10 minutes ago, Mercer said:

A great sporting and betting weekend with Aintree and The Masters.

Couple of winners at Aintree yesterday so betting on today's match with my heart.  Rovers at 19/2 so just couldn't resist a £20 flutter.  Football is a funny old game as we saw at Plymouth last night.

That's killed any optimism i may have  

Good thing about living in Leeds is I found a place in no time to watch it. Bad news, surrounded by Leeds fans. 

19 minutes ago, joey_big_nose said:

Well we have gone 352 which I don't think is a good idea, and Hyam has kept his place. But at least McFadz is not starting. Hyam central rather than him RCB should be better.

How on earth we get hold of the ball centre of the park I have no idea. One or both of Dolan or Szmodics is going to have to really help Tronstad and JRC out.

That was my worry too. I kept looking for an extra midfielder in that line up then realised there wasn't one. 

2 hours ago, wilsdenrover said:

Anything in the rules which says you can’t? 😄😄

Yes. It would be mistaken for one of our defenders. 

2 hours ago, Lucimo said:

He's had as many wins as our clown manager in a lot less games.

Fair point. Perhaps zero impact is a little harsh. I should say less impact than I would expect and not a lot of a new manager bounce. (Mind you beating our clown manager is a low bar and no indication of quality.)

5 hours ago, JHRover said:

I think it will be us and Huddersfield to join Rotherham in League One.

Wednesday have proven that they have that fighting spirit and ability to win games when the pressure is on. I am dreading our match against them.

Birmingham are poor but in Rowett have a shrewd operator who should have enough to get a win or two from their relatively kind remaining fixtures (Rotherham and Huddersfield to come).

Forget about Millwall, QPR and Stoke, they'll be fine.

Plymouth a maybe but have two opportunities coming up in Stoke and Millwall both away.

Huddersfield and Brum for me. Whilst I really rate Rowett he's had zero new manager bounce so far. Both teams probably won't get a win meaning we will get to safety by default  

I think the squad is very weak as others have said. The problem is players who previously were solid back ups are now essential first teasers. The goal keeper situation is embarrassing. Hyam reminds me of Dann in that he's a fair weather player - good when the team is, bad when they aren't. Not what you want in a captain. Lack of experience doesn't help.nor does zero squad depth. It means useful players who either the specific game doesn't suit or are having a bad day have no one to replace them (thinking of Dolan in particular here.) .

What makes this doubly annoying is you don't need much quality to stay in this division or even make a charge for playoffs - look at us and Millwall and Coventry last season,  or that even this year we probably won't be relegates. Yet we run with a barebones squad devoid on experience and quality. 

My big issue is him saying we have been fantastic. After sitting through a number of managers spouting utter lies as the club is neglected and abused I have no stomach for another. Also its so far from reality ita has to see him as anything but a puppet. 

Fantastic? Harder to beat, upturn in form the last few weeks maybe but clearly anything but fantastic. 

He'll keep us up by virtue of other teams being rubbish and think he's great, but in fact he is the luckiest Rovers manager I know to have such a low bar for "success"

8 hours ago, Penwortham Blue said:

I’m really worried about Wednesday, under the new manager they just seem to refuse to accept relegation and keep finding a way to survive. Tonight is must not lose but with Leeds on Saturday a nailed on defeat, we need a win.

They have done fantastically well to get back in the mix given they were miles behind and have off field issues. All that said, despite their good form it's still not been enough to get them out of the relegation zone and they have a horrific goal difference. Also they were battered recently 6-0, forget who by so there's a fragility in there. They're still up against it imo to avoid relegation, especially with 5 games left. 

35 minutes ago, Waggy76 said:

The 2 teams , who I think will go down , Huddersfield & Plymouth neither won , so that's good.

In the perfect world , I would like Birmingham & Huddersfield to go down after their shenanigans 6  or 7 years ago..

When did Brum last get a point? Think they are most likely to go down. 

It's the same as before but a round of games less. A heroic effort yer Sheff Weds are in the bottom 3, Plymouth still not beaten a championship level team, Huddersfield continue to fold in games. Bit surprised Millwall won as thought they were getting dragged back into it but can't see the other three teams mentioned overtaking us. One win and we are fine. A few draws probably will be enough  

19 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

Eustace stopped the goals going in and settling for a point in some games. 

Eustace took the decision to be being defensively and work from that solid base. He has got on with the job of keeping us up and Moving us forward towards the summer and what transfers we needed in

Try, just try please, to engaging with the points people make. 

11 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

He was involved in the team selection and tactics for the Stoke Game plus he was on the touchline second half making subs and managing the players from the touchline. 

I also don't think Eustace has been naff at all but he has tried to sort the defence out and stop us leaking goals so much. Also factor in very limited time on the training pitch he has had. Look at the performances since we have had time on the training pitch we had 1 win, 2 draws and 1 lose but 2 clean sheets and much better overall performances

You are totally missing the point! I'm not arguing with you as to whether it was his game - I've seen enough others to do that and will steer clear.  I'm saying if his record was so good it wouldn't make a difference whether this one match was included or not. As it does make a big difference, that shows he hasn't been doing that well!

Would agree the last couple of weeks have been more positive. Let's be honest though, it hasn't an amazing start. (BTW it's OK to criticise the club and admit when everything is not rosy.)

17 minutes ago, Hasta said:

Your last one sums it up. His success or failure will not be judged by a comparison to JDT’s last 11 games. I don’t know why it keeps getting done.

To justify yet another shambolic decision by the club needing an appointment after getting a promising young manager to crash and burn.

5 minutes ago, Hasta said:

Plus it again desperately includes to Stoke game to prove, err, I’m not sure what. That Eustace’s run is better than JDT’s worst run across 19 months when we had a massive injury crisis?

 

Yep, ironically those adding in the Stoke game - which can charitably be called a debatable addition- are actually highlighting how naff Eustace has been. If you have to give him that one result to help make his stats good, it shows he hasn't done that well! In fact desperation to include it shows how underwhelming the rest of the time has been. 

Mind you it's all rather arbitrary  - no context, deciding where to start/end  the stats from. I'd have a bit more time for it if there was an honesty of its been a fairly crap start which has perked up of late.  

15 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

Tomasson like Eustace would have had to get less than a point a game to get to 50 points. Im not sure that Tomasson would have kept us up but obviously there was a lot of baggage there with him clearly and understandably having the hump having been seriously let down by the owners, that situation had become untenable. So any new manager wouldnt have that baggage. But even relegation form over these last 15 games under Eustace can keep us up which means that it isnt that impressive IMO. Especially with the returning players.

Think this is a great summary of how I feel too. Under JDT the wheels had clearly- and understandably - come off but given the points accrued already Eustace hasnt 'needed to be that good to keep us up. Not even above relegation for., just not broken. 

Personally feel TM was unlucky to get relegated given his efforts in his first season here, whereas Eustace will be fortunate he had so low a bar to aim for. 

2 hours ago, philipl said:

 

Bristol City are a menace.

They are well capable of soundly beating any team in this division and equally can play like absolute dross. This could be an absolute chasing for us or a three point Ashton Gate benevolent evening and there is no predicting which it will be.

Agree one of the hardest games to predict because they are such an inconsistent team. Reckon a draw is the most likely result as we've limited teams of late and unless Bristol are having one of their better days that should be enough to nullify them. But they could be gash and a repeat of Sunderland or they could batter us. Must be interesting being a Bristol fan.

2 hours ago, philipl said:

The other 8 clubs in the Casino not-Royale for the two relegation slots have the following midweek games:

Tuesday:

Millwall v Leicester

Plymouth v QPR

Preston v Huddersfield (and we know PNE will roll over for that one)

Sheffield Wednesday v Norwich

Wednesday:

Birmingham v Cardiff

Swansea v Stoke (which kicks off 15 minutes after us)

The Robbins' current form is W3 D1 L1 so this is going to be a serious test for Eustace's men.

 

That's a good set of fixtures for us. Leicester will beat Millwall. We win whatever the result of QPR/Plymouth. Preston and Norwich should beat Hudds and Sheff Weds. 

The Wedneaday games are trickier for us as both Brum and Stoke could pick up points. But given Stoke are grinding out points I dont see them as going down so that's less worrying. Huge opportunity for Brum though, a very winnable game. Lose this and I think they will be sunk. 

1 hour ago, Bbrovers2288 said:

Just looked at all the fixtures, 

id be worried looking at Plymouth, millwall and qpr’s run ins. 
still loads of games between each other to go
if I could pick 2 to go it would be Birmingham and Huddersfield 

No idea who the second team will be. You can make a case for any of them going down or staying up. 

I would say Brum is the most compelling to go down as they have been in terrible form for ages, have an interim manager - their 5th manager of the season? which can't help stability - and haven't had much of a reaction from Rowett, which is a surprise. Plus we've seen them have multiple bad runs this season. 

As for the other could be any one of the teams involved. Though Millwall were out of it for this season but they seem to be faltering quickly.

At a push I'd say us QPR and Stoke are safe. The extra points and the fact all 3 teams are picking up a few points regularly should see them safe with 5 games to go.  That said a bit of bad luck, imagine an injury to Pears or Sami for us, and that could change. 

As for Plymouth Hudds Sheff Wed and Millwall the case vs all of them is quite compelling. Wouldn't like to chose which one goes down. 

I don't think anyone has issues with drawing these kind of games. They are a solid point. It's not capitalising  vs the weaker teams which is an issue. A point vs a very talented team (even one with a poor manager) is a creditable point. Well done Rovers. 

On other results Sheff Weds result means 2 places are well up to play for. Looks like the new manager bounce is waring off at Millwall. And it's only left them 2 points above the drop. Plymouth did win but it was against Rotherham who aren't championship quality. Will be interesting to see when they next win vs a championship side. And at the risk of sounding like a broken record Sheff Weds win but still don't leave the relegation places. Huddersfield winning was a surprise though as their form has been abysmal. 

17 hours ago, Dreams of 1995 said:

You give JDT an excuse of players downing tools and injuries, but then you don't offer that same leeway to Eustace

At the end of the day, they are the same set of players. If you think they were shown a soft side and an unwillingness to fight, why do you think that would revert immediately after John Eustace came in?

He came in during a particularly challenging part of the season really. The games came thick & fast, players were returning from injury which is always a delicate moment and the whole tide was turning against the club. I actually think he has done a good job. The football is improving and we aren't over committing any more. It was never going to be as satisfying on the eye as JDT, who was really trying to play PL level football with players not up to it. It is more pragmatic, with a better understanding of the quality we have at our disposal

I thought JDT was the best coach we have had in recent memory. He wasn't given the tools to really show it. John Eustace is different; he will work with what he has. For some people, that means he is a yes man, but for others it just shows a man that is willing to adapt and earn his living by doing the best job he possibly can with the resources available

Hey Dreams, great post. A few thoughts in response to it. 

Firstly why do u expect a response different for Eustace for the same players. Mainly because football almost always shows that players buck up after a new manager comes in. New manager bounce, honeymoon period, call it what you will but generally most managers get an initial reaction. I could be mistaken but I think even the duds Plymouth and Millwall appointed got a few decent results at the start. Regardless of those examples I think it's well held players up their game for a bit for a new manager. You could also argue if they were unhappy with JDT and had downed tools for him, surely his removal would have made them happy and willing to up tools again. 

Not saying Eustace has had it easy but comparatively his injury list has been less and some kinder fixtures made it the kind of run you want to have. Sure the players had to be managed but  even 60 minutes of some of our better players is better than non whatsoever! Especially when our squad is so thin. Games coming thick and fast yes, but it's the same for other teams too. Not wanting to ignore the squad problems or the culprits behind that so not everything is on Eustace at all. But I don't think it's as tough a start as he could have had. 

I'm less bothered about the style and agree the last few months before Eustace were grim. But are we really improving? I guess for me it only seems that way if you compare it with the last 10 games of JDT and don't take in other factors. Even then the lack of goals and wins vs some weaker teams make me question have we really improved. And if the 10 games prior is seen as a blip- caused by a peed off manager being shafted for 3 windows alongside injuries - then have we improved since earlier in this season, let alone last year. I'm not convinced with a slightly wider lens that we are improving or are where we were in November say. 

The yes man vs willing to work debate is an interesting one. Personally given the rampant abuse of our club by those running it, anyone happy to work in that and not challenge it is probably pretty complicit. And we've seem at Rovers those employed with us can be complicit in the destruction of the club, Waggott and Kean for two. Not saying he is at that level but rather it's hard to see him not being involved in the misuse of our club. I guess one analogy would be a manager who comes in to a factory using child labour to make substandard products and is happy to work in that framework. I'm not sure you can be happy to work with our framework and not be complicit because it is so broken and so clearly wrong. Hopefully this doesn't come across as over dramatic, the point I'm trying to make is I don't think the two are that distinct. 

Mind you add in him being a Maggot appointment and that doesn't help me give him the benerit of the doubt! That man is poison and I wouldn't trust him not to appoint a yes man. Not that thsys evidence enough in itself but again has me leaning towards the dud and complicit perspective. I also don't think that Eustace's commente help either. At Rovers I feel comments matter more. Added to 2hidj he comes across as deluded and part of the corruption in our club when he comes up with such wild untruths. 

So yeah not a fan! I will say in fairness though anyone coming in after JDT would  e viewed negatively. Appreciate you getting me to think more how much is a reaction to JDT leaving Rovers and if I'm being overly harsh

6 hours ago, alex l said:

https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/24226354.eustace-makes-request-negative-energy-admission/

I get his point but the way it is reported, he doesn't endear himself to those who have concerns with the bigger picture at the club, rather than just the result on match day. 

The stats and improvement context is also a bit misleading from the LT.

I mean, when that's meant to be your improvement with the new manager bounce it's not a great record. Especially when you factor who those games were against. 

Likewise JDTs last 10 game stats doesn't factor in injuries or the fact he may have downed tools after 3 windows being shafted transfer wise. 

I'm still yet to be convinced he's not a dud. 

Glad to have predicted this one correctly. To be fair it was our easiest game - a team with nothing to play for,  a caretaker manager and in indifferent form is just the sort of game you want. That said we went out and more than achieved what we should with a thumping victory. 

I think now we are safe. No way do the teams below us all win a third of the games left. Even if they do, I'm sure a couple more draws will be enough to scrape by. No more sleepless nights regarding relegation this season. 

Think we are going to win this one. Will paper over a few cracks but likely keep us up this season. Think my optimism is more based on the opposition than our abilities but can't help feeling strangely optimistic about it  

With seven tricky matches to come, Eustace revealed he'd not even looked at the 3pm scores before kick-off against Ipswich Town. His sole focus is on ensuring Rovers control their own destiny by picking up enough points to stay in the Championship

Again I'm glad he's not letting any other teams distract him. Can't imagine how dire it would be if the poor chap had his focus elsewhere. 

1 hour ago, RevidgeBlue said:

I'm not too offended by his "managerspeak" the way he paints a rosy picture in public is obviously  his attempt at man management and the way he has decided to go about keeping the players onside.

Personally I'd rather he took the approach of Gary Rowett who has only been at Birmingham 2 minutes and told his players some home truths yesterday after their defeat at QPR. He basically said they were a talented group but had to be more professional at key moments and in certain situations.

I think that sort of honest appraisal comes over a lot better to the supporters but at the end of the day it's results on the board that count. We'll know if the softly softly approach has worked by the end of the season.

At a club like ours, where real success is impossible with the current set up, and given how badly.we have been burned by management stooges before - words take on even more importance. 

Likewise prefer a Rowett approach and my issue is with the everything rosey is that you can still protect the players and not criticise them without coming across delusional. 

Agree with the overall point that results matter more, but those aren't coming either. At this point it looks like we will stay up more because of others inability rather than any talent of the manager or squad. Really worried that we've hired an utter dud. 

10 minutes ago, Hasta said:

Games against other relegation teams in red. Games against teams in with a chance of promotion or play offs in blue.

 

 

The positive of this is that when they play other relegation rivals they both can't pick up 3 points. Plymouth have the best run in from that. Millwall in particular have been strong of late, and Stoke are doing OK but both will be safe by then (I was rather wrong about Stoke) and perhaps might be better classed as black fixtures.  

Outside of us QPR and Brum have the toughest fixture lists. QPR really need to get points before their very difficult last few games and Brum from that fixture list alone must be favorites to go down. 

Good work BTW Hasta!