Don't torment yourself Jim, It's over for this season.

What really lets him down is his ability to take the ball around the goalkeeper. You can't always get a scoring shot off.

Yeah, my favourite saying is " We just pass it around until we lose it ". Usually in a dangerous place. My pet hate is where a player gets the ball in a not great position and then gives it to another player in a much worse position. Outfield players giving it back to the goalie is good example. Good passing teams work tremendously hard off the ball, there are no short cuts. Taking a pass on the run instead of stood still involves a lot more running, that is obvious.

Ken did a great job, he signed some of our favourite players and built the foundations for a promotion team.

Around this time was possibly the lowest time in our history, certainly in our history up to that point. Then Ken Furphy got the show on the road again and the long upward climb began.

Sept 25th 1971. Lost 1-2 in front of 6,695. That'll be the sort of gates we'll be getting next season if things don't change. Rovers team for those who are interested - Jones. Goodwin, Conlon, Fazackerly, Wood. Price, McDonald, Garbett, Kopel. Martin, Shanahan. No wonder we lost ! Rogers came on as sub for Kopel and scored our goal.

What amazes me about that is 3/4 of the way through the season we've seen 6 opponents sent off and 1 of our own players. I was watching Rovers for 3 seasons before I saw a sending off !

Considering the state of the pitch that was a brilliant performance. Looks like we wanted it a lot more than Southampton did.

You must have caught that inferiority complex off Mowbray.

I'd be amazed if he starts the same team two games running.

Where we are now is his level.

We're shit from set plays with the " big " guys in. At least the ball would be down the far end a bit more.

I'd like to see this just once - Kaminski. Nyambe, Lenihan, Ayala, Douglas. Travis. Dolan, Dack, Elliot. Armstrong, Gallagher.

Yes, it was a tragedy he was involved with the Arsenal lad getting his leg broken when Tiny was at Big Club. Totally out of character and I suspect his manager had wound him up before the game. Tiny was never the same player again. I played with and against quite a few lads who played pro, two even played in the old Div 1 for years. The best lad I ever played with was a centre half who was like Tiny, not a nasty bone in his body. I used to have to kick players for him. What a brilliant player he was, skillful and great in the air.

Whoever was playing " full back "should have worked a lot harder to block that cross. All the lad did was jog on, then wave a foot in the air. Typical attacking player's attempt at a block. Half hearted. A real full back would have been launching himself feet first to block that ball in. OK, the guy dummies the cross and you go sliding off the pitch, but you've bought the centre halves time and the lad in the middle may now over run the ball. If Smith scores there we would have been back to square one. Given his heading ability 9 times out of 10 that's a goal, we got lucky there. Previously this season little mistakes like that have ended up in the back of the net.

Yes strange times. You can see the same thing happening in politics at the moment.

Scholes was a nasty bastard on the pitch. All this about him fouling people because he didn't know how to tackle is nonsense. He knew exactly what he was doing. He didn't get bullied because if you fouled him you could put your house on the fact he'd get you back. He got away with murder. The point is you can't turn somebody into a nasty bastard on the pitch, they've either got it in them or they haven't.

Trouble is when he's having an off day we don't look like scoring. It's not his fault we are set up that way but something needed to be changed late last autumn.

I suspect Mowbray will bench at least one of them.

He's playing it at the moment but I would suggest he's not ideally suited to the position. He'd go better playing along side another striker in a 4-4-2 formation. Just my opinion of course.

Anybody who guesses the correct starting line up is wasted on here. I can't see it being the same as Saturdays and next Friday's will be different again.. Can we afford to pay Ayala for a game yet ?

Nyambe won't be playing too close to the centre halves just because he feels like it. He's playing there because he's been told to play there. Most modern full backs play too close to the centre halves in my opinion but what do I know. Regarding JRC - was he the one that waved a foot at that cross that Smith should have scored from ?

He's been asked to do too much. Right Back, auxillary Right Wing, Centre Half cover. We just need two full backs to defend properly and let the attacking players do their stuff.

I can't see more than a handful starting Sat, Tues, Fri this week.

Or right back.