Tyrone Shoelaces

Get the Dahlin shirt, it won't need washing !

Even if he was having a quiet game Whittingham could usually do something out of ordinary, a nice cross field pass etc.. Lowe was just ordinary all the time.

There's a shop near me that specialises in framing sporting memorabilia. Usually it's Utd, City, Liverpool. stuff. 99% of the signatures on the shirts and football boots are just scribbles and are pretty well undecipherable.

" Flat Back Four " by Andy Gray is on a similar theme and is better than you'd think given the author. A really good old one if you can find it Is " Soccer for Thinkers " ( I think It's called ) by Malcolm Allison.

Yes, I've read that. Very good. That England opening batsman who also had mental issues wrote a very good autobiography. Just can't recall his name. Trescothick ?

" Inverting The Pyramid " about the evolution of football formations.

We didn't have many Scots in the 1960's but one I thought was going to make it in a big way was Malcolm Darling. He had it all apart from maybe temperament. He was quick, tricky, had a good shot in both feet and for a smallish guy he had a good leap and he was a good header of the ball. We had three really good young home grown players in that era - Eamon Rogers, Billy Wilson and Malcolm Darling and all three were allowed to just drift away from the club for some reason.

That's one of my claims to fame - I saw Stuart Monroe play ! How many other Rovers fans can say that !

Andy had an equally prolific partnership with John Byrom when he replaced Fred Pickering. Andy in two seasons. - 36 goal from from 41 games in season 63-64. ( 3 hatricks plus 4 goals in 2 games ). 32 goals from 42 games in season 64-65. ( 2 hat tricks ). All playing at the top level.

Pedersen instead of Duff ? Not fit to lace his boots.

If you never saw Eamon Rogers play he was a David Dunn who could tackle. He could play anywhere apart from centre half and frequently did. Mainly in centre midfield but he played out wide some of the time and full back.on a few occasions. All the time looking a natural in whatever position. He had that priceless ability carry the ball from the half way line to the penalty box. He didn't take a backward step either. He missed his way and just allowed his career to fizzle out after a badly advised move to Charlton. Andy Mac fell out of love with football when he still had plenty left in the tank. He packed it in to go driving trams in Dublin allegedly !

I'd have Mick McGrath in there instead of Reid. He was very much in the David Batty mold of a gritty, hard working unspectacular player who was more skillful than he was given credit for. He suffered in comparison from playing in the same team as Ronnie Clayton. He holds the record of being the first Rovers player ever to be subbed. Against the red rats at Old Trafford. I was there.

He was some player on his day. I remember Northern Ireland playing him in a deeper role for the home international championship . More midfield than out on the wing and he was outstanding. I think like a lot of players - the more you could get him into the game the better he was.

Bohinen was good in midfield for a while. I liked Santa Cruz and Benny but Bellamy was in a different class for me.

Easy. Freidel USA, Neil Aus, Henchoz Swiss, Nelsen New Zealand, Bjornaby Norway. Donis Greece, Nzonzi France, Tugay Turkey, Duff Eire. Shearer Eng, Bellamy Wales. You could have Emerton or Diouf on the right wing.

Allan Hunter would get in it, with Kevin Moran. Dougan shouldn't be selected for disciplinary reasons. Keith Gillespie ?

Savage ? Not fit to lace Batty's boots, or Flitty's for that matter.

Ally Mac Leod back in the day. Christian bloody Dailly. Barry Ferguson , Callum Davidson.

I agree with you about David Batty. A very under rated player.

I know they were all good players but they'd be better still with one more player !

Andy was a true great, he made his name as an assassin in the penalty but he was a really good all around footballer. We were playing Arsenal in a top the table clash. When I got to the ground the word was Bryan Douglas was injured ! " Bloody Hell, we're stuck now " I thought. Anyway when the teams were announced Andy was playing in Dougie's place as a playmaker with a young kid in Andy's place. I shouldn't have worried, Dougie was hardly missed because Andy was great in that position and he still managed to get on the score sheet in a 4-1 win. For those interested big Fred Pickering got the other three.

That's what I think when I hear people telling me the players of today are miles better, fitter etc, than the old timers. Maybe, but who would you rather watch ? 5 minutes of Bryan Douglas was worth a whole 90 minutes of most of what's on display today, Bradley Dack excepted. It's all about goal mouth incidents and excitement. The early sixties team I grew up on would have you dizzy with excitement.

Leon bloody Best, he should be in all time worst 11. Mick McGrath was twice the player that either of McAteer or Andrews was. Central midfield should be Rogers and McGrath. Have you never heard of Andy McEvoy ? Up there with Jimmy Greaves and Denis Law in the goal scoring charts back in the day. A real top striker, him and Stapleton would be my front two

Thanks for that. As you say chances are there will be clubs that won't survive. On a similar musical theme can I recommend Joe Tex - " Hold On To What You've Got ".

It might be a problem if there was anything else to do but there isn't going to be.