According to Elliot Jackson: 

"Head coach title retained but no comments from the Director of Football, as of yet."

Crazy that there's been no mention from GB, disorganised or intentional?

Anyway, welcome John Lentil Dahl Eustasson, we're all behind you.

Fuck me I can't take this, first AW, now JDT, as my mate Nick said "it's like being dumped twice"

They're probably going through the shredder pile looking for Berg's contract, tipex-ing out the bits that Derek fucked up, and photocopying it.

2 minutes ago, glen9mullan said:

Got visions of Eustace walking around JDT's car with a clipboard , pointing out scratches and dings before accepting the keys, and JDT Awaiting a black cab to pick him up

Jon: "Hey I like you John, I enjoy these chats, well for sure I drove the car with intensity, with passion, I think that's what we all want don't we?"

4 minutes ago, JHRover said:

So I think we agree on a lot of points but I'm sure not holding JDT responsible for this mess we are in. He's had 18 months out of 13 years and of which we spent all of it up to December 2023 in or close to the play-off positions.

They've made his job impossible, he's understandably had enough, and inevitably that has led to an impact on results

I never held JDT solely responsible, he did a lot of things right, he was hamstrung by the owners, he could have done things differently in hindsight, it's a combination of factors like I said, the perfect storm. 

2 minutes ago, CambridgeRover said:

Who on earth had us as favourites against premier league forest?  Reaching here

Always curious what a natural game means, what is natural and unnatural in football? By natural do you mean play to your strengths or do you mean keep it simple? 

Against Forest, out of all our cup games, Forest were the most beatable: newly promoted, struggling and at Ewood - decent crowd due to cheaper tickets if I remember correctly (that never goes well). All other cup games either away, free hits, or against lower league opposition - we played really well in those games. 

I admit this natural game saying is a load of shit, typical football rhetoric - I just mean what has been repeated ad-infinitum on here, stop expecting wonders from kids and players worth £500k (and I agree with the frustrations to the owners of why that is). Play to your strengths and keep it simple. How many teams have we seen do that against us at Ewood?

Regardless of our manager, there's something happening with this team even stretching back to previous seasons.

We never come from behind. It's one of the weirdests stat in our recent history.

We did it notably when we came from behind against Millwall, but crucially only when the pressure was off.

Why do we do well in the cups under JDT? It's because the pressure is off in those games. The one we struggled with, losing to Forest 4-1, was at home and ironically we were under pressure, as the expectation was on us to beat them at Ewood. 

Football is all about confidence and dealing with pressure. There's definitely a recurring pattern. 

I think if you are asking Champ level players in a weakened squad to take the ball on the half turn out from defence, and then heaping the pressure on them to make an inch perfect slide-rule through ball each time (JDT always talked about moving the ball forward withing 3 passes and the "3-second rule"), then the pressure mounts when it goes wrong, plus having no real experience on the pitch to keep a level head, you can see why we've struggled. It came off against Sheff Utd at home, Swansea away etc. It nearly come off in the first 20mins at Sunderland at home, but after that our heads dropped - can't keep playing at that level for 90mins with the players we have. 

We need to let this team play to their strengths, play a natural game, stop with this inverted nonsense, stop Brittain having to cut inside each time taking an extra touch for example. 

Last season was incredibly painful, mainly down to all those sliding doors moments mentioned earlier. But it was a mix of hope and frustration, as you could see green shoots, but then the off-field stuff just trampled on it. 

1 minute ago, JHRover said:

Almost as though selling off all your best players and experience and not replacing them and using the academy kids has a direct impact on results.

No one is denying that are they? Look at other teams who have sold players, doesn't make you immediately the  defence in the league etc. Just purely looking at the games on their own, we've seen us compete with this team, and then throw things away due to bizarre "in-game management" (hate that term but you know what I mean'. We've also seen us compete and then get blown away in the 2nd half due to the opposition actually have a bench, which is down to the ownership and the leadership.

It isn't black and white, it's combination of a few factors. i'd say every fan was in agreement of the following:

• We all admire JDT and his ambition, his charisma and his honesty.
• We all wished at times JDT would park his frustrations, and deflect and take pressure off the squad. 
• If you asset strip the squad of creativity and leadership, you reap what you sow.
• You treat the manager and fans without care, you disrupt the dressing room and create a toxic atmosphere. 
• You try and play football not suited to the players you have at your disposal, you get what you deserve.

All these things contribute to the perfect storm.

1 minute ago, booth said:

Always someone else's fault with Venkys isn't it, yet there's only been one constant.

Some of you lot are a soft bunch.

Just discussing the footballing side, everyone is agreement that the Venky's are the root cause. But they didn't tell Hedges to chip it to the North End keeper in this context. 

11 minutes ago, Polky said:

JDT’s reign had a few sliding door moments…

1) Starting at least one Wharton in the game at Turf Moor

2) Hedges shot hitting the post, crawling across the line and out at 2-1 in the FA Cup quarter final. 

3) Hedges chip attempt at Deepdale

4) Szmodics half volley bouncing off the crossbar and down onto the line at home to Luton.

Edit: Maybe Hedges should be better at finishing 🤷🏻‍♂️

I agree with this, the margins at getting into the playoffs were crazy - even the disallowed goal at Cardiff that led to Hirst's missed pen, that was insane when you look back. But when a team's form is so hit and miss, these moments really stand out and gain extra importance, when really we should have put certain games to bed earlier on.

Tyler Morton shouldn't have gone down like a sack of shit against Sheff Utd, Wharton could have done better with the punt down field that led to Hyam's own goal, where do we stop.

8 minutes ago, Neal said:

 

I was about to post something similar Jim but you've put it perfectly there. 

 

I think all of us appreciated hearing someone within the club talk about ambition for once, that's why people are mainly upset about this one. The reality though is 10 wins in 40. He didn't get the best out of what he had and threw away countless points. We did sell key players but so have other teams (Hamer, Scott, Akpom for e.g.)

 

Whilst I appreciated his willingness to put the owners and Maggot to the sword, his job was to win games and pick up points. He started with a pragmatic & measured approach with sprinklings of excellent football which I think really suited us. Eventually he ended up with a crazy fantasy football ideology without the budget and players to pull it off and without the dignity to take it on the chin and switch tactics. 

 

That isn't necessarily a criticism of just him but many other clubs outside of the top 8 of the prem who are trying to play the guardiola way, without the budget. In the championship you must get the best out of what you have and in the end... He didn't. 

Great post Neal 👏

I for one am getting tired of this pound-shop Pep disease that's filtering through the lower leagues. I love watching it when it works, but how many times does it work realistically, and fans want to hope that they can trust the management team to change it to suit the game in front of them happening at that minute, not on the training pitch. Everyone else can see it, why can't they, and it just breeds frustration, and that's why fans boo.

I suppose the main concern is that these clubs want to play like this to develop players who can be selected by the Prem clubs to slot into their system, at the expense of the current club's plight. No one wants a right back who just hoofs it 30 yards. Thing is, I'm enjoying Luton, as they mix it up and show everyone else how it could be. I have a lot of admiration for them. 

10 minutes ago, cesus said:

Agree with most of that, the last sentence if we are being fair was opposition managers realised we had no squad and couldn't really make any telling subs.

It also looked like we did zero prep on the opposition, whereas the other teams had us sussed. It wasn't hard though, we were/are one of the easiest teams to suss out and play against, the stats prove that too. 

Coming out for second halves, it always felt like the opposing team's manager had got his squad riled up, telling them to get amongst us, put us under pressure and play through our midfield like a hot knife through butter, we never seemed to have any comeback.

What I struggle with "modern" football is how professional it has become, players seem to stick to a system/game plan regardless of what is happening in front of them - I never saw a JDT team with a leader on the pitch, when under pressure we still played the same way, committing men forward and trying to play lovely lay offs - whether that's a consequence of inexperience, loanees etc I don't know.

I've forgotten what it's like to watch a team almost managing itself on the pitch, if that makes any sense. 

Just now, jim mk2 said:

Dearie me, a young loanee who's only been here a short time dragged out to plea for unity. Is that the best Maggott could do?

yeah that is a sad read

Absolutely, Zac needs a run in the side, even if just for 65mins. Looks strong, athletic and skilful to boot. 

1 minute ago, BankEnd Rover said:

I hope Eustace knows what he's rolling into - I will back him but Waggot the worm needs to go!

There's no way Waggott is going anywhere, especially if Eustace joins. Steve seems to be pulling all the strings at Ewood.

4 minutes ago, jim mk2 said:

 

Mark Hughes is a strange one, a brilliant manager for Rovers yet failed just about everywhere else, most recently at Bradford. Odd

Right manager for us at the right time in both his career and the club's history - unlike JDT who was the right manager at the wrong time. A lot of City fans still have respect for Hughes I think, only going off what I read online and my one City mate. 

12 minutes ago, wilsdenrover said:

Are these people defending the club and how are they suggesting Roverschat are benefitting financially?

Thanks in advance 👍

Dunno, just a tweet, have I done summat wrong? 

1 minute ago, KentExile said:

JDT got to bring in hiss own assistant and fitness coach (who you would imagine will leave with JDT), so you would imagine whoever the new man is will have the same leeway 

The mysterious Remy Reijnierse... let's not forget he was assistant to Luhukay at Sheffield Wednesday, according to wiki: "sacked after a run of only 1 win and 7 defeats in 10 games with the team sitting 18th in the table"

8 minutes ago, 1864roverite said:

Hats off to EVERYONE who attended the meeting, you all had the same objective in mind, your love and care of BRFC.

Yes it's really upsetting seeing the grief they are all getting off certain fans on social - I see Roverschat have been accused of financially benefitting from it and had to put a tweet out to explain it, it's just sad. I get fans are divided, but what do you expect these lads to do? Best to have engage at some point than nothing at all, regardless of what the intention was.

4 minutes ago, Herbie6590 said:

 

FULL HOUSE!

What do I win? A season ticket for 24/25? What's second prize? 2 season tickets for 24/25?