Tyrone Shoelaces

We did well to get a draw there.

Armstrong is Rhodes with added pace. He could probably out run Rhodes going backwards.

That maybe right in Nyambe's case but it can be worked on if he's got the motivation to do so. When I first started watching back in the day Keith Newton played either flank equally well, in fact he played for England in both positions. John Bray and Dave Whelan could do both as could Billy Wilson. I was only an amateur but as I got older I could play on both flanks no problem. It doesn't come easy, it takes a lot of hard work and practice, but it can be done. It's not just the left footed running with the ball and passing you need to work on, it's the getting comfortable jockeying players down your " Wrong " side and getting a tackle in at the right time with your " Wrong " foot. I still see pros who tackle with the wrong foot because they favour their strongest side. Usually they come a cropper.

Yeah, he was no stranger to the dark arts of football. I saw him do what Morsy did to Dack on more than one occasion. Just helping the opposing centre half on his way - into the advertisement hoardings !

Me, the defensive one. I could run all day and I liked a tackle. Get the ball and give it to the other two lads. I could run past people but beating them in a dribble wasn't my strong point.

I can never under stand why guys like Nyambe don't work harder on their ability to play on the other flank. I always reckoned you had two chances of getting into the team instead of one if you could play right or left back.

They used to reckon Pele was the best goalkeeper in the Brazil squad ! He was supposed to be the stand in goalie before we had sub goalies.

That was when the alarm bells really starting ringing for me.

I always used to say in a midfield three you needed a good defensive player, a good attacking player and a player that can do a bit of both those roles.

The old Dack could easily play the same role as Brererton played yesterday. Picking it up around the half way line and running with the ball. He may not cover the ground as quickly as Brererton but he's much more able to beat an opponent with the ball at his feet.

They're only dirty when they play for other teams, as soon as they pull on the blue and white shirt they're the salt of the earth.

Yeah, he was an excellent playmaker.

I don't think we paid £5million for his abilities as a centre back to be honest.

Yesterdays goal was the touch of a player who is at the top of his form. It looked easy because he made it look easy. How many time have you seen chances like that go over the bar or hit the goalie ? Never a moments doubt where that pass was going to end up.

Tugayesque. The thing is we were 3-0 up then. Tugay would still be nonchalantly sliding those passes out if we were 3-0 down !

There are attacking players like Armstrong who are quite happy to jog along and not get a really significant touch of the ball for 5 even 10 minutes. They've got that inner confidence that even if they haven't contributed much so far they're still worth their place in the side, Then a good ball comes their way and they come alive. Then there are the attacking players who when they don't see the ball for 5 or 10 minutes they start getting anxious, start worrying about their contribution and they can go into their shell and never come out. I think Rothwell was like that when he was played as a winger. In a more central role he's in the game a lot more and he can't switch off as easily.

John Sheridan was a class player in his day.

Just how I feel. It's great to see us banging in the goals but lets not get carried away. Wycombe are really poor and Derby have lost their way. Very much like Rovers were in the Berg, Appleton, Bowyer period. They look very fragile mentally. It might have been another game altogether if that shot that beat Kaminski but was going in until a Rovers defender blocked it had actually gone in. In both games we scored first, that's massively important.

I'd have to play a yard or two nearer to Dolan than I would with Gallagher. Dolan's control and ability to turn with the ball is instant, Gallagher needs that bit more time to get his big gangling levers going. Of course the fullback playing two yards wider means there is more space in the centre for opponents to exploit. There are no free lunches when you're defending as a unit. Another thing that makes Dolan a difficult opponent is he leans over the ball a bit when he's running with it, making head on attempts to dispossess him more problematical.

Man marking is the easy part. Just running around with the guy you're marking makes it more difficult for his team mates to pass to him. You just need a tenacious guy with a good engine. Having said that the way the game is referreed these days you'd have to be careful tackling. It's what you do when your own team has the ball that's the hard bit. Clever teams let the marker have the ball and lure him away from the guy he's supposed to be marking. You need to be disciplined, stay with your man and if you win the ball find a team mate ASAP.

Celtic did it with Tugay when we played them years ago. Whenever we had the ball they had Chris Sutton man marking him and they played us out of the game.

They did, hasn't he gone to Carlisle ?

Dack's got a full hand when it comes to goal scoring. He can finish in many ways, Armstrong is a bit more limited.

We shouldn't be considering Gallagher for a wide role again. Dolan and Chapman with maybe JRC should be our go to players on the right wing.

It's simple as this for me, as an old left back, who would I prefer to against - Dolan or Gallagher ? With Dolan he dribbles at real pace, knows when to stick and when to twist, bags of energy, always looking to get into the game. You'd never have a minute's break. With Gallagher he's going to have an advantage in the air so you'd be relying on team mates to cut down crosses in his direction. After that, out wide he's not much of a threat as long as you don't do anything silly, like giving him too much room and letting him get a run at you. After turning his back on real attacking wingers for all the time he's been at Ewood ( Conway was played more as a defensive player and Chapman hardly played ) Mowbray appears to have found one down the back of the sofa. At least one winger is getting a game now. I only see Gallagher as a back up for Armstrong at the moment. On another point although Armstrong was quiet for most of the game the way he put that chance away so emphatically speaks of a player who's confidence is sky high. Regarding Johnson's goals, our midfield have been shot shy for too long. How often do you see a speculative shot into a crowded penalty area take an unstoppable deflection like his second goal. Let's have more of it lads.