Dreams of 1995

Hedges isn't lacking in talent at all. Has a decent first touch, good weight of pass and can beat a man. His fitness is terrible though Do agree on the game of opinions. When do you reckon will be the next time you have a good opinion of one of our players? 🤣

Hedges is 100% in our best 11. He's probably the best footballer we have now. If he had Szmodics' natural fitness he'd be fantastic at this level I don't think we'll have as much success this game as we did against Southampton. They aren't as slow on the ball, which allows us to get back in to shape. The way Eustace sets his team up suits the underdog more. In games where we should dominate the ball more, the lack of quality and attacking emphasis will show up more Going to go for another bore draw

The rumours at the time was that Cheston had lined up Warnock. He had some annual leave and somebody else hijacked it and appointed Coyle Say what you want about the statements after, but Cheston was probably told what to say

One of the issues at Rovers is that due to the stadium always having room there is little option to sell the match day ticket if they can't attend At Aston Villa, season ticket holders can sell their match ticket through the club for the same price as a walk on. Plenty of ST holders I know are willing to keep paying their full ST even though they know they can't attend. You list it on the website and then get 80% of the match fee Other than reducing prices, there's little else Rovers can do until the demand increases I suppose we could offer a flexi-ticket, where you can choose a number of games per season. We know we are likely not to sell out and so we could do this relatively risk free Family discounts could be good Maybe even increase the children go for free range. All under 15s accompanied by an adult go free. That could help Really, the product just has to improve. It ain't going to happen under Steve Waggott. I think this year will be a disaster

I need to have a proper read, but it's always the same picture How can our revenue have gone up by 26% but we still lose £20m....... As always with this lot, it doesn't make sense

The only way any money is being spent is if the case in India is wrapped up The timing of the court sittings suggest it won't be wrapped up in a time good enough for us to operate "normally" - if such a word ever existed in Venkyland We should be in a good position to spend money. If we ended this year profitable - which we absolutely should do - then that gives us wiggle room to spend

I had a feeling we'd perform well against Southampton. The way JE sets his sides up means he will always have a chance against a team coached by Russell Martin We should get used to that type of performance - make the pitch as narrow as possible when you don't have the ball, but as wide as possible when you do. JE certainly follows that mantra. We look so much better in defence. Not allowing ourselves to be exposed to as many 1 v 1's really helps........ We have to understand that Hyam, Wharton and Carter aren't Premier League standard, and I really think that's where JDT let himself down Unfortunately, we weren't good enough when we won that ball further up the pitch. It is a stark contrast to how our season was going before the change I do worry about next year. There's every chance we are going to lose both Gallagher and Szmodics and clearly Eustace doesn't have a lot of faith in those behind them. Although, he can be reluctant to make changes at times, so that may be another thing we need to get used to. Really he just needs backing. We need some better wingers and we need a better striker than Gally who, for all of his work rate, is just not up to standard for the Championship imo.

Sunday league is dying. A lot of teams that are successful now do so because they have social media presence. Some of them, like SE Dons for example, end up with kit sponsorship by Puma. Baiteze are sponsored by Nike. They sell shirts for about £40 a go and have thousands of subscribers. They will be the only teams that survive soon. The combination of the dying pub trade and just the astronomical fees for pitches these days are crippling teams. Our pitch cost the pub £1400 this season and we played 10 home games. We made it to two cup finals, meaning we had more than 10 home games, and they charged us £110 per game extra just for being successful! I am sure even making the two finals cost us money. The woman who does our treasury was going spare I also think the fact that pubs aren't that good any more doesn't help. If your local pub is full of crap players, then those teams always struggle for numbers. Used to be that playing for them might get you a photo on the pub wall or something, whereas now you're lucky if they even give you sponsorship money. I helped out last year at a team and the pub didn't even offer food when you got back. It just took the whole "team" thing out of it. Why go back when you could just go home and get a nice sunday lunch?

The standard of goalkeeping has clearly dropped You get goals like that almost every week on Sunday league I play at a decent amateur level and I always tell my centre forwards to get goal side of the opposition centre backs for goal kicks. It gets us a few goals each season - the keeper just kicking it out at knee level right to them. Amazing really, because most goalkeepers in our league had been in and around academies all of their youth, but kicking and handling is just crap. Some excellent shot stoppers though

I think I'll just pick on this point really For me, JDT was a fantastic coach. The best we have had since we were taken over for sure. He is a winner and that sort of mentality means you clash heads with people like Steve Waggott One thing I will say is though, is that not everybody is like JDT. Most people in sport are in there because it is their job. They are well compensated, for sure, but it is still a day job. A lot of fans take the impression that because they are well paid, they should be able to abandon their principles and quit at the drop of a hat or say things and act in a way which will definitely get them sacked. I don't think it is always that easy myself. Eustace is 110% not in the mould of Waggot and Kean; he is ambitious too. What he doesn't have for him is the huge name of JDT, or the league victories with Malmo, behind him. So it would be more difficult for him to come in and immediately start calling out the club. And let's get it right, it took JDT a whole season before he started calling it out regularly. So to expect it immediately from Eustace is probably unfair He isn't deluded. He has worked at some basket case clubs to be fair, so knows the score. It probably doesn't mean much but I wholeheartedly promise you Eustace is a good bloke. He's been in the sport a long time and even down at the grassroots level. He doesn't need to be complicit in corruption. He is here to focus on the football and that's all I don't really know what wild untruths you mean except for maybe his comments on performances. Again, he has just come in to the club, so is coming into interviews and telling everybody his players are crap and not performing well enough the best thing to do right now? I'd wager he has a list of players he is growing to trust, and a list of those he doesn't, and like any new coach he will be looking to shift the side in his favour over the summer Tyrone's post is a good one. It isn't Eustace's fault about our club, but he's just an ordinary bloke come in to do a job as head coach. He has bills to pay and mouths to feed, so coming in to a new employer and throwing the toys out the pram puts that in jeopardy

Yes we could have He is young, English and could score. He was going to get goals at this level. You sign a player like that on a longer contract, his worth goes up. If it wasn't that year, it would have been the one after £8m wasn't a good offer

Brereton should have been our "meal ticket" really When you spend £7m on a player the expectation will always be high. That hampered him early doors. The contract should have been renewed though. You can't leave such an asset to within 18 months of his contract before starting to negotiate I do understand why they didn't sell him for the £8m offered, but really being in that position was criminal. We should have got £20m+ for him during that season. And we would have done, had we offered a contract earlier

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

You couldn't have it more wrong about Eustace But, it isn't a theme to know what you are talking about when it comes to John Eustace to be fair I can't remember a manager getting as much undue stick on here than this bloke. It borders on stupid to be fair. Eustace had a few job offers before going with Rovers. He wanted this gig

My immediate thought too tomphil Following Tugay on social media, you can tell he probably doesn't have much of an idea about the true state of our football club This really does stink of a "find yourself a figurehead" moment, particular after the likes of Speedie's comments in recent weeks

In the past I have seen good value in teams to beat us. Wigan last year for example. I think they were getting on to 6/1 to beat us at their place. They hadn't won in 9. They beat us 1-0. My head told me to put some money on it; my heart wouldn't let me When you are looking at Rovers you'll find value because you know everything about them. I just can't bet on them though. Either to win or to lose. The only bet I have is a cheeky £10 on us to win the league every year. I know it's pissed up the wall, but one day that bet will come off and that money will be the sweetest cash you will ever earn

Absolutely The quality of our bench this season is as poor as it has been for years Only last year, we had Bradley Dack, Daniel Ayala, Adam Wharton, Pears, Scott Wharton, Sorba Thomas, Leonard, Phillips This year it has not been good enough. Those players have either moved on or been considered first team players. Our bench for the last game of the season vs Milwall was: Ayala, Dack, Kaminski, Brittain, Dolan, Garrett and Leonard If JDT had just been backed in that January transfer window we would have been in the play offs. We had a really good squad. We had Tony Mowbray to thank for some of that if we are being honest, but JDT had them coached to a seriously high level, even if there were questions over our 'spine' when going behind. What they have done to us over the last 2 transfer windows is nothing short of criminal; turned a squad like that into one where we look to the bench and see the likes of McFadzean

The only disappointment I have about yesterday is that we didn't bring on Telalovic when we went 4-0 up I thought the lad had small glimpses of improvement under JDT. A couple of good bits of link up play and holding the ball up. Yesterday could have been a perfect game for him to get his first goal, which can totally change a forwards mentality Other than that, a perfect performance. It all seemed to click

I won't read too much in to the loss. It was an underwhelming performance but we do have a lot of players missing You get the impression this is Southgate's last throw of the dice. I can understand why he is sticking to the same squad that has performed admirably over the past 3 tournaments I don't understand why he doesn't pick Tomori. He's playing in Italy and is a regular in a good AC Milan side. That Brainthwaite got the call up shows a bit of domestic bias to me. He isn't as good as Tomori and never will be For me, Joe Gomez has to play over Harry Maguire. They are levels apart now. With the injuries we had it meant it was a bit part team. A midfield of Gallagher and Rice does not win tournaments imo. I'd rather play TAA in there with Rice and Bellingham. Gallagher does a lot of nothing for me. Maddison deserves the call up before Gallagher I will never, ever wish an injury on a player but Maguire being injured may be a blessing in disguise. It forces Southgate's hand. But if we lose Walker then we also lose our best defender and that could be tragic for Euro 24

Tim Farron is the one you need for that sort of thing This regulator has been mooted for years though. At one point Gary Neville was leading the charge. The momentum seems to have been lost though

Rovers will be an attractive proposition to a potential buyer. I’ve always said it A relatively good ground. Chances of further investment with the Riverside. Great facilities and academy. Good history and a solid high level English football club The whole “who will buy us” is based on this £20m a year Venkys are supposedly putting in. The more I think about it, the more I’m doubting that’s true. How can it still require that much give the downscale we’ve had?

I thought we played much better today. Some good football to bring it out from the back but then the play just broke down. The movement up top is poor to say the least. Gallagher needs to learn the art of running in behind. He makes these lung busting runs..but you’d need a De Bruyne / Messi hybrid to find him regularly. It’s such a wasted effort We should stick with a back 4. Still not convinced by our entire back line to be honest. Chrisene must be poor if he can’t dislodge Pickering, who I think is a “steady eddy” but not a player you will get promoted with. His final ball is really hit and miss. When Chrisene came I had a few messages telling me to watch out for him. What am I meant to be seeing? We look far better with Tronstad who has been a magnificent signing. I really do wonder if Telalovic will ever get a chance here. Gally can’t buy a goal now but this lad gets 3/4 minutes at the end to just run around for a bit Buckley needs to play as a 10. The problem is that Sammie is better at it than he is. Buckley is much better further up the pitch, pressing and driving with the ball. He’s a downgrade on Wharton but we all knew that Brittain puts in some dangerous crosses. The problem is that we have the shortest 6 foot 5 centre forward you’ve ever seen

I’m on the hill with you. I don’t rate McFadzean at all

Harvey Elliott not being called up is as much a criticism of Southgate than it is testament to our strength in depth Solanke should have had a chance this time around as well

Badly worded The demand from people moght be there, but not from the local authority The housing in Brockhall and surrounding areas are classed as over-subscribed. There aren't enough schools, doctors etc to service what they already have. An extra 170 houses is not at the top of the list for either residents or councillors. Especially not in Brockhall Village