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No idea, does it matter? Was he going to change it anyway? I'm not bothered either way to be honest, it's turned out well up to now.

Didn’t Eustace choose to start Pears ahead of Toth?

Think you've cracked it there, more or less spot on Id say. If the Club did own a substantial plot of land beyond the far side of the pitch stretching up in the direction of the Dog Inn ("the incline") that could have provided a very impressive natural "Kop" for the purposes of watching the game. The only thing is if you had to enter the ground through gates nr the top of Leamington St/ Granville Rd it would have been a bit of a ball ache getting everyone in and out to and from the far side. Not really too different to everyone filing into the Riverside at the Blackburn End and walking down to the far end though I dont suppose.

Footballs all about having a good plan to generate chances that is hard to counter, and a good plan to limit the opposition. We seem to have landed on both at once which is rare. Even when we were doing well with JDT it was built on pushing a lot of players forward and leaving ourselves exposed. Its very pleasing to see us able to create without weakening ourselves defensively. Putting myself in Eustaces shoes its hard to figure out what to do to hurt us with the starting XI yesterday. Theres not an obvious way to find opportunities. But with Toth and Wharton out it opens up playing it long down our left and seeing how Pickering or Riberio who dont have the aeriel ability of centre backs cope. Also Tronstad being out could opens up the space in front of our cbs.

Eustace is no fool - he'll tell his players to bang in the crosses and shoot from distance because he knows Pears is always liable to make a mistake. Ismael is going to have to work out a way of setting up the defence to protect him The injuries are very unfortunate and this match against this particular opposition has come at a bad time. I'd happily take a draw

Am I going mad or is Pickering smaller than Ribeiro?

If we play Pears we'll lose. Besides the fact he's awful, Eustace had him worked out when we played them last season - the game was over almost before it started because he just told him team to pile pressure on Pears. He crumbled.

I mean, a basic level of competence would probably be a baseline requirement? Yet to see it from him - and he was our first choice for an extended period of time.

Someone created a fake "South Stand Pies" account and Nixon thought it was the real one, so he'd been sending the fake account private messages. The internet is a crazy place!

Would Alf Ramsey have selected Hurst if Greaves injury had not forced his hand ?

Hmmm i don't think we played badly at all second half. Conceded virtually no chances. If we play that badly while protecting a lead I am all for it.

There are just 2 x Medium (38”), 1 x Large (40”) & 1 x 2XL (46”) remaining in stock. Those measurements are seam to seam - there is some give in the material so a Large may be OK for someone who wears 42” tee shirts that fit snugly for example. Anybody wanting one - please PM me on here & I’ll sort it for you - £63 inc P&P to UK addresses.

See his account is now locked and hidden. Hell of a move for a journalist that relies on engagement. What a mess.

You’ve definitely not misinterpreted. I’ve attended a total of 3 fans forum meetings. The first one saw Steve Waggott, Christina Haines and Lynsey Talbot sat amongst the supporters. At Suhail’s instruction an additional table was dragged over so him, Gestede, Yasir and others could sit at the head of the table, very separate from us mere mortals. The disconnect between Suhail and Waggott was evident, but the meeting was conducted professionally despite some robust discussion. The last 2 have seen the most senior member of Rovers staff lose his rag within the first few minutes and act in a bizarre and unprofessional manner. The issues with the minutes have been well debated on here, and I’m sure will be again. The entire tone has changed and blatant bare faced lies are being told by club officials. Aside from the fans forum meetings I’ve attended dozens of meetings at the club over recent years. From my perspective the culture is absolutely horrendous at the moment. Plenty of previously warm, engaging and competent staff are like frightened children. Everything has become combative and disingenuous. Worst of all there is a complete lack of accountability throughout. I get the feeling that any sign of contrition would be viewed as unacceptable weakness - which gives the impression of most people there being completely arrogant, which coupled with low levels of competence is a dangerous thing. It should be no surprise - it’s a top down thing. The owners are like that, and so are their staff.

Probably would be, I was just going off last night. Picks didn't even make the squad.

Page 3 of this very thread has a couple of sources. The lack of cameras in the era leaves room for debate.

Actually discussed on today’s Football Ramble podcast…😆

0 shots on target by the opposition last night. 1 goal conceded in the last 3 (5 scored). It's clearly a team growing together - and one that was desperately unlucky earlier in the season.

The minutes read as an adversarial process. What should be positive, energising, engaging & aimed at stoking up & motivating the fanbase reads like a litany of excuses offered up by a poorly performing sales rep explaining why they missed their target. Have done with it…the members really need to resign en bloc & as said elsewhere subject themselves to a public ballot.

Wishing the Rovers and fans a happy anniversary on this momentous day in our history. Rovers at Leamington Street The artist clearly focussed his/her attention on the immediate foreground and facilities around the pitch. However at some expense of scale, relative distance and perspective he/she still managed to squeeze into the background of their picture many excellent details and clues that we can cross reference to locate, fairly well, the Leamington Street ground. Depicting the ‘incline’ obviously proved difficult in the space left on his/her paper. I was also intrigued to locate the apparently elevated position of the artist and I think the rear upstairs window of the Leamington pub on Cheltenham Street is a fair contender. My own ‘graphical’ observations I have included for further consideration and debate although many of us are clearly having a ‘meeting of minds’. I am also fascinated to know how far back towards the Dog Inn the crowd could go and still have a reasonable view of the pitch. With respect and apologies to Simon Garners 194 quoted reference, most of us locals have dismissed those proposals as totally unrealistic. Revidge road and surrounding ‘ridge’ area is built on solid rock evidenced by the numerous quarries in the area, the outcrops in Corporation Park (of which I’ve climbed them all) and the inscribed semi circular commemorative stone for the cutting of the road at ‘Mount Pleasant’ in 1826 located just a little west of the former Corporation pub. To excavate the area needed for a level football ground was just not feasible in terms of practicalities and prohibitive costs. Neither would using ‘infill’ to level up be a viable solution. No physical evidence for either of these concepts actually being done are in existence. The maps I have referenced include those surveyed in 1844-5 and 1892, but the ‘Plan of Land’ dated 1882 is the one that indicates ‘the blank canvas’ available for the Rovers at the outset with the exception of ‘the incline’. By the time the artist produced his/her work terraces were being built in the surrounding vicinity and when the Rovers finally vacated the site the 1892 survey shows that the ground was already being built upon.

But would Ismael have changed the system if the Cantwell injury hadn’t have forced his hand ?

The written word is obviously open to interpretation but RG, SS and YS always seem to be on the defensive.

No accountability.

I don't get your Spoiler. Pears is a professional goal-keeper. What he has to prove is that he is worthy of the title. Personally, I don't think he will, but I hope he does.

Came on for second half in the last game but has slipped from the starting line up in recent weeks.