Rovers to steal Stead?

Blackburn Rovers have confirmed tonight that they have made an offer to Huddersfield for highly-rated striker Jon Stead.

Rovers sealed the transfer of former Sunderland skipper Mickey Gray earlier this week, and hinted at the time that further purchases could be in the pipeline - and the January transfer window is only open until this weekend.

Sunderland made an offer said to be £800,000 several weeks ago, and Bob Murray confirmed only last week that the offer was still "on the table". But Rovers' interest will up the stakes and either force Sunderland to table a higher offer, or force their withdrawal. However the fact that Mickey Gray's reported £25,000 per week wages are now off the accounts at the Stadium of Light, means that Murray may be in a position to table an improved bid if he and Mick McCarthy think the player is worth it.

Blackburn Rovers issued a statement tonight saying "Rovers can confirm that they have made an offer for Huddersfield's young striker Jonathan Stead. There is nothing further to add at this time."

RTG Downtime Tonight from 8pm

We'll be making some changes to the server and database configurations from 8pm onwards tonight so you can expect RTG to be unavailable at times - shouldn't be for more than 10 minutes at a time.

As you might have noticed the server is currently really struggling under the load and whilst we could probably do with a more powerful server thats not an option financially.

As a result I want to try out some alternative configurations to see if they make things better or worse. (For the techies amongst you we're currently delivering over 10 million pages each month [about 25 million file hits] and over 750,000 pages on our peak days and most of these are dynamically created from a database rather than static pages...so the server is a bit busy!)

This may also mean that things will be either better or worse during the daytime rush period (over lunchtime) tomorrow, Friday - If they're worse I apologise, if they are better I'll be happy to be congratulated.

FA Cup 5th Round, SAFC v Brum: TICKET NEWS

TICKET DETAILS CONFIRMED FOR FA CUP TIE

SAFC vs Birmingham City
Saturday, February 14, 2004
Kick-off 3.00pm

Sunderland AFC today announced ticket details for their forthcoming FA
Cup clash against Premiership side Birmingham City on Saturday 14
February.

Black Cats boss, Mick McCarthy, will be looking to secure a place in the
quarter finals of the Cup and will hoping to use the home advantage to
defeat the Blues.

The game promises to be an exciting one as the Black Cats strive to fend
off opposition from Steve Bruce's side. The tie also gives Mick
McCarthy's team a chance to measure their progress against Premiership
opposition. If Sunderland can win they will move onto the quarter
finals for the first time since 1992 when they reached the final.

SAFC want to make the game affordable to attract a good crowd and have
therefore kept ticket prices to just £17 for adults and £8 for
concessions.

Tickets are now on sale and details are as follows:

Season Ticket Holders & Black Cat Members:

Season ticket holders & Black Cat members have until 5.30pm on Thursday
5th February 2004 to purchase their seat, which can be obtained by:

Cup Payment Scheme
If you enrolled on this scheme at the beginning of this season you need
not apply, your ticket will be dispatched automatically.

By Telephone
Call 087-00-11-22-66. Membership number and credit/debit card details
will be required.

By Post
To FA5. PO Box 165, Sunderland, SR5 1WF enclosing Voucher 54, credit/debit card details or cheque made payable to Sunderland AFC and a stamped addressed envelope.

In Person
At the Stadium of Light Ticket Office using Voucher 54 from season
ticket books.

General Sale
Tickets are now on general sale for all seats not reserved for season
ticket holders.

Any unsold season ticket seats will be released for general sale at
10.00am on Friday 6th February 2004.

Tickets can be obtained by: calling 0191-551-5151 or 08705-862-015 (24
hours) or by post to FA5. PO Box 165, Sunderland, SR5 1WF or at the
Stadium of Light Ticket Office.