Tyrone Shoelaces

If Gallagher and Brererton had have come up through the youth ranks they'd be out on loan like Wharton and Platt now.

I hope I'm wrong for Dunny's sake but I think Barrow have dropped a bollock there.

Is that really his name or is it a spelling mistake ? My Rugby League team once had an Australian player whose first name was Radney. The story was that was a spelling mistake on his birth certificate, being an Aussie who knows ?

I hate to say this but I'd like to bet that the Dingles have hardly dropped any points from winning positions. If they go 1-0 up they usually go on to win the game. Of course they've got two good defenders at centre half and a really good goalkeeper. As Brian Clough used to say " Nobody can lose you a game quicker than your goalkeeper, so get the best 'keeper you can ".

They will be with Walton in goal.

I've only seen Butterworth play once but I really liked the look of him. He reminded me of a very young David Speedie. Then he got injured. I've heard it's a back injury. Having had a long term back injury myself sometimes that can mean " you have a friend for life ". Those old enough to remember Alan Gilliver at Rovers will know a back injury ruined his career. I hope Butterworth gets his career back on track but there are no guarantees Paul.

There's plenty of top players who came from humble beginnings. Kevin Keegan from Scunthorpe to European Footballer of the year is possibly a stand out example. David Speedie made his name initially at Darlington.

I've only seen him play once for 1/2 hr in that " Egg-Cup " game at Rochdale. He was sent off in one of those incidents were two players both go in with a high boot for a bouncing ball and Wharton got there first and caught the guy. Their guy made a meal of it and as the incident was right in front of the Rochdale bench they all came rushing out also making a meal of it, so out came the red card. Of course 30 seconds later their guy was running around like a good 'un. Unfortunately that's football today. Going off the half an hour I saw he seemed to be quite a composed player and was always looking to find a Rovers shirt further up field with some nice measured passes. Given lots of teams let the opposing centre halves have the ball and press everywhere else having a good passer of the ball at the back is very useful. Matty Platt came on in his place and one of the forwards had to walk the plank to allow the substitution to be made. He looked a bit more of a back to basics player than Wharton but he didn't do anything wrong.

Did the Cardiff player get an " assist " for the pass ? He should have, best pass of the night.

That would mean Luton doing the double over us !

Bear in mind that centre halves can mature later than most other outfield players.

Let's sign Firmano then and give the false number nine plan a real go.

They are all tough lads in Rugby League. You wouldn't get me crossing over the white line to play Rugby League. I can't think of many footballers that would either. Maybe the likes of Kevin Moran and David Speedie, I can't think of many more.

Do you think Forest would be interested in talking him off our hands for a small fee ?

It's Mick Morgan who was an ex-player doing the commentary. I don't think he was too impressed with Ronnie Campbell who was refereeing. Skerritt was a bit of an animal but in the next game between the two teams Dean Sampson of Cas broke Skerritt's jaw with a similar high " tackle ". He came off spitting blood and teeth. Sampson must have been very brave.

So after 3 seasons of team building we're only 7 players short of having a decent side ? Only in pro football. If you'd have given me £ 12 million and paid my expenses to have a look around I'd guarantee you a player with more goals in them than our two.

I agree with that. Money for most clubs outside the Prem is going to be extremely tight. Some will almost certainly have to go into administration.

Other clubs will be looking at him. If somebody came in with that sort of money I think the Chicken Chokers would be tempted to recoup some of their losses. Of course he, or his agent, may decide he wants a move anyway

I think if the squad loses any of its key players without strengthening we could be in trouble next season. It's imperative we don't lose anybody we don't want to lose.

Who's going to take them on current form ? They'll both be on a decent wedge. I think we're stuck with them unless something changes.

Shearer would always be my No 1 striker but in the very long list of players I've seen and admired Craig Bellamy would be my choice to play along side him. I go back, just about to Roy Vernon and Peter Dobing, I remember Andy Mac and Fred Pickering really well, and coming up to date you have David Speedie, Chris Sutton. Kevin Gallagher, Matt Jansen, Andy Cole, Santa Cruz, Benny McCarthy, Yakubu even. There's some truly great players in that list but I'd take Bellamy above them all.

I've always thought he was a bit of a blunt instrument. He's never going to be a prolific goal scorer. Nobody takes every chance, I'd say Armstrong maybe needs two good chances for every goal he scores. Samuel needs half a dozen at least and at the moment we struggle to make that many chances in a game. If he had any sense he'd modify his game down the Kevin Davies route and start throwing his weight around as a target man but he shows no signs of doing that. In a normal world, pre virus, I'd say we could sell him and get a good bit of what we spent back. I don't think that sort of money will be being spent now, especially at the sort of lower level club that may be interested in him.. It looks like Graham will be going, the two "big strapping lads " show no signs of being the answer, there isn't a big striker coming through the youth ranks. So unless we're going to let Mowbray have another shot a signing a striker I think we're stuck with Samuel.

It certainly looks to me as though Johnno is being groomed to take over in the fullness of time. I liked him as a player , he was the sort of player every team needs, bags of effort and good ability, a real 100 per center. You've only got to look at him now to see how he's looked after himself in his career, that tells me a lot. He did a great job with the kids but I've got to say if he has had a serious input into the first team this season it's hard to detect what it is. However I'd be prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt if we did appoint him as Mowbray's replacement.

I agree with that and I've been a fan of his almost since day one. i wouldn't sell him at the moment but I'm a bit concerned about his lack of development. He's not a kid anymore. He's got all the attributes to become a really good right full back bar one - the ability to create chances for team mates. In particular his crossing of the ball is mediocre. In todays football full backs have to be able to do more than defend, some fullbacks probably have the opportunity to cross the ball more than the " wingers ", especially at Rovers. Sometimes it's the early, unexpected, crosses that catch teams out. But they've got to be accurate otherwise you're just giving the ball away. The lad's got great athleticism, you can't teach that, but crossing and passing are basic skills that can be worked on. His lack of progress in this aspect of his game will hold him back from playing at a significantly higher level.

That crossed my mind as well.