Tyrone Shoelaces

Just watched the highlights. That’s what a Rovers team should look like. At it from the off, playing on the front foot, pressing hard all over the pitch, passing to running players, everybody getting a foot in, keeper on his toes etc. Good to watch.

I was at that game, we played really well that day, I thought we were going up after that. Won 3-1 in front of a good crowd of 15,362. Scorers Ken Knighton, Brian Hill, John Connelly. Maybe that photo is Connelly in the act of scoring ? Eamon Rogers played right back in an emergency and looked a natural. Team Blacklaw Rogers, Hunter, Mulvaney, Wilson. Connelly, Metcalfe, Knighton, Hill Martin, Darling.

This close season is crucial in my opinion.

A pal of mine who is a Rochdale fan tells me the transfer of the wonder kid Baah to Man City is off. He failed the medical apparently.

You can't both have had it !

Just as sad as it was then.

He's not good enough a defender at the moment to nail down a full time place as a conventional right back. I can see him being more successful further up the pitch.

Having the ability to turn out of trouble with the ball instead of into it is a great skill to have. Simon Barker was particularly good at it, he must have had eyes in the back of his head.

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.