joey_big_nose

First time ive seen two good Rovers corners in a row in 5 years?

Very even game, not many chances. Their keeper has made two good saves, ours one, but the free kick isthe difference. Frustrating as broadly speaking Norwich haven't troubled us too much... Wish we had JRC to play RWB. The room Brittain is getting is mental but hes really struggling to do much with it. Hes made some nice takes and got himself space but the pass or cross has been woeful.

Britain has had the ball in so many decent positions but done so little with it.

I really dont get having the third forward on. They just can't influence the game. We need an extra body in the middle.

Thought as we are 343 we would be sitting deep and playing long... We seem instead to be trying to compress them in their half.

I was wrong, not only are we pressing we are pushing up all the way to the half way line..

Seems very very sparse in Ewood today. I haven't been in since JDT went, seems a lot less?

Yeah, but we have been playing 4231 and flooding the midfield and final third.... I do worry that as the front three will be a bit isolated if we press Norwich will just play round them... As were 343 ill be a bit surprised if we really press as the formation doesn't lend itself to it (leaving a third man back means its easier to break) - I expect us to sit deep and counter, though I am sure Dolan, Szmodics and Gallagher will cover a lot of ground anyway.

Well weve gone 343... no chance of any of the front three helping out the midfield, but Hedges could tuck in I think. Will be interesting how it plays out. I dont think we can just launch it and let Norwich have the ball and the midfield all game. Theyre a much better outfit than Stoke.

Like Travis I think Garett is much better getting forward than sitting and playing in a three with Buckley doing the sitting helps him do that.

I disagree with that personally, I think its better to have a mediocre/makeshift 3rd midfielder who can help out Tronstad and Buckley get a grip of the midfield than a 3rd forward who isolated and sees little of the ball as Norwich lock down the centre of the pitch.

I am hoping the way we setup should stop the easy conceding of goals. It seems to have since Eustace arrived. But Norwich will be the first genuinely decent attacking outfit we have met. Hard to know till the game is played, but I will be very unhappy if we are conservative yet still give away sloppy goals. The number one priority tomorrow is to make it very very hard for the opposition to score.

Really don't get the Pickering hate. He's a good player at this level. Better than any left back we've had in a long time. I like also that he can step into midfield too and pick a pass. Wish he had a bit more pace, but apart from that a very solid player. That said if we are playing 352 I think I'd stick with Hedges as we want the wingbacks to be going forward and stretching the play. Pickering is going to need some time to bed in back from injury. Good for coming on last 30 mins or so.

My guess is he's the sort of player who is great when you are on top and everyones getting forward to combine with but when the teams confidence is shot and he's isolated, and needs to be strong enough, quick enough or clever enough make something happen on his own he can't do it. Sigurdsson is like that also I think. Fair weather players who I don't think we will see much of between now and the end of the season.

On tuesday Ayeri was in a three man midfield given loads of room, a free role, playing against a terrible Cardiff team, and saw lots of the ball and he was really poor. Not got much hope for him. Moran looked much better when he came on, and Moran has been really struggling....

Igor Tyjon is a cracking name - sounds like he could be besieging somewhere in Game of Thrones. The one part of Rovers that continues to be excellent is the academy - I hope we do everything to protect it from the ongoing madness at the club.

Yeah - the only pertinent question to ask is "who can we bring off the bench to make something happen in the last 30 mins". If we go 352 Dolan might be on the bench so that's one. But after that there is literally no one else who would give any championship defence a moments pause. Moran, Leonard, Telalovic, Markanday, Ayeri... all will get eaten for breakfast. In light of that Gilsenan has to be worth a crack just to see if he can beat a man on his own which is ultimately what all the others, no matter what qualities they may have, just can't do.

As I posted above Id go for Garrett in a three man midfield with Buckley and Tronstad.

After seeing how it went at Birmingham and PNE I think we need the extra man in the midfield.... Id be very hesitant to go back to 343.

I am hopeful that the new setup and Norwich coming at us will give us some opportunities.... Does anyone know if Hedges will be available? Assuming he is the team I would go for would be : Pears Hyam McFadz Wharton Brittain Tronstad Buckley Garrett Hedges Gallagher Szmodics Think it's about as good a team as we can manage. Only big misses being JRC and Carter. I think with Buckley in there hopefully the pressure will come off Garett to sit deeper and he can get forward which suits him much better I think.

Shame JRC (and maybe Hedges?) are both injured again. If we lined up like the below I think we'd be hard to beat and offer enough going forward. Ayeri was a total waste of time but JRC in the system as the third CM could link up midfield and attack well I think, and offer a bit of a goal threat.... Pears Hyam McFadz Wharton Brittain JRC Buckley Tronstad Hedges Gallagher Szmodics Not much on the bench though. Dolan can make an impact, but that's it I think. A couple who can come in and do a job in terms of stodging things up (Garrett, Chrisene) but no one who is going to come up with some quality to win a game. I suppose the point JDT would make is that we committed so many players forward under him as we had very few players who could make something happen individually, so to create chances we had to have big overloads. Now we have stopped committing we might be defensively sound but it's going to be very dry in terms of chances. However.... not sure I totally agree with that view. We had a lot of openings yesterday where a good final ball would have put us through, but we were really really poor at passing until Buckley came on. Hopefully Buckley and JRC coming back in will open things up again. Maybe Fleck as well while we wait for JRC? Edit - also it's probably lambs to the slaughter, but we are so short on decent attacking options we should probably be having a look a Gilsenan as someone to bring on up top. Feels like he may have the ability to make things happen individually.

I dont know... Reckon if we play the likes of Gallagher, Dolan, Szmodics, Buckley, Tronstad, Garrett, Hyam, Wharton, McFadz, Chrisene, Hedges, JRC, Carter theyre all hard workers (some of the hardest workers in the league there) who can put a foot in. Ayeri and Moran are lightweight and not up to the battle but Id say we've got a fair few fighters.

Eustace is getting a lot of stick for the style, but based on feedback from his previous clubs, Birmingham and Kidderminster, he sounds like hes played different ways at different times. He certainly doesn't seem a committed direct style manager like Allardyce or Pulis. He inherited a situation (ie. 5 points in 11 games , more goals conceded than anyone else in the league, at a rate of around 2.5 a game for the same 11 games) where to adopt anything apart from a direct defensive approach would be absolutely mad. Hes doing the right thing in a way that looks pretty effective to me. I want to see some midfield and offensive improvements, but again things looking up again with Buckley coming back.

Yes this is probably our biggest worry imo. Up to and including the window where we got Szmodics and Hyam our recruitment by and large has been pretty goo. But since then I've got increasingly worried. Tronstad is quality, and McFadz looks a very shrewd signing, but beyond those two its been really really poor in the last 2 windows. Another poor window in the summer will see us in the conversation for relegation I think.

Theres no way we're going down... Cardiff themselves are appalling and 14th, we're 16th. There are just so many rubbish teams, as long as we defend competently (and the signs on that are good) we will stay up.