Danny Graham looked a big unit on my wide screen TV

I eventually agreed to stump up the 12 quid yesterday to watch on Tv. I endorse pretty much everything already stated above; clearly a different animal with the introduction of youth late on. In fact the last twenty minutes or so was strongly reminiscent of the type of high pressing, high intensity game played under Johnson in the Academy matches I watched last year. I presume he was there yesterday? We certainly ended up more "Jonty" than "Mogga" in the closing stages. I was alarmed to see the size and general ineffectiveness of Danny Graham. It might be that the new kit doesn't suit him, but he reminded me of Elvis in Vegas towards the end. Straggly unkempt hair, rotund of belly and moob and running on autopilot. I can't see him making the end of August either. Gallagher and Brereton need to be ready to step up sooner rather than....

Maybe those dingle defenders had too many fingers in ears.

I know. Please God it's Evans, Smallwood or Bennett.

Horrible sinking feeling it might be Rothwell. Please no.

So that's why they called him Groundskeeper Willie.

Sounds nasty!

Yes. I'm afraid the letter 'a' was misprinted as the letter 'c'

That reminds me of the episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm titled 'My Beloved Aunt'

I think most would agree that Peter Beardsley is a vastly superior human being to Craig Bellamy.

Yes he is apparently.

Very cold, wet nIght. Good comeback and a really excellent finish from Chapman. He was matched for pace by the full back so wasn't hugely effective overall. Buckley and Butterworth were confident and Davenport tidy. Don't know who our left back was but he really impressed me.

Yes but what if John loses his Stones?

Fair points, but Garner always seemed to score in cup ties against 1st Division sides so I am confident that he could have stepped up. I don't see contemporaries such as Cottee or Adrian Heath as significant upgrades on Simon and I think he would have scored plenty at the higher level.

He's certainly been rinsed a few times this season!

Ariel ability? Perhaps we could redeploy him as the Kit man.

All wonderful players, but Garner holds the record that anyone would want. (In my humble opinion, of course).

Handsome lad were you?

I saw him pre season against Accy Stanley and again in an under 23 game. He is nice and tidy and I wouldn't place too much emphasis on either game, but I'm not sure if he is going to be the world beater that some are hoping for. I absolutely stand to be corrected and feverishly hope I'm wrong but I would liken him more to Cory Evans than Bobby Charlton.

I was at that game. It was the most bizarre thing to see and I talk about it to this day with the people I went with. Tugay was up against much younger lads who I would estimate were all decent Sunday league types. I was curious as to how the younger lads would fare against the Rovers veterans. What happened was that the old boys (Ripley, Tugay, Atkins, Hendry etc) moved the ball briskly using only one or two touches which caused the younger lads to tire around the 25 minute mark. The veterans won by something like 6-1. Tugay literally walked around a number of tackles and caused his opponents to fall on their backsides in a way you simply don't see in any level of football. I always enjoy Tyrone and others describe Bryan Douglas do this very same thing. Almost like an 18 year old playing in an under 10's game. Extraordinary to watch!

Haven't seen anyone suggest a pairing of Mulgrew and Rodwell. Nice left and right pairing. I would like to see that for one game at least.

Butterworth has looked a cut above the rest tonight. Also very impressed with Buckley in midfield. Looks a real player.

I think we are really showing signs of progressing as a team and the stalwarts of last season such as Bennett, Smallwood and maybe one or two others may become marginalised in a short time. Loyalty is admirable in many respects but the emergence of the likes of Nyambe, Travis, Rothwell and Reed is beginning to tighten the noose on some of our regulars. It is entirely right this happens as we can't afford to stand still. The likes of Rothwell and Armstrong gave a glimpse of a bright future today. Rodwell and Bell played well and the old order must be under threat like never before.

Largely agree but would put Nyambe in for Bennett and and put Rothwell left and Armstrong right. Armstrong's second half today after swithing to the right was arguably his best performance for us. He had the confidence to get on the outside and whip it in with his strong foot rather than getting boxed in and slowing it down. That's how the second goal came about. Thought the much maligned Bell had an excellent second half and Rothwell can play the Chapman tricky winger without the dodgy hamstring worry.

Oh yes, they compliment each other all the time. Darragh just loves Charlie's flowing, boyish locks and Charlie tells Darragh he has biceps to die for. Hardly a day goes by without the pair of them exchanging lovely,supportive words to each other. Whether they play well as a pair and complement each other is another question entirely ☺