Tyrone Shoelaces

You need to calm down , we were playing Wycombe not Barcelona. We'll see how good we are on Tuesday.

Yes, I do really dislike that element of modern football, diving and the ridiculous wages are two of the reasons why I'm not the football fan I used to be. Most of the fouls today are joke fouls. You see giants like Brererton falling over under the most minimum contact imaginable. Contact that wouldn't knock over a 12 year old kid. It's just cheating really. Then I go and watch low level Rugby League on Sunday and I wonder how the players don't end up in hospital every week. Of course some do.

I can't stand divers no matter who they are playing for.

I'd say the sending off had everything to do with it going from 3-0 to 5-0. They gave up at that point.

I wouldn't want him anywhere near my helmet either ! Regarding Johnny Price I saw him play loads of times when he was at Stockport County and he was always a handful. He never gave less than gave 100%. They had three really good players who kept Counties head above water at that time. Pricey, Alan Ogley in goal who was ex Man City and Freddie Goodwin who was ex Wolves and who later came to Rovers. They were all outstanding in the old Division 4.

Lets not forget that two of the bangings came against teams that had been reduced to ten men yet continued to play like they still had eleven. Instead of shutting up shop and trying to minimise the damage like anybody with half a brain would do, they both failed to do that.

He could have been half way to that 25 goals already given the chances he's had.

But not much.

They seem to have the happy knack of not conceding a goal in spite of having lacklustre spells in the game. When they do click they'll still in the game and one goal is then enough. A bit like Howard Kendall's promotion team.

Yes there are lots, like " being stumped for an answer " " Get on the front foot " etc

As I was saying in the Brereton thread, Big Ben is the key. If he can run at them from an attacking midfield position like he did at Coventry he'll be asking questions of their defence they might not have the answers to. A few free kicks for Douglas to have a go at would be handy. More than in most games whoever scores first will be crucial.

Let's see if he can reproduce that performance when it matters on Tuesday night. The key to unlocking ultra defensive teams who park the bus is players running at them with the ball, not lumping it into the box from distance. Committing defenders and making them go to places they don't want to go. Either breaking through or drawing free kicks in dangerous areas. If he can do that against a very well organised team who will no doubt have been made aware of his way of playing then and already have a plan to deal with him, then I'll start to believe.

I was looking at the stats from yesterdays Reading v Rotherham game. Reading had 37% of the possession, Rotherham 63% yet Reading had 5 shots on target and Rotherham 1 I get the feeling that Tuesdays game will be a repeat of the Cardiff and Forest games. A well organised team defensively, quite happy to let us have most of the ball, just waiting for the inevitable Rovers mistake at the back, knowing that one goal will be enough. We need to be ready for them.

I see one of the Bournemouth players gave Sarr a " quietener " in the second minute of the game yesterday. He got a yellow card when later on in the game it would have been a red.

You've got to have the football intelligence and vision to see that the pass was on and the football ability to deliver the ball exactly where it's needed.

No, me neither. I don't think he's got much heading ability to be honest but then he's not had the likes of Conway and Marshall crossing the ball regularly

Yes that long ball, right to left , was a great pass. Keith Newton would of been proud of that one. If you're a striker you dream about getting passes like that. They get the back four turning when they're not expecting to have to.

I don't know what Gallagher's position is but I know what it isn't - right wing.

Don't forget who those goals were against. The likes of Rochdale etc etc.

The first time I saw him play in the flesh I thought " he must be carrying an injury ". He set off after a pass out on the wing and it looked like he was running in treacle. Later on I realised that was his normal running speed.

He was only average for a guy who was 6' 0". I've seen him miss a few that Rudy would have put through the back of the net.

I agree with you there. If you were a winger who would you rather play against ? I don't think it would be Nyambe. It'll be interesting to see who plays against Reading. Given that they've only conceded one goal so far we may need JRC's attacking skills.

Brererton's not playing out wide left as far as I can see. As I said a few weeks ago he seems to occupy what back in the day was the old inside left position. I can't see a reason why Dack couldn't play there. What's Brererton got that Dack hasn't ? Maybe he's a bit quicker over the ground once he gets into his stride but Dack is a lot smarter and he knows where the goals are.

Two really good corners there, obviously planned moves.

I hated playing as a defensive midfield player when the opposition had a player who could carry the ball like that. You were always in two minds - should I stay with the guy I was supposed to be marking or try and get to the ball carrier and block the threat. Of course the smart ones knew that and I soon as you left your man to block their run they passed it to the guy you had just left.