RTM08

Mainoo for Bellingham. Well, the subs have shown that Southgate has no desire to be adventurous this tournament, even with talent available.

Tbf my issue was less with Bowen himself, but more the change that was made, Foden was clearly the winger that needed to be hooked.

Bowen for Saka? What on earth is that change? Foden for Palmer was the obvious one. Edit: Well, almost worked out immediately haha

I'd also perhaps be tempted to put Toney on if we're just going to lump it up top. Can't do any worse than Kane so far.

One team has turned up this half, and it isn't England. AS usual, Gareth in no rush to actually improve yet again.

In Kane's defence, he can't drop back because Foden and Bellingham are in the 10 position and we seem to have no desire to get him into the game apart from hoofing it when he has two mountains next to him. Trent has lost it more in the middle more than the rest of the team combined. Get him off and actually put some effort in ffs.

Germany could have put 10 past Scotland and looked like scoring every time they went forward. England are scare about crossing the halfway line against Serbia. Teams that actually win things go for the jugular.

Another Southgate masterclass, awful, awful manager. I hate watching England because it is just so unbelievably dull. Foden and Kane are nonexistent and Trent is a liability. Bellingham and Guehi(sp?) look decent. The other big teams dominate and continue to dominate, we sit off and invite everybody onto us when we know defensively we're at our weakest.

The Southgate classic - it cost us against France at the WC and Italy in the Euros as well. This England team since Southgate took over has been better at attacking at speed and forcing opposition teams back but Southgate insists on getting a goal and then sitting back more often than not.

And that right there is why Trent shouldn't be anywhere near the midfield. Pickford isn't getting there if it hits the target.

Very good goal. No surprise that it happens in the first time they actually bother to move the ball forwards with any kind of speed.

The right players are capable of winning it all, but the manager and his selections aren't. Providing we navigate the group we'll be put out by the first half decent team, so QF/SF depending on the pathway we take.

The personnel don't really matter anyway, Southgate's football is tedious regardless of who is on the pitch. Wouldn't have Trent anywhere near midfield though.

I completely expect to be wrong, but surely, suuurely, Rovers aren't that mental. I want Waggott gone as much as the next man but replacing him with Gestede is akin to replacing Bowyer with Coyle.

Respect is earned, not an automatic right. If you accepted a job at a new company, handed in your notice etc and then the new company "forgot" to file the paperwork correctly you'd be in every right to talk ill of them, as is he.

It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if we know he has no interest but are pursuing it to make it look like they were doing something. Then we end up with no one and they throw their hands up and say "well we tried, maybe next window!" He clearly doesn't want to come and that's fair enough considering how amateur our club is at handling anything these days. Move on and actually work on one we could get over the line.

The problem is, we don't rebuild. We cut, then cut, then cut some more, padding the squad with loans and academy players. We've just been incredibly lucky that some have been worth a damn for the last few years. In the long term this strategy only results in us dropping down the leagues, and this time I don't expect League One to be the floor.

Let's not be disingenuous. Sammie broke it down to its mosr fundamental component, as presumably the how is more important than the what in this instance.

It's funny how the "unrest" is almost always "they wanted to improve the club". Really makes you think.

That BBC article suggest Eustace isn't with that, and let's be honest, even if he doesn't like it the owners will make him see out next season anyway. I honestly don't understand the end goal of any of this. What do Venky's possibly get out of this arrangement?

"Yet there has been a disagreement on the future strategy and direction of the club, along with their immediate plans for the summer. Boss John Eustace and Broughton have been aligned on the direction of Rovers but Broughton has been unable to find common ground with the club." That quote is very, very worrying. I'm going to guess that Venkys are pocketing absolutely everything and leaving us screwed for next season. Looks like even Eustace is going to get the rug pulled from under him and it's not like he had a lot of options anyway.

I could be wrong as I'm delving into memories a long time ago but didn't he make his league debut against Chelsea and his job was basically to mark Drogba out of the game and shield Nelson and Samba? God I miss when Ewood was an actual fortress. Could be part of reducing pressure but we also had top class CBs at the time and he was never getting on in that position, whereas he could add a tactical advantage at DM.

I'm not one to defend him, but Tony got significant backing at times. I can't see Eustace getting the same so perhaps harsh to hold him to the same standard.

I remember seeing Rudy in the club shop in January and no one seemed to have any idea why he was being shown around. It would be complete Waggott to put a novice ex-Rover in to act as a shield. My bigger worry is that this is clearly a power grab and we're about to see another round of transfers that happen to be related to a very small number of agents/contacts.

Pretty much, we scored a lot of goals under JDT with someone cutting back to someone moving across or arriving late into the box, so that fits if it was his philosophy.