More injuries ? Suspensions ?

Who are the top players ? The best one just left the building recently. How many have we got ? I’d class top players as ones capable of getting us out of this league. I don’t see many of them, unless you count getting out through the back door.

We’re on too much of a knife edge to start bickering internally but when the season is over I’d like to hear some straight talking. Given we haven’t much of that in 14 years I’ll probably be disapointed.

Yeah, 14 years of shit is a long while. Some times you need a break from it. I took a break when they appointed Coyle. I could see where it was heading.

What are the bookies saying now ? Just asking for a friend.

It’s OK slagging the manager off but I doubt very much that he’s telling Hyam - “ The next time you’re chasing a long ball out of defence with a striker breathing down your neck don’t put it row Z, try and get the ball under control and beat the guy “ is he ? Ditto Brittain - “ Don’t volley the ball back up the pitch, miss your kick completely so their guy has a run in on goal “. Making the correct decisions, at speed, under pressure is what separates the good players from the also rans. It’s hard to coach. In rugby league, were you have more opportunity to sub players, anybody making mistakes like that would be subbed off right away. You don’t get the chance to make any more mistakes or play like you’ve just walked from Blackburn to Bristol like some of ours did last.

Sorry, I don’t know how that happened.

“ Nothing to play for “ can work two ways. It also means you start out under no pressure. It’s up to us to provide that pressure. We needed not to let them score. Get our noses in front, make them work, get the home crowd restless. We did none of those things. When you have your captain saying to the opposition striker “ I know you’re having a bad run son, see what you can do with this one “ , you’re making a rod for your own back. Once that one went in the pressure was off their backs and on ours.

Possibly. I know I was less than pleased by his apparent attitude, then to follow it up with the home shambles to the Nobbers !

The Miracles - You Really Got A Hold On Me

The absolute shambles at the dingledome lost him a lot of support. That and the way it was shrugged off as just another game. I know I never had the same confidence in him after that.

Gordon Lightfoot - Early Morning Rain

Letting Wharton go to the first bidder told us all we needed to know. That was the moment our fate was sealed for me. It’s not just about losing our most creative player, it was the message it sent to the rest of the players.

That was when we should have pulled away towards the play off zone and we did the opposite.

Last night was as bad as the defeat at Rotherham last season. That was the pits for me, we were totally out enthused by a team that was workmanlike at the best. We were second best in every aspect of the game. It’s the same old story - go in front and we can give anybody a game - go behind and the wheels fall off big time. I don’t get it, we’ve had this problem for years now and nothing has changed. Players come and go, managers come and go - yet the issue remains the same.

I was thinking about 5 at the back against Leeds . Watching that it still would work ok, we just need another 5 players. Nobody at the back could complain about being dropped after that. Was it Lothar Mathias that once said “ Put them all in a big sack, whack the sack with a big stick, and you wouldn’t be hitting anybody who didn’t deserve it “ ?

You missed out the guys going missing injury wise at crucial times. Successful team - everybody wants want to play - “ my knee ? Nah it’s ok boss, I can give you 70 minutes today “ . Losing team, it’s another story - “ my knee ? Nah, it’s not so good Boss, I could do with another week or two “.

Well I just girded my loins to watch the Sky highlights. Jesus Christ - how bad was that ? Lovely little inside ball from Hyam to set their guy up for the first goal. Any striker would have been proud of that pass. Pears fast asleep on his line but obviously expecting Hyam to deal with it. In the hierarchy of gifts that was a 10/10 gift. The sort of thing you pray for at 0-0. Second goal - Brittain misses an easy clearance, Hyam dives in and attempts a tackle with the wrong foot - pen - Pears doesn’t get anywhere near it. 3rd goal - Hyam again all over the place, collective comedy of errors at the back. 4th goal MacFad - schoolboy defending, turned his back on the ball. How old is this guy ? 37 or 17 ? Unforgiveable. Pears nowhere near the pen. 5th goal, we’re all at sea. MacFad again with more school boy defending in the goalmouth, totally unaware of what’s going on around him. Unbelievable from so experienced a player. Nobody interested in stopping the cross in the first place. Obviously it was a collective shit show, but what were the centre halves doing ? They were directly responsible for all 5 goals. City didn’t really have to do anything special, just wait for the school boy howlers.

He’s gone steadily backwards. We should have never spunked the £5 million on him in the first place. He was no more than a Steady Eddie in his first spell here, albeit in a poor team. He didn’t do much on loan at Big Club and did nothing back at Southampton. Why sign him again for big money. I said so at the time and got booed out. The flaws in his game that were evident when he first came here are still there. Lack of a good first touch, inability to read goal mouth situations, inability to compete physically, and the worst header of a ball I’ve seen in a guy 6’ 4” tall. Speedie and Jansen were way better and they were both a head shorter at least.

It’s a hard one to call. Do you go out with our best eleven ( whoever/whatever that is ) or do you save them for the Sheff Wed game ? Whoever plays we can’t have a repeat of last nights score line. I think Arbitro speculated on a 5 at the back line up and I think he may be right. I haven’t got into the frame of mind to watch last nights “ highlights “ no show yet but If what I read is correct Hyam better not be one of them.

Yeah, it wasn’t just getting hammered last night it was the damage it did to our goal difference.

Medicine Head - One And One Is One

I might have to have a stiff drink first. I can take us being out skilled but I’ll never accept a Rovers team being out-enthused.

We were at The Lowry last night to watch “ The Mousetrap “. Looks like we were the lucky ones. You can’t get a signal inside the theatre so as soon as I got outside after the performance I turned my phone on. I saw I had a one word message from my son. It just said “ awful “. So I turned to the BBC scores, my heart dropped to my boots when I saw 5-0. I texted him “ what happened ? “ . He’s so pissed off he still hasn’t responded ! I’m building my self up to watch the” highlights “ so blame can be correctly apportioned. The whole staff should be doing the same this morning. No punches to be pulled. If you want to know “ Who did it ? “ in “ The Mousetrap “ - it was The Chicken Chokers with a rolled up bank account in the boardroom.