Tyrone Shoelaces

Strange results tonight, so far only Rovers have won at home.

Well I didn’t see that coming. Made my night and probably tomorrow as well !

That’s the Chicken Chokers influence.

Montgomery Burns heh ?

What would happen if you came out with a statement like that in an everyday job ? You’d be looking for a another job at this moment.

He marked my card with the fiasco at the end of the promotion season when he basically let Wigan win the title. What manager in their right mind would do that ? Follow that up with all the statements that the promoted players were good enough and we only needed a few squad players ! That was enough for me. Jack would have fired him on the spot.

That’s the worrying thing. The longer that run goes on the more it gets entrenched.

There’s more chance of you signing a contract with Rovers than Brererton signing on again.

They were brilliant. It makes a difference when you’re playing at 30 and not 70.

I remember a game, at Fulham I think, when he gave a master class in how to play centre forward. Another one who fell foul of Souey when he was on his way to losing the plot.

Hornets v Oldham for me today. El Classico. Last time I was at Whitehaven for the rugby Mrs Shoelaces was wearing a brand new Panama hat for the first time. I’d bought it her for her birthday. As we were walking by the harbour wall a big gust of wind came along and blew the hat into the harbour ! Gone forever ! She wasn’t best pleased.

We used to watch a band called “ The Maximum Who “. They were brilliant. Always started out with “ I Can’t Explain “ and then went through the catalogue. They worked their way up to being one of the headline acts at the Liverpool festival, then they got binned off for refusing to stop playing until the plug was pulled !

He didn’t do too badly replacing Denis Law at City when they were a really bad team.

Yes, John Bray was nicknamed “ The Tank “. Very appropriate. Chris Crowe was a blond haired “ inside forward “ we got from Leeds for big money. He came highly rated as an U-23 international but he never really held down a place in the first team. We sold him to Wolves were he was quite successful, he did well enough to get one full England cap under Alf Ramsey. Martin Britt was a West Ham youth team star striker, good enough to give Liverpool’s Tommy Smith the run around in the Youth Cup Final scoring a hat trick. He’d had a serious knee injury at West Ham but they said nothing and we were desperate for a goalscorer so we signed him. This was before pre-signing medicals became the norm. We were struggling, eventually getting relegated, and he played a dozen games without scoring. He retired the following season due to the injury at a really young age. There’s a photo of him on the internet looking completely lost. He’s stood in the centre of Blackburn leaning on a walking stick with an empty look in his eyes. It must have awful coming from London to Blackburn in the ‘60’s and then dealing with a long term injury.

Reminded me very much in looks and his aggressive attitude of John Bray the Rovers full back of the early 1960’s.

Nobody is saying we should long ball it all the time. The odd one can catch out even the best centres halves. I’ve seen it happen with Rovers centre halves often enough. Glencirbigli away anybody ?

Bottom half if we’re lucky. Bottom third if we aren’t.

You don’t know till you try it. If I had a quid for every time I’ve seen good centre halves misjudge an ale house ball down the middle I’d be rich.

It won’t work because the minute you get a decent player they’re taken off you.

I got told this when I was a 15 year old school boy player - “ When we have the ball make the pitch as big as you can, when they have the ball make the pitch as small as you can “. Basic football tactics, that was 50 plus years ago.

How did he avoid getting us relegated ?

It’ll carry on like that until we get a group of players that want it more than their players. It’s as simple as that. Have they got better players than we have ? I’d say not. So what’s the difference then ? Too many “ good son in law “ material and not enough winners.

That’s been going on for way too long. That tells me we haven’t got enough battlers in the camp.

He couldn’t be dropped after that performance on Wednesday. If he’s a smart kid he’ll learn from today.

Not for me matey. Real cricket yes, baseball no.