Pears has played really well recently, and I hoped his club-best showing against Newcastle would spur him onto some confident keeping and new heights. Then I watched the goals from yesterday and realised I was being too optimistic. I'm confused by his showing yesterday tbh, as I've long felt he's a confidence player, so I'm not sure why after impressing on national (and international) TV he played like he's been leaking 4 a game. Hopefully just a blip, because if we get the Pears of yesteryear again we are as good as relegated. I do think he was fouled for that first goal though and likely would have saved it otherwise. But the flap was pathetic and he moved in the wrong direction for the second goal, which really wasn't aimed far from his starting position.

Actually, he's had 15 hours first team football just this season. 10 of them in the league. Last season he had a little under 8 hours first team football between us and Abderdeen. So you're only off by about a factor of 23.

Especially against Millwall. However, whilst McFadzean probably needs a rest after being immense until Swansea, and I'm alright with giving O'Riordan a chance in his stead, we got a mixed bag from Koumetio against Newcastle and I wouldn't be willing to trust him with a start yet. Especially not alongside someone else who hasn't had a start yet. Too risky in a key game against a relegation rival who will really battle. Shame McFadz looks knackered, the performances we've seen from him so far would be perfect for the next game.

I'm of the belief that the first goal was a foul on Pears, and wouldn't have been given under VAR. It was also pretty jammy the way the guy attempted some smartass flick and it ricocheted in a perfect way for him to bear down into the area. That said, the defending was still unacceptable, and even moreso for the second goal. Having seen the extended (Swansea-side) highlights, which still show the majority of chances being ours, and the short highlights which showed a couple more chances for us the extended didn't, it certainly looks like we should have won that game. But the usual failings (coupled with their keeper having a good game) meant the usual outcome.

Very concerning that of all the teams below us, they all (except for already doomed rock bottom Rotherham) have at least 6 points from their last 5 games whilst we have 3. And they're all just a point below us right now, except for Sheff W who are 4 points away but are in red hot form with 12 points from their last 5 games. We can't afford to lose this game. Most likely we can't afford to not win it. Time to step up lads!

He's had 2 games with the first team so far.

Looks like the Daily Star who reported it, not the Mirror I think? We seem to be mentioned in a bit of an offhand guess kind of way, but moreover the article gave me the vibe they're mostly looking to have a share in something. It implied they might buy depending on what options are available, but I dunno if that means they'd rather only get seriously involved if it was a Prem club as that would be big money, or if it was a Championship side with room to grow. I very much doubt Venkys would entertain another party having a share, even with their current financial issues. Too stubborn and arrogant for that.

What happened to them nails? They were certainly there for Dunc McGuire... I suspect we only finalised this one when we more or less knew the Wharton money was coming in, but Dunc was a step too far financially.

That's the wankiest celebration video ever 😂😂

Great work helping create that too. But the Livingston defending was beyond horrendous. 5 against 3 (4 v 2 in the central areas really) and they let him stay essentially unmarked for nearly 5 seconds.

I'm always willing to revise my opinion when a player does well or poorly, but history has to be taken into account too. We've seen Pears at his worst, and probably at his best, and we've had him for years now so I think we can form some general opinions with a decent degree of accuracy. Here's mine. Pears has excellent reflexes, and he distributes the ball well. He gets back up quickly to make a second save if needed, or has done recently at least. However he's also shakey at dealing with crosses, has poor positioning (improved a little lately though, especially at one on ones where his placement has been good recently), and seems to struggle with shots that aren't close to him, perhaps because his arms don't seem to have much length on them for his height, but also because he doesn't really propel himself with much vigour. He is better than Wahlstedt at avoiding parrying a shot back into the danger zone, but it's still a slight weakness in his game. We know he has an utter clanger or two in his locker. He's a confidence player. Everyone is to a degree, but you know what's meant by that. His form will fluctuate enormously based on his confidence levels. Right now he's thriving, a fuckup or two and we might go back to saying things have gone Pears-shaped most weeks. For me, he's a good backup keeper for this league. Maybe a very good backup keeper for this league, and with potential to improve. But he still hasn't shown the consistency over a long enough period for me to say I'm comfortable with him being number one for a full season. As I said, I'm always willing to revise my opinion. If he can maintain good form until the end of the season I'll be much more comfortable with him for next season, but there are also areas of his game that I really want to see improve. Mostly positioning and crosses. I do think there's been an element of fortune in his recent form - a lot of shots have gone close to him, so he hasn't had to get to full stretch or leap across the goal too often, which as I said I think he struggles with. Quite a few of the saves I've seen people praising him for really didn't take much to save, although his improved positioning for one-on-ones has helped that. He's much improved and long may it continue. We all want all Rovers players to do well. Thought he was MOTM last night btw.

Wrong choices for penalties IMO. Szmodics was clearly fucked and despite his confidence I expected it to be saved. A CB shouldn't really be one of our top 5 takers. Markanday has a good shot on him, should've been him. Ah well, Eustace got a lot of other things right tonight.

Markanday confirming my opinion that people judge him too harshly, taking on half the Newcastle team

Another amazingly soft decision from the officials against Ayari

Pears has had a superb game, but I still think their keeper looks better suited for penalties. Big lad.

Confidence, so important for every position but especially keepers. Think having a spell out and the terrible form of his replacement has weirdly been the best thing for him.

Superb double save Aynsley!

Ref is a total joke.

All those fouls from Newcastle the ref has let go, and he gives that against Ayari when he wins the ball....

It was straight at him. Excellent is a stretch. He's been solid tonight though, looks a lot more confident than he was before the injury, good to see.

Not gonna lie, I can't figure out those subs. Buckley has been our best player, probably the best player on the pitch actually, Moran played his best game in ages, and Dolan has been a nuisance. None of them should have fitness issues really. Maybe Buckley but no signs of it and hasn't been flogged lately.

He played week in week out in a couple of spells for us. I never thought it was fitnes that looked the problem either, just effort. He wasn't blowing out his ass, he just wasn't putting a shift in.

Hard working? He certainly wasn't the last few times I saw him for Rovers, in fact that was the most frustrating thing about him. Maybe his failed loan at Lincoln has finally motivated him.

Why did he come off if he was playing well? Injury?

Quite how he didn't when he took two of them out like that is beyond me! Guess the ref noticed he did try to tuck his legs back in.