Tyrone Shoelaces

Amazing players do amazing things.

Starting slowly has been an issue for a long while. The first 15 minutes is when the opposition are at their most vulnerable. No team likes playing away from home. You should get your foot on their neck and keep it there. You can tell after a short period of time if we're up for it. Same with my Rugby League team. If they're stood about like a bunch of grapes, taking the ball stood still, falling off tackles in the first 5 minutes you're usually in for a long afternoon.

Name me a top player that hasn't missed a sitter. Two of the best goal scorers I ever saw were Jimmy Greaves and Denis Law. I've seen both of them miss from two yards out . Greavsey hit the bar with an header when he was stood on the goal line !

I read that Keifer Moore got a good hat trick for Barnsley at Rochdale last night.

Yeah I bet some of people on here never slept a wink on Christmas Eve.

I liked Barrow, how he never played more for us is a mystery. I saw this lad Sims play once for Southampton and he looked pretty handy.

Maybe the Chicken Chokers have decided to lend a hand now the test match is as good as over.

I won't damn them if they don't sign him. As you say we can't afford to get this one wrong. There's a lot riding on it. Somebody worth that sort of money at our level has got to be a starter not Graham's understudy.

So why haven't they signed him ? £ 8 million is absolute peanuts to clubs like Utd or Liverpool.

Nobody at our level plays two up front and a player like Dack in behind. That ship sailed years ago.

I'm hoping for a win but I've been watching us too long to be over confident. We love a banana skin at Rovers. If we win well tonight I'll really start to believe we can go places this season. I'm going for a draw 1-1 tonight.

Very good signing. Just our luck we play them on Wednesday.

Forest are just stringing us along hoping we'll pay daft money for this lad. It's time we called their bluff and walked away .

His recent injury record would put me off. If you're going to pay big bucks whoever it is you sign they have to play. Martin Britt who I mentioned a while ago had such a bad knee injury he could only jump off his good leg !

Yeah, since the abolition of the maximum wage any of the old mill town teams that are playing at the highest level are defying gravity. It's not just about money, the size of your fan base is still very important.

I'd like to think we've more class.

Yes, he went to Stoke for quite big money at the time. Stoke were a bit of a " Dad's Army " team at the time but they were quite successful. I think he later managed Oldham I think with out much success. Probably too nice a bloke to succeed as a manager. I thought it was Turf Moor also.

I don't think it is Jim. I can't recall a Burnley v Rovers game being played at a neutral venue. Could be the FA Cup game in 1960 at Turf Moor.

Yes a top player in his day. I only saw him towards the end of his career but at his peak he was good enough to play for The Rest Of Europe I think. He was a clever playmaker who scored his share of goals. A very neat and tidy player who rarely wasted a pass. A bit like a smaller Zinadine Zidane to watch. Off the pitch he was a really nice bloke I understand. I remember being stood by the wall on the Riverside when he came over to pick the ball up for a throw in and I flipped him the ball. The rivalry was different then and all top players were looked up to, they were all Giants to us football daft lads. Burnley ( well Bob Lord actually ) did the dirty on him and fired him off quite ruthlessly when he was just on the wane. Football was a bit " hire 'em and fire 'em " in those days but this was a particularly callous move. My geography teacher at secondary school was a die hard Burnley fan who idolised Mac and he vowed never to set foot in the ground again. In the two years he taught me before I left he never went back ! RIP Jimmy. You were a good 'un.

Probably.

Jimmy was playing ( well watching really ) that day Dougie and the Rovers ran the all conquering Spurs team ragged. He was absolutely unstoppable and laid on several of the 7 goals we scored that afternoon. In fact I think Greaves scored one of the 2 Spurs got. Legend has it that Bill Nicholson the Spurs manager approached the Rovers management in the boardroom after the game and offered to pay £110,000 for Dougie. The British record at the time was the £115,000 that Utd had paid for Dennis Law. Even Greaves himself had only cost Spurs £99,999. Dougie had been a bit unsettled at the time but thankfully we turned the offer down. I consider myself to have been privileged to have been there that day. We were jaw droppingly good and on another day we could have scored 10. I've seen some great performances over the years but that tops the bill for me.

No, a pal of mine is a Sunderland fan and he hasn't got a good word to say about him.

Armstrong is the nearest we have for that role.

He scored a hat trick against Arsenal on his full debut !

A Kevin Moran or an Andy Todd would be handy right now.