21 minutes ago, GHR said:

 

I also stayed long enough to hear Gallagher annpunced as MOTM. Surely I imagined that?!

This is a wind up right?

1 hour ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

I watched the FA Cup game this afternoon and Roy Keane in the after match comments on Man Utd said an interesting thing -  “ this set of players are extremely difficult to like “. 
 

Just how I feel about the current Rovers team.

Funny you say that. I was saying today that this was my least favourite rovers side of the last 30 years. With the exception of a few (szmodics for example)  I find them a tough bunch to root for, and it's not down to ability for a lot of them.

The relegation side of 16/17 wasn't great but I certainly felt more connected with them by the end of the season then I do to this lot now.

12 minutes ago, NeilInBristol said:

Forget JE post match interview.

Hyam and pears should come out and be interviewed by LT and BBC. They have a lot of questions to answer.

Good reminder that Hyam is still our captain.

No wonder we are as weak mentally as we are with him as our leader.

Also a good reminder that the manager choses to pick him

He also chooses to play with a back 5

So assuming the squad is everyone under contract with dolan and gally retained with none of the loans extended. I think the priority would be

A starting centre forward

A starting goalkeeper

A starting winger

A left back to challenge Pickering

Once you've got those then you can look at other areas and moving people out. If you've got a starting striker then you can look to move gally on for example or cash in on dolan. Youd sell whichever keeper you got a bid for. You've also got the potential exit of szmodics which could cause a rethink.

From that your then looking to 

Potentially replace szmodics

A backup striker

Another body in cm

Either a rb or a cb 

Personally would to see us go back to a 4-2-3-1. 

The back 5 hasn't really worked for us except at Leeds where we've had to play very deep.

This will be a much different game and I predict a similar situation to the Millwall game if we stick to the same shape, where we are allowed the ball and countered on.

18 minutes ago, Penwortham Blue said:

When he feels like it, he grafts hard, last night, like the rest, he simply didn’t break sweat. Notwithstanding effort, he is an absolutely atrocious CF, just look at his goal return and injured / non-availability record. 

He bottled one at the back post where there was a goal for a lad his size if he was brave enough. He wasn't. Doesn't have the desire or the instinct. 

11 minutes ago, TheWeasel said:

HYAM AGAIN YOU WANKER

What happened to Eustaces 'no excuse culture'. He left him on and brought mcfadzean on. No excuses for eustace tonight.

I don't get eustaces obsession with 5 at the back.

We are chasing the game!!!

How many goals did we score in that shape, we didn't look remotely threatening. We are back to lumping aimless balls into the channels for gally.

I just don't get it. I really don't.

I actually find what the manager has done since half time completely baffling if I'm honest and I'm now worried about our survival chances again.

Eustace will really go up in my estimation if he takes hyam off at half time.

I don't think there was much wrong with the way we set up but since the 1st goal we've lost our heads. Would look to get Buckley on in cm and get control of the ball a bit more. 

In defence of JDT, look at the front 4 we had out vs Sunderland.

Hedges.   Szmodics.   Dolan

                  Gally.

Apparently that's the first time they've all played together this season (in a 4-2-3-1, they were all available vs Stoke and hedges played wing back). As they've all been injured at various points. That's our best front 4, if jdt had been able to play that with those players fully fit we wouldn't have been dragged into it.

Throw in jrc fit and even pears being consistently available and you can see my point. However to quote souness you've got to wee with the willy you've got and by the end we weren't doing that under JDT. 

2 hours ago, aletheia said:

I’m not blaming him alone, but nobody can exonerate him from blame when he oversaw such a bad run after being in such a good position. 

He was the one who got us into such a good position. And yes you can blame him for the points tally in a subsequent poor run. (although we know that this was initially having players injured and and players leaving, then subsequently an entitled ‘group’ downing tools and JDT losing the will giving the dysfunction around him.)

…how big a mess he inherited…

Nothing has changed other than Wharton leaving. In fact, Eustace has several plusses that JDT didn’t have. All he has done is scrape some draws. Of course, he has exactly the same mess as JDT had in terms of the dysfunction of the owners and SWAG. Another difference is that he is SWAG’s lapdog unlike his predecessor.

The idea that the club pulled off some great move in sacking JDT is most amusing (and the sort of logic of a club PR dept.) He did his best to get out of the barmy kitchen a long time ago but the numpties in charge wouldn’t let him go. When he then has to pay to escape, the PR machine kicks into action and blames him for possibly taking us down.

I’m sure JDT would not have taken us down. He and the players would managed to grin and bear each other and scrape the same points that is currently being delivered. He would of course then left –SWAG and the Raos/Suhail couldn’t possibly have let him interfere for another season by speaking sensibly and calling out their lunacy.

Having said all this, sacking Eustace would probably achieve little. Obviously, we know it won’t happen anyway-too costly and too much on SWAGs string. And if we did, SWAG/Suhail would make sure that the next one would be a sure fire loser and yes-man.

 

 

It all depends how you look at things tbh. 

For some we were in a death sprial under jdt and hadn't won't in 11 and weren't playing well, con Edington goals left right and centre. 

I personally don't think jdt would've take us down, I think we'd have lost more but we wouldn't won a couple somewhere.

Jdt benefited from Adam Wharton but Eustace has had pears and gally available who despite their obvious flaws are still the best options we have in their respective positions. When jdt jdt had us 7th at the start of December I genuinely thought he was working a miracle at that point. Eustace has made us competitive in every game but its about points, and his sides haven't done enough in games to win any. 

He's had a mostly fit squad, he's now had time to work on shape on the training ground. To quote the man himself there's no room for excuses. 

So far he hasn't delivered at all other than some 'good draws'.

A draw on Friday and Monday would've probably been sufficient but when you lose you need a win to get back to parity. 

I'll reiterate my post on the other thread. If we lose the next 2 I'd replace with Johnson otherwise what's the point.

Quite conceivable we get nothing from the next two games. If that happens he'd need to be put on gardening leave and replaced with johnson until the end of the season. Wouldn't cost any money to do that in the short term.

35 minutes ago, Andy said:

I genuinely couldn't get past the first sentence of that post-match interview:

'The effort the group put in to limit them to very few chances was amazing'

Does he think that the game was played behind closed doors?
We saw Plymouth have about 17 efforts on goal with our own eyes - and they should have been out of sight by HT.

Baffling.

Steve kean is that you?

1 minute ago, Armchair supporter supremo said:

Jesus! Reading through these comments does make me think that you really do get the club that you deserve sometimes

 

Eustace has come in at another dreadful period on and off the pitch and has been playing games back to back literally from day one without so much as an international break to spend a little extra time coaching and getting to know the players one to one. 

Yeah leave off Eustace. He's only had 7 winnable games. He'll turn it around once he's had a summer and the lower standard of teams in league 1 will really help.

1 hour ago, yankfan said:

Obvious red. The fact he was left on at half is embarrassing for the gaffer 

It was so obvious to me and those around me that he should come off at half time. 

Euseless

15 hours ago, roversfan99 said:

Im sick of reading the manager and players repeatedly say how we need the fans. The players need to give the fans something to cheer about for once, the fans have been doing their bit.

I thought the crowd really got behind the team in the 1st half to try and get them going. They didn't respond and the crowd fell back into apathy. It's on the manager / players right to do their jobs.

I've had a think about it, with the injuries we've got there's not an obvious answer here. Working on the assumption that Pears, tronstad and Hedges all remain unavailable and brittain will be fit.

I'd go 4-4-1-1. 

                   Walhsted 

Brittain.   Hyam.    Wharton.  Pickering

Siggurdson. Ayari.  Buckley.  Gilsenan

                      Szmodics 

                      Gally

Even as I type it I shake my head. Obviously it looks very weak in midfield but the other options particularly out wide would be moran, markanday or dolan, of those perhaps dolan simply for work rate but like many other he's not exactly deserving of a start. I'd play gilsenan as a wild card option, there's no such thing as a perfect time to chuck someone in but he might step up and not quite feel the pressure of the more established players. 

Cm has to be ayari and Buckley simply because moran and garrett aren't up to it there.

We created nothing today. And scored largely down to a horrendous unforced error from a Millwall defender (great finish though).

I felt we tried to play passing football in the first half, just slowly and lacking the player rotations that made us a fairly good attacking force under JDT. With McFadzean receiving too much of the ball and no movement, naturally we didn't create a single chance.

It didn't take long for us to start hoofing it to nobody. The return of the short corners was also most unwelcome and the ayari one at the end was mind numbingly dumb.

Ultimately we are in the position we are due to how we have been run but criticism should be given out to eustace and the players on this occasion. The players are very clearly hiding in my eyes (szmodics as often is the case sticks his chest out) and Eustaces tactics are frankly poor consisting of let's get men behind the ball and hope we don't get beat. Looking very much a waggott appointment right now.

58 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

Everyone remains in situ despite the shambles, and even an explanation can be deferred whilst they hide behind the manager they appointed who hasnt even won a game yet.

Bar a statement about the McGuire nobody has come out and explained anything to the fans at large.

It's a disgrace in my eyes. I also think it's counter productive as if they explained the issues then I think quite a lot would swallow the party line. 

I imagine there will be something that prevents GB from doing his scheduled march transfer review thingy. 

11 minutes ago, Lancaster Rover said:

The medical team can be overruled though, they present information and give advice. It is on the powers that be to make the decision. For all we know the medical team could well have said he has weaknesses around his fib, associated muscle problems and is likely to break down. Waggot or Broughton could well then come in and say sod it, he's cheap and it's a risk we're willing to take if we get 5 games out of him.

Yeah wouldn't blame the medical department. 

They will present the risks based on his injury history and his medical.

Anything beyond that is not their decision to make.

I'd be really surprised to see szmodics available on Saturday and if he is I'd be tempted to home back until the 2nd half. Sounds as though gally might be fit as too with tronstad. I'd maybe consider the big crewe lad if there is some wear in the cbs. 5 outfield players played 120 mins on Tuesday and with the fixture list as it is we've got to careful there.

I'd go:

                   Pears

      Hyam.   Fadz.   Wharton

Brittain.  Buckley  tronstad Pickering

           Markanday   Dolan.           

                   Gally

   Subs: wahlsted, o'riordan, Billy, duru or gilsenan, chrisene, garrett, moran, siggy, telalovic

                        Pears

     Hyam.  Wharton. Pickering

Brittain moran Buckley GarrettChrisene

                 Telalovic.  Dolan

 Subs: wahlsted, Fadz, Billy the kid, Batty, duru, ayari, siggy, gilsenan, gally

I'd give szmodics the night off, I'd only give gally the 2nd half and hope we aren't out of it by then. 

Just now, jim mk2 said:

 

All very true but if we do go down Tomasson will be to blame.

The horrendous run in December and January under him has put us in this precarious position and it's clear now he was not being honest with himself by staying on at the club so long. If he'd resigned sooner we might not be in this mess. 

I'll be blaming the ownership tbh.

We were 5 points clear when he left. The let's blame JDT for relegation is a bit of a stretch. Ultimately we don't know where we would be if he stayed, we were on a bad run but we had a buffer to the relegation zone. A manger with most of his key players fit and a slightly deeper squad should keep this team up.