To be fair its hard to judge. Would like to see Leo with a stable defence and see how he does. But its hardly a priority to find out at the moment.

Good point and clean sheet in the circumstances. Only real positives were the defence, particularly McFadz, all looking good, and Pears very steady. And Buckley was miles better than anyone else on the pitch on either side when he came on. Negatives were how rubbish every forward and midfield player was except Tronstad and Buckley. Really really really poor. We're not going to commit many players forward so if we want chances and goals its all about individual ability and there wasnt any really. Probably Szmodics worst ever game for us.

As a spectacle I think that may be absolutely genuinely the worst half I have ever seen Rovers involved in. In terms of coming away with a result on the other hand looks not bad. Cardiff have had nothing really and weve got into positions maybe half a dozen times where the right pass sends us through... Feels like we will get opportunities if we can remember how to play football...

Yeah, hes wasted four breaks through a poor pass.

In terms of limiting cardiff the setup is working well but weve got into positions where a simple pass creates a good chance and we've failed at it. Gally, Szmodics, Garrett and Ayari all have passed woefully. Feels like Buckley will get the time and space to pass it. Id take Ayeri off.

The amount of simple 5 yard passes we are missing is absolutely mad

Got my 352 wish, will be interesting if it does help the way I think it will or if Im just talking a load of balls.

Yeah, the ground we were covering is obviously a factor. More kms you cover, the more likely injury is... But I suppose under Eustace early signs are that while defenders will have a lot less ground to cover, the forwards and mids (including the wing backs) will be similar to JDT. A lot of pressing.

Given his build etc Ayari looks like a player and the areas of the pitch he goes into - who can either play number 10 or as a third CM. He seems to like carrying the ball, so I am sort of hopeful in a three he could be a bit like Rothwell was... running at players through the middle and opening things up. But in reality not seen enough of him yet to be sure. Whatever the case though we need an extra body in the middle desperately.

How many sessions a week do we reckon Eustace is getting to work on tactics between each game? Must be a few hours tops? Really terrible situation for a new manager to come into. Anyone got any insight into how much and what sort of training is happening? I remember there was someone on here years ago who could see the training ground from his bedroom window and tell everyone what the lineup and formation will be 😂

Apparently it's only an impact injury so he will come back into contention quite quickly. Agree he did not look in brilliant shape, but to be fair his build is quite similar to McGinn at Villa and he has a great engine. So we can live in hope!

I think weve struggled to make the 343 work last two games, we get absolutely slaughtered in central midfield. Id drop Dolan for another cm, then bring him on for a striker second half. The extra CM should help Hedges and Brittain push on further forward too. I guess will be too early for Buckley so would give Ayeri a go Pears Hyam. McFadz. Wharton Brittain. Tronstad. Ayeri. Garrett. Hedges. Gallagher. Szmodics

Dont think we will get pasted so easily but do agree with the bit in bold. The way we played was great for the first 30 mins, but stopped working after that as you say, and when we made the subs at 60 mins we should have got Garrett and Tronstad some help rather than ploughing on with the same setup. They were being completely roasted in midfield. I think Ayeri playing at a third cm would have helped us a lot more than Sigurdsson as a third forward who like Dolan looked isolated and struggled to control the ball. Something we should consider imo.

Not sure what your problem with what I wrote was? I wrote it before the gane kicked off and all I said is that I hope hes a creative player as we need one in central midfield (as I dont know what sort of player Fleck is, I haven't followed his career). I didnt make any judgement at all about whether Fleck is good or not. Strange for you to be annoyed about it?

We definitely wont go down this year. Just too many dreadful sides and while we are not great there are worse. Afterall we have the leagues top scorer... I dont think its a realistic proposition that we will be relegated Next year though could be a worry. I do however have a good feeling about Eustace, seems pragmatic so will find a way.

I wonder if he should have come into the centre circle and seen what he could do to help Tronstad and Garrett. Hes not strong enough to to play flush up against a defender, so dropping off to find space could have helped him and the team.

Its obvious in this 343 the partner for Tronstad at CM is a really key player. Loads of ground to cover, needs to play on the half turn, has to find a good forward pass in the few opportunities they get. I don't think since losing Adam we have that, at least till Buckleys back. Question I've got is why when we take off Dolan instead of replacing him with the totally ineffective Sigurdsson why not play an extra CM? Ayeri I guess. Makes us more more robust, better to hold onto the ball, and I really dont think we lose anything going forward as Dolan and Sigurdsson got nothing out of them anyway.... Useful point anyway, though considering where we were on 25 mins quite disappointing.

Thought Brittain was awful against Brum but been okay today. Its Dolan/Sigurdsson and Fleck / Garrett who have been the major issues IMO.

I thought this is the sort of scrappy physical game that would suit Garrett but hes looked a yard off the tackle let alone passing.

Whats frustrating is the two goals were soft and ones that the back three and McFadz signing were supposed to stop. We looked so comfortable but suddenly on even terms.

Quite smart what we've done... Put Szmodics up top and Dolan and Gallagher in the two number 10 roles. Works much better than Gally up top at Brum.

My birthday too! 2 beers deep, aiming for 8.

3 very slow cbs, we will be playing quite deep I guess. I hope Fleck is very creative player. The burden will be on him to find the right passes for the front three. No buckley on the bench either so if it isnt working not sure what we do....

Well we look much more physically competitive now, and started well against Birmingham. But as time wore on Birmingham should have scored 3 or 4, all coming from poor mistakes from us. Lucky to get out with a 1-0 loss. We're getting caught in age old trap of as we get more defensive how do we create chances? We're not going to to commit players forward in the numbers we did under JDT (and so we shouldn't as we were getting battered). It's really down to the front three to make something happen, with a bit of support from the wing backs and one of the centre mids. Could do with Buckley coming back to help with the forward passing from midfield. If he's available I would start him instead of JRC. Not sure what state Fleck is in or really much about how he plays, but if the manager thinks he should come in will be interested to see how he can help us going forward.

I think personally Eustace has probably had a hand in the signings of Fleck and Fadz and input into how we setup on Saturday. Just a hunch. But JDT was on his way out, Broughton knew that and probably sounded Eustace out about what he wanted. Id be really surprised if we change anything against Brum. Will be exactly the same I think