RTM08

Same story every season, we lose a key player as the fixtures pile up and the collapse begins. With the relative form we're going to have a very embarrassed bumper crowd next weekend.

Well to be fair to Eustace I can't really fault the response to the loss streak, and he's proven me wrong in shoring the backline up. 3 away wins on the bounce and a very good win against the league leaders is a statement. The next 8 weeks will define our season - a lot of games in quick succession and a transfer window where a couple of key signings could actually allow us to keep up a play-off challenge. An amount of grit that we haven't seen probably since Big Sam, and it's been sorely missed.

Can't be anything other than happy with these results this week, and good to see a grit and determination that has been lacking for many years. If we keep this up until January let's hope that the stooges don't sabotage us yet again.

I'm not sure I follow, how does him getting an assist mean that he shouldn't be getting criticism for his abject defending?

Aaaand breathe. Get in!

Hopefully we hold out but if we lose this from here it's on the manager as much as anyone.

Can't see JRC lasting much longer at Rovers. I don't know what it is but he's been a complete and utter liability under Eustace.

Someone please explain the rationale between never changing anything when losing, but then changing things when we're winning? Hope it doesn't bite us in the backside because it's been decent up until now.

He was never going to be. His job is to create which to be fair we largely are doing. It's not his fault our strikers are National League level at best.

Eustace should have gone at the end of last season.

Gueye out. Gestede out. Eusless out. Waggott out. Venkys out. In literally any order.

Have we seen enough yet to decide that zero experience Rudy should be nowhere near the transfer operations of the club? This is absolutely rotten.

Yep, I said the same and a bit of flack for it. It was inevitable. Venkys have royslly screwed us, but Eusless ball is back in full flow. I gave him the benefit of the doubt when we were grinding out results but nothing I see right now is making me think he's up to snuff.

We could grind out results because we have Szmodics to cover our awful defences mistakes. We got rid of Szmodics and replaced him for as little as possible, and are reaping the results.

Imagine if Luton and Ipswich for example had had that kind of attitude.

You don't understand people getting frustrated at 2 solid months of half-arsed, low effort performances?

I was downvoted by quite a number of people when I said we'd be fighting relegation during the Preston game and unfortunately I can't see anything but. Cuts after cuts after cuts only lead one way. We've got a cheap, ineffective squad with a plodder of a manager and under Venkys we're lucky to even be the division we're in. Every season we have an initial purple patch and then collapse a couple of months into the season. Mentally weak and I'd take surviving the drop as an outcome for the season.

Eventually we're going to start getting punished for these performances. We've been shocking since the Bristol City game, and I'm not entirely sure why.

I wouldn't bother looking up there, we've got an awful away record and we've yet to play anyone decent at home.

Well, I get the office bragging rights so I'll take that, but a lot of work needs doing to make this team competitive over a season.

I think if we get away with our 100% record here West Brom are going to give them a rude awakening. The home form is the only reason Eustace has breathing room - if we start bringing our away game to Ewood we're in big trouble.

If we do then big questions start to come over JE with regards to his tactics and match plans.

They're settling now and I think they'll begin to pull away. I think we might regret not taking advantage of the opportunity to win at the Dingledome. That said, BBC also suggested they got away with another decision in the build up to the goal.

It does seem odd on the face of it, going all out to get players like Gueye and Cantwell to keep the ball higher up the field and then sit on the edge of our own box at home against a mid to low table side. That surely can't have been the plan coming into the season? I'll take what points we can get of course, but it does worry me that we lack the nous to put our foot down on our own turf.

Weirdly I think counterattacking has been our best look for a number of years now, despite the lack of pace. That said, Eustace seems to like us to sit further back than I'm comfortable with, and at home it's a bit of an odd choice. We'll see in an hour or so if it was the right one.