Tyrone Shoelaces

In Johnno we trust !

The only way we can accommodate him into the team if Lenihan and Rodwell are playing well is the dreaded 3 at the back.

What have you seen so far that suggests he has a finisher's instinct in his game ?

Same goes for playing him in central midfield.

I was looking over my shoulder after our pretty dismal Xmas defeats. Next week will be a good test, win that playing well and we'll be looking good for the run in. Will it be too late to encourage the Chicken Chokers to get the cheque book out again though ?

Yeah, that's the one. As you say - if we beat them I'll start looking up at the top 6 and not down the league.

Similar to a goal we conceded at Preston I think. Lenihan came bombing out of the line to get to the ball in the right side of midfield. Failed to get to the ball by a mile and left a big gap that Preston exploited to score. He should have held his position and left it to the midfield to deal with.

He picked the ball up against Millwall in the old inside left position. I asked when do you see a player get the ball from out wide by the touch line and then do that ?

How many times do you see somebody come inside off the wing and score ? Most of the time they just run into heavy traffic. You can still play team mates in playing off your better wing. The players that do the damage are the ones that get around the side of teams. Like Murphy did for Newcastle the other night.

I don't get this playing right footed players on the left and vice versa. If Armstrong is predominantly right footed he should play on the right hand side.

That's a good player to have on the bench. He can fill in for lots of players.

Good, that'll do me.

I've given up trying to predict what team we'll put out tomorrow. I just hope it's not three at the back again and we put in a performance. Play to our ability and we should have enough in the tank to win.

Yeah he's right Super Mac started out like Fred Pickering as a pretty average left back. Maybe we should try Williams up front ? He's really average.

I don't think he'll start tomorrow, I think Nuttall will.

Good attacking players, poor defenders.

With all due respect we don't want players who provide " competition " for existing players we want players who take the shirt and keep it. We've signed too many players who are just back up standard.

You can always count on Rovers to give struggling opponents a helping hand. I was there for the 3-1 home defeat two or three days after we won 8-2 away at West Ham, after that debacle you realise that anything is possible in football ! There was a cartoon in the Daily Express that Saturday morning showing a bloke selling cricket style scorecards instead of programmes outside Ewood Park ! I think the players believed that. We need to come out with all guns blazing, get our foot on their throat and keep it there. We need to be thinking we're playing Burnley not Ipswich. Will we ?

Position -yes, happy. Squad - not really happy. Performance - not happy.

1-1 draw for me also I'm afraid. I'd love to see us slaughter a team but the way we play doesn't lead to us making enough clear cut chances to slaughter teams.

You know better than that Jim, it's 11 versus 11 on Saturday. That's all that matters. I ended up playing on the losing side in plenty of games were we were going to win in a canter. If your mental attitude isn't right before you know it you've handed the initiative to your opponents and it's not easy to get it back.

Yeah Jack specialised in moving players around, McEvoy was an average wing half ( Midfield player for the kids ) who he turned into a goals machine. Keith Newton was also a wing half who he converted into a England international full back. Mike England was another midfielder who he turned into a World class centre half. " Marshall's miss-fits " they were called at the time.

They need to try him out there in training matches. First team defence and Second team attack v First team attack and Second team defence etc. It doesn't seem to happen these days. The second best centre forward I've ever seen at Rovers would have ended up as a pretty average reserve left back if we hadn't given him a go up front.

Can't see much point in that, unless it's another " investment " signing.

The thing is we need to be thinking that we are going to sign players that are better than the players he named. How else are we going to challenge for a play off spot ?