roversfan99

We have a couple of selection dilemmas now, Brittain had been very good but JRC has come in from the cold somewhat to put in 2 excellent performances and the shirt I suggest will be his until he either is unavailable or if his form drops. Cantwell is a key player for us but I wonder who will make way. Ohashi looks better suited playing off the front but I would assume he would be the one to make way. Having ACD able to run in behind might really benefit him. Luton were really poor and Edwards must be fearing the sack. They seemed very top heavy with Morris, Adebajo and Brown all playing. They maybe lack some physicality in midfield when they had Mpanzu and then Nakamba joining last time as key players, and Doughty is a big miss. Chong is a good player but not sure he suits their team.

Did Beck play solely as a left back for you? He is sometimes used by us (including today) further forward, and is very capable there too.

Obviously the game had a feel of going through the motions when Buckley came on but he doesnt look anywhere near the level he needs to be at whenever he features. Surprised Baker didnt come on, maybe it was just to keep Buckley happy.

Kudos to Eustace after another really satisfying win where we put ourselves in such a strong position after a very impressive first half performance. Pears made a good double save and the defence again was rock solid in dealing with top strikers at this level. The midfield 2 are a real strength with Tronstad as good as anyone on the pitch and Travis really complimenting him nicely. The performance of ACD was as big a positive as any. Just to see a player who is fairly quick and direct gives us a totally different dimension to the likes of Hedges trudging up and down, and his goal was a brilliant finish. Beck again was really good too and Ohashi worked hard and is better suited playing just off a striker. Gueye is a conundrum. His overall performance was the best by far that he has put in in terms of his hold up etc, his work for the first goal typifies what he was offering. But strikers need to score goals and he is as bad a finisher as I can ever remember, that miss was embarassing and he also slashed wildly at one in the second half.

A competent one.

These extended tournaments ruin the spectacle and the jeopardy. Qualification is guaranteed for any half decent team when so many qualify. Then at the tournament, you have more poor teams and crucially a ridiculous system whereby most 3rd placed teams qualify. Gone are the days when you can even get a hard group to begin with but if you do, then you will almost certainly qualify anyway. There was to be fair a good potential group at Euro 2020 with Portugal, France and Germany in. They all qualified though so a potentially fascinating group in the past became predictable. Thats before you consider tournaments either hosted across numerous continents or in winter as part of sportswashing.

The biggest blow to our chances might be the absence of Amarii Bell.

They are almost half way through the season, he cant blame the fixtures. Their last 3 games have seen them lose to a struggling West Ham leading to their captain losing the plot, an e mbarassing 4 nil loss to goal shy Everton and a battering at home to Bournemouth having conceded 3 penalties trying to play stupid tactics. I dont see why that warrants patience personally, they have some good players that a proper manager would likely do better with and get well clear of relegation. If those results dont raise questions over his future, what results do?

Yeah I dont understand it at all. If we got promoted, his wage would likely go up and he would likely get a bonus as you say. It all comes down to the owners and there is a disportionate amount of ire elsewhere. They dont give a shit and havent for a long while, lapdog Pasha recently told the fans forum that they have no plans to come over and are focusing on other stuff. They have had no intention or inclination well before the court case to try and help the team to make a genuine attempt at getting up. They may even have skeletons in the closet that the Premier League limelight will expose, who knoes but even focusing on what we can see, they dont give a shit. Is he proactive enough to push the owners as much as possible? Obviously not, hes a kiss arse comfy in his position. And does he have the competence to grow the club? Clearly not. But no way does promotion not benefit him.

I dont see why, unless you have a particular defensive attitude towards English coaches, that you would logically think that he warrants staying. He is doing a crap job. To have 9 points after 15 games and be 19th, 4 points from 17th is very poor. Yes they have lost players but they still have a squad that shouldnt be there, and it doesnt scream happy camp playing for the manager when hes changed captain this week due to an ill disciplined strop.

Im sure its the sign of a well functioning club. Do you have faith in the owners sending funds and the staff effectively using them on 3 quality signings in a prompt fashion?

The whole tournament is a joke.

The recruitment team has already been broken up and seems to be again all over the shop. The owners again wont allow a reasonable budget so a mixture of Gestede in charge who signed Gueye and reliance on loans doesnt inspire confidence but we will see.

I suppose it will be young cheap loans as squad fillers so you never know but usually they fall at the end of Jan. Likely limited to 2 signings as we already have 3 loans and you can only have 5 in a squad.

We need players in early but wont get them.

Signing players from League 2 Chesterfield where even Markanday is thriving doesnt really scream Venkys funding a promotion push. Mind you, nothing they do does.

Raya post Rovers? Of course. Raya for rovers? Kaminski was definitely better. I get we have availability issues and an underfunded squad, but surely we dont need to play as many as 4 full backs and it would suggest that ACD simply isnt up to it. He and Baker would start for me. Its a tough one at right back if Brittain is well enough as he was playing well then JRC covered him very well. Rather than cram both in, it makes sense to stick with the latter if he is fit enough as he was cramping up and leaving Brittain out due to the illness that will have set him back. Gueye in for Ohashi, Baker for Cantwell, ACD for Dolan with the last attacking spot going to either Beck ahead of Pickering or Dolan. The back 7 keep their places.

I dont get why discussing in general whether Gueye got the final touch on the goal is deemed as people trying to take it off him.

Its not enough though to just offer hard work and defensive protection though as an attacker. Neither (especially Hedges) offers anywhere near enough going forward. As a full back, you are happy facing them. Would you consider the knocking to be abuse like with Dolan? Gallagher (when fit) was bang average but Gueye has not shown that he is a serious upgrade in any way so far. Lets hope last night is a springboard to changing that. I think the perception of a pre and post Burnley red card difference is overstated personally. As Gueye was new he was naturally offered more of a benefit of the doubt. He did assist a couple but one was a knock down where Weimann half volleyed it from 30 yards.

Yeah, Tronstad did his job well as he has done consistently for a while. Breaks up play, protects the defence, reads the game well and uses the ball well especially to start counter attacks. Definitely agree on Eustace squeezing everything out of a limited squad. The issues lie in attack where years of the owners refusing to even allow us to spend a reasonable chunk of sales proceeds on new attacking players has left us blunt. A freebie from the Preston youth team, a nominal fee signing from Aberdeen and a nominal fee from Japan dont threaten opposition defences. Eustace us so well organised and Tronstad's work is a big factor.

Has he done a decent job? There was a lot of criticism aimed at Bournemouth when he was sacked which I think might have been because he is an English manager. It was similar when Southampton sacked Adkins and appointed Pochettino, Iraola has come in and massively improved them. Wolves have lost key players but they dont have the 2nd worst squad in the league. Didnt you say they should have backed Ten Hag?

Is your opinion of Tronstad in any way linked to who signed him?

Great result again, to get 5 wins on the spin with 4 of those away from home is a very good achievement. The performance wasnt brilliant but again the key was how well organised we were at the back. Pears didnt have much to do (made a mistake at the end but was bailed out by Gueye) with the defence dealing with everything. Hyam has been back to the form of his first season (or even better) whilst not getting necessarily the plaudits and Batth has proven to be a really steady signing. We are strong at full back where Beck again was very good and JRC came in from the cold with a very impressive performance. Tronstad again patrolled the midfield alongside Travis as we have come to expect. Gueye has had lots of question marks and todays cameo doesnt make the criticism he has had any less valid as he has been really poor to date. But tonight he looked a different player. Im not sure if it was his goal but it was a great leap but his performance aside from that was night and day to what we have seen. Not only in attack but even defensively, often (as was the case at the weekend) he is more of a hindrance than a help, today he was heading crosses away and made a fantastic interception to stop a certain goal. I hope he is awarded the goal as it will do him the world of good. Our attack again was blunt and its an area that badly needs reinforcing, Eustace is really doing brilliantly to keep us winning despite it. Ohashi looks lost, Hedges is not up to it and Dolan again doesnt really offer anything. Cantwell's first time passing when we counter is really important to how we play and his stupid yellow card was really irresponsible and he will be a big miss.

He didnt play at Hillsborough.

I would disagree there. Which teams do you think they would get in and would they be starting or squad players? Dolan has not improved his productivity despite being more of a main man. He will get you 4 or 5 goals and flatter to deceive most of the time. Ohashi hasnt looked like scoring since an initial flurry over the first 5 games, he went through at the weekend and I never felt like he would score, he dithered and his shot was blocked.