Blimey, the man's a complete tool. Eustace wants to stay on and help build Rovers to a brighter future. "I hope so yes, absolutely. I came in to help the football club," he told The Lancashire Telegraph. So that’s what he’s here for. To help. Unfortunately his help is akin to my toddler’s help when I’m doing the dishes or cleaning. Also anyone else uneasy about the word help – very subjective, lacks accountability and clarity. He wasn’t brought in to help – he was brought in to achieve success. (Well actually to be a yes man but still…) The loosening of his remit to help, when he’s the sodding head coach is devolving him of responsibility and accountability and shows what kind of person he is. "It's a fantastic football club with fantastic players and fantastic fans. It is a place that I want to be. This is a blatant lie. Now I appreciate he isn’t going to say the players are all crap, but to say they are fantastic is beyond a stretch. It’s delusional and gaslighting. "Over the last 17, 18 games, I think we've had a good consistency in how we have played but what hasn't been consistent is putting the ball in the net and that is something we have to work on and improve," he admitted. Good consistency? What on earth? I suppose we have been consistent, but not in a good way. We’re consistently poor. Again its utter delusion and gaslighting. "The forward players, midfield and defence have a collective responsibility not just to defend but to score. We haven't had enough goals from midfielders or defenders from set-pieces. It's something we will look at." There’s also the issue of our other strikers being appalling. Glad he’s going to look into it at some point, better late then never. What an utter tool.

Said it before but not all opinions are y'knoe correct or should be held in equal regard. I mean if my opinion is the moon is made of cheese, despite some evidence to the contrary, does that make it as valid and to be held in the same regard as other opinions? Who best to take us forward is a different question and completely separate to whether Eustace is the right man for the job. I don't know what 364 x 27.5 is offhand but I know the answer isn't 6! Likewise unsure of who would be best but it definitely isn't Eustace. If I had to go for someone it would be Rowatt despite a bad time at Brum. What he's done at Brum previously and Millwall makes me think he would be a good choice, or as good as we realistically could get.

Yes it's a bit like some lad trying to show how hard he is by insisting he had a Tikka Masala curry instead of a Korma. The whole thing is pathetic.

If you are desperate to give him the highly dubious Stoke win - and let's be honest anyone without blue and white tinted spectacles wouldn't credit him with it - that suggests his record is appalling. If one win currently enhances his win ratio by 50%, that shows how badly he has done with us. I mean even in Hughes first season or JDT last season you take one win off it doesn't dramatically change things. That it does Eustace shows how appalling he is. So best case scenario even if we win vs Leicester and give him the Sroke game the win percentage isn't great - under 25%. Take out the Stoke game and its alarming. Take out Stoke and don't beat Leicestrr it's abysmal. Even taking into account the Stoke game (laughably imo) and extrapolate that over a season - would we have had enough points to stay up? Final point - last manager to "take charge" midway through a game for us was Kidd. Food for thought.

To be fair you'd have to check the squad lists to tell the difference. (Also appreciate it was Moran who was meant and that you probably got that as well 🙂)

I'm not sure we won't get anything. Leicester could still be partying and have their minds elsewhere and our best results generally have come vs teams that come at us. Not that I'm optimistic but it's not like they are gunning for the title. As for the other results. Brum couldn't beat Huddersfield ir Rotherham. Highly doubt they will win. Plymouth don't win many either. Other than the freak Leicester result there's not been a win vs Championship level opposition for ages too. Wednesday i expect to impressively claw their way to safety. Mind you it's only delaying the inevitable. Looking at how some of the relegation candidates have upped their game this season you feel we won't have such a safety net next year.

Totally agree. Like kicking Travis out on loan along with selling Wharton and only getting a guaranteed sick note with only marginal more playing time than myself of late and on loan to boot. That sounds like a long term strategy that is the pits.

The fact you quoted my post!

First off I've not said it will be easy. In fact, I've not even said it will be 3 points! So I'm not sure where these overconfident vibes are coming from. It's a fact that Coventry will have played more football in the run up to this game, including extra time and a midweek game. It is likely the loss to manure will psychologically have been a blow to them. And it's a fact that we have been less awful the last few weeks, with 2 wins and a creditable draw amongst some horrendous losses. As for going down it's unlikely imo. It relies on 3 of 4 poor teams all picking up points. Brum have to beat Hudds and couldn't even beat Rotherham. Sheff Weds have been inconsistent. Plymouth don't win many and Huddersfield have been poor of late. I can't see them all overtaking us (only Sheffield of the 4 I think will finish above us.) It's possible but unlikely imo.

I think we get at least a point out of Coventry, This is based on: - They must be knackered. A cup semi defeat in such a manner, after extra time, and a midweek game? They'll be done physically and mentally. - Rovers pull out surprising wins when you least expect it, like the Leeds game. We have it in us, and our form has been... okay the last few weeks. (As in not as crummy as it was previously.) Wins against Sunderland and Leeds, a good point vs Southampton, it's not beyond us to put in an ok performance. Personally I think it's a draw and we limp over the finish line. One extra point should be more than enough, and it'll be hailed as an achievement by all involved. All the while the visitors show us what can happen when you get rid of the vermin infesting your club...

I think most people are in agreement with what's needed by and large. Here's my take: In Goal: Ideal Neither keeper is really fit to be a Championship keeper. Pears is poor and might be a league 1 keeper. Wally makes Pears look like Buffon and Kahn rolled into one which is spectacularly impressive in a perverse way given how poor Pears is. Both need shipping out. The Reality Our motto is if it’s broke, don't fix it. Fully expect both keepers to continue on the books costing us with howlers. Defence: Ideal Full backs are weak imo. I really don't rate Britain - very weak defensively and doesn't offer enough going forwards. Pickering I think is an ok, a steady-Eddie, but we could do better. Alarmingly there's little to no cover for either position, especially at LB. A new RB is imperative to me, as is cover for Pickering. I'd ideally like an upgrade, but realistically eve under a fully functioning club that would probably have to wait till summer. Centre back is similar. A better class physical defender I think would really boost our defence. Wharton and Hyam are both fair weather players, who if paired with someone stronger I think would perform better. Again in a summer with a lot to do though, with Carter also on the books, this would not be a priority area but a long term aim. The Reality: We don't believe in filling all positions much less having cover so expect nothing there. Saint Hyam is guaranteed his place even if he throws Pears and the ball into our net (not that Pears needs help on this) whilst mugging a granny. We have a lot of young players whose value could perhaps increase so no one will be brought in to disrupt this. Midfield: Ideal I rather like a JRC, Travis, Trondstadt combo but feel a 4th is needed for when the inevitable injuries and suspensions hit. Someone reliable and steady who could fill out the squad, without necessarily having to be better than the other 3 or eating up too much budget. This would allow Garrett and other midfield prospects to get some much more beneficial time out on loan playing regularly and learning from their mistakes elsewhere. The Reality: The club won’t care whether Travis is any good or not – the fact he’s on a relatively big wage means he’ll be shipped out. We’ll make sure the midfield is swamped with ineffective cover from our youth. And if we don’t have enough youth of our own to do this, we’ll loan in some ineffectual ones from elsewhere, again. Forwards: Ideal In the ideal world we capitalise on Sami’s fantastic form and sell him for a good fee and reinvest the proceeds. He won’t have another season like this one, and we desperately need funds for a massive squad overhaul so he probably needs to be sacrificed. Dolan needs to be sold IF he doesn’t sign a new contract. I think he’s a useful player to have in the squad, but we can’t lose more assets for nothing. Gally needs to be sold regardless of whether he’s inclined to sign a new contract, the wages can be better spend. Telovic (sp?) needs shipping out too. ] I think we were already a forward light so we need to bring in one more than we ship out. Ideally this would be two more, but time and funds are limited. In there would be a winger with some pace, and someone who’s physical and can unsettle defenders up front. Assuming Dolan re-signs that would mean 3 to 4 new attacking players. The reality: Sami will be sold. 1% (I’m being optimistic) will be reinvested into the team and hailed as great reinvestment. Dolan and Gally will run down their contracts and join the alumni of Rovers players we should have got a fee for under Venkys. Any other forwards brought in – there might be one because Ennis went off the books – will be either a wildly overpromoted player from our academy or a substandard youth loaned from elsewhere.

Indeed. That's quite a talent. Mind you under Venkys keepers have generally been an afterthought - Walton, Steele, the other lad who played instead of Raya. And even our better managers TM and JDT (though that's not a hugh bar) made blunders in the keeper area. TM doubted Raya had premier league potential and JDT kept Pears in when Kaminski returned from injury

Yes this is the issue. he's top class 1 in 10, average in 4 of 10 and horrific in 5. You can't have a keeper who is going to cost you goals and games in 50% of your games.

See now you have started to address the points, and give some counter arguments. That isn't unfair or dismissive and they both have some merit. Just saying "nothing then" is. I'd say the errors is evidence as good managers cut it out. And as for the comments, they annoy me more as I want a Rovers manager who tells it as it is, but I can see why it's cause concern regarding his capabilities. Incidentally, we've been doing stupid mistakes all season is hardly a resounding endorsement of Eustace but there we go.

That's really unfair and dismissive. You may look at a wider picture, you can debate and argue why said evidence doesn't matter so much or other stuff outweighs it, but you can't really say nothing when you ask for evidence and are given some. Especially when said evidence is clearly there- ie the errors are happening. What's the point in being on a MB if you completely disregard what others say? Fwiw I'd say the individual errors is a big sign of a poor manager as they seem to be cut out or limited under better managers

Missed this during to childcare. Reading reviews it sounds awful. Pears sums up this team. It's not that he/they can't play well or have a great game. It's just he is far more likely to have an absolute mare. And when you have four times as many mares as good games, the team is going to struggle.

Agreed. Not taking 3 points off them is huge for Brum. In context had Plymouth not done so recently they'd be in the mire. Given how poor Rotherham are and how off the pace its a huge missed opportunity. Hudds v Brum is a 6 pointer and then some. And a draw would probably see both relegated.

Tell you what I give you a load of stick when I think you are wrong but think you are spot on on this one. Incidentally my first football game on the computer (Amiga which shows my age) had a European super league mode. Interestingly no more than 2 teams per league and there were a lot of good European teams who wouldn't get near the CL quarters now - Malmo, Bordeux and Benfica to name three.

If this was back in TMs day then would be all over it. But think he was mooted as a replacement for Mulgrew early on in the "defenders are coming" saga. So it's at least 3 or 4 seasons ago. Since then he has declined somewhat after a couple of nasty injuries.

Let's be honest we are safe. No way are all the clubs below us picking up enough points to overtake us. And thats assuming we get no more points too.

Disagree. Greed made the Premier League a glass ceiling environment. They reap what they sow. Delighted the more predictable 1 team race it becomes.

See that's the issue right there, separate to what you mean (which i agree with btw.) SS has had to replace BB, AA and Rothwell. He's a great player but he isn't three players.

You may be deligjted/indifferent/disappointed to know I made it out of the pub alive. Game of 2 halves for me. First half I thought was very poor. Gave the ball away far too cheaply and offered nothing going forwards. Second half Leeds up their game and their attacks but we defended better and actually offered stuff going forwards. This relieved the pressure on our defence significantly and caused some threat. In fact we had a few good chances and only some excellent defending stopped us taking the lead earlier. Great goal, well taken and cracking assist. Also on their pens given they were throwing themselves to the floor and falling theatrically at every point - including one penalty appeal - that must have worked against them. Brought the lack of pens, especially on the debatable one, on themselves. Bamford is a self entitled pillock. Bit more application and he might be a third of the player he thinks he is. Overall stuck one to Leeds and staying up.

No one else in the pub seems happy...

They are getting desperate. They really seem to be buckling mentally from a frustrating first half. Not sure they have a plan B.