Football has come up with a new way to surprise me after Coventry sacked Mark Robins today. He dragged that club up by the bootlaces and gave the club some identity and pride back despite multiple obstacles he had to overcome. He won't be out of work for long. I wonder if Eustace will be on their wanted list?

Externally renowned coach? What are we paying our coaches for.

The scourge of midweek results continues. Roll on Middlesbrough on November 27th 😄

All this extra coaching with Keith Downing doesn't appear to have any effect on him. We can see it, the other players must see it so Eustace should too. I know Eustace is short of striking options but something has to give here because right now Gueye isn't even worth a place on the bench.

Incredibly harsh. How can Ohashi cost us a goal by accidentally slipping in the Stoke penalty area? On both occasions Stoke had a lot to do but how about several players not closing down for the first goal and an awful pass from Hyam for the second coupled with Baath running in sand. Blame Ohashi and Gueye for missing chances by all means but to lay the concession of both goals at their door is frankly ridiculous.

With our pedestrian defence we will always offer a chance or two up to our opponents so for me I would like to see Eustace revert to a back five which was quite successful in a few away matches last season. I will happily shake on a 0-0 right now.

Excellent point.

https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/24483370.blackburn-rovers-break-transfer-duck-makhtar-gueye-deal/

Particularly when the reports say we paid anything between £1m and £2.5m for him.

We are stuck with him Den and it would be damage limitation to play him with the youngsters. Personally I'd be looking to shift him out in January.

I've said it for a few weeks now. He needs to play for the under 21's for a few games where results don't matter as much. He is in danger of becoming the new Chris Brown unless something drastic happens.

You don't need to be a football genius to see what the problem was tonight. We probably created more chances than we have in any other game this season but couldn't score. Fair enough their keeper was inspired (he usually is against us - I'd have loved him here) but the number of good chances we failed to convert was our downfall. Hedges, Ohashi, Leonard and Gueye should all have scored but when you don't you are susceptible and when you have the sloth like centre halves we do then you are at risk. Eustace disappointed me tonight with his changes and the timing of them. It was clear early on that Stoke were happy with a point and we didn't capitalise on this with another striker on the pitch at half time to try and get the all important first goal. Instead his change was Ohashi off for Gueye. When he finally brought Leonard on with six minutes to go and we got some decent balls into the box we looked far better and Stoke were rattled. I guess that's the price we have to pay for a cautious manager. After the last three games we need to get back to basics and with that in mind I believe he should go five at the back on Saturday and try to grind a result out to get some confidence back. Oh and Stoke were the worst footballing team I've seen at Ewood this season but their shithousery was good. Some of our lot take note.

Mike Sheron looked deflated by the performance. I can accept bad results and even performances if the basics are there but last night there were no positives to draw. With two games coming up next week (Athletico Bilbao and Burnley) there needs to be a huge improvement. I wonder if Eustace will use them games as a opportunity to give some first team squad players some game time.

It was the worst performance I have seen for a long time from the under 21's. Perhaps only Litherland can come out with any credit as we continually gave the ball away, made wrong decisions and some of them looked almost disinterested. Having seen Barrett a good few times I honestly don't know what anybody saw when he was on trial to give him a deal until 2025 with the option of another year. When we equalised just before half time I thought we would come out really strong in the second half but it was the opposite. Rochdale were first to the ball, won tackles and headers and fully deserved their win. And whilst we had a young team it appeared that Rochdale did too with one exception. Another worrying aspect was that probably our brightest prospect, Igor Tyjon looked knackered. Having been away with England and playing three games in quick succession Rovers have to be careful with him and manage his game time.

I have booked my tickets online but had to sign up with Rochdale to do that. There is only one stand open according to the seating plan.

Waggott is making hay while the sun shines then. With Burnley coming here on January 4th he will be orgasmic. Are the FF going to put pressure on him to reduce the Dingles allocation again?

Sheffield United should be a template for us. They haven't spent a great deal of money, have a pragmatic manager and play an effective style of football for the Championship. I look at them and think would Dolan, Brittain, Hyam or Hedges get anywhere near their team. The answer to me is no and whilst we have weak characters as first team regulars we will tread water. I do think Eustace could deliver this given some money (but the realists know this isn't going to happen).

Millwall reminded me of Sheffield United. No frills, big, strong and street wise. Burnley looked out of their depth as their passing game was suffocated by Millwall.

I missed that - thanks. By my reckoning then they have sent around £19m since the case came to light for which they will have had to have matched under the terms set by the court.

Sheffield United showed yesterday what is needed to get out of this league. They were physically strong and we couldn't handle it. I look at us and see Hyam, Brittain, Sigurdsson, Dolan, Hedges and others. Sigurdsson and Dolan should absolutely be sold in January - the former has contributed next to nothing whilst being one of the top paid players at the club and Dolan right now doesn't justify a new deal.

Can anybody confirm if they have sent any money over apart from the back end of last year and to settle a tax bill earlier this year? I can't remember them doing so which effectively means we have been surviving on transfer instalments, the pittance brought in on season ticket money and a failing commercial department.

It was advertised but no follow up from what I can see. https://www.rovers.co.uk/news/2024/october/20/eustace-looking-forward-to-meeting-supporters-at-q-a---tickets-are-still-available-/

It was organised by the Community Trust and there were many questions to Eustace about his career, aspirations and that sort of thing. There was a question which referenced the owners and Eustace said he had never spoken to them (I seem to remember Tomasson saying something similar) and that his dealings are with Waggott and Suhail.

Someone suggested that Ohashi can play in Dolan's role and I agree with that. His prodigious work rate and ability to find pockets of space would be a huge improvement. For me Dolan's race is run as a Rovers player. His insistence on pirouettes, step overs and flicks coupled with poor decision making is more than enough for a spell in the bench. One good game in five simply isn't good enough.

I said after Gueye's performance at Watford that he needs a spell in the under 21's. I was at the Q&A with Eustace last week and he was asked about what he wants in the January window. He said a goal scoring striker. I think he is aware of the limitations we have up front but, apart from the options of Leonard and Tyjon is hamstrung. Personally I have mentally prepared myself for another window of disappointment so expect nothing with these wretched Punekars.