More crap in today's Guardian if anyone can be bothered to find the link. Lower sixthform fare. Saw Collins nbefore the game at Cardiff, another complete and utter berk.

Reade is wide of the mark. To link the attendance at Cardiff with Hughes' tactics doesn't make any sense. The attendances at Ewood are due to a number of factors, but as both Everton and Bolton have shown, you can play the defensive game, and if you are near the top of the table the crowds will turn up.

Brian Reade's at it again in this morning's Mirror. Elsewhere, a premiership table based on results since January 1st has us sixth.

A real test for us now that we're safe and the press is following other stories. Hopefully the players will respond with another high tempo and committed performance. 1-0 with Stead netting.

Strachan's article that appears in today's Guardian is unfortunately accompanied by a photograph of Lehman play acting following Emerton's attempt to get the ball, close the the dead ball line, with the caption, "Blackburn's Brett Emerton - only following orders". The obvious implication being that Brett had injured the German, on purpose, and on the instruction of Hughes and the Rovers' management team. So even when there's a piece that redresses the argument some idiot sub editor, drops in an image designed to con the reader into thinking a Rvoers player had gone out to injure an Arsenal player. Sick to death of it.

I was told by a United fan at work that United had sent back part off their allocation. So the press carry a photo of empty seats. Tells you all you need to know about modern journalism. No principles, no regard for truth or the reality of a poor, small working class town supporting a premiership club; jsut after a neat headline and a sale. And even my paper, the Observer is at it. What a bunch of t0ssers.

I'm amazed at the press today and foolishly a little upset by it. What really jars is the double standards. Remember Bergkamp's elbows two seasons running on Nisa? And the inciddent at Old Trafford following the penalty miss a couple years back? Now that was something to be ashamed of. I'm sure I'm not alone in totally bemused by the level of press hyperbole, considering we were playing the most of cynical premiership teams. And calling it antii-football! Well bring it on if in means we get to rattle the efette (sp?) cages for another season.

I've never been to a Liberal Democrat conference, but I imgaine it to be full of Arsenal fans - middle class, smug, with kids called Jasper and Daisy and with all the passion and commitment of Charles Kennedy.

Ferguson is a good, not great, player, and the best we had. So he is a big, big loss in my opinion. However he is a miserable human being and refusing to play, as a tactic to get the transfer sums him up. I think backing the management team could be the only reasonable position to take and that's certainly been my approach. As for all the nonsense about Rangers this and Rangers that Mr Fergsuon and supporters have been banging on about, it betrays a small town mentality missing from the Blackburn Rovers, a club that expects decent standards of behaviour, and who will never forget this episode in the club's history. Back to your sectarian ghetto Barry; they'll be celebrating on the Shankill Road tonight. Spit and move on.

Latest from Brum press says we've matched £6m bid and it's been accepted by Newcastle. ttp://icbirmingham.icnetwork.co.uk/birmingham/news/tm_objectid=15133723%26method=full%26siteid=50002%26headline=bellamy%2dbattle-name_page.html

Scotty, What I'm saying is that if he stays I think we stay up, if he goes then we may be in trouble. If your judgement is that it won't make any difference to our chances of relegation, then fine I think you have a sound position, except... that we can't let him go for £4m and be ripped off by around £2m. If you do think him leaving will have a real affect on our chances of relegation then, as i said earlier, you have to hold your nose for the next ew months and hope he buggers off at the end of the season. One thought, if he plays today who'll be captain?

Scotty, With Ferguson in the side for the rest ofthe season I can't see us being relegated. Without him a replacement, the odds on a return to the dead men is, and I think you'd agree, greatly increased. So, like me, be glad he's staying, hold your nose and pray that the seven point gap doesn't evaporate. Oh and keep it up PhilL Oh Theno, I think you'll find the Scottish oil has been a rather important contribution to UK PLC's coffers over the last thirty years.

I'd jsut like to say that this has been a super thread - well done Phil L, Tris and Scotty in particular for keeping up the level of debate. After lsat night's performance i'm afraid to say that our midfield without Ferguson will not be half as effective.

Not a word from Ferguson to the thousands of ordinary folk who pay his £20k wages a week. And to throw in the towel now. All he had to do is keep stum and leave in four months - the way Berg did for United. A gutless individual.

Waggy I think is wide of the mark, as I've also followed the club since the early 70s and am currently a season ticket holder.

I'm lucky enough to be able to afford to go, so maybe that colours my view, but as I posted on page two our prices compare favourably with virtually any other club you can name including those in lower divisions. If we had the likes of Shearer and Duff playing the ground would be full so it's not just about price, it's about poor home form and value for money. You can into the game for £16 I believe, and if you want to watch top flight football that's very cheap. The other issue is that Blackburn is a poor town surrounded by other towns, close to several other premership sides, so our support tends to be less hard core. The club has been brilliant trying to keep prices down and at the same time keeeping the club in the top flight. The criticism really is unfair.

I think some of the comments are a bit over the top. Paying £19 to see a premiership club is not expensive compared to watching football right through the divisions. My Preston, City, Bristol City, Bury and Chester supporting friends are amazed at how cheap it is to get into EP.

There were about 200 Charlton fans at the game, which means over 19k Rovers' fans turned up which ain't as bad at it first seems.

A well earned win achieved by a lot of hard work and determination. Not a great performance, but we had little to beat today. Only after Charlton changed from a 451 to a 442 in the second half did the game open up. Tired legs were evident too, although we kept going right to the end, even when under some late pressure. For me Lucas was our best player, along with the cnetral midfield duo. Flitcroft did very well, sitting in front of the back four. Nissa and Toddy tried their best to help out Chalrton during a period of the second half, but we defended well. Stead could have scored a couple, but still looks well short at the moment. Thompson and Emerton struggled a little until the Londonders switch to 442. A win at home; that's how it feels. ps Rover6. We are you so obsessed with MGP? On the occasions I've seen him pay he was awful and I don't know how you can know any different.

For a team in our position we have to expect games like this. However the overall verdict on the team compared to under Souness is positive. Spurs got their tactics dead on and marked the two wide men out of the game for long periods. Tugay played well leaving Barry in his wake for most of the game. It's how we respond to this setback that will be the critical factor in charting the season ahead.

Perhaps I wasn't clear enough. I don't think he has the range of passing or positional sense to play in front of the back four; playing further up field I think may work. it's not that he can't pass, but you need a certain discipline to play in fron of the back four and for all his undoubted ability further forward i don't think he's suited to the patient build upsometimes needed at the top level. He may well have started playing centrally, but that means nothing; Henry was a winger, Hendry a striker and so on. To be honest he's not particularly physical - he stature counts against him and enjoys getting forward and making things happen.

The only way I see a Thompson/Ferguson central midfield working is for Barry to adopt the withdrawn role in front of the defence, in line with the role he played early last season. It also demands a better workrate from Emerton to support Jay. I don't think Thomo has the range of passing or positional sense to play there, which is why he has ended up on the right.

Yes Cole's comments basically add up to "it was him or me" and the club decided Souness was worth another chance. From the outside that would have been my verdict too. However the lunatic moves in the transfer market combined with what appears to a loss of the support of key players means we're better off without. As to booing ex-players I find the whole exercise pointless. Cole deserves a good welcome from the Rovers' fans. It's just a shame he's on the opposing team tomorrow.

Scotty is on the money as ususal. The main problem, which we've had for three years, is that we play Tugay in front of the defence and he can't defend. (When we used the diamond at the end of last season with Tugay the most forward midfielder we looked harder to beat) Add to that Emerton's slowness at getting back and Ferguson's lack of physical presnece, it doesn't matter how good or bad the back four is, we're going to concede goals. I don't know if Thompson and Ferguson si the answer either. Maybe Reid could fill in centrally, but I think his passing probably isn't good enough. One thing is for sure is that the whole team has to work harder defending, especially Emerton and Ferguson.

One pillock, at least, spoils yesterday's game with his ignorant behavour, which seems to me having seen the TV footage to be a monkey taunt. And after a dozen pages of reasonable discusssion here waggy and blue phil hit the gutter. "The fact of the matter is that nothing of any note happened at Ewood yesterday." I'm afraid it did Blue Phil if the footage is to be believed. It seems certain that Yorke was racially abused yesterday. "i will not apoligise for what went on yesterday,as most people living in blackburn knows it goes on-why do you think we only get .0000001 % off the asian population coming to ewood,they get abused,black players get abused." Well Waggy that makes it OK doesn't it? Racism happens, so there's no point anyone complaining then is what you're saying. With fans like these........