Tyrone Shoelaces

He's had no idea what his best team was all season Stuart. Letting Downing go without bringing a replacement in was crazy. Would you trust him with next seasons budget ? I wouldn't !

I'm fast approaching breaking point now. If things don't improve dramatically next week, and I can't see how they will, it's " A taxi for Tony " time. The guy's old school, we need a younger guy running the team. We're not just getting beat every week. we're playing like drains and we're as weak as p--s,

I'm sure I saw him play for Rovers once. V Middlesborough at Ewood seems to ring a bell. Ripley was playing for Boro that day and he had a terrific battle with Alan Wright who gave as good as he got. I said to my pal on the the way out of the ground. " That blond winger looks a good'un, I wouldn't mind him at Rovers ". Kenny must have had the same thought.

Who knows with this team ? In fact who knows what the team will be ? We could do with a win but I fear some of them will already be thumbing through their Summer holiday brochures and the Rotherham lads will be fighting for their lives. If we do win we'll need to be 3 goals up going into the last 10 minutes.

Sutton was a top class striker but I can imagine him upsetting a few. He seemed to be injured for a long while when we really needed him in the relegation season. I wasn't Sherwood's biggest fan. The likes of Batty and Warhurst were better players in my opinion. That he was a gobshite, if true, wouldn't surprise me at all. I've said this before but players come in two categories for me. 1) The players that can play and get you on top in the game. 2] The players that can play once the first group have got you on top. For me, and it's just my opinion, Sherwood belongs in Group 2.

I can't think of many off hand. I used to play against a lad who was known as " The Village Idiot " even by his own team mates. They'd shout " Over here village " if he had the ball and they wanted a pass. One day he lost it badly and gripped the ref by the throat and that was that. Banned sine die. He took up cricket after that. Funny thing was he was a really nice guy off the pitch but the minute he crossed the white line look out. I made the mistake of bringing him down with a crude tackle from behind one day. He turned around and grabbed me by the shirt collar and lifted me off the ground. A bit like that famous photo of Dave Mackay gripping Billy Bremner. We both got booked.

Yeah Newton had it all at fullback. I liked Berg but he wasn't in Newton's class. He could play right or left back like a natural, good enough to play in both positions for a top England team. How many of them are there these days that can do that ? Too many one footed wonder today. I thought that Andy Mac and Matt Jansen were great players and I saw them both many times but if I was bringing on a forward sub for my team it would have to be Bellamy. You'd hate to have to mark him. He was seriously quick with a mean streak and he could finish.

We've all played against players you know not to take liberties with before you even kicked off. Rovers don't have any at the moment. Andy Todd was one, Batty, Flitcroft etc were others.

Wow, there's some really good teams there. I like Jim's slant on 3-2-5. That team would score some goals ! My team - in a 4-4-2 formation. Freidel. Newton, England, Hendrey, LeSaux. Ferguson, Clayton, Douglas, Duff. Shearer, Pickering. That's leaving out some truly brilliant players from the past 60 years,

Yeah, and reading the first few pages of guys trying to tell me black was white makes very interesting reading. There should be some very red faces on here. As my dad used to say - " Don't piss in my ear and try to tell me it's raining ".

If he would have stayed he would have relegated us. I have no doubt about that.

The 4 wins on the bounce just papered over the cracks of our long standing weaknesses. We all know what they are because some of us have been banging on about them for a long while. I'm not bothered about what we do right, that's takes care of itself. I'm concerned about what we do wrong and at the moment we've quite a bit to be concerned about. These need addressing rapidly or we'll soon be looking over our shoulders. I'll be a lot happier when we get to 50 points. We're not out of the wood yet when the team seems to be at the stage were you can't see where the next point will be coming from.

Dead right there. Our passing is woeful because we don't present the player in possession with enough options. We don't work hard enough off the ball to create these options. In fact you could just say as a team we don't work hard enough full stop.

Yeah Eamon Rogers could have been whatever he wanted to be. A David Dunn who could tackle.

Yeah, if that wasn't a pen I don't know what is. Mike Dean's eyes must be painted on !

It's just you seem to be a bit partial to guys from over the water. We've had some great Irish players in my time _ my best Irish 11 in a 4-4-2 formation. Given Johnson, Hunter, Moran, Kenna Brotherston, Rogers, McGrath, Duff McEvoy, Dougan. Subs- A Kelly, Lenihan, Carsley, Gillespie, McAteer, Stapelton, Reid.

International Man Of Mystery. Liking nice watches is just God's way of telling you you've got too much money.

I used to be on a " Rolex " owners site. It was run by Americans mainly for Americans with more money than good taste. A guy comes on with a photo of a watch he's just bought _ " What do we all think of the watch ? " Well I tell him, the dial is too cluttered, I don't like roman numerals, etc " . A bit later on the mods get on to me for spoiling his pleasure ! Couldn't I have been more positive about his purchase ? " He asked me for my opinion then didn't like what I said. Snowflakes are everywhere these days. I told 'em what I thought and walked away from the site.

Everybody is entitled to their opinion. If guys want him through the door they should be able to say so without being pilloried. I'm not at that point yet but I'm becoming disenchanted.

Are you only allowed to recommend Irish players ?

As my mum used to say " What can't speak can't lie ", On a scale of 1 to 10 how well coached do you think we look as a team ? We make the same " individual errors " every game and we have been doing for ages.

You mean 6 or 7 more squad fillers who don't actually improve the team ?

At any other club he would be getting summoned to the boardroom at 8.30 sharp this morning for a frank exchange of views as to what was causing the current collapse in form. I'd be telling him that if things don't improve significantly in the next month he could be on the way out. I'd also be quizzing him as to the imput of his coaching staff because for me we play like we haven't got any. Having said that we aren't a normal club so it will be business as usual and the lads can laugh it all off just like it never happened.

Playing up front with no support, just dealing with aimless long passes ? The biggest arse kicking job in football. It's soul destroying.

Exactly so. Even the dogs in the street knew we needed a proper centre half and a proper stand in for Graham. Maybe they don't exist !