Thought Wharton was the one defender playing well.... Very bizarre

Total self destruction. Feels like there will be opportunities to get back into the game though. We're playing a high line so need Carter on for Hyam for a bit more pace. As well as Hyam being a total liability.

I think Hedges is one of our few players who I can see stepping up a level like Szmodics and Diaz have in the past. But his injury record is horrendous and he can't settle a run of a games. In terms of all round ability he's got a lot going for him - great workrate, strong, a goal threat, reasonable pace. He rarely does less than a 7/10 performance and the odd one better than that. How we get him to play more than half a dozen games in a row is the problem. Similar to JRC in that regard.

Yeah agree with this. I do wonder how successful he will be with Sweden as he does not have the best squad. Relying on scoring the first goal is not going to be something he can count on. Youd think they will need a more pragmatic approach than JDTs to stay in games against better teams.

I think Buckley will continue to play an important role for us. Hes good in a midfield three and can cover right back too. Just suffering at the moment as we effectively play 442 with Szmods up front with Gallagher. Garrett and Travis are both closer the exit door I would say. Likely both Szmods and Gallagher will leave this summer so the balance of the team could change quite significantly. Could easily end up with JRC, Tronstad and Buckley in a midfield three and more of a proper number 9 leading the line.

Couple of things make me more optimistic 1- Since Eustace has come in we have only conceded two goals twice (Swansea, PNE) limiting very good attacking Ipswich and Southampton sides recently to very few chances. 2- The way we are playing under Eustace is much less energy intensive than JDT. So I expect the performance drop off to be less for a midweek game. Think we should be targeting another point.

Have to say quite fancy us to get a result at Bristol.

Thats harsh imo. Won everything in the air, passed the ball well, did great work coming into midfield tracking his marker, had his man beat all game. I would say hes got quite a rounded game for a Championship defender, his issue is he makes mistakes (did one today) and lacks recovery pace so needs a solid defence to cover for him.

Gallagher won a lot of headers today which he rarely does. Couldnt direct them though. Not exactly sure what Peter Jackson was smoking up in the directors box when he was dreaming up his MOTM. I wonder if a number 9 has ever won one without having a shot all game!

Under Eustace he looks back to his best from a few years back.

How did Brittain not get MOTM? He was outstanding. Also special mention for Markanday who showed real physicality. Not seen that from him before.

Classic curse of the comment though... JRC probably had three good opportunities to find the right pass and (like the rest of the team) missed them. Southampton keep giving us the ball around the half way line and half the pitch to run into but we just cant make a couple of simple passes work.

As a spectacle this has been utterly horrendous but in terms of us getting a result quite good. Weve been great off the ball and terrible on it.

Maybe just the sun out but feels like it will be a decent crowd from the numbers in the fan zone. No idea about the result. As ever most important thing is not conceding early and getting the first goal. If Sunderland had made their early pressure count in the first 20 mins it would have been a totally different story. Reflecting on Sunderland I was at the home game and its no exaggeration that football wise I think it was one of the best footballing performances Ive ever seen from Rovers in 30 years of watching - amazing passing, movement, overloads, combinations - but we somehow ended up losing 3-1. We played a more measured way last weekend, weathered the early pressure but then crafted great goals without leaving ourselves exposed through over committing. Eustace may not have the same attacking commitment but if JDT was here today I would be worried wed play well but contrive to get smashed three or four one. I think we should be more competitive today. And while we dont maybe get a result i do think we will be in the game all the way through. Will he interesting. Key man for me is JRC. He has a sort of Championship Gerrard about him. Puts the tackle in, picks the right forward passes, always looking to get forward on and off the ball, and a real goal threat. If he keeps his fitness could be one of the best midfielders at this level I think.

Good to know that we can go into this one with an unchanged team except Chrisene starting in place of Pickering. Would be a fantastic sign that we have turned the corner if we could get a win here. Southampton's season on hold now till the playoffs so we should be looking to out compete them.

Maybe I am being unfair but apart from the run that led to the Hedges goal - where Gallagher miscontrolled and was quite fortunate with a rebound - I am struggling to think what he did in the game? Everything seemed to go through Dolan, Hedges, JRC with Szmodics fishing nicely a couple of times? Edit - I quite like Gallagher in some areas. He's very good defensively, and sometimes can suit a direct way of playing. But yesterday was the sort of game where the team were purposefully avoiding giving him the ball as his touch and link up is so poor.

If you were going to take one of the front four out yesterday Gallagher was the one who seemed to contribute very little. We were focussing on quick passing, running with the ball, one two linkup. Gallagher just offers very little in that style of play. But we won 5-1 so maybe what he was doing off the ball had a big impact to enable others to score?

Yeah agreed but after 2 years at the club under two different managers he has never been subbed to save his legs / protect him. Even when looks absolutely shattered, carrying a knock etc. There must be something where he has made it clear he wants to always be on. Fair play as well as he never stops running. Got to respect that attitude.

I think he must have said to the management he never wants to ve substituted unless absolutely necessary. Same under JDT, never comes off.

Yeah despite how it sounds on here id say weve largely been playing pretty well with the exception of Plymouth over the last 4-5 games. I think the international break seems to have helped too. We look tactically very organised against Ipswich and here.

What age is Szmodics 🤔🤔🤔

Depends who we sell, but if we have roughly the same/equivalent squad no way we should be going down.

Hedges has been brilliant. Hes the player I think could make the big step up next season like Szmodics and BBD have done in recent seasons. JRC also utterly fantastic.

Quite a few players have been criticised roundly at Rovers and gone on to have decent careers after rovers beyond expectations - Bell, Josh King, Jason Steele, Duffy etc. Just a reminder that we don't always get it right

We played well against Ipswich without Gallagher - id stick with that and bring him on for the last 30 mins. He has physical qualities but takes so much away in terms of link up Id save him till when we need fresh legs.