Tyrone Shoelaces

Yes Nyambe didn't cover himself in glory there but that's not a position I'd expect my right back to be covering. Where were the taller guys ? One of the centre halves should have held his position and not gone chasing off to buy a pie.

I get really annoyed when outfield players shirk their responsibility when they have a chance to pass the ball down field and then give the ball back to the keeper. Presumably they're outfield players because they're better with the ball at their feet than the goalkeeper, whoever he may be.

You need a bit of excitement on the pitch and around the club first.

I worked down there for a few days, that was enough for me.

Football players come with all sorts of temperaments just like in most walks of life. There are the battlers who are always up for a scrap and the artists who don't really fancy the rough stuff much and then there are the easy going guys who'll battle when they get their mad up. You need a mixture of all three. Too many battlers doesn't work very often, especially in todays football. However not having any battlers or just one or two is a recipe for getting out enthused in the game as we are now seeing every week. Having two guys out there coming back from serious injuries isn't likely to increase our fighting spirit especially when one of them was your previous battler. They'll be trying to make sure it doesn't happen again.

It looked to me as though our bigger guys were run out from under the ball Stoke players moving towards the ball. That left Powell to nip in and get the better of Nyambe who shouldn't really be in that position. I'd say it was a planned move on their behalf.

We're missing a trick here, we should by flogging season tickets to the NHS as cure for insomnia. Imagine being able to get one on a prescription from your Doc !

He probably did his back putting his suitcase on the belt at the check in !

Been there, done that - " Where do you play son ? left back ? Sorry we've already got a left back, have a go at centre half. A good player can play anywhere ".

Do we look well coached individually and collectively to you ? We look like a group of lads who've just come for a trial game to me. We look like we've never played together before.

Brererton's another one - 6ft 3ins tall, jumps about 5ft 8ins.

Rochdale, who usually haven't got a pot to piss in, had a notoriously poor pitch, always waterlogged etc. They'd have games cancelled when nobody else in the whole of the league did. Last summer they bit the bullet and really went to town on the pitch. It was completely dug up and everything was replaced, drains, the lot ! Now they're seeing the benefit of it. If they can do it why can't we ?

I used to be a big Johnno fan but his stock has fallen in my eyes since he's allowed himself to be sidelined in his new role as chief drone pilot and football bean counter. It says a lot about his ambition, or lack of it. Whatever he's doing now, it isn't working. I think we need to look elsewhere in my opinion.

There's an interesting article in todays paper by James Wilson who usually writes perceptively on football tactics. He notes that City have changed their way of playing because of the number of games they are having to play. They've cut down the pressing game and have adopted a more possession based game. He also says - " It helps City that playing Raheem Sterling on the right and Phil Foden on the left, their " natural " sides, as City did against Chelsea and United, widens the pitch and stretches the opposing defence. It's a step back to the more traditional Dutch approach. It makes passing easier ". Well the penny has dropped with Pep, I wonder how long it'll take Tony ? Those of who remember a long list of great Rovers wide players stretching our opponents to breaking point could have told Pep that years ago !

Just as well or my encounter with the bus stop might have led to more than an egg sized lump on my forehead !

I got distracted by a stunner in a mini skirt waiting for the bus. I was trying to look cool !

Until you jumped off into the bus stop ! Been there , done that.

Don't forget the drones.

Nobodies special in this league. Our last two promotion teams would be walking this division by a dozen points.

We were the same in the promotion season. We'd have a decent 30 minutes and that was it. Nothing much has changed since then.

We need somebody in central midfield that can get up with the striker/strikers from time to time.

Another vote for the basin wrench, you can get telescopic ones nowadays. I remember struggling under a cast iron bath with an adjustable spanner many years ago. I was really giving it plenty when the adjustable slipped off and I ended up punching the bath side by accident. I just lay there waiting for the pain to subside. I'm not a big fan of adjustables. I was pulling upward with a lot of force on one when it slipped again. I was leaning over the job and I punched myself clean on the nose ! I had a quick look around the workshop just to make sure no one had seen me do it !

It's " The Kings New Clothes " syndrome. With football BCD who's there to tell him his fortune ? The " board " won't, his pals on the staff won't, the press won't, and the fans can't.

Even the best centre half I ever saw, Mike England, wasn't ready to play first team centre half at 18 years of age.

I decided to do my best not to read or listen to anything he says ages ago. He's getting into Keano and Coyle territory when he opens his mouth.