John Eustace - our head coach

[J*B]

McFadz is at his best when we’re under bombardment defending our 18 yard box and need a leader to organise things. He’s been vital since January but I do not want to spend another season like this one. By default that should mean that his services are redundant. 

[tomphil]

He'll be great for the first 5 or 6 games next season then it'll catch up again but Wharton is out and we need experience. 

He'll have to be rotated and rested we can't build the defence around him but...

Keep him.

[Lancaster Rover]

He'd be worth the money even if to add competitiveness and bite in training and pre-season. 

[Dreams of 1995]

I’d be getting rid of McFadzean. The bloke has a history of losing. He’s just not good enough

[Dreams of 1995]

5 hours ago, Mattyblue said:

Some silly hyperbole about how he’s been ‘superb’, as is the he’s ’almost Kean now’ nonsense. So yes, he does get a fresh start from me, but it is no coincidence that all his wins came away, that’s just how he set up the team - with no Sammie going forward and back on 0 points , he will have to fundamentally change his approach to home games, and perhaps he will as the means to end that was his role this season is put to bed (and thank feck it is).

You make a very good point about the manner of our wins Matty

I was always more confident going into the games like Southampton than Bristol. JE develops a siege mentality. They love that down in Brum - the idea everybody is against them. We picked up 7 pts from the top 4 under JE and that’s no coincidence. 

Eustace doesn’t have the players he needs to break down lesser teams. It’s quite basic instructions really - beat your man and put the ball in a dangerous area. I hope people get their wish this year for the famed “pacey winger” we’ve been asking for. When Eustace has those players, his attacking side will become much better. Ultimately he has to do better against the teams around us because banking on sneaking away wins does not get you promotion 

The whole “he’s like Kean” is and always will be spoken by people who are quite unhinged when it comes to JE. It is quite ignorant really, considering all Kean is “alleged” to have done here. Eustace is a principled man and is nothing like Kean 

One thing I’d like is for him to move to Blackburn. He’s still in Lichfield. And since JDT has left I believe others have also moved from Blackburn. Something like 3 of our first team coaches don’t live in the area, with at least 2 in the Midlands. I don’t think that’s right 

[DE.]

26 minutes ago, Dreams of 1995 said:

The whole “he’s like Kean” is and always will be spoken by people who are quite unhinged when it comes to JE. It is quite ignorant really, considering all Kean is “alleged” to have done here. Eustace is a principled man and is nothing like Kean 

The problem is that taking an argument to the extreme of comparing Eustace to Kean undermines credibility and potentially invalidates legitimate points that can be made. There's good debate to be had about the pros and cons of JE's approach since he was hired, but it becomes nonsense if comparisons to Kean start being made. They're so far apart in terms of what they represent that it makes the entire conversation meaningless if it's suggested in a serious manner. 

Even Coyle can't really be compared to Kean. Technically by the SEM link, yes, but the fact is Coyle underperformed and was sacked within months. Still too long, but unlike Kean he wasn't bulletproof when it came to being judged on results. SK is the only manager we've had who, I believe, was genuinely unsackable and whose employment here was not based on results achieved. The fact Shebby had to be brought in to make Kean's life so miserable that he ultimately resigned says it all. 

Eustace is just another manager coming in to push a boulder up a hill that only gets steeper every year Venky's own this club. 

[martonrover]

13 hours ago, Ewood Ace said:

A clear pattern emerging with him his best 3 performances have been Leeds, Newcastle and today. All 3 games we were big underdogs and could set up defending very deep, keep 10-11 men behind the ball, rely on a bit of luck and hope Szmodics could do something on the break (which remarkably he did in all 3 games.) 

The problem is you can't set up like that on a regular basis in this league. You can't play like that at home to the likes of Millwall, Plymouth, Wednesday and 10 man Coventry. And if we don't want to be facing a similar challenge next season we need to find a way to play against and beat those sort of sides at home.

Agreed, but we were a sinking ship and needed a pragmatic, temporary fix to keep us afloat this season.

Eustace was successful to that end, and that’s all that matters.

Yes, we need to be braver at home from the start of next season, but at least we will be starting it in the Championship.

[martonrover]

55 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

Oh he’s obviously on borrowed time at 37, but  if we never see him in a Rovers shirt again, he was still a bloody good and needed signing.

We all heard what the Coventry fans think about him after his man of the match award last weekend.

He’s a leader, and we badly needed one.

[martonrover]

1 hour ago, Lancaster Rover said:

He's done the job he was recruited to do IMO, nothing more, nothing less. He certainly doesn't get a free hit from me going into pre-season, in fact I think the pressure is now on to prove he's more than an emergency stop gap. 

The next 6 weeks are where he earns his crust, a forensic review of where the strengths and weaknesses lie, how we address those from a personnel and formation/style point of view. Decide what is a realistic style of play to retain our status as a championship club and hopefully get back to chasing play-offs and promotion. He's proved that he can make us hard to beat, I want to see him show how he's going to turn those draws into wins. That doesn't necessarily mean dominating possession or going back to JDT ball, it does however mean we need to either be more clinical or create more.

All the loanees obviously go back and we're left with a fairly shallow squad, the only out of contract player I'd retain is McFazdean as I think his experience and commitment has been invaluable and has been far and above the player Hyam has been the last 15 games. 

 

He’s also dependent on the agreement of the Director of Football with regards to transfers , (and that’s before the finances come into it),

Personally, I wish that wasn’t the case and he could just get on with it.

Edited May 5 by martonrover

[davulsukur]

I'm not convinced by Eustace but to be fair to him, he had 1 task and that was to keep us in the league and he did it.

Managed to pick up wins in the 2 hardest fixtures of the season but dropped points against lesser teams, probably not the most straightforward of routes to safety but we stayed up.

As noted by others already, he'll need to change his approach next season or it will be much of the same. 

A lot will come down to recruitment, which is likely to be another summer disaster, so that will hamper him even further.

[Bbrovers2288]

Not sure if mcfadz wants to but if he was interested in a coaching role I would get him in as a player coach, sounds like he is great for the dressing room and we need more of that. He would also be good for a backs to the wall holding on to a lead last 10 type defending, I wouldn’t want him starting but he seems like a decent spud to have around 

[OJRovers]

Eustace would get a lot more respect if he didn't come out with utter BS in his interviews.

Before the Leicester match, Eustace said he wanted it to be a 'celebration' if we survived. 

Much more refreshing from Carter who said he wouldn't be celebrating because it was way below what they should be achieving. 

[Andy]

24 minutes ago, OJRovers said:

Eustace would get a lot more respect if he didn't come out with utter BS in his interviews.

Before the Leicester match, Eustace said he wanted it to be a 'celebration' if we survived. 

Much more refreshing from Carter who said he wouldn't be celebrating because it was way below what they should be achieving. 

Agreed with this.

Before the last few home games, against sides we should be beating, he came out with things like 'just be competitive' and 'we don't really need to win'.

It's one thing trying to take pressure off the poor little delicate lambs on the pitch, but it's another spouting obvious bollocks.

We've gone from the straight-talking, honest and insightful JDT interviews to generic bullshit.
And I can't stomach it.

[Upside Down]

1 hour ago, Andy said:

Agreed with this.

Before the last few home games, against sides we should be beating, he came out with things like 'just be competitive' and 'we don't really need to win'.

It's one thing trying to take pressure off the poor little delicate lambs on the pitch, but it's another spouting obvious bollocks.

We've gone from the straight-talking, honest and insightful JDT interviews to generic bullshit.
And I can't stomach it.

That's what's giving me the bad vibes.

If he's saying that publicly to the fans what's he saying to that load of soft twats in the dressing room?

We should have been well away from relegation a month ago.

[rigger]

21 hours ago, J*B said:

McFadz is at his best when we’re under bombardment defending our 18 yard box and need a leader to organise things. He’s been vital since January but I do not want to spend another season like this one. By default that should mean that his services are redundant. 

John MacNamee all over again. Will Carter become the modern-day Faz ?

[RTM08]

As good as the win was on Saturday it has to be said that we were unbelievably lucky that Leicester couldn't be bothered. I mean, just look at the goals, the last Leicester player was camped 35 yards from our goal - if even one player was left on halfway I doubt either goal happens. 

And this is where if he's going to succeed Eustace has to evolve. Hoofing it up the field to Sammie can work against teams that pin us back, but when we're at home and teams sit off we're all over the place. 

The fact that he seems to think the squad doesn't need much work considering the style of play and performances so far is raising serious red flags to me. Let's just pray the powers that be don't beef another transfer window.

[tomphil]

No pressure on him from anyone at the club for next season, no expectation just water treading.

Grind to at least 50 points will be the target so i expect far more of his early work than the Sun'land, Leeds and Leics type shows.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Yeah it’s so disappointing. Any other manager with a strike force of Gally, Dolan, Siggy ( if fit ) Vale, Leonard ( if fit ) would be looking to get 80,90 goals for sure.

[den]

There isn’t a manager that we could currently attract, who could bring success to this club - the way its run now.

To me, it’s a pointless debate.

Edited May 6 by den

[martonrover]

1 hour ago, den said:

There isn’t a manager that we could currently attract, who could bring success to this club - the way its run now.

To me, it’s a pointless debate.

Amen.

If it's the same budget as the season just gone, success will be staying up again.

[tomphil]

1 hour ago, den said:

There isn’t a manager that we could currently attract, who could bring success to this club - the way its run now.

To me, it’s a pointless debate.

We already had one.

[simongarnerisgod]

1 hour ago, den said:

There isn’t a manager that we could currently attract, who could bring success to this club - the way its run now.

To me, it’s a pointless debate.

if eustace does the extremely unlikely and has us in the top six come christmas,our not so esteemed owners will do the same as they always have,undermine the manager and make sure we don`t get anywhere near promotion,they so blatantly don`t want us to go up it`s as clear as a frosty morning over the grane road

[jim mk2]

David Moyes unlucky to be out of a job. Doesn't he still live in the Ribble valley? I'd bin Eustace tonight if Moyes indicated he were remotely interested. 

[martonrover]

2 hours ago, tomphil said:

We already had one.

We attracted him by telling him what he wanted to hear, but he could’t bring success amidst the reality and that’s why he’s no longer here.

The only type of manager who’d have the slightest chance of success would be one who favoured a more direct style of play.

 

[Paul Mani]

Rosenior sacked at Hull!!? 👀🤣🤣