I personally think he's become the Fall Guy for the many faults elsewhere in the backroom staff. As I understand it, his 6 areas of responsibility as DoF do not include club secretarial /admin oversight, which is where the 2 January window cock ups emanated from. Yes he publicly took the flak, but that's likely because the real culprits were too cowardly. For those errors, it's Waggott who ought to have fronted up; especially so for the first one where he was jollying it up in Brum when we were trying to sign a Premier League player. As to last summer, well that's a combination of poor decisions before he got here (i.e. not selling BBD when we had the chance, or extending his contract) & having the rug pulled out from under his feet on late June, meaning his early doors free transfers of Siggy & Tronstad actually became our "marquee" signings, and he had no more money to play with. He & JDT were also overuled on some signings (e.g. Batth) by his non-football overlords. Same in January, due to the uncertainty of the court case preventing funds being made available, & the very late (and likely premature) sale of Wharton preventing a proper replacement being sourced. As to his signings contributing very little positivity, yes he's got a mixed bag (like most DoF's) but it's not as bad as that. Szmodics is the obvious successful recruit, Tronstad another, Hyam (I admit this season he's regressed, but he'll be back to form imo), Brittain, Hill Sigurdsson; they're all good to decent quality Championship players imo. Other recruits have been failures of course but low risk financially (Wahlstedt (to date), Telalovic, Ennis, Mola, Koumetio the standouts) - plus Hirst, but he's gone on to be crucial to Ipswich being promoted of course, so arguably not a bad signing per se just didn't get the luck. GB's had barely 2 pennies to rub together to recruit new players with; in the context of everything above, I think he's done OK has very much had to work with very little financial & moral support. I struggle to believe that anyone else could have done much better with the shambolic structure around him. This summer might be a chance for him to show his worth, if (big if) he is given reasonable funds.

And we all know the reasons why they only own a Championship club nowadays... just!

But he's also kept us in games at times too, there's no denying that. As he matures, he should cut out the mistakes & become more reliable. He certainly has the attributes imo. There's better out there no doubt, but I'm not so sure it's as much of a priority as others believe...

Perhaps an unpopular opinion but I'd stick with Pears UNLESS we can get Johansson from Rotherham for his exit clause price. Pears has made big mistakes, but look at all keepers in the championship young & old and they all do & always have. Bialkowski, Ruddy (both potentially available) have made major clangers, Raya made plenty but is now at the top of the game; hell, even Steele is a PL regular now. I think other areas are priority right now. Gent could be a strong addition to the squad. Yes the SPL is arguably not that strong, but he has seemingly been a standout player all season at Motherwell, not just competent. That could free up Pickering to move into the middle of a 3, where he has proven he can perform well. I think we need 2 new CBs. McFadz should be given 12 month deal but hopefully not to play week in week out. Hyam has struggled but I think his injury could've been a big factor in that, hopefully preseason can resolve that & he comes back the player he was in his first season here. But with Wharton out pretty much all season we need two additions there. One could be Pickering (see above); I'd like Chrisene back too as he would give options & will only get better imo. Hill also has to be considered, he was excellent in the main. Carter needs to be kept, or replaced like for like if we get sizeable interest for him. And I like Brittain, albeit he has his faults. Tronstad needs to stay, and I would welcome Trav back into the squad. Buckley can leave for me, he's had enough chances but is not going to make it here; but he would need replacing if he does go. We need a creative midfielder similar to Wharton, who can get stuck in, hold onto the ball & distribute well. JRC could be that but he's not reliable enough fitness wise. Ayari? Maybe; he's looked equally decent or anonymous in his cameo appearances, he might be worth a go but I'm confident there are better, more experienced around. On the left if midfuekd, Gilsenan & Siggy could be enough, but equally could fall short. So strengthening there would be good, which might leave Siggy to move into the middle as a poor-man's replacement for Sammie, who is inevitably going to leave sadly. On the right, Markanday can leave or go on loan. Hedges can be excellent, but agsin is nit reliable enough fitness eise. Definitely need a new starter there. Finally, & most crucially, upfront. Give Dolan a new deal,; there's more to come from him imo. Gallagher is a tough one for me; he often appears clueless, but the stats don't lie re the team's results when he plays compared to when he doesn't. He occupies defenders which frees up other teammates, and his presence in our box when defending set pieces cannot be underestimated. But he doesn't score enough, there's no denying that. There could be a better version of him, but he wouldn't be cheap unless we go left -field (a la Telalovic, which of course is v risky). I think we should loan out Telalovic & Leonard (with Christmas recalls in case they flourish) and bring in 2 more experienced proven goalscorers at this level, from home or abroad (e.g. Scandinavia). McGuire is a possibility there, he would be rough n ready though from what I've seen & may of course not want to see Ewood again... Vale should be sold. Generally, in addition to Gent & Gilsenan there's some talents in the Academy to bear in mind for next season as squad fillers or more, particularly Finneran (if only to try to avoid a Phillips scenario), Tyjon & Duru. There may be others too, but I'll bow to the greater knowledge of others on here as to who might be capable of stepping up next season. Of course, budget is key here. Despite the fiasco of the Indian Court case, we ought to have more money to spend than we have for many a year. There's Wharton's proceeds; Raya's sell on; probably Sammie's proceeds; possibly fees from sales of others, forced or unforced (e.g. Buckley, Carter, Tronstadt, Markanday, Vale). I think there's also a possible sell on due if Kaminksi moves on from Luton, which I can see happening. Time will tell I guess... at least there's the Euros to distract us from the main & frustration that will inevitably come!

To be fair, Sammie doesn't score 33 goals without good support from others in the team. He takes the main credit of course, but few of his goals were pieces of pure individual brilliance from him. He was making great runs where team mates found the right pass on many occasions, & he as often as not finished it off.

To be fair though, the greater majority of those were under JDT. Bristol City & Sheff Weds aside, Eustace has really tightened us up (and they were mostly conceded due to individual errors). What he needs to do is find a way of keeping us tight, whilst not blunting us offensively. It's a tough task even without factoring in that it will probably need to be done w/o Super Sammie

Well, him & Adam Wharton, embarrassingly for the so-called "top brass".

Close the thread. (At least for 9 months!)

There are folk in the Riverside near me who, believe me, have often referred to him as selfish & sulky if things aren't going his way. Crazy I know, but that's us Riversiders for you!

I don't disagree Matty, but that has to be seen within the context of shit owners, a shit CEO, shit recruitment processes, a threadbare, weak & morale-sapped squad, and 2 games a week preventing meaningful tactical work on the training ground throughout nearly all his tenure. Hopefully, if (big if, given our financial strife & incompetence re transfers) he's given the opportunity, he can mould the squad more to his liking for next season.

I'm really torn on this. He was brought in to keep us up; whatever the reasons, we were undoubtedly dropping like a stone under JDT & conceding goals left, right & centre. Eustace stopped that but in doing so we lost forward momentum, hence the many draws under his tenure. Were it not for stupid schoolboy errors against Bristol C & Sheff Weds (and that's being v unfair on schoolboys), we'd be safe now; there's nothing Eustace could do about those as the threadbare squad (more so minus A Wharton, Travis, failing with McGuire then losing Fleck to injury) just did not allow for players to be dropped or rotated, & that's no fault of Eustace because he only came in in February. And let's face it, no-one on here is that complimentary about our attacking options besides Szmodics; and even he's been criticised at times for being too selfish & not creating enough assists. Eustace has had to wee with the willy he has, so the saying goes. I never take too much notice of press releases & publicity interviews. He can hardly say, going into Saturday, the squad is crap & needs an overhaul, even if everyone knows it's true. I remember reading that at Brum, on arrival he did similar to what he's done here i.e. shored up a v leaky defence with uninspiring football; but for 2 standout games he's done that here with players that most folk on here don't rate. Then the following season (albeit short in tenure) he apparently made them much more offensive & attractive to watch, and brought in players that better suited his wishes. Hopefully he can do that here, but of course we all know that he'll be swimming against the tide due the inevitable sale of all players of any value allied to the major incompetence of the owners, their cronies & many backroom staff members. If he keeps us up it's mission accomplished, at a very base level. It's not been what we hoped for on his appointment & certainly not something to "celebrate" (he's made a faux pas there) but I think, just, he ought to be given the benefit of the doubt to start next season unless an outstanding candidate comes available (and I don't mean Coyle!)

Do we know what sell on percentage Peterborough have on him?

Has this happened yet? Or do you not have a printer?! 😉

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

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).

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.

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

Precious buggers, they've managed to get a league goal out of him & I've seen more of him in a Stoke shirt than I did in a Rovers one!!

Eustace out, Johnson in!!

Eustace: “At the moment, we’ve had some difficult moments, but we have an exciting group of young players and, with a little bit of help, we can really push up that league." Er, John, about that "little bit of help"....

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.

Catch up Rev!!

Moston have probably had better options tbf.

Not on Rovers website it isn't!!