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.

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.