Strangely I think Lampard will do ok there. It depends on expectations of course. At Plymouth the expectation is surely t stay in the league, and Rooney might just manage that due to their home form. With Coventry, what is the expectation? Presumably to be in and around the top 6. Lampard will likely get a bit of a free pass for the rest of this season but I think he could solidify them in mid table. I don't think he is THAT bad of a coach, but he has made some really poor decisions in his managerial career that have cost him. Going to Chelsea far too soon, then taking the Everton job when they were in a mess before going back to Chelsea when where having a crisis, just really odd decisions. Taking the Derby job was the one thing he got right. Anyway this is the Eustace thread. Thought he got it bang on last night. Went to frustrate Boro and hit them with a sucker punch, did exactly that. Reminded me a touch of Leeds away last season.

Really good solid away win from Rovers. 2 away wins on the spin...more of that please! The goal may have been offside, but Cantwell's disallowed goal looked very tight. Maybe we got a slice of luck but ultimately we'll get our fair share of bad luck too. Dolan's clearly onside yet disallowed goal against Burnley springs to mind. We do seem to have quite the tough run up into January so as many of these types of wins and points will do nicely.

Boro are flying, Rovers are rubbish away from home in midweek games. Nailed on Boro win sadly. 3-0, similar humbling to at Coventry away.

Disappointing that the game has been called off. Fee for the Pompey fans who have travelled but at least they weren't left waiting till 2pm or something ridiculous. Onto Boro away on Wednesday night. Hopefully our recent good form there continues.

Meh, doesn't really bother me that Park is going. They'll just bring someone else in for a little while and the cycle will continue. We all know where the real problems are, and until that changes then this kind of thing will continue to happen at the club every year. Not sure what the power struggle is over...I'm guessing Rudy wanting more say in recruitment. As I say, none of this REALLY matters that much. The only thing that does matter is getting rid of the owners.

With tough games against Boro and Leeds after this, it really feels like a must win to follow up the Cardiff result with another 3 points and maintain a top half spot for now at least. The team I would be tempted to go with: Pears Brittain Batth Hyam Beck Travis Tronstad Weimann Cantwell Hedges Ohashi I was tempted to swap Weimann and Ohashi around but I doubt Weimann has the energy to press in the same way as Yuki. I'll go for a 2-1 Rovers win. It won't be as easy as it may look on paper given the league table. Ohashi and Cantwell to score.

I think that goes without saying to be honest.

Ohashi has 4 league goals as it is, I expect / hope him to at least double that tally by the end of the season. Gueye on the other hand...we'll be lucky if he scores at all, so you are probably bang on with the 5-10 goals estimate. There is definitely room for someone to grab the bull by the horns in the squad. None of Szmodics, Brereton or Armstrong looked capable of that at first but they all came good after a period of time. Lets hope that there is someone in this current group that can do the same. Someone mentioned on the Cardiff thread suggested playing Weimann as the number 9. I honestly think that's not a bad shout at all. Switch Weimann with Ohashi and I think you've got more chance of someone getting on the end of chances as he did on Saturday.

I think this is a great point. Pickering also had a good game yesterday, the run he made for Travis to thread it through to him for the 2nd goal was perfect. I think Beck is an option to play further forward at times with Pickering operating behind him. Beck seems less afraid to take on a man or two than Hedges or Dolan.

Good. Keeps them down there for the time being at least. That week were they led 2 nil to Norwich and 3 nil to Plymouth and ended up drawing both seems to have really knocked the stuffing out of them.

Enjoyable win in the end, despite Rankin-Costello's best attempts to make it a disaster. Thought Rovers were good value for the win, but in some ways it makes me more annoyed about Wednesday's misfire...I guess that's just the way it goes sometimes. Reckon that was one of Pears best games for the club. Crucial saves at key times in the game. Shame the clean sheet was lost. You could tell as soon as he entered the game that JRC was going to be a problem. In the 2nd half of JDTs first season he looked like becoming a key influential player, but he hasn't kicked on enough at all since. Ohashi and Cantwell link up play is really promising. Although Ohashi is going through a dry patch, his work for the team is great, absolutely full of energy and effort. Weimann showing the same strikers instinct that he showed on his debut to score today. Pleased for him to get a couple more goals. Cantwell probably had a worse game today than on Wednesday and yet still key to the teams attacking play. When Travis is on it he can be key as well, as shown today with having a big hand in both goals. Very important to stop the rot, and hopefully they can grab a home win after the break against Portsmouth ahead of a couple of really tough games in Boro and Leeds. Colwill for Cardiff looks a player. Probably the only one from them that I'd take though. The rest of them seem pretty much your typical bang average Championship footballers.

Oh my word, I had forgotten all about that run. Classic Mowbray death spiral it was, completely derailed what was a very strong push for the playoffs beforehand. That 0-1 home defeat to Bristol City, didn't Dack miss a penalty on his long awaited return from injury, and Andy Weimann scored the winner?

Maybe he is, but the alternatives are slim right now.

This feels like it will either be a game where Rovers find their scoring boots or they turn out a horrific performance and lose handsomely to a resurging Cardiff side. My heart says a 2-1 win....but my head says it'll be 3-0 to Cardiff and it'll all go horribly wrong. I'd like to see a 4-3-3 of sorts. Would like to see Baker given a chance (we know he has a shot on him after all), while I think Ohashi could do a job slightly wider of the front 3, allowing Leonard to come in, and then its a toss up between Dolan, Weimann, JRC, Tyjon, or the tea lady for the other attacking position. Pears Brittain Batth Hyam Beck (if fit) Travis Cantwell Baker Ohashi Leonard Dolan

Incredibly frustrating and infuriating game. I felt angry at full time. Personally speaking I'm not angry at Eustace though. In the last 3 games I feel like he's set the team up reasonably well. In 1 of those games he came up against simply a better team in Sheffield United and manager in Chris Wilder, who always seems to have had Rovers number over the years. However, against Watford and Stoke I think Eustace has been sorely let down by his players inability to put the ball in the net. These chances spring to mind: Watford - Hyam blasting it against the bar from about 3 yards out Watford - Wiemann through on goal dinks it over the keeper but also the crossbar These two chances were before Watfords penalty and would've won the game. Then onto last night: Stoke - Ohashi strike in the first half at a tight angle, saved by the keeper Stoke - Ohashi racing through on goal, slips Stoke - Travis strike from distance saved by the keeper Stoke - Dolan strike from distance, saved by the keeper Stoke - THAT header miss from Gueye Stoke - Weimann shot across goal, saved by the keeper Stoke - Leonard chance when the game was already gone Rovers created enough chances to win 2 games last night, but the anger should be directed firmly at those above Eustace. Aside from running onto the pitch and scoring himself, I don't know what more Eustace could've done last night to set the team up. That being said, Stoke had 4 clear cut chances off the top of my head, and scored two of them. The guy who scored their first had enough time to check nip to into a wardrobe and visit Narnia before shooting, and then we had the Hyam and Batth horror show to concede the pen. Thought Pears generally did ok again, he keeps being put into trouble by this CB pairing and its clear how much we miss Hayden Carter when he's not there. On the players: Pears - Did ok for me, keeps getting put into trouble by Hyam and Batth. Never fills me with confidence but he is at least playing better this season than last IMO. Brittain - Put some good balls into the box, shame we have no one capable of getting onto the end of them Batth - Really poor Hyam - Pretty poor, neds Carter alongside him. Pickering - Meh Travis - Typical Trav performance. Lots of doing 'stuff' with very little at the end of it. Tronstad - Standard performance. Hedges - Can't cross, can't shoot. What exactly does he do? Weimann - 2nd half chance aside, very quiet. Not a starter for me. Cantwell - Clearly a class above. Someone mentioned they haven't seen much creativity from him...well if the players around him could actually put the ball in the net then Todd would have several assists by now. Ohashi - There's talent, and we know he can score different types of goals judging by early season form. Cant fault his effort to the cause but he's a 10 goals max striker. Would like to see him alongside another striker or perhaps wide left over Hedges. Gueye - Can't for the life of me see him scoring. The early season promise has faded into nothing. That header will define his time at Rovers. A poor mans Rudy Gestede (which feels ironic). The only difference between this guy and Sam Gallagher at the moment is that at least he's not constantly injured. Oh and Gally did notch one or two goals at least. Dolan - Well at least he actually had a shot and was a bit more direct this time round....but still the Antony of the Championship IMO. Leonard - Needs to hit the ground running and become the main man. Sadly that's where we are at. The bottom line is, Rovers sold Szmodics in the summer and didn't replace him with a proven goal scorer. That's not on John Eustace though, and we all know who is responsible. The concerning thing is that I don't think they're playing particularly badly, so when you're playing ok and losing without even scoring a goal....yeah that's a big worry. They have to take a minimum of 4 points from the next 2.

Interesting fixture for Burnley away at West Brom tomorrow night. Two sides struggling to score goals at the moment. Looks like Sheffield United have stepped it up a gear or two in recent weeks. Can see them, Sunderland and Leeds in a battle for the top 2 while the rest scramble for the playoffs. The table is looking more and more congested every week. Just 5 points between 8th and 21st! Makes the importance of tonight's game even more so, as just a couple more bad results could see Rovers slip way down into the bottom half of the table. Crazy, crazy league this.

Feels like a change of system is needed, but I'd be more tempted to play Pickering as a left sided CB than stick Fadz in from the start, simple because he's played so little football this season. Still, he was always a rock last season whenever called upon.

Must win game, and I think they'll just about manage it with a 2-1 win. Ohashi is due a goal, and Cantwell to get his first in Rovers colours. Cannon for Stoke.

That was their first win in 5. Granted they'd also only lost 1 in 5 in that spell, but I'm not sure you can call it a purple patch either. Either way, a win is simply a must because Cardiff (who we play on Saturday) are definitely on a good run.

I would too like to see Ohashi playing alongside another forward. Who would you drop? Cantwell is the only creative player that looks like he can make something happen, but shifting him out wide doesn't really work. Equally I'm not sure playing him as a CM would work as he's somewhat of a luxury player to have in the side. If not 442 then its either a narrower 4132 or a 352, which I'm not sure we really have the depth at CB right now to risk. I suppose you could put Pickering as a left sided CB and play Beck and Brittain as wing backs. I wonder if playing Ohashi wide left is an option. Its a conundrum, but there's no doubting they need to try something different.

Well he can start by dropping at least one of Hedges and Dolan.

Yeah that was pretty sobering. Sheffield United showed their quality and didn't really have to get out of 2nd gear. Rovers huffed and puffed until the 2nd goal went in and then seemed to go out of their way to try and concede a few more. Positives: Cantwell is very good, didn't have the best of games but still stood out from the rest. He actually tries to play the ball forwards most of the time whereas most others seem utterly incapable or scared of doing so. Ohashi work rate and always wanting the ball is to be admired. Pears had a pretty good game overall. Negatives: They don't look at all like scoring anytime soon. That NEEDS to change on Wednesday night. JRC shocking clearance for the 1st goal. Gueye becoming more of a hindrance than a help. Needs a goal...or to just do something in general that actually benefits the team. Dolan at his absolute worst for the most part today. He is like the Antony of the Championship, all the little step overs and turns that only seem to serve the purpose of slowing down and nullifying Rovers own attacks Hedges, he's just not good enough is he. Runs about a fair bit, but lacks any kind of bravery. Case in point being the chance in the first half, just launch yourself at that and its at least an effort. The subs seemed to completely nip any chance Rovers had in the bud quite instantly. Buckley comes on for Travis and plays like its a league cup game against a League Two side....I guess that's just his level. Gueye as mentioned above is a problem rather than a positive right now. No amount of grinning can change that. Other subs did so little that they aren't worth a mention. There is absolutely no shame in losing to Sheffield United, a team with a far bigger budget and with some genuine premier league quality, or at least top 2 in the championship quality (Hamer coming off the bench, I mean that says it all). This game does not define the season and tells us all what we already knew as to how far Rovers are off threatening the playoffs / promotion spots...but the games against teams of a similar standard that we have coming up in Stoke and Cardiff are crucial. Meh.

Toughest test yet at Ewood, suspect it'll be our first home defeat as well. My preferred team: Pears JRC Batth Hyam Beck Travis Tronstad Dolan Cantwell Sigurdsson Ohashi Dunno why, but I just feel like Cantwell and Siggy playing alongside each other could be magic. Hopefully Harry Leonard makes the bench, it'll be good to see him back on the pitch soon. Ultimately though I think Sheff United will just have too much for Rovers to deal with so I'll go with a narrow hard fought 1-2 defeat.

The point I was making was that you put your hands up in the air then you give the ref an opportunity to give a pen. I'm not saying I think it was a pen, I think it was extremely harsh...but I can understand why it was given in the spare of the moment. If hands are not in the air then there's no chance of a pen...and yes, defenders do tend to try and defend with their hands behind their back. Appreciate Hedges was caught off guard by the ball rebounding off a Watford player, but again, just don't give the ref an opportunity, especially at this level where the officials are so very poor.

Thought a draw was the fairer result today, and the stats seem to back that up. Watford never really looked like scoring in open play, while Rovers missed the best chances of the match. Disappointing to come away with nothing. Wasn't too disappointed with how Rovers played either. It was a typical stubborn away performance that we've seen a few times now under Eustace. Sometimes those kinds of performances result in a draw or even a 1 nil win...today it didn't happen, c'est la vie. The pen feels like it could have gone either way. I can understand why it was given, but equally I bet that this season there will be several instances of similar incidents where no pen is given. Ultimately though, Hedges shouldn't have had his hand up in the air. All in all, this is where Rovers are at. They're a mid table side, currently punching a bit given the league position. I remain pleased with what Eustace is doing, and I think we'll have a fairly stress free season. Today doesn't take away from a good start to the season, but they do need to start picking up more points on the road to not become totally reliant on home form.