On 12/04/2024 at 22:01, Penwortham Blue said:

Can you imagine our soft lads pulling out a gutsy win like that. Go to Leeds and win and I will eat my words.

Has this happened yet? 

Or do you not have a printer?!

😉

2 hours ago, superniko said:

I’d just like to add, for our goal, Sam Gallagher did what we’ve all been begging him to do for years, number 9 using his size to win a cracking flick on to Dolan. 

I wish we’d see a lot more of that when attacking

He did it against Stoke too, when Dolan scored. He's frustrating, but not as bad as is often made out.

9 minutes ago, Penwortham Blue said:

I’m really worried about Wednesday, under the new manager they just seem to refuse to accept relegation and keep finding a way to survive. Tonight is must not lose but with Leeds on Saturday a nailed on defeat, we need a win.

Is Leeds a nailed on defeat though? I mean, they failed to even score at home against Sunderland last night!

I'm trying to be glass half full, but I'm more concerned about the evidence of fight in our relegation rivals, as evidenced by Sheff Weds, Millwall & Plymouth tonight. In all honesty I'm v concerned as it's silly season results-wise. Pressure (or the lack of it) does strange things to the psyche of teams...

At least it's in our hands still but, as unlikely as it is, I really don't want to go into the Wednesday match with anything less than a 6 point gap (i.e. 7 inc the favourable GD).

10 minutes ago, Gav said:

Lads quality at this level, get him signed up, we need all the help we can get.

Whilst we are at it, get Gallagher signed up too, we've missed him badly whilst he's been out injured.

 

Totally agree. Both much signed on here & of course they have their issues, but they are crucial to us offensively & those stats don't lie. 

1 hour ago, simongarnerisgod said:

those moaners in the riverside will soon be on eustace case,"it`s like bloody watching allardyce ****" will be the familiar cry😆

Oi, leave us alone; divide & rule is what Waggott wants!!

Eustace out, Johnson in!!

Gilsenan on target again tonight, Rovers 1 up at Fulham after 20 mins.

Well, I think this is as good as the week could've ended, given the shit show we've all had to endure.

Thanks JDT, he leaves with my absolute best wishes & thanks for his efforts.

Good luck John, you're going to need it.

I'll be there tomorrow supporting the team, the manager & the club.

I will be vocal in joining in the Venkys / Waggott out chants, though my voice will probably not match my strength of feeling. 

3 minutes ago, RevidgeBlue said:

So we're plummeting towards the relegation zone and have no manager but at least we've started looking for a new one!

Nothing much gets past those in charge at Ewood. You've got to get up pretty early in the morning to get one over on them. It's truly heartwarming to know we're in such capable hands.

Catch up Rev!!

10 minutes ago, BlackburnEnd75 said:

Feel like some have forgotten that the managers options up front for Moston this season have been

Moston have probably had better options tbf.

4 minutes ago, Dreams of 1995 said:

John Eustace is the next Blackburn Rovers manager - confirmed

Not on Rovers website it isn't!!

4 hours ago, Danishfan said:

Or maybe they are just waiting for Eustace to do all the media stuff, so they can do a double anouncement?

Nah, they've ordered a curry in and are just finishing off their peshwaris.

Gregg does seem to be more implicated here than I thought.

Not only for not making personally sure the papers had been sent (as he was the one who said he'd ensured last Jan's problem couldn't happen again, even though he personally could not submit the docs & ought to be able to trust those who could), but also it seems like he was happy to all but commit the club to spending £7m on a late-developing college football rookie. If he was keen on this player for months (his prerogative as DoF), why was due diligence elsewhere in recruitment only done on deadline day??

As for Waggott, on £300k p/a and being the only other person able to submit docs besides Sylvester, he ought to have done it himself given what happened last January. An absolute derogation of duty on his part, added to his derogation of duty last Jan when at the match instead of overseeing deadline day.

I think both have to go (somewhat reluctantly in GB's case), and Sylvester of course.

16 minutes ago, RevidgeBlue said:

But Gregg's a good 'un.........

I've argued Gregg's corner on the Phillips situation & generally in his time here, but if that is a correct analysis of what happened then it would arguably a much bigger error in financial terms than the O'brien, Brierley & McGuire fiascos combined.

21 minutes ago, Paul Mellelieu said:

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2024/feb/08/jon-dahl-tomasson-blackburn-transfer-chaos

"Ashley Phillips, the highly rated England Under-19 defender who had been with the club since the age of 12, left for £2m after Spurs activated a release clause that Rovers failed to omit from the teenager’s contract."

Hmm....

9 minutes ago, SBlue said:

Weirdly, Neil is two years younger.

Cant believe he’s only 42

Wow, that's knocked me sideways a bit too tbf!!

1 hour ago, JHRover said:

On what basis would Eustace be 'exciting' or 'forward looking'

I'm just genuinely unclear what it is that he possesses that has led you to conclude this.

It appears to me to be the fact that he hasn't managed many teams or for very long.

He might be a good un I'm just not clear how he has earned such a solid 'exciting' reputation from 1 season battling the drop at Birmingham

Dunno if you read the link I posted earlier, but it was comments from a Brum journo made to a Bristol City journo when he was on their radar a couple of months back. Included:

"To start with, Eustace was quite negative with his play as Birmingham relied on long-ball football and set pieces a little. As time progressed, though, there was more of a possession focus. The recent summer transfer window really helped Eustace’s style to become more exciting and attacking as Blues signed a handful of tricky wingers.

"Eustace showed some good tactical versatility during his time at St Andrew’s as he switched between three main formations – a wide 4-2-3-1, a narrow 4-2-2-2 diamond and a 3-5-2 with wing-backs.

"The Robins would definitely benefit from Eustace’s strong man-management skills and his working-class mentality. He used to speak often and passionately about getting his players to fight for one another as if they were a working-class family. It brought about brilliant results, especially in the latter stages of games.

"The downside would have to be Eustace’s decision-making with substitutions. Birmingham fans would often get frustrated by the lack of changes or the lateness. Eustace clearly likes to keep some sort of continuity in his lineups, including throughout matches, but sometimes subs were needed quicker to shift the momentum."

There's definitely some positives there & parallels between what awaits here in terms of the club background, and also some ability to improve significant weaknesses our team have (e.g. set pieces, strong in the final stages of games). Someone on here also recalled that his Brum side played brilliantly against us, only losing as Kaminski was inspired, and I remember that too.

Look, I'm not saying he would be ideal, but he would be better overall than Neil would as a younger, more dynamic man at the helm.

Just my opinion, but certainly not without logic.

7 minutes ago, JHRover said:

Amazing how perceptions are in the game isn't it.

Neil:

Championship promotion with Norwich, a season managing in the PL

3 top half / play-off pushes with PNE

Promotion from League One with Sunderland

Mid-table/mediocre with Stoke (where everyone struggles)

 

Eustace:

1 season, 17th with Birmingham, much fanfare

 

I'm struggling to see why some would be happy / content with Eustace but not Neil.

Alex Neil is just Mowbray Mk II. All of his success was a decade or more ago, since then he's just been a serial merrygorounder, achieving very little.

Eustace, whilst arguably more of a gamble, would be a more exciting (in context) & forward-looking appointment imo. I think he was discarded from Brum just as he was taking off, and if you look at the link I posted a few pages back he does seem to be inheriting similar circs here to those he inherited there.

And fwiw I think the Coventry link to Waggott is coincidental. Given their respective times in the game, I would guess Waggott knows Neil better than he does Eustace.

https://www.bristolworld.com/sport/football/john-eustace-bristol-city-birmingham-city-nigel-pearson-4390690

Some interesting low down on Eustace.

Watch out for Khadra's return...!

10 minutes ago, Northcote blues said:

Sure, point C was tongue in cheek.

But anyone who thinks Eustace is a better coach than Alex Neil is bonkers. 

Eustace didn’t even do that well at Birmingham, just because everyone thought the Rooney appointment was terrible, casuals jump on the bandwagon and think he was some messiah beforehand.
 

I get point C was somewhat in jest, but sorry I'm not a "casual", nor bonkers, and I never said Eustace is a Messiah; I said he's the best option I think we could expect.

Alex Neill is another Mowbray, making a career off a couple of promotions over a decade ago, who will maybe steady the ship, tread water, flirt with playoffs then run out of ideas.

Eustace is a more forward looking appointment who, albeit in a shorter career, comfortably led Big Club to safety when favourites to go down, had them playing good football & in 6th place when sacked by uninformed useless owners.

Anyway, sounds almost certain it'll be him in the dugout on Saturday, I hope you'll support him.

2 minutes ago, Groundhog said:

FULL HOUSE!

What do I win? A season ticket for 24/25? What's second prize? 2 season tickets for 24/25?

How about the JDT's job??

3 minutes ago, Northcote blues said:

I want Alex Neil.

A) more experienced than eustace

 still lives in area

C) will wind up the nobbers 

No thanks, not good enough imo.

And I am really, really not bothered about reason C. I want what's best for Rovers, not what winds up our "rivals" more.

7 hours ago, windymiller7 said:

I would!

As soon as I learn how to piss petrol!!

Have you ever seen the film Backdraft?

Put that in the context of pissing petrol & I bet it brings tears to your eyes!!