CHRIS Coleman may not have stayed for long or made many appearances at Blackburn Rovers, but looking back, you could see why he has gone on to make a good manager.

Cookie had a strong personality and talked and acted like a leader. All the players liked the way he went about things.

The way he talks and acts as a manager now, that was him as a player. He’s exactly the same way.

And I think that’s why players can relate to him.

Wales are certainly playing for him and they will be on a high going into Thursday’s massive match with England.

With up to three teams going through to the knockout stages now at the Euros, victory in your first game more or less guarantees your progression to the last 16.

By beating Slovakia, Wales have done that, and now they will be confident they can upset the apple cart against England, who were very unlucky not to start with a win of their own against Russia.

Roy Hodgson, who was Chris’ and my manager at Blackburn, has come in for some stick since.

But I thought, overall, the performance was pretty decent, England created lots of chances, and there were things to be happy about.

Yes, they would have been disappointed to concede that goal in the 92nd minute and, yes, some people have said Roy should not have taken off Wayne Rooney.

But, to be fair, he thought that was the team that could see the game out and, given the dominance they’d enjoyed for most of the match, they should have done that.

Does that pile the pressure on England going into Thursday’s game? I’m not sure. They’ve always got pressure on them, no matter if it’s against Wales, Russia or Slovakia.

It just makes it that little bit tougher with Wales having got three points in the bag already.

Wales will know a draw will leave them in the top two going into the final group game while England could find themselves third.

It would still be a shock if Wales won but I’m a great believer that 11 men can beat 11 men. Look at the Copa America this week, Peru beat Brazil. Who would have predicted that?

But, of course, the better players you have, the better chance you have of winning.

And it’s clear that’s what Owen Coyle is busy trying to do at Blackburn Rovers – bring in better players than the ones he has already got.

If he can do that it will help pacify the fans, who are still scrutinising things that are happening.

Danny Graham would certainly be a signing that would go down well with supporters.

But the big thing with Danny is going to be agreeing the right financial package because I’m sure he will have good offers from clubs on both sides of the border.

We’re also looking at Anthony Stokes, who has been let go by Celtic. He’s done well up in Scotland and he’s a goalscorer.

You cannot have enough goalscorers. Fans love them more than anything else.

Look at Danny Graham. He came here, got goals, and he was loved for it.

Owen is right to go for players like that; players who are going to improve us.

Here’s hoping he gets the backing to get them.