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

I imagine they were on board when it was going well, then after sixth/seventh horrendous result in a row started to question how we were playing. Always the way. I guess by the time we went to West Brom away and JDT was still telling them they need to overload the channels, recycle the ball instead of crossing it in etc there would have been some very skeptical and dejected expressions in the dressing room. I hope Eustace has a flexible approach. Certainly seems that way from his writeups.

Crikey... sounds like the rumors of JDT losing the dressing room were right. Brittain's quotes very dismissive of Tomasson's style and approach. https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/24112995.blackburns-change-approach-dressing-room-discussions/?fbclid=IwAR1GbSE7IDB1Kou34GQVjeTu0u5Bony-ivCCcdyFcsUUTC71wmWcGtE53do

Yeah they must be the hardest working front three in the division. All of them absolutely ridiculous in how much ground they cover.

Think Dolan and Gallagher in a two with Szmodics in behind will suit both of them very well. Theyre both players who thrive off covering a huge amount of ground, and the 4231, 433, 343 all limited them to playing in more narrow channels as other players in their space. Szmodics goal scoring might suffer a bit conversely as he is pushed back into midfield - though he got one on Saturday.

Yes agreed. We shouldn't put everything that JDT did in the bin... In the right circumstances its effective. Id like us to have a deep 352 counter attack as our default (to minimise our absolute Achilles heel of conceding early) but able to change to a 4231 possession game as an alternative when the original setup isn't working.

Exact same team I am sure. Tactics obviously big difference to the Tomasson era, but also having Dolan, Gallagher, Hedges, JRC, Pears back and Chrisene and McFadz coming in from transfers has completely changed the dynamic of the side. Weve gone from being quite soft and struggling to impose ourselves to becoming a team who will outwork most sides and physically compete. I feel quite positive about our chances.

If we're playing relatively direct that will suit Travis down to the ground. Bet Eustace wishes he had Trav instead of Ayeri. Thats the trade we made at the start of Jan.... Even if Ayeri is decent weve got Szmodics, Moran, Markanday and even Buckley after that number 10 role. In terms of proper grafting centre mids its just Tronstad and JRC can do a job, and Fleck if he is fit.

Yeah, night and day compared to how we played under JDT. We get a bit of a bonus at the moment - new manager bounce and totally new way of playing will bamboozle how other teams setup. Stoke with the high line obviously thought we were going to stay playing the Tomasson way and they could compress us, so were not ready for how direct we were. Need to get the points on the board in the next few games before other teams start to adjust. An interesting thought is I wonder how long Eustace was on the radar with GB and if he had any input direct ot indirect into the McFadz and Fleck signings. Both not very JDT...

Could be 352 with Chrisene playing LCB and Hedges LWB? They tend to order the side correctly on the tweet so Hedges listed before the CMs suggests he is at LWB.

While hes got the work rate - Dolan's too head down for me to play wing back, and hasn't got much of a deep cross on him. Hes much more focussed on beating his man than getting the ball in.

Yeah I know... But dont think we have any other option. We are not going to keep being so offensive.