Tyrone Shoelaces

I’m just glad we got to play them whilst he was still there.

Speaking of set pieces what about that one yesterday when we had everybody back in our box and Leicester had two players just waiting for a squared ball for a shot a goal. Even the dogs in the street could see what was going to happen but none of our players could.

At least he spelt “ Piece “ right. That’s a tricky one.

If things stay as they are one of Pickering and Ribeiro may have to be loaned out.

To say we have our share of big lads we don’t defend them very well at times. We got lucky with that lad interfering with a header that looked like going in. That goes in and yesterday’s result could have been different. The same centre half got on to the next one as well.

Ismael has had to think quickly when most of last seasons team more or less vanished. He’s had a good look at who can do what in which position with the new guys and he’s come up with the current 3-4-1-2. It suits the skill levels of the players we have. We need 3 centre halves because none of them are good enough to play well consistently in a 2. If frees up our two full backs to do what they do best which is to play as wing backs and attack. Also having two players up front helps because none of our existing strikers thrive playing up there on their own. I think playing Ohashi and Gudjohnsen is the best way of scoring goals. We just need Cantwell back as the one behind the strikers and I think we have a good shape and a really coherent way of playing. If we still had Trav and Tron in centre midfield we would look better still.

He’ll definitely be a downgrade. Not as big, not as strong, not as fast.

There’s quite a few players out there who obviously don’t much care for the job. They’re only in it for the big money. Just like there’ll be posters on here who aren’t thrilled at the thought of turning in at 8-00am tomorrow. I’ve knocked around with pro rugby league players, some still playing, some retired. You’d be surprised at how many never set foot in a rugby league ground after they’ve retired. It was a really hard job, and that was all it was.

Mm, interesting. Maybe Newcastle are getting cold feet ?

He nearly scored what would have been a great goal yesterday. If the pass from Gudjohnsen had have been anything like half decent he would have been in a one on one. Gudjohnsen is like lots of strikers, they only lend you the ball.

We used to play all the State teams twice I think plus one or two made up teams back in the day. Just reading back as best as I can to the first series I remember in Australia - 1958-59. According to the records as well as the 5 Tests we played 15 other First Class matches.

For me the last two performances have put to bed any thoughts thst - “ the players aren’t playing for him. “

I agree about O’Riordan, I suspect he’ll be recalled to be the “ bench “ centre half. I’ve only seen Duru once but my immediate impression was - he’s not ready.

Don’t forget that excellent bit of fullback play when he put a great block on a goal bound shot very early on. He didn’t dive in to the tackle but he stood off his opponent slightly to give himself some reaction time. The lad’s a game changer.

There’s possibly nobody harder on the team than me when we play badly but when we play well I’m equally happy to bask in our successes. I really enjoyed yesterday’s game. For me that was more of what Blackburn Rovers should be about. Everybody was playing to the best of their ability and giving 100%. That’s all I ever ask of the 11 on the pitch in Rovers colours.

He commits stupid fouls though. In the opponents half with the opponent going nowhere. He needs to learn where and when you need to commit fouls on the pitch. He got away without a booking after the first bad foul. However he carried on like that had never happened. You’ve got save the fouls that lead to bookings for game influencing moments, you can’t just toss them away like he does. It’s like he’s playing 30 or 40 years ago when tackles like that were perfectly ok. I like players who’ll put a foot in but it has to be tempered with football intelligence.

Downing Street ?

“ Dog chasing a crisp packet across a pub car park on a windy day “ comes to mind.

I wouldn’t say he has a better crosser than Brittain. That was the real strong point in Brittain’s game. However Alebioso is better in every other regard. Could you see Brittain having the pace and strength to create our second goal ?

Is he in our best 11 ? I sincerely hope not.

Looks O’Riordan has blown his chances of playing for us at Wembley this season then.

Not for me matey. Start with Hendrickson and we better get used to playing with 10.

Play like we did today and we’ll give them a game.

A great win, one that I didn’t really see coming. In the second half there was only one team that looked like winning and if we’d have been more clinical it could easily been 3 or 4. Toth 8, kept us in the game with a wonder save at a critical time. His distribution wasn’t great at times, but your keeper is there to keep the ball out of net, and that’s what he does. Alebioso 8, what a find this lad has been. Like Stanley Mathews everybody knows he’s going to go on the outside but he still managed to pull it off. Grand run for the second goal. Miller 7, he put in a wholehearted and committed performance. Typical Aussie. Wharton 8, I thought he led by example today. A good captains performance. McClouglin 7, he had some scares but on the whole I thought he did ok. DeNeve 7, I was surprised to see him subbed but Leicester were getting a lot of joy down the right wing in the first half. Not altogether his fault but when Hedges came on in the second half things tightened up Tronstad 7, still not back to his best on the ball but he’s pretty tireless out of possession. Gardener-Hickman 6, just a busy player. He spurned a golden chance in the second half. He made a really good late run, pointed to where he wanted the pass to be played, the Rovers player puts it on a plate exactly where he was pointing, and he puts it row Z. On his weaker foot apparently, really ? Henrikson -5, the lad isn’t playing with a full deck. Two bad fouls for no good reason in our opponents half ! He’s a walking yellow card. I wouldn’t start him ever again, he’s too much of a risk. Ohashi -7, never stopped running throughout the game. A real pest to play against and he takes some of the weight off Gudjohnsen. Gudjohnsen- 8, what can you say ? Sometimes he looks like a fish riding a bike. That too weak pass out to Ohashi that nearly got Ohashi flattened is a classic example. However, like a good poacher, he gambled on a mistake for his first goal, he was ready and on his toes to flick that ball home. Sam Gallagher would have just watched it happen. For the second goal he made just the right run at just the right time to be in just the right place to wallop the ball into the roof of the net. You can’t knock it. Subs Hedges 7, tightened up that left hand side by staying back a bit more. Montgomery 7, kept busy when he came on. We needed a bit more energy at that time and he provided it. Morishita 7 , I thought he played ok without pulling up any trees. A better bet than Henriksson. Forshaw N/A. Not on long enough to give a score. Guueye N/A the lad never gets the benefit of the doubt from the officials. He was within an ace of scoring the daftest goal I’ve seen in a long while. Ismael 8, got most things right apart from starting with Henriksson. When Rovers win away and the dingles lose at home what could be better. Shame about England in the Rugby League but you can’t have everything !

I’m going up to my son’s to watch the Rovers game and then the England v Australia Rugby League game. Heart says - “ What a great day to be a sports fan .” Head says - “ Double disappointment “.