All injured Tyjon Gilsenan Poku

I think he has followed a very similar trajectory here (hopefully without a sacking around the corner due to clueless ownership, which with our lot is still possible), His popularity has certainly been helped by results, Even if he is a safety first coach, he seems to know in which games/situations his team should keep it tight, when they should be a little more adventurous, and in patches his teams are capable of some very nice football. I liked JDT, when his brand of football worked, it really was a pleasure to watch, but with Rovers financial limitations, it wasn't the most economical way of picking up points. There is an old story about not building houses on sand that might as well be Eustace's motto.

All done with a couple of button presses/keystrokes, they go out afterwards 😉

Do you think Russell Martin was "forced/told" to play in that style at Southampton? Or that he was employed because he had previously played that style at both Swansea and MK Dons? And in my opinion, Martin was not particularly successful at either of those clubs either For the record, I think Russell Martin, and by extension, the people in charge at Southampton, were idiots to assume that they could play that way in the Prem with the squad at their disposal and not be exactly where they are in the table. At least the Dingles didn't sack Kompany for effectively doing what he had agreed to do, and they got their "reward" in the compensation payment from Bayern in the summer

Old school managers, were football people first, and possibly had little or no understanding off business/finance. You may get lucky and get a Fergie etc, but the chances of that are slim Directors of Football have generally (at a minimum) done courses etc on the business side of things, and are also (at properly run clubs) likely to be around for longer than a manager/head coach, the lifespan of which is probably well under 2 years. I think you are overstating how much the Director of Football drives the style of play. It is more a set of broad guidelines/goals/targets that the head coach agrees to operate under/meet before he accepts a job offer. Which is very similar to any number of job roles in any number of businesses around the World So from a clubs perspective*, they are getting a long term plan/vision, and someone who is both football & business savvy, & not going to drive the club off a financial cliff like Harry Redknapp did with Portsmouth back in the day. * Obviously a club still has to make the right appointment, which requires them having knowledgeable people running the club in the first place, (but those running a club are always going to think that they know the right thing, even if its a case of the Dunning-Kruger effect, rather than them actually having genuine insight)

It seems that you broadly agree with my earlier posts then 😉

No problem at all with hypotheticals, they help us to simply state what we mean If the hypothetical Man City/Liverpool 4-4-2 you described brought that level of success in todays game then yes, I would agree wholeheartedly

No, a broad ethos/philosophy is not the same as micro managing how to set up a team, its a set of broad guidelines designed to increase profits Should you wish to know my thoughts, please feel free to read my posts from earlier today, I don't want to bore people (especially myself) by repeat posting

based on all of those 1-0s & 1-1s, I'm going for 4-3 to Rovers 😉

Waggott, via his proxy, Gestede, its all finance driven

The fact that it is selling, for increasingly more each time it is sold, will be taken that the answer to that is a yes It would be interesting to see Sean Dyche have a run of insane luck in the stock market, become the richest man in the world, and buy a Prem club that he wanted to play his way, how quickly other clubs would pivot when they realised producing the next no nonsense centre back, or giant target man was the most profitable source of income, or how soon before "hoofball" was described as "the right way to play"

I genuinely don't know how to answer that other than it helps the players and coaches involved at whatever level get their next job/role higher up the level, which again comes down to money. If you are asking why this particular brand of football over (to put an extreme) Allardyce or Dycheball... because that is what the clubs at the top of the ladder want, as it sells more merch, subscriptions, foreign audiences, etc, which again is purely finance driven, supply and demand. None of it is with any thought to fans of middling or lower league teams.

money/finances is the why, not the how

The why is because of finances, nothing more. Right through the 90s we heard the line trotted out by various individuals that "football is now a business", and that becomes more and more true with each passing year. Clubs feel that having a long term director of football who steers the club in the same direction under a procession of vaguely similar head coaches to be more sustainable, and more profitable than employing managers who may want entirely different squads and players in different system. Coupled with this, training players to play in this style means that they are more attractive to clubs higher up the ladder, so they can be sold at a profit and reinvested Please note I am talking about "the model" here, not how basket case clubs operate. If a club was to constantly change their director of football/head of football operations/whatever term they decide to use then they are also potentially throwing just as much money away as a club changing manager for someone with a different philosophy as happened in the past

It produces players and coaches that can be sold to clubs higher up the ladder Sadly, it is all about profit and sustainability (from the clubs perspective at least)

I would envisage that Eustace's & JDTs remit would be/have been something like Produce/coach a team that is able to play out from the back and able to play expansive football Increase the value of the current squad for future sales to contribute to profit & sustainability Not get relegated The head coach can then do whatever he wants as long as he stays within the previously agreed "Overton window"

https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/24122446.eustace-sends-clear-message-blackburn-style-play/ This would imply that it was mentioned, maybe not as a short term thing (as I am sure avoiding relegation was the priority), but certainly going forwards Also, I am fairly surely most managers/head coaches (obviously there are some exceptions, but they are getting fewer in number, and tend to comprise of already established managers rather than those just starting out) would prefer to (try to) play an expansive style of football, as even if they fail (Kompany/Martin etc) they fail upwards into better paid, more high profile jobs, so it is not as though they are being forced, kicking and screaming into playing a certain style of football.

In fairness, the head coach would be asked in his interview before he accepted the job if he can deliver "x brand of football" etc, and he will have replied that he could. I do have some sympathy with managers/head coaches who are already in situ when a Director of Football is brought in by the club.

Gary Bowyer is the new manager/head coach at league one Burton

came back from 2-0 down (great equaliser from Vare), but lost late on

Edmondson started for Macclesfield v Bamber Bridge, who did not name Mullarkey-Matthews in their match day squad Edmondson was withdrawn with 20 mins to go whilst Macclesfield were 2-0 up, the game finished 2-0 to Macclesfield.

Live stream on Sheff Utds YouTube, kick off at 7pm

Sadly I would imagine Leicester's main consideration is how big of a loan fee (and how much of his wages) a club would be paying. And Stoke will be paying more than Rovers (apparently his full wage is close to £40K/week and Stoke are currently paying about 75% of that) That's assuming Van Nistelrooy doesn't recall him and give him a go in the Prem

U18s are away to Sheff Utd this evening. Apparently Tyjon has been injured recently, although no mention of what the injury is https://www.rovers.co.uk/news/2024/december/17/preview--sheffield-united-under-18s-v-rovers-under-18s/ This article states "Darragh Tuffy's youngsters". I was under the impression that Ryan Kidd was in charge of the U18s? Kidd's LinkedIn states that he is lead U18 PDP coach https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-kidd-1895366b/?originalSubdomain=uk Tuffy's LinkedIn states that he has recently (October) changed to be Lead U18 Coach https://www.linkedin.com/in/darragh-tuffy-84819094/ Rovers site states Tuffy is U18s lead coach, and contains no mention of Kidd (pretty sure he used to be included here) https://www.rovers.co.uk/club/staff/ Tuffy was named as the "U18 assistant boss" after the previous game with Sheff Utd was postponed recently https://www.rovers.co.uk/news/2024/december/06/tuffy--we-re-all-gutted/ Is Kidd still with us? Has he moved on? Or has his role been changed?