Tyrone Shoelaces

I agree that " Changes are needed players wise ". What worries me is his past record which is hardly glowing in this respect. He appears to need to sign 5 players to get 1 good enough to actually hold down a place in the team.

I thought they did want him. If they've got players better than Reed good luck to them.

Could be Reed will go on loan to Norwich if they go up.

One centre half could and did mark the pair of them !

Wasn't Ray Wilkins captaining Chelsea at a similar age ?

Nobody at Rovers has had a bigger career in my opinion. Only Mulgrew could come near. He was a terrific little player in his heyday.

Typical of the hierarchy at Rovers to have a diamond under their noses and not make the most of his talents. I'd be gutted if he leaves.

A couple of decent signings and giving some of these kids some game time and we could be. Stay with the usual suspects and it'll be another slog.

It's like playing with any other player. You need to know what they're going to do in any given situation. That way each player knows his responsibilities. I recall Raya coming flying out of goal when Bennett was playing at right back and trying to deal with a long ball up the middle. Raya arriving put Bennett in two minds so instead of putting into row Z he dithered and ended up losing the ball to an opposition striker who luckily for us put the ball wide of an empty net ! If Raya stays at home the chances are that wouldn't have happened.

Very worrying comments from Mowbray.

Johnno's worked a minor miracle there. If anybody needs a pay rise he does !

Yeah, Cole and Jansen were a really good partnership. They brought the best out in each other. Cole and Yorke ended up vying with each other to see who could run the least in a game.

That's not really an answer to my question is it ?

When has he ever looked like he deserves a chance to lead the attack ?

He peaked at Rovers and he managed to peak Andy Cole at the same time !

I liked Andy a lot. He was a very under rated striker. When you can match the likes of Denis Law and Jimmy Greaves in the goal scoring charts that tells you all need to know. He was lethal in the penalty area, very calm and measured in his finishing. He never belted it when he could pass it into goal. A perfect foil for Big Fred.

What car does he drive ? That'll be a clue.

Speaking from the lofty position of someone who actually saw both of them play in their prime - Fred had a fantastic shot in both feet and he was also a very good header of the ball. He was very nimble for a big man with good close control, he could go past players on either side with clever ball skills as well as sheer strength. On the down side he had off days when he wasn't as effective for whatever reason. I think some players in those days didn't take the game as seriously as they do today. You could earn as much if you had a decent job in industry in those days. Also you've got to remember that Fred had Andy McEvoy playing along side him and Bryan Douglas providing the ammunition from midfield and two top class wingers putting over a stream of crosses. People forget that when we sold him to Everton he went for a record fee between two English clubs. He was that good. Alan wasn't as nimble as Fred, he could run past people and sometimes run through people but he wasn't noted for his dribbling skills. He was strong and aggressive at all times. He had a terrific right foot shot but his left foot wasn't a strong point. He was one of the best crossers of a ball off that right foot I've ever seen. For someone who wasn't as tall as Fred he was just as good a header of the ball. Where Alan has it over Fred is he never went missing in a game. You knew that we might be under the cosh and he hadn't had much of the ball for ages but just give him one good ball and he would make something of it. Ability wise there isn't a lot to chose between the two, it's the mental toughness side of Shearers game that would lead me to say, much as I loved Fred, Shearer would be my No 1 choice as a striker for Rovers. I've often wondered how many goals Alan would have got in the forward line that Fred played in !

Yeah, Rotherham have been there and done it before. That always helps in a crisis. I'm just glad we weren't in a relegation battle with them.

I saw Grabbi get three goals at least for the First Team.

If you rolled Nuttall and Brereton into one you wouldn't have a Danny Graham. The difference is in the fullness of time we'll make a small amount of money on one of them and we'll lose our shirts on the other. I don't know what money Brereton is on but whatever it is it's too much.

He's an average manager as his CV makes plain. He nearly kept us up in his first half a season but his cautious attitude ultimately led to us not keeping our heads above water. Last season we got promotion comfortably in the end but we were less than convincing for long periods in a pretty average division. The abdication of our pursuit of the league title left a bad taste in some peoples mouths, mine included. This season he's stuck with the old guard for too long when fresh blood was required. Some one mentioned that it's not his fault that we couldn't sign a desperately needed back up centre half in January but he has to take responsibility for the situation we found ourselves in with a young kid having to be thrown in at the deep end. A young kid who would have been behind Downing, Wharton and Platt in the pecking order if he hadn't foolishly loaned out all three to other clubs. On the recruitment front he's got more wrong than he has right. That's what average managers do. Good managers also make poor signings but they tend to get more right than wrong. If we want to maintain our somewhat bumpy progress in an upwards direction I honestly don't think he's the man for the job. I really like him a lot as a bloke and I've no doubt that he'd be good company if you met him in the pub. However things change rapidly in football and by and large it's a younger mans game these days. I've made it plain before that I'd like him to remain at the club as a sort of father figure and for Johnno to having a much greater input on the first team coaching side.

There in lies the problem. His previous recruitment does not lead me to think that he will pull it off. Let's hope I'm wrong.

I like Raya but since he got that boot in the face he's not been the same player. Apart from the flap that led to their goal today he spilled a simple shot in the first half. It was a ball he should have swallowed yet he managed to push out all along the ground right in front of goal. He was lucky a defender got a boot to it first.

I saw Jimmy Kerr a lot for Bury before he signed for Rovers, a pal of mine ( Tommy Claxton ) was in and out of the same team as Jimmy over there and I'd go over with him from time to time. If Brereton turns out to be half as good a footballer as Jimmy Kerr was he'll do for me. Steve Agnew was another one who came with a big reputation but got a career finishing injury almost as soon as we signed him.