Think we all knew. It just wasn’t there anymore. At his Q&A the other month he said it was the loss of instinct than did for him. He’d be thinking of what to do with the ball as he received it, instead of instinctively knowing, that split second of indecision was fatal in the PL.

Says a lot about our decline If Ruben Rochina is a shout for ‘player of the decade’.

It was all those brief, flitting returns that made it so sad. The goal in Hughes’ first game as manager, for example, was in September 2004, so over two years since the accident and that was another ‘is he back?’ moment, alas not.

Marshall has made a decent wedge out of football and now looks as if he’d rather have a kick about and then a night on the lash. Living the dream ay!

Bugger Portugal... https://twitter.com/andybayes/status/1221009707684548608?s=21

Oh Masher

Think the point we are missing is that a lot of pros aren’t particularly big fans of clubs generally. They are often in academies from being little kids and spend very little time/if any watching games in the stands of their local club. They aren’t tribal fanatics like us, so you imagine moving around isn’t much of an issue.

The fact he referred to himself as ‘The Guv’nor’ says it all.

They mostly have no loyalty/affinity to the club they support once pro, should have been the post (would’ve saved us all some time). Sorry 93/94 they came 3rd.

Of course that’s why he went there, the only point I’m making is, is that it was easier to go to the top PL club that 1996 Newcastle were than the 2020 yo-yo club incarnation. He was 26, at his peak and had just won the Golden Boot at Euro 96. Newcastle fan, yes but ambitious too, he wasn’t going to go to a struggling side. Not sure what the issue is with that viewpoint? *They came 3rd in 94/95 by the way. 2nd in 95/96 and were the biggest spenders that summer.

He wasn’t the same player post his 1998 injury so I don’t think the elite clubs were ever interested again, so no surprise he stayed. Newcastle were a top side in 1996. In a pre oil, even pre-Wenger (Post Rovers ) era they were seen as part of the elite for the foreseeable and they paid massive wages, so who said he’s be offered more cash at United? So why wouldn’t he have moved there, considering he was a fan too? Win, win. Let’s not pretend he was blindly following his heart over his head and slumming it. He went there to win.

Not entirely out the window, but the fact Newcastle were a top side was part of it . Would a peak Shearer in 2020 go to Newcastle over say, Liverpool or City just because he was a fan?

Are those villages to the west (Brinscall, Wheelton, Abbey Village, Withnell) mainly Rovers? They should be, of course. But doesn’t always work out that way.

Celtic! (It was a Catholic school, after all )

Yep.

I spoke to John Williams about it a few years ago. He said it was an ‘emotional appointment’ as Jack was a big fan of his as a player.

How did I forget Derbyshire and Gally. Both went to my alma mater.

Conor Mahoney, Scott Wharton.

Ok MP.

And England regular Robinson was coming in for peanuts from Tottenham? It was a shortsighted move from a bloke trying to show who was boss and we’ve never had anyone near his class since.

Ince bundling Friedel our the door was the only evidence we needed that the guy didn’t have a clue. Should’ve sacked the idiot then and there.

How precious are you, bloody hell

Eh? Kidd wasn’t sacked in 1999/2000 because we were seriously worried about going to the third division! But because he’d done a piss poor job, spent a fortune on shite and wasn’t going to get us straight back up to the Premier League. We were a bloody big club for that level in those days.

His whole professional career. Now that’s a Rovers man.

Yep, and his Missus.