So we managed to get a good win last time out but this game is going to be a very different beast. The pressure is on and SW will have a big following behind them. That said, Wednesday have dropped off since Poveda got injured and we should be confirming safety this weekend with a win. 

Rovers 2-1 Wednesday

Ultimately if the owners pull investment we will be relegated next season, so it's in their hands depending on whether they are serious or not. 

And on top of that you have the Waggott problem, who given his past and present should have been given his p45 long ago. It's going to be a long summer I expect.

Disgraceful again but football is beyond saving in this country at this point. The top clubs all have owners who have paid billions and want to monopolise the sport in return for the investment and have for some time.  

The EFL absolutely needs to put their foot down, even if the effect is limited due to their diminishing power. 

There are so many "reforms" that would need rolling back to save football at this point. The subs rule, the changes to competitions to maximise European games and summer friendlies etc. The Premier League as a whole has done such unbelievable damage and the way they've stacked the money means that the rest of the pyramid would be left to go bust if they stand against them. 

We need a massive amount of investment in the summer. We can't keep relying on the academy to plug every gap in the squad - we've been incredibly lucky so far that we've had the quality to at least come in and do a job, but even that is starting to stretch a bit. Garrett needs some time in league one for me, and I'd rather the likes of Atcheson and Finneran should similarly be loaned to gain experience. Gilsenan to make the jump likely to the first team. 

We need a first choice keeper to challenge Pears, with Wahlstedt getting some time away from the club to gain confidence. The defence is arguably our strongest area providing everyone stays, but we should look to replace McFadz, and get a fullback or two to challenge for those spots and cover for the injury prone Pickering and Brittain.

In midfield, another Sonny would be great, though Travis coming back may help there. We will need to pick up a link up player or two as well. Sammie will most likely be sold and if so we should absolutely be reinvesting because that sale alone could relegate us next season. For the wings, we badly need pace and to probably get rid of some of the deadwood in those positions - I would be looking to move Siggy along and possibly Markanday, though the latter has looked decent of late. Hedges and Dolan are very hot and cold.

As for true forwards, where do we start? Gallagher can be moved on, but then what do we have? Leonard has disappeared off the face of the earth though he was promising when he was playing, Gilsenan can hopefully come in to do a job but you still feel we need a minimum of two experienced strikers coming in at the summer. 

We shall see in any case - I will expect nothing and anything else will be a bonus.

Undoubtably a massive result yesterday and he should rightly get plaudits for turning things around after the shambles in midweek, but a result that doesn't really change my opinion that much on Eustace. If we played that game 100 times we'd lose 99 of them, and it isn't sustainable over a longer term. 

For me we need to be looking at 4 points from the last 3 games, but ultimately, we all know it doesn't matter. Unless the owners decide to splash the cash in the summer we'll be in Rotherham's position next season - this squad has far too many holes and you know full well Sammie will be out the door as soon as someone comes calling.

Was out yesterday but managed to catch the game in a pub I was in. More than happy to be proved wrong on us getting battered though we definitely lived a charmed life. The goal was superbly taken, with Sam finally winning a flick on and Dolan's superb footwork and pass and Sammie's typically good finishing. With the other results, this may not matter if we don't take at least a point from the remaining 3, so whilst a superb result in isolation, there's still a lot of work to do. 

5 minutes ago, Tom said:

I’m expecting us to be level on points with the bottom 3 tomorrow now, the Sheffield Wednesday game will become the biggest in years 

The bigger that game becomes, the worse we'll play - so many of this team just have nothing about them when the pressure gets cranked up. 

14 minutes ago, Silas said:

Leicester going to lose to all our relegation rivals, then hammer us final game to save their promotion.

It's infuriating. 

Tbf, every other team has a squad that can get stuck in when necessary instead of our bunch

Waggott's genius idea resulting us in potentially restricting home fans whilst maximising away fans... and then will complain about a lack of home fans I'm sure.

Interesting that everyone is focused on Birmingham here, but they occupy the lower of the two relegation places remaining. The far more worrying scenario is Wednesday - tonight means that that is 100% must win next week, but I have zero faith that we will be up for it.

3 minutes ago, jim mk2 said:

Quite possible but still doesn’t mean the owners will depart. They’re rich and they’re arrogant and we’re just pawns in their vast empire. 

Oh I agree - sorry, I meant that this would happen with admin or with the current owners if we got stuck in League One.

2 minutes ago, jim mk2 said:

Don’t understand this. Why would they leave if we went down? Why would one automatically lead to the other? Relegation is the worst thing that could happen. 

I must admit at one point I followed this trail of thought, but most likely relegation and admin would lead to the loss of the academy and training grounds and with the current financial setup in football and the new finance deals coming in we'd have more chance of regularly playing Stanley than Burnley for the foreseeable future.

1 minute ago, TugaysMarlboro said:

Well that's up there with the JDT era away implosions.

Pretty sure that's worse than any of the JDT implosions. But we're totally more solid under Eustace, honest.

FIVE against a team as bad as Bristol City should be a sackable offense in its own right. What an abysmal appointment this charlatan has been.

Just now, Tricky said:

Need a Hyam red card and a few games suspension really. 

If Eustace can get a red too that'd be grand. Utterly abysmal - I thought we'd turned a corner but we clearly just took advantage of a shocking Sunderland and a toothless Southampton rather than any real change from the manager.

He can't be allowed to manage beyond the end of the season if Waggott's "stay in the league" target is in effect.

I appreciate the need to make subs and the fact that he's willing to do it, but I honestly can't fathom what the logic behind the actual subs made are. 

1 minute ago, roverblue said:

Looks like 4 subs at half time Buckley Moran McFaz and Chrisene 

And a cavalry of that quality is exactly why we are where we are.

I really hope I'm wrong though as we need points desperately. 

5 minutes ago, davulsukur said:

A game we really needed something from and we've had the biggest mare of all time.

We're in serious trouble now.

Yet again we ahow up in games where we don't expect anything and the second any kind of pressure is on them they wilt.

One thing I will add - I'm glad we managed to nullify Russell Martin football. A colleague of mine supports Swansea and waxes lyrical about him but for me he's up there with the biggest frauds in management. 

On to Wednesday now - a win there and we'll be more or less where we need to be to stay in the division. 

A point we'd not have expected to take a month ago, so a good result in that context, but the results everywhere else are going to pull us back in to the mire again. That games against Wednesday is must win - I don't think a draw will be enough in that game.

Just now, Darwen Rover 007 said:

Think JRC has made a huge difference today.. always driving forward 

I think having an actual midfield makes a big difference, especially with JRC's quality. One of multiple areas where we are severely lacking, especially after pushing Wharton out of the door.

There's surely no way, no way, even we throw this away... right?

Can't complain at that half way through, still think we need one more. Who is our second top scorer this season? It seems as though Sammie is the only one who ever puts it in the back of the net.

4 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

Player of the match again today according to the BBC. A once in a generation player for us.

Yep, and thanks to the dire situation the caretakers of the club left us in we've cashed in as soon as possible when we could have got a bigger figure at the end of the season, in addition to actually having a midfield in the second half of the season. 

That said, Eustaceball may have devalued him a bit!

I notice Mr No Excuses spent most of the interview making excuses... again. 

No time for this manager at all, doesn't even talk a good game let alone play one. At the end of the season the best case scenario will be we're still in the Championship with a manager who will have won at most 1 or 2 games in 15 or so games. In no way should he be anywhere near the club come July 1st, but he will be, we won't invest and regardless of the league we end up in we'll have another dismal season.