Dreams of 1995

Schlupp has had near enough 300 apps in the Premier League and has won a promotion from the Championship He is an international footballer Oh and he won the Premier League “Utility man”…whatever. He’s obviously a good player and better than we have so if the opportunity is there to bring him, do it

It wouldn't be too difficult to raise £25m in capital if they secured it against the Club itself

You underestimate how slow I was at 21… But in all seriousness, I don’t think professional athletes lose their pace at 32. Schlupp has been about sports scientists all of his pro career. He will have had nutritionists and full recovery / physio after any match, workout etc. We shouldn’t worry about his pace He does have a higher injury risk, sure. I also think the first two yards are in the head. As I have got older, where I position myself on the pitch has got better. There’s a lot to be said for that experience and Schlupp has plenty of it. He has a promotion from this league and then plenty of PL experience. Get him in the building

What is the beef with Schlupp? Do people think you lose pace at 32? This isn’t the 90s. Footballers look after themselves. I am 31 and I reckon I’m as quick as when I was 21 - I drink pints every weekend and love a chinese Schlupp will be fit and quick. He’s had premier league experience. He’s a winger. And a good one. What’s the problem?

Eustace got pelters on here from around March time. Can’t remember hearing any booing around game time though. Admittedly, I was not in the ground but it didn’t seem as though the fans were on Eustaces back. JE didn’t think so anyway The conduct of some posters on here March onwards though - embarrassing. That much we can say for certain

These are the games which suit Eustace. That’s what gives me confidence going into them. It was the same before the Leeds game There will be times today when will be uncomfortable watching. I suspect we will see out the first 15 by being hard to break down. Eustace’s system works best with a frustrated opponent. Them having not scored in 2 games could bring that frustration about earlier than usual

My judgement on Gueye’s season will come when our final league position is known If he is part of the squad that gets us into the play offs then he will have had a good season. He’s contributed to us winning some important points so far. That’s all I know

Tbh, goal contributions are just facts. The only person trying to convince people of something is you Across multiple threads over a period of weeks now you have been arguing against anyone and everyone regarding Gueye. We get it. You think he is poor The fact is, he has been involved in pieces of play that has changed games. They are called goal contributions. That you don’t recognise them as a ‘metric’ to judge an attacking player on is your own problem. All of those instances you discuss resulted in Rovers goals. Gueye was involved in them all. It is that easy

It is a classic Eustace display. We are organised and we frustrate teams Owen Beck is a fans dream. Gets stuck in there, always picks a man to have a row with and gets right back to his game. I wish he was here permanently And credit to Pears for the excellent save late on

I’d be looking at rinsing Plymouth Whittaker is a serious player but apparently has a stinking attitude. JE can handle that. And Galloway at left back is a useful addition - he can play left back or centre back. Serious player in his youth days but I don’t know what he’s been doing since

Apparently Rooney cancelled a training game so that he could go out on the lash for a freebie. To make up for it, he allowed the players to do the same This style of coaching only works if you then aren’t a wet lettuce when it comes to match days. He’s hardly a Neil Warnock type of motivator by all accounts He is a man who used to let his physical attributes do the talking. Screaming and smashing your hands on the wall whilst you’re an unfit and out of shape 40 year old, often on the piss, doesn’t go down well with a squad when the chips are down

Gareth Southgate was also a key architect of St George’s Park, which has improved English youth football no end Since retiring from playing, Southgate has spent the best part of 15 years solely focused on developing English football - whether that’s through the youth systems or FA education which is all complete through St George’s. He has also been a huge advocate of Women’s football. The English women’s coach credited St George’s Park for our success in that field Not only that, he guided us to two finals and a semi final. He played for England, coached England at various levels, committed himself to the betterment of English football and for me has been a great servant to our game Say what you want about the role of knighthoods in modern society, or whether a knighthood is even the correct award (MBE etc), but his service to this country deserves appreciation and I am glad he is getting it

Buckley hasn’t kicked on enough for me. He had his best spell under Mowbray when he played further up the middle. I would be more inclined to use him to rotate Cantwell than I ever would Tronstad. It’s a shame as he looked like he had real promise during his breakthrough years We are looking real short in centre mid. Tronstad has three big games ahead of him. The ideal situation is that we knock 3 past Hull first half and we can rest him after 50/60

I like Hedges. Always have done. I think he is a tidy player and has a great left foot. When you watch him, he makes runs that drags players out and opens space up. He has scored some good goals for us in his time here. On top of that, he’s versatile and has shown he can player either wing and even fill in at full/wing back. And the full back must like playing in front of him because he will get back and help out. He will also make himself available to take that pass out wide, making it easier to play your way out His injuries hampered his time here. He played most in JDTs season and we finished 7th. This season, where he has been injury free, we look as though we could beat that finish. For me, that is saying something

Yeah, football is a game of opinions. That none of us work in the sport tells us where our opinion sits in the grand scheme of things Eustace has made Tronstad a better player because his system protects the team. It doesn’t allow for players to be left exposed. Certain players have looked far better under him than they did JDT - think Hyam, Tronstad, Pickering, Pears I think our best front four would consist of: Hedges, Cantwell and Beck with either Gueye or Ohashi up top I also think you could swap Dolan with Leonard, Weimann, Cozier Duberry or JRC and we’d be the same This leaves Pickering as left back - who really I don’t rate that much - but as above does look better under Eustace Like you, I have a controversial opinion. I don’t think Hedges is as bad as people say he is. He’s a gifted footballer but injuries have held him back

You can’t talk about bias when you are comparing Gallaghers record over a full season against Gueye’s half a season Gally got 3 goals all of last season in the league. Prior to that he hit around the 8/9 mark, but if memory serves me right in the season before last he only had 1 or 2 goals by Christmas. It was something daft like October to March without a goal. Gally played his part for Rovers but in plenty of Championship seasons he got over double figures only once. Gueye has had half a season, mainly from the bench, and so comparisons between the two goal records atm are pretty meaningless You have said that Gueye is a bad football player but he is really about there or thereabouts with Sam Gallagher. He is better than Gally in the air, he is stronger than Gally, he is a better passer than Gally and he has half a season to get 6/7 goals to equal his goal scoring. I don’t think that is outside of the realms of possibilities. Will you then go from calling him a terrible footballer with poor technique to saying he’s below average? I think, much like JRC, you are putting your opinion across too harshly too soon.

The last part is a bit unfair. He only signed last year, so any interest would only really start to be shown either in Jan or the summer as his contract is starting to run down I think Tronstad works incredibly hard too. He breaks up play better than any central midfielder we have had in our Championship days. Without him we would be worse off for sure. Whereas we could replace Dolan with a number of players in our squad and not feel the hit They play in different positions but for me Tronstad is twice the player that Dolan is and ever will be. I also think you could switch your Trav argument around - that Tronstad is next to him allows Travis’ game to improve. Tbh, I am just enjoying having a functional midfield pairing for the first time in recent memory

I am flabbergasted Rev You give Tronstad pelters for going invisible but Dolan drifts out of games for far longer spells and is way more inconsistent. I know they’re in different positions, but why give Dolan the credit but no Tronstad?

You are a better fan than me if you actually read those exchanges

Does not having a season ticket mean you can’t comment, Matty?

I didn’t give him credit for missing an open goal

For me it is time for Dolan to go. He’s given a good period of service in a Rovers shirt but if he wants the going rate for a starting top end Championship winger then we can go and get better quality He doesn’t do enough for me. I also think that he occupies some good spaces under Eustace but is then at fault for attacks breaking down far too often with either under hit passes or a baggy touch Dolan could be the the little girl with the little curl for when he is good he is very very good but when he is bad…he is horrid

I like Gueye. He looks like he would be an absolute nightmare to defend against. It’s all arms and legs flying everywhere but you’d be bruised by the end of it. He likes to leave a bit of a late one in as the defender clears. For the defenders amongst us, you know exactly what I am talking about - your ankles are wrote off He is also really good on the turn. Particularly if the ball is chest height. Two moments stand out to me for this one - his sending off at Burnley and the blatant penalty vs Sheffield Wednesday. On both occasions he turned the defender with ease. On another day, the Burnley centre half gets a booking (he should have done) and Rovers win a penalty (we should have done). Suddenly Gueye has one less red card and one more assist When you play football you also admire the players that seem to be in the right place. Some fans - not players - only want to see perfection. It’s too easy to ignore one of Gueyes assist because he didn’t mean it. Think of the butterfly effect - if Gueye was not there, he doesn’t back heel it and Beck doesn’t score. If Gueye wasn’t in that space against Sunderland then the ball may not have fell kindly to Leonard. Far too easy to sit at a keyboard and bitch about stats but when you’re on that pitch, you look at those players and think that something can come from them simply being in that box. I get that vibe from Gueye. His game will improve over time. It has to in order to remain at this level in England. His goal contributions are a good look for him; he clearly has a good work ethic and I think his overall game has been good. He just needs to get on the scoresheet more often

You have brought some festive cheer in those last couple of posts USABlue Lovely Christmas Eve to you too 👍😂

One thing I do know is that it was a great goal by Gueye