I'm OTT Chaddy , how about you ?

I'm just hoping it's not the same score as last time we played them at Ewood ! I'd take a draw now.

I was going past Oldham's ground yesterday and I noticed a billboard saying they had Exeter had home today !

It's not just is he better than Danny Graham. People are asking is he better than Nuttall.

That's why there is a furore.

I'm not really bothered what Mowbray or Waggott say about Dack. What does Dack say ?

You can bet your house that barring injuries Evans and Smallwood will start against Norwich.

He's been kidnapped by the same aliens that got Gladwin. Do either of them really exist or are they just holograms ?

Gestede has run into injury issues, not for me.

I agree with your point that the best defence is to be playing in your opponents half buts that's not so easy when you're playing with a back six.

I've been a big fan of Raya's up to now but that dash out from goal yesterday had me shaking my head. What was he thinking of ? Maybe the bang on the head has scrambled his brain. If that had have been Duffy there would have been murmurings on here. Nyambe also dropped a major bollock. It's a cardinal sin these days for a full back to be taken out of the game by an inside ball. I thought Gladwin was top gun in training before he got " injured " ?

I did the stadium tour with Ronnie Clayton just before he finished doing it. We were talking about young players and he told me he was best mates with Duncan Edwards in the old days. He was going to be Duncan's best man when he got married after the 1958 World Cup. As we all know before that Edwards was killed in the Munich air crash. Ronnie said " We've got the next Duncan Edwards coming through the ranks at Ewood, a young lad called Phil Jones ". He was praising him to the skies that day. I can see why Ronnie thought that at the time but for all sorts of reasons Jones has never made the step up from good player to great player as he's got older. I was talking about Mike England earlier. He just got better and better and better. You could see him making progress game by game. He was what Jones should have become,

Roy Boy's only quality signing.

Another one who played for both teams - Howard Kendall.

You're very kind. I felt a real fool.

The source of my most embarrassing Rovers moment. When he made his home debut I was waiting outside the main entrance with my young son who was collecting autographs. I thought Jeff Kenna came out so I asked him to sign my son's autograph book. While he was signing I congratulated him on playing well. He said ' I wasn't playing today'. When I looked at the autograph it was Tony Gale !

Damian Johnson played for Big Club also as did Jeff Kenna. It'd be nice to have those two back playing again.

It's like I was saying about Marlon Broomes the other day. I'd heard big things about the lad so when I first saw him play I was expecting to see a spark of something. Maybe a little bit of David Dunn's ability on the ball or a touch of David Batty's ability to win back possession. Well, there was nothing, and I mean nothing. His positional play was a joke, he seemed to be drawn to the ball all the time yet never seemed to get it, his passing game was very limited, he wasn't a big player so his heading ability wasn't very good. I was scratching my head, what did he bring to the party ? After all those games I still don't know now !

Players like Armstrong need to be playing up front on the shoulder of another bigger striker ( Gestede ? ) who can win the flick ons etc. Unfortunately that tactical ship sailed a few years ago and we don't play with two up front any more. Not a lot of teams do. You would be light in midfield and the teams that pack the midfield will over run you.. I had reservations about signing Armstrong because of this fact. He's a bit of a one trick pony, kick and run will only get you so far out on the wing unless you're amazingly rapid.

I remember reading an article about Marlon Broomes when he was coming through. Alan Shearer said he was going to be the next Bobby Moore. I couldn't believe my eyes when I first saw him play. You don't expect the finished article in a young player but usually something catches your eye. They're quick and strong in the tackle. They have a good passing game. Or they read the game well and are calm in possession, good in the air etc. Broomes had none of those attributes. He made Christian Bloody Dailly look like a proper centre back !

Any Rovers fan can be excused cynicism after the goings on at Ewood over the last ten years. Even the dogs in the street know players were being left out for purely financial reasons in the past.

I agree it takes time and it's foolish to make too many changes. In normal circumstances 2 changes is enough preseason. After getting promoted maybe three new players is more appropriate. I'm talking about players who are specifically signed to play in the first team and who are significantly better than the lads that are already here. We seemed to have signed one player who fits that bill in Reed. l think the juries out for the rest of our signings.

True, that was a fantastic achievement.

I like your style, will you be my agent as well ?

Given the circumstances the likes of Downing, Samuel, Smallwood, Bell, Caddis etc were brought to the club with one thing in mind. Get us out of the Division asap. Great, we did that. It's the nature of the beast that having achieved success they have to be replaced by better players. It's dog eat dog in pro football and most top managers have no room for sentiment. For some reason we haven't done that.