4 hours ago, Mashed Potatoes said:

I can't see any reference to Eustace being behind this ? What has he done ?

"Kyle has been fantastic, we have spoken about having more quality and experienced players around the group to help and develop. He is one I would like to keep for sure, if we're allowed to do that."

2 hours ago, simongarnerisgod said:

mcfadzean keen to stay at ewood insisting he`s got more to offer,personally i`de invite him to join the coaching staff,seems like a bloke you would listen to,he was very talkative on the pitch i noticed

Stone age thinking from Eustace, apparently we need to keep someone on who can’t control the ball under any kind of pressure and is so slow that we need to change tactics and formation to accomodate him just because… he’s experienced? Cheap? Shouts a lot in training?

Viktor Johansson, who's been among the best keepers in the league for two seasons running despite playing for a hopeless Rotherham side, has a £750.000 relegation release clause... 

Let’s be real, the vast majority of posters here would have been up in arms if we’d offered Brereton a new contract before him unexpectedly coming along in the 21/22 season, and then it was likely too late with him (correctly) envisaging a golden ticket to somewhere even higher in the pecking order than a lower half PL club with his contract running down. 

On 03/03/2024 at 10:44, RevidgeBlue said:

The worst thing about Moran for their first goal is that after being cheaply beaten he doesn't make any sort of effort whatsoever to get back, and try to retrieve the situation, just sort of jogs back casually behind the Swansea player.

I remember Nzonzi doing a similar (but even more egregious) thing in the 11/12 season. Hope that's not a portent. 

We already knew he's  a good shot stopper, but I'd like to see him go 10 games before throwing a ball into his own net before I'm even near satisfied. As things stand we still desperately need a safe pair of hands for next season. 

Another cameo appearance today. There's not really a place for him in Eustace's current kick-it-and-run stye, and I doubt him nor the club are prepared to wait and see through next pre-season if he'll fit better into whatever JE supposedly cooks up then. Which is a shame, because I genuinely believe he's the classiest player currently on our books, and probably the one with the highest potential. 

10 hours ago, KentExile said:

Atcheson (centre back) may get a few minutes next season, Batty (left back) was meant to be involved with the first team squad this season but didn't look ready (maybe next season, unless he is loaned out for game time). 

I cant imagine any others would be genuine first team contenders in the next 2-3 years, although a few may become squad players.  Duru (right back) looks better going forwards than back, James Edmondson has been absent from the U21s (maybe through injury) for a while but was looking good in early season.  Whitehall was very highly rated but missed the best part of 3 years with injury, so maybe at 21 it has passed him by now?

Finneran (midfield) and Tyjon (striker) are both 15, so assuming they sign scholarships rather than moving elsewhere in the summer, are 2 to keep an eye out for

Thanks, that's very enlightening. Any hope for Bloxham or the two Polish lads?

Are there any other under-21s apart from Gilsenan who might be close to a place in the first team? 

20 hours ago, martonrover said:

Whatever the transfer budget is (probably derisory) I’d rather Eustace is able to access it directly, rather than relying on Broughton.

We clearly need a mixture of the two. I concede that we desperately needed bodies in the last transfer window and couldn't afford to think about long term development or sellability, but in the long run we'll never go anywhere if we exclusively keep going for the Flecks and Fazackerleys of this league. Academy players and buying cheap young talent from places where everyone else isn't looking and developing them to sell on with a big profit is the only way to go if we're hoping to go anywhere in this league or above.  

On 15/02/2024 at 15:16, bluebruce said:

Things can change. Grant Hanley was once considered a better prospect than Phil Jones.

There's an argument to be made that Hanley ended up with the better career. 

Early days, but very worrying that the defensive frailty of Tomasson's days persists (three missed opportunities to get the ball out of the penalty area before their goal!) while the attacking flair seems to have been replaced with counter attacks as our sole route towards goal. If Eustace is just another bog standard Championship coach we're in trouble. 

54 minutes ago, joey_big_nose said:

Think Dolan and Gallagher in a two with Szmodics in behind will suit both of them very well. Theyre both players who thrive off covering a huge amount of ground, and the 4231, 433, 343 all limited them to playing in more narrow channels as other players in their space. Szmodics goal scoring might suffer a bit conversely as he is pushed back into midfield - though he got one on Saturday.

Hell of a trio for a team set up to press and counter attack, almost like playing with three Paul Dickov. Then again, while I think Sammie has proven he's the real deal, both Gallagher and Dolan need to spend less time injured (probably a lost cause in Gallagher's case) and Gallagher's sometimes atrocious controlling of the ball will always hold him back. 

What matters (disregarding the shambles of out ownership and English football as a whole) is of course what he’ll be able to make the team do on the pitch, but he sounded about as charismatic and engaging as a plank of wood in that Instagram interview.

12 hours ago, roversfan99 said:

I think a solitary international call up sometimes does more heavy lifting than it should. The squad contained only US based players when he came off the bench.

Wahlstedt has a solitary cap and look at him.

Mind you, if we are comparing to Telalovic he would have to be bad.

For context, Wahlstedt's cap was in a friendly against Finland in a squad that consisted solely of players from the Scandinavian leagues, comparable to the old England B squad.  

We're absolute shit when chasing a result, not the first time this season we've battered a team only to get robbed at the end. To be fair, the PNE attack looked more dangerous than ours, it seems like we need at least 2-3 exceptional individual touches to get to a goal while they got by with just throwing bodies forward at the right opportunities.

Markanday can't be here next season, he's currently filling up a place in the squad but beyond that I don't see it happening for him, another player that needs way too much in order to get in on goal or create a chance. Moran was our best player, A Wharton some good passes and interceptions but plays his defensive game at a very high risk. Sigurdsson uneven but shouldn't have been subbed unless he was absolutely knackered, which he did't look. 

Wahlstedt is a tricky one, he LOOKS like the perfect keeper (big tall muscular yet athletic) and moves and throws himself just like keepers should, but then he still flaps at crosses or pushes shots back into the danger zone. I think both we and JDT/Broughton are praying that he can learn on the job at this stage. 

Bit of a sobering thought though, I watched the highlights from Luton-Liverpool, and Kaminski made several good (albeit not fantastic) saves only to hesitate at the cross that allowed Liverpool their equalizer. Maybe it's simply part of the game now, crosses come so flat, hard, and quick that keepers can't be expected to catch them like they used to 10-15 years back?

Said Sigurdsson was class after the Leicester game... Would be the perfect day now if Telalovic went on and scored as well.

15 hours ago, ossyian said:

What a pile of shite. The highlights were teamwork, players showing emotion, players caring about individual and team results, playing under immense pressure to the best of their ability. The best team event in world sport bar none. Football has much to learn but never does. Oh and Rovers were crap again making the same silly mistakes time and time again. L1 beckons again. Oh for Howard Kendall “boring”us with magnificent 1-0 wins week after relentless week until the opposition gave up. Don’t think JDT has that in his locker

It would be comparable if golfers had 10 other golfers harassing and tackling them before, during, and after they made their shots... 

Fairly evenhanded for 60 minutes or so, then our players tired, Leicester expertly took the sting out of the game, and relied on Premier League class players to make the most of their opportunities, which they did.  Still, even in those fairly even 60 minutes we were trading chances with them, and I don't think that would have worked out either. We desperately lacked an attacking focal point for those last 30 minutes, I'm very happy with Szmodics run of form but our high energy style will always mean that he'll fade out of games the further they go on. Would have loved a decent center forward to put in crosses towards once the pace died down. 

Sigurdsson and Moran looks class. Carter and Hyam shaky but not given enough protection. Wharton might be due for a rest, overshadowed by Moran yesterday. Markanday lively but looked out of his depth against the opposition.  Pears is having a nightmare, needs to be benched for his own good with or without that injury. 

How did Wahlstedt look?

23 year old striker from Borussia Mönchengladbach. Never heard of him before, but he's apparently made mincemeat of the lower German divisions (Regionalliga is the German fourth tier). Hope he'll come good on Championship level as well. 

Dead miserable. We learned six years ago that depending on teams with nothing to play for is hopeless. 

Dolan's miss from that Brereton direct pass is near unforgivable, an attacking winger/forward has to be able to fold his body and put a chance like that in the far corner barring a great save.  

The relegation season under Kean when we lost after going ahead against both Liverpool and bloody Sunderland. Remember feeling a rising realization that things were going very, very wrong after those two games.