ROVERS FANZ VIEW COLUMN
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There are some days when everything just clicks into place. Whatever you try, it comes off and you are left thinking, why can't that happen all the time? Rovers had one of those days up at Shrewsbury last week. Gay Meadow certainly lived up to its name in the old fashioned sense, and all 400 Gasheads came out at 5 o'clock beaming with disbelieving smiles. You always have to be wary when the opposition's front two are both among the top five goalscorers in the Division, but early on last Saturday you got the feeling it was not going to be their day after the pair fluffed a couple of chances. At the other end however, our two definitely were on the money. Paul Tait is like a man possessed at the moment and you wonder how many more gears he has got left. It is always the way with strikers, but if you score five and you're not on the score-sheet, some would think that you've failed to do the job. But anyone who saw his performance up there will tell you he was probably the best player on the pitch. He skinned two defenders before crossing for the first goal, and then once he had been left on his own up front after Grazioli's substitution, he well and truly bust a gut to dribble half the length of the pitch and create the fifth. That was in the 80th minute mind, and when the whistle finally went he was absolutely knackered. Meanwhile his partner in crime Graz let him do all the running, and scored his hat-trick of tap-ins from a combined total of four yards! Seriously though, Grazioli has also been fantastic so far and his tally of seven goals in ten league games is frightening. It was interesting to hear John Still reminisce in the bar after the Supporters' Club AGM on Thursday, as he recalled the time he first saw Giuliano in action as a teenager for Wembley in the Ryman League. After half-an-hour or so the kid had hardly had a kick and on the face of it was having a mediocre game. Then in the last fifteen minutes Grazioli scored four goals, all from within six yards, and it was game, set and match. As Still put it, "he's just got the knack." Rovers have had plenty of wonderful goalscorers over the years; Barry Hayles used to muscle his way in, while Jason Roberts never missed if you put the ball behind the defence with just the keeper to beat and Nathan Ellington rarely struck from inside twenty yards. While they have all enjoyed prolific seasons, not many had that poacher's knack, and you have to say the last player to have it was Jamie Cureton. Jamie did score phenomenal long range goals too, but the majority of his goals were the instinctive hooks and flicks from close in - that striker's ability that you either have or you don't. Unfortunately he was sometimes criticised for being 'lazy' and this is something that happened to Tony Thorpe at City as well. Why is it that some fans prefer players who run all over the pitch without actually doing anything to those players who pose their threat more stealthily? Their job is to pop up just when you want them to nod in the winner, not 'track back'. Goals win matches, not running about. While Grazioli does his fair share of work, he will never be a tireless athlete, and he is there to finish off the chances. I just hope that when the inevitable barren spell comes, people don't get on his back for being lazy. He is our fox in the box, not a headless chicken.
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