They've only conceded 1 goal so far, that's some statistic !

Only 3 home wins today.

He'd replace Brererton if you're really desperate to get him back in the side. It sounds like he's weeks away from even getting a place in the bench, he hasn't even played in a semi competitive game in training yet.

We could have put an outfield player in goal and played on, it would have still been 10 v 10 and we were streets in front. Normally Keepers aren't rushing to come off unless they think it's needed.

Running with the ball from around half way in centre field is his strength. Nobody likes defending against players who can do that. It asks the back four questions they don't always have the answers to. Playing with his back to goal or out on the touchline isn't his strong point. If the goals are coming I'm not overly bothered who's scoring them. Having said that it's always advantageous to have the goals spread around the team. If he can reproduce that performance against an 11 man Reading I'll start believing.

Yeah, I liked Pricey a lot. When I first saw Alan Judge I thought Johnny Price Mk 2. Blacklaw and Connelly had both seen better days and Walt Joyce was only really a squad filler standard player.

Is Gallagher still injured ?

The problem with having Armstrong as a No 9 is his game is not naturally suited to leading the line. Look at Speedie leading the line in the nostalgia thread, that's how you do it if you lack size. Paul Dickov was a lesser version. The thing with Armstrong is If he's not scoring goals his contribution is negligible. Then we have Gallagher who should be a natural No 9, he's got the physique, he's relatively quick once he gets going, got a reasonable shot in his right foot, but for some reason he's a lightweight up front. After that there's Brererton, who doesn't want to go anywhere near the six yard box if he can help it. He should look at videos of Dack to see where he gets most of his goals from, late runs right into the heart of the defence. How hard is it to just run into the box a stride behind everybody else ? What do they do in training ?

It was a bad injury, that time out and the time spent recuperating should tell us that. I'd say it's 50/50 wether he gets back to his previous high standards.

I've just checked Kevin Moran's stats. He was born in April 1956 and joined Rovers in January 1990 So he was at an age when most players were hanging up their boots when he first pulled on the blue and white ! 89-90 season- played 19 leagues games out of 20. 90-91 season- played 32 league games out of 46. 91-92 season- played 37 ( 4 more as sub ) league games out of 46 in our promotion season. 92-93 season- played 36 league games out of 42 in the Prem. 93-94 season- played 19 league games out of 42 in the Prem at a ripe old age. It doesn't look like he had too many absences to me.

Cardiff and Forest weren't too proud to come and scab 4 points off us by parking the bus were they ? You can't win every game in a season, sometimes you have to be pragmatic. Having said that when did we last have a team capable of making it really difficult for teams to score against us ? It must have been back when Big Sam was here.

An ex-player I knew quite well, David Cross, who played in the old First Division for several top sides had about half the ability Graham had but about ten times the dedication. That's why he had a long career at the top. I remember bumping into him at a cricket match were he'd gone to watch his brother play ( Heywood in the old CLL). I was at the bar and he came up behind me. I offered to buy him a pint and he said " No thanks mate, just get me an orange juice ". This was in the close season. I said " Don't you drink beer Dave ? " He said " There'll be plenty of time for that when the football is over ".

What channel is it Tom, I don't want to come across it accidentally.

Or - " Is it alright if I tell you you're fired Tony ? "

I agree with the old players that the " Central League " reserve team league was a better grounding than the current system. As was the " A " team set up. I remember watching Rovers " A " team playing against Rochdale Reserves, That was lads like our 18 yr olds playing against a team comprised mainly of experienced pros.

Who's going to be asking the questions ?

Williams has had more good games at centre half than he has bad. At full back he's not so good, mainly because of his lack of pace.

Yeah, 90% bravery and 10% ability scored that goal. That's what's sadly lacking at the moment. Guys like Moran are inspirational, you play better as an individual because of them. Young players especially. Don't forget the guy had played a career's worth of football before he came to Rovers.

With the best will in the world he's a 6 out of 10 manager, and that's on a good day. To get promoted out of this League you need an 8 of 10 manager at the least. We'll huff and puff for another season, win some - lose some, drift along flattering to deceive. Players will come and go. The same laid back attitude will permeate all sections of the club structure. Expecting to change the direction of travel without changing the guy who is steering the ship doesn't work in my experience.

He's certainly not performing at the moment. A good game from him is overdue.

" Seemingly " is the most relevant word in that post.

We'd three ex-Dingles playing in the same team for us back in the day - Blacklaw, Joyce, Connelly. I suppose Chaddy would have been boycotting a team like that.

I've struggled with his recruitment policy for a long while. It seems to be more about building a squad than actually building a team. I know it's a not an 11 man game anymore and having a strong bench is vital but I'd like to know what our best starting 11 is. Does Mowbray know ?

According to Mike Jackman's book McNamee played 27 league games out of a possible 29 in his first season. Second season 29 out of 46. Not too shabby, especially when he made all the difference in that first season. I'll have a look at Moran's record tomorrow but my memory of him is a very durable player.

When Rush was his heyday he was one of the first strikers to start the fashion for defending from the front. He was always on the move looked to intercept loose passes etc. Rhodes wouldn't do that when he was in his prime, he isn't going to do that now. It'd be like when Fred Pickering and John Byrom came back, they were past their best and playing on memories.