fan was involved is going to look pretty stupid if it turns out several were being racially abusive. There is probably a mass of CCTV footage to wade through and for all we know there could be teams of Sky or BBC Radio people listening to every mike in the ground trying to work out if they are picking up a wheezing asthmatic or monkey sounds. Damage limitation does not have to be public- getting your friends in the media to run more positive stories which is what I believe was happening an hour ago. I would also expect Hughes to be on the phone to Bruce and quite possibly Yorke working the old Manc chums routine to try to minnmise whatever next comes out of Brum. Getting a handle on the clown in the Sun photo is going to be very important to make sure he doesn't give a choice interview to the press. Bruce has said a few more things to the Mirror. Understandable in the circumstances but pretty damming. Why did Yorke go into the crowd to confront these people? I thought pros learnt not to do that after the Cantona incident.

The newswires are now leading with "Rovers investigating claims". Lookslike someone has got up early to startt the damage limitation exercise. This piece in the Trinidad Express mercifully does not mention the alleged racial abuse but puts Dwight Yorke's performances at both Blackburn and Birmingham into perspective.

Some unconnected thoughts: - I think Abbey is right when he says the initial booing was for the linesman. I know I was yelling at the screen and they hadn't shown Yorke coming on. - Once it got going, the crowd made so much noise booing Yorke it became self-sustaining. However, Yorke made so little contribution there was nothing to boo after the origional commotion had subsided. - the Rovers have always booed returning players. I remember Mike Ferguson gettting a huge amount of unwarranted abuse when he reurned with Villa in the '60s and I've always felt the reaction against Shearer was unjustifiable. Johnty goot a bit of stick last night and I was surprised that Dunn was spared. - Yorkie wasn't that bad for us but was still a huge disappointment when compared with what he could/should have been. 18 months of his time at Ewood coincided with the whole club being a huge disappointment so he became a cypher and conduit for the rage and frustration. - Chances are journos from around the world will look at this thread. Chris/Tris tiff- please don't tell me what that was about because I rarely understand Chris' posts! - I never did like Steve Bruce. The sensible thing for everybody would have been to make a quiet but very strongly worded complaint to the Rovers and Premier League. Yorke clearly allowed the altercation to upset him. Bruce has made sure every biggot in the land now knows that. - This is a PR disaster for the Rovers. Every newswire from China to Porrtugal seems to be carrying the story. JW is going to have to use every ounce of his media savvy to rescue the club's good name from this one. - With the Spanish fall out escalating (little matters of an Olympic bid and the future of Aragones as Spanish coach at stake) lots of people have lots of reasons for keeping the actions of those two stupid bitter Rovers fans in the headlines for days to come.

To echo and support the acknowledgement that David Dunn was very quiet about his goal which to me and no doubt to him too, spelt relegation for the Rovers at the time it went in. I thought Dunn played very well last night given the time he has been out and I maintain that keeping him fit is going to be a major factor on whether England pose a serious threat at the 2006 World Cup. It is also clear that Dunn had enough character and backbone to stand up to Souness even though the lad had been letting himself down off the park.

Blackburn Rovers v Birmingham City 3 Goals 3 10 Shots on Target 4 3 Shots off Target 5 3 Blocked Shots 0 6 Corners 9 14 Fouls 10 3 Offsides 2 1 Yellow Cards 1 0 Red Cards 0 74.8 Passing Success 68.8 59 Tackles 54 57.6 Tackles Success 57.4 53.2 Possession 46.8 51.3 Territorial Advantage 48.7 These are the Opta stats. 75% of Brum's on target efforts resulted in goals whereas only 30% of our's did. Shows what a good game Taylor had in the Brum goal.

Agreed- see my earlier post.

"Yorke said he had been abused by TWO home fans as he warmed up prior to his 74th-minute introduction as substitute. "They racially abused him. Dwight is bitterly upset and angry," Bruce said after the 3-3 draw. " This is the report from the BBC which is head lining the Sports Section at the moment. I have put the word TWO in capitals. One of them was intercepted by the stewards for hand gestures if you read on through the report.

I hope there wasn't any racist stuff in the barracking Yorke received. No doubt CCTV will find the clowns if there was any of that stuff. But the headlines are not going to do the Rovers or the town of Blackburn any favours. I thought Yorke was going to make us pay but he was pretty anonymous when he came on. There was a delicious cameo on the Sky commentary. A feed had obviously come through that Yorke was coming on and the commentator announced it. A minute latter we got a shot of Yorke in the dug out pottering about in his track suit "No doubt Dwight Yorke will join us in his own good time". When he eventually appeared "and here is Dwight Yorke wrapped up in his thermals against a cold and wet Lancashire night".

Well that was fun! Would have been great but for two offsides in the Anderton goal and Melchiott running past Jay like he wasn't there for the other two goals. ...and Gally flatfooted watching the action when Maik Taylor spilled that shot most of the way to the penalty spot. But, great entertainment leaving me convinced we are staying up. We'd better because I told the Mancs in the Bar at half time: "If we don't loose this we will stay up, no problem"- so there you have it! Funny thing was they were telling me that the Rovers would get the draw! It is also utterly clear that midfeld is NOT the problem. Ferguson was not outstandng but was still very good. Reid despite the air shot which set up Savage (who I thought looked predictably ordinary) had a blinder and Thompson came on and showed he CAN play centre mid. Emo was up against the joint second tightest defence in the Prem and they certainly showed he is weak on his left foot. If MGP is not good enough to force Emo out of the side, so be it. Up front, Dickov's lack of stature was certainly a problem- he was pushed around all night but the little'un kept going and forced Gally's goal. Matty took his chance well and disappeared, Gally could have been a hero but as I said, did not follow up- unforgiveable if he seriously wants a place in the starting line up with Bothroyd and Stead surely going to come good. We scored three against a super mean defence so I'm not so concerned about buying a forward in January. So folks- all that £xm has got to go on defenders in January and I don't mean players we all have to kid ourselves could be good enough but I am talking serious long term quality. Definitely a central defender of real class and a right back who can push Neill out of the side iif he doesn't rediscover the way he was playing two seasons ago. And I am going to bed with a smile on my face and forget the League table. The win can come at the Cottage.

Read my way through the papers and the online stuff and I am feeling upbeat about today's game for some unknown reason. The Asian pundits are all backing a Brum win and the last time Rovers played at Ewood on my wedding anniversary, we lost 0-2 to Southampton and Roy Hodgson got sacked. I had today marked as the likeliest date for Souey's sacking but Fat Freddie got their first! With the tough games coming up around Christmas, it is going to be very important to keep the unbeaten run going through the next four games (Brum, Fulham, Spuds and Palace). The prize from the existiing run of three draws is that for the first time this month, we go into a fixture knowing a win can lift us out of the bottom three. Anyway, past history supports us as according to the BBC: "The Brummies are yet to record their first victory over Blackburn in the Premiership (two draws, two defeats so far). Their only maximum in 23 League visits to Ewood Park over 50 years was 1-2 on 20 January 1668 in the original Second Division. Their last top flight maximum there was also 1-2 on 28 September 1935." (That was the season the Rovers lost their top flight status for the first time- an ominous pointer if we lose today) No doubt jim can talk us through that seventeenth century encounter.

LeChuck, and the next Tim Cahill is....? Despite USA's reservtions, I like teapreacher's suggestion a lot. It could be the formula to make us really exciting if Stead and Jansen ever recover the form they used to be capable of.

Sorry Tris, what are those numbers? An addition of he four average attendances for Divs 1 to 4?

A rather unilluminating interview with Seve Bruce. I've only met Bruce once and did not find him an appealing character. My guess is the Gold Brothers will be looking rather enviously at Blackburn Rovers and will be wishing they took their chance when Fat Freddie rang them up. As for the suggestion of playing Martin Taylor YES PLEASE Disrupt one of the meanest defences in the Prem and play a defender who won't be able to cope with Dickov's antics. Somehow, I think Rover 6 (and the rest of us) are going to be disappointed by Steve Bruce's team selection and we will not be seeing Tiny tomorrow.

In your dreams Souey...

The rumours are loud enough for Steve Bruce to have issued a denial. It was in The Sun yesterday so it must be true. Had a quick look on the Brum web sites and have read that: Dunn cut his achilles but has had the stitches removed and could be in contention for Sunday, but Dunn's hamstring troubles mean he will not resume training until next week, and Dunn has a serious back problem. One poster suggess that the confusion of stories is reminiscent of what happened before Dugarry's knee problem ended his time at St Andrew's. Whatever the truth is, it is obviously a painful (physically annd mentally) time for David Dunn and I can only wish him the fullest possible recovery. Judging by the performance in Madrid, England desperately needs Dunny back to his very best. Another snippet from the Brum web site: They have scored one goal in the last six games (Anderton at Liverpool) and conceded three. Hmm, no wonder so many pundits plus your's truly are forecasting 0-0. I fear that this is one game we will not come back from behind if we make it 12 out of 14 games in which we let in the first goal. Although, they have problems further up the Park, Brum have their regular back four plus Savage on duty at Ewood- a lot will depend on Emo being able to run past them, Fergie playing some killer passes or a Dickov wind-up special. Incidentally, nobody at Brum seems to be remotely concerned about the stories linking us with Savage. They either don't care, or more probably, don't believe them. With Izzet suspended, we will certainly see Johnty skipping around Ewood from the start and its odds on we will see Dwight Yorke at some stage. So two old boys to cheer on - Tiny Taylor might not even make the bench. Hopefully, this will not be the game when Gronkjaer clicks.

Tony Parkes asks for calm Typical of the man- showing a dignity others had denied him.

I would support that idea from FLB. The combined votes for the nine candidates currently placed 3rd and downwards currently excedes the vote of either of the front runners. The current outcome would not have been predicted from the first vote which Clayton won so easilly so who knows what would happen in a run off with the other nine names eliminated?

Now that's just hilarious. I'll edit that, I will agree, it is a ###### hole. Good job I live just outside isn't it. Slough Come, friendly bombs, and fall on Slough It isn't fit for humans now, There isn't grass to graze a cow Swarm over, Death! Come, bombs, and blow to smithereens Those air-conditioned, bright canteens, Tinned fruit, tinned meat, tinned milk, tinned beans Tinned minds, tinned breath. Mess up the mess they call a town -- A house for ninety-seven down And once a week for half-a-crown For twenty years, And get that man with double chin Who'll always cheat and always win, Who washes his repulsive skin In women's tears, And smash his desk of polished oak And smash his hands so used to stroke And stop his boring dirty joke And make him yell. But spare the bald young clerks who add The profits of the stinking cad; It's not their fault that they are mad, They've tasted Hell. It's not their fault they do not know The birdsong from the radio, It's not their fault they often go To Maidenhead And talk of sports and makes of cars In various bogus Tudor bars And daren't look up and see the stars But belch instead. In labour-saving homes, with care Their wives frizz out peroxide hair And dry it in synthetic air And paint their nails. Come, friendly bombs, and fall on Slough To get it ready for the plough. The cabbages are coming now; The earth exhales. -- John Betjeman

From what I have seen, the only "hard headed" Parkes had to go comments are being posted on this message board. Everywhere else the comments are universally in condemnation of what happened.

A great article in the LET graphically describing the over-exposure of football.

I hate this dead man walking syndrome. It causes untold stress to everyone involved when a decision to make staff redundant or simply fire them has been taken and it has not been enacted. If redundancies are needed, then usually the situation has been brewing for some time. A good senior manager will have already thought through the operational consequencies and morale issues before the meeting is held to decide who exactly will be going. In those circumstances, holding the meeting off site on a Wednesday, taking hand written notes, allowing time for reflection Thursday morning and then holding the meetings with each individual affected on the Thursday afternoon is the best way. If several people are going, the Thursday morning can be used to make sure you know where they are and can check on any atenuating circumstances. Then quietly round them up and have enough relevant people to speak with them individually. In Europe (including the UK) you have to tell redundant staff their position is at risk and give them the chance to suggest alternative ways to work for the company. However, I always insist they take immediate paid leave of absence and ask them to see me again early the following week, again individually. Most accept and understand there is no way back, some come up with daft ideas and sometimes a genuinely good and original suggestion emerges. After making sure the departing people are safely off the company premises and any emotional cases are being taken care of, immediately call a staff meeting and tell the ones who remain the truth, irrespective of whether you cannot assure them their jobs are safe or you are able to make an assurance of no more redundancies for six months or longer. I've faced some pretty horrible situations but nothing like the Parkes leak.

I have always had a deep distaste for Newcastle ever since that horror Lord Westwood cheated on us on both the Gordon Lee and Roger Jones grabs. Of course the move that ruined Shearer's career didn't exactly endear them to me either. Taking Souness off us is all our paybacks coming at once. Yes Souey was magnificent for two and a half years but the bullying arrogant ignoramous with an ego fifteen sizes too big came to the fore and nearly destroyed us. Newcastle have taken that idiot and doubled the size of his over-inflated ego. I even found myself cheering the Manc goals against them yesterday. Vomit! Tricky one next week. Palace v Newcastle. Have to fancy Palace to make it five defeats on the trot. Looking at Pompey v Citeh and Norwich v Saints (two home wins by my reckoning) on Saturday makes our Sunday afternoon against Brum look even more important. At least when we kick off, will know for sure that even a draw will not lift us off bottom place this time. In terms of Hughes v Souness, it is highly unlikely we will finish ahead of the bar codes but I am expecting Boxing Day to be tasty. That will be a huge proof of Hughes' management credentials. If he cannot organise us to beat a Souness side which will resemble a pickled chocolate fry up for all the tactical sense his team selection will make, Hughes will have been found seriously deficient as a manager.

This will be one bad boring game- a terrible advert for trying to bring the TV watchers to Ewood. Quite possibly a sub-20,000 crowd as well. Brum have managed just 8 goals all season and we have scored 9. Unlike us, Brum don't conceed many either. This is the long over due 0-0. We will have to wait a bit longer for the second win of the season.

rover 6 Please can you give us a link to any article which says Rovers pay Tromso an appearance fee after four matches?

Sorry to interupt but anyone know why Gally was not on the bench yesterday?