Tyrone Shoelaces

What we are crying out for is one or two players with a winning mentality. Players who might not be the most skillful but will come in and inject some fighting spirit and backbone into the team when things aren't going well. Downing, for all his previous skill and ability, never came across to me as the sort of player who likes a tackle and who's up for a physical battle. We've already got enough who like to fold when the game is slipping away.

To sign an upgrade on Conway isn't the most difficult managerial task ever.

Didn't we sign Rhodes on a fans say so ? The fan that hasn't been on this site for years as far as I can see.

Me too, he was pretty decent back in the day but that was a while back. Will he turn out to be the new David Wagstaffe or will he be the new Peter Whittingham ? It's not a gamble I'd be taking. Where does this leave Chapman incidentally ?

Fascinating reading. Jim Arnold's stats make interesting reading. We concede more goals by Xmas than he did in a whole season.

Yep, I always say to my son " We'd do better if they put the goals up at the sides of the pitch instead of the ends ". I was watching the American womens team earlier. They know how to attack, they're full of running and they're always looking to move the ball forward quickly. The ball never stops moving and they use the full width of the pitch with one winger right out on the whitewash at all times. When they lose possession they really chase the ball down. It's like watching another game to the way we play.

Yeah, my phrase for it is " Pass it around until we lose it " football.

What else is new ?

Talking to Ronnie Clayton he reckoned Jones was going to be the new Duncan Edwards and Ronnie was Duncan's best mate.

First up isn't a good time to play a newly promoted team. They'll have a full squad and confidence will still be high from the previous season. You're better off playing them when they've lost a few through injuries and suspensions plus when they've taken a few bangings !

Yeah, I'm not sure the money would be well spent even if we got it.

Yeah I remember that well, the goal was quite early on in the game. If I remember correctly five minutes later one of our defenders got red carded and Matt had to be sacrificed to bring on another defender. If it wasn't for his bad luck he wouldn't have had any luck at all.

Mm, yes if the curent Hanley is still the Hanley that left us for Newcastle. I see that he can't displace Mulgrew in the Scotland team. it's too late now but Rochdale had a good young centre back on loan from Wolves at the end of last season. He's just signed for Shrewsbury this season. He had more about him than what I saw of Bauer apart from maybe experience.

What also puzzles me is we weren't the only club interested in him. Several scouts/managers must have seen something I couldn't see in him. Of course one game on TV is no way to judge a player but you can usually see something in their game that stands out. Maybe Preston have a specific role for him in their way of playing. Maybe Mowbray is still dreaming about three at the back and want's a more creative type of player. From what I saw Bauer is definitely not a ball player.

We've all said it over and over and over again, as long as these " owners " run the club we're going nowhere in particular. You just can't run a football club on automatic pilot.

Now that wouldn't surprise me at all.

The things is what Mowbray says and what actually happens are two entirely separate issues. Regarding Bauer I saw him play once on TV. Knowing we were interested I watched him pretty closely, to be honest he didn't look to be an improvement on Downing or Williams. He was just a Steady Eddie type tall lad filling a slot in the back four. Nothing special either on or off the ball. And that was at a lower level than we are at. The young Arsenal loanee playing along side him that day is twice the player Bauer will ever be. If I'm wrong I'll hold my hand up next season.

We weren't leaking 3 goals a game then either.

Yeah, top player.

Norwich are looking to sign a young midfield player from Rochdale. He was playing in their first team at 16.

John Byrom and Fred Pickering.

Don't worry I won't be getting bent out of shape, two lads who were playing in Rochdale's division last season ?

Don Martin and Andy Burgin would get in for me as would Johnny Price instead of Bennett on the right wing, at least he could cross a good ball !. You could bring " The Don " on for Graham when he runs out of puff and Burgin was a better full back than the three left backs we have at the moment.

Yeah that's the lad, he looked quick, he sensed danger and reacted accordingly. He was neat and tidy on the ball but he knew when to stick and when to twist. I'd be over the moon if he signed for us. We've got to be a step up from Charlton.

We still had one or two players then that got you out of your seat whenever they got the ball.