Tyrone Shoelaces

Let's appeal then.

I agree. I'd have him in tomorrow and give him the hard word. Actually he should have gone ages ago. Time to look elsewhere now.

That's the one constant that's been in the team for the last ten years. A complete lack of fight when things don't go their way. The number of games we've managed to pull around from a losing position tells it's own story. In all the players he's signed he hasn't signed one " Battler ". Only Lenihan and Travis look like they relish the physical side of the game and they came up through the ranks.

I've stopped listening to him. Like I did with Keano and Bowyer.

Maybe he'd been told to get on and " put himself about a bit ". That's the thing with non aggressive players, they don't really know how to go about it, so they tend to over react and they're too obvious.

I'd take mid championship next season now if Mowbray is still here.

When Pedersen scored that wonder volley against Fulham who provided the inch perfect cross from way out on the right wing - Kuqi !

Attitude is as important as physique in football. You've got to be aggressive at all times and not everybody has that in their nature. Plenty of good defenders are wiry but you wouldn't take liberty's with them. Lots of big guys have got by on the pitch just because they are big, but you find out eventually that they don't relish the physical side of the game. Give me somebody who puts their body on the line for the team irrespective of their body shape.

" One is putting in competent performances in a Championship team " ? That must be in a parallel universe far away.

It makes you think. Since we restarted how many players have been unavailable through injury ? it feels like half the team are missing for tonight's game.

I always thought that was the easy part of the game. You don't even have to be particularly skillful, you just need a good level of fitness and the determination to win the ball back at all times. Most defenders aren't great on the ball, that's why they're playing at the back. Take advantage of that and win the ball back in the opposition half. How hard is it ?

I know you're just having a laugh. I saw Albert Lee do " Country Boy " years ago, also in Liverpool, he was brilliant. " Plays a guitar like ringing a bell " came to mind, it was effortless.

" Harrying players to put them off their game " should be a given in any football team. Why don't we do it ?

Look at Tarkowski at Burnley. His early career record isn't exactly glowing but he's going well in the Prem. Centre halves mature later than most other outfield players.

How long was O'Connell bumping along at Rochdale ? I've no axe to grind with Wharton , he may or may not be good enough, all I'm saying is he should be given a shot back at the club before we write him off completely. Regarding size, I don't mind a lean centre half, Colin Hendry wasn't massively built. Lean players should be quicker over the ground and they definitely turn quicker. It's what's beating under the badge that counts. Lot's of big guys are softies under the shirt. Give me a small nasty bastard any day. It's a good job nobody told Nobby Stiles he wasn't big enough.

Warnock obviously was " achievable " but the powers that be thought Coyle was a better bet ! That fact alone tells me all I need to know about the people running the club. He's at 'Boro now and I expect he'll be successful there. As I've said before I would have replaced Mowbray after the promotion season. You have to be ruthless to succeed in football, as Brentford showed with Warburton. His stock was high at the time, he would have got another job easily, and more importantly we could have got somebody in to build on that position of relative strength. As it stands now the chances are other clubs will be looking at our better players. The better players may decide they've had enough of being at a club with no real ambition and want a move. The loanees will go back. We'll be left with a squad of old timers and younger guys who aren't up to the required standard. In real terms we are going backwards.

If that's true it's nonsense. How big was Henning Berg ? Two of the smallest guys I remember playing up front for Rovers were two players I wouldn't want to play against , Paul Dickov and David Speedie. Are we signing players purely on account of their size now ? Maybe that accounts for him signing BB or SG. They're big enough alright, until the ball is in the air, but unfortunately they're not good enough. I can see Wharton being another O'Connell., remember him ?

Against Wigan we'd have been better off putting Downing to left back and letting Bennett run around in midfield and put a foot in now and again. There wasn't going to be much playmaking going on when we play Wigan

It's a pretty good set. I was expecting him to do " My Little Red Book " but he didn't.

Sorry , I'm just a country boy, I get confused easily.

I'm not a Bowie fan. I watched the Albert Lee & Love performance on Friday night.

They had a plan and they brought in players to suit that plan. They weren't necessarily top players but they fitted into the plan. Plus, I include Howard Kendall here, they all brought a winning mentality.

If we had a really hard nosed board and I was on it I would have recommended that we fired him at the end of the promotion season. I'd no confidence that he could take us any further at the time. In spite of winning plenty of games we only seemed to be able to play well in 30 minute spells. That was good enough against weak opposition. It was never going to be good enough in this division.

He's been here ages and he still hasn't got a coherent way of playing, a balanced squad, a way of coming back into games from a losing position, any idea of his best 11. Apart from that he's doing a great job.

When you decide on a way of playing and then you start shoehorning players into it normally it doesn't work. You need to look at what your players particular skills are and design your way of playing to suit them. For example if you've got three really good centre halves but no wing backs and you want to play three at the back you've got to either get your wing backs in from somewhere or come up with another system etc. There's no point playing it with the likes of Nyambe and Williams for instance.