Tyrone Shoelaces

I thought he did well enough when he came on at Norwich. We started getting back into the game then.

I wouldn’t be happy seeing Buckley leave unless we had a better replacement coming in. Given the money we’ve brought into the club in the last 6 months that should be easily doable. Replacing decent players with less capable guys only ends one way.

A lot depends on the personalities involved. Grown up professionals should be able to come to a mutually beneficial agreement. You need a bit of give and take. In the final analysis if I was the manager I be very loathe to accept players being signed over my head. If it was a regular occurrence I’d be looking around for another position.

It’s the Chicken Chokers way.

Nobody is saying that Eustace should be looking for talent. I would have thought that was obvious. That’s the job of the recruitment team. What some of us on here think is that when likely candidates have been spotted by the recruitment team the head coach should have a say in wether they are signed or not.

Blackburn or Madrid ? Let me think about that for a second.

I’d always rather avoid playing newly promoted teams. They’ll always be up for it and the the newly promoted shine hasn’t yet worn off. How many of the newly promoted teams did we beat last season by the way ?

I agree regarding Ruddy. Mowbray supposedly wanted to sign Dembele as a replacement when the Rothwell to Bournemouth deal was first mooted. So I could see him still being a subject of interest.

I’m not overly thrilled with the thought of Ruddy signing. Dembele is a maybe, he could be the player who will thrive in the right environment. He has ability, maybe Eustace thinks he could bring that out. I just think that imposing players on the guy who has to make the team work will ultimately end in failure.

A workmate once told me - “ Never allow yourself to be put in the position of responsibility without the power to effect change. Ideally you want power without responsibility. “

You can’t really say that. Teams go down with some players fighting every inch of the way. Let’s say we’d have gone down last season would you have doubted Sammi’s mentality ?

It really got to me previously. The minute we went behind the game was as good as over.

Part and parcel of being a player at this level. It’s what you take from that experience that counts.

Even the dogs in the street knew there was something wrong with the mentality at Blackburn Rovers. Several things shouted that out for me. The almost total inability to come from behind in games, and the fact we were ten times more likely to concede in the last ten minutes than we were to score. Add in the inability to see some games out from a clear winning position. We had to be 3-0 up with ten minutes to go before you could just about relax. We always seem to blow the big games, some times when we were well placed. Eustace will be well aware of this and will be wanting to change that loser culture. The players he might want could possibly not be the most skilful but maybe they have the winning mentality that had been lacking previously.

How it should work in my opinion is the coach tells the recruitment team what he want’s. IE an experienced striker who can play with his back to goal or a right back who can play centre half in a crisis etc. Then the recruitment team go and locate the likely players. When that’s done they all agree on the player.

That’s the issue with Dolan for me , he very rarely does the simple things. He always wants that touch too many.

The manager/ head coach has to have the final say on signings in my opinion.

I’d have a greed for power if the quality of the signings decided wether I stay in the job or get fired.

Let’s say you are a centre half - who would you rather play against, Gally or Guyere ?

Same old story then, we were just a striker short of doing something.

If I had to have one player from that team to play in the current team it would be Roger Jones although Tony Field was a class act.

Hooked for life now.

They’d be a few dingles coming off at Sunderland saying “ If we play like that next week we’ll get hammered “.

I wouldn’t be starting Siggy next Saturday. That won’t be a game for faint hearts.

Probably lined up - Jones Heaton, Waddington, Fazackerley, Arentoft Metcalfe, Garbutt, Parkes Napier, Endean, Field