Tyrone Shoelaces

Great stuff. It's like another game completely. They should show the current crop of players films like this so they know you can actually pass the ball forwards most of the time. Having said that when you only have one up front who is there to pass to ? Today a left footer like Scott Sellars would be playing on the right wing and coming inside into trouble most of the time instead of getting around the back of teams and creating havoc. Look at the pitch, the current lot can't even pass the ball on a bowling green, what they'd be like on pitches like that I shudder to think !

I got a programme for my grandson at Rochdale. I only had flick through it at half time but I thought it was absolutely excellent. Somebody had gone to a lot of trouble to produce that.

I'm expecting a proper report then.

Yeah it was a real screamer, I remember it well. Just a shame he didn't do it more often.

Lowe had all those things you mention. Unfortunately when it came to footballing ability he didn't have any.

Could you see Lowe scoring a goal like the opener yesterday ? He' d get a nose bleed going so far up the pitch.

Great goal for Smallwood today, began the move with a pass out wide, bombed into the middle and put a difficult left foot volley away with ease. Good to see a central midfielder getting up with the strikers for once. We've been missing a player with his energy levels in midfield for too long.

How I read that is he would have gone for the dosh no matter how many games he got at Rovers.

There's a quote in today's paper regarding Rashford but it could equally apply to all young players. " It had taken an injury crisis at United under Van Gaal to thrust Rashford into the first team picture. " It does make you wonder, how many others are there out there ? " added Southgate. " I don't know, but kids need opportunity. When the opportunity presents itself you have to take it. He hasn't looked back, "

Was " disasterious " deliberate ? What a great word - a combination of disaster and mysterious. I've fallen foul of a few of those takeaways.

I always liked Johnno as a player. Exactly what we're short of now.

Whoever's coaching those lads must have a good shout for some first team involvement if things don't improve on that front rapido.

I only saw him in the televised youth cup games but he looked handy. He was quick and could beat people, not much end product but if Hughes can sort that out they may have a good player.

Yeah that first injury took half a yard off him.

I find watching film of the old teams play extremely painful, to the extent that I can no longer watch the videos.

I agree, teams are made up of all sorts of characters. Some never shut up and some rarely say anything. One really good lad I played with only communicated with grunts on the pitch and said very little off it.

I went to a Sportsman's dinner awhile back where Dean Saunders was the guest speaker. He was asked who was the best player he ever played with - he said Paul McGrath without hesitation.

I hate these modern shorts, I would have hated to play in them. Having said that I was reading an article about the football bribery case in the 1960's. Peter Swan, the England centre half was wearing the shortest shorts I've ever seem. They were like my underpants.

Could be the worst Rovers side ever.

Good player at Championship level but a Premier League player ? I don't think so. But then again I don't think Gray is either.

The dingles are looking to replace Keane with Craig Dawson from West Brom according to a pal of mine. Dawson's a good " stopper " but not in the same league as Keane for football ability. He went to the school I worked at, nice lad but the corner unit he made in CDT was almost firewood.

There won't be 31,000 on at Ewood again in my lifetime.

That 3/4 position play off game must have been a short lived experiment. I don't remember it at all.

That'd be great but the reality is they've still retained the nucleus of a team that has been together a long while and played in the same pattern for years. We're a team that hardly knows each other and still hasn't found a way of playing. As I see it the gap in respective abilities is greater now than it was in the famous 5-0 thrashing years ago. I'm just hoping it's not as bad as that on the night. I can't see them going for Rhodes but it would be great if they did.

The way I look at it is - how many of our players would get in their 1st team ? Mulgrew maybe , and then you've said it.