1 minute ago, superniko said:

Give over. If I won a million trophies with Newcastle (lol) and they were then playing Rovers in a match there is still only one team I’m supporting. He’s a Newcastle fan, at the end of the day. 

Yep, the same supporters being critical of him will expect Adam Wharton to be speaking fondly of Rovers 20 years from now on TV. Or expect David Dunn to appear like a Rovers supporter if he were in studio for Rovers v Birmingham. Or probably even expect Damien Duff to come across as a Rovers supporter for Rovers v Chelsea.

We can't have it both ways. You can take absolutely no issue with a born and bred Newcastle supporter being, wait for it, a Newcastle supporter. 

8 minutes ago, Devon Rover said:

Which championship-level center backs would you name? I respect the captain stepping up but I'd rather see an attacking player take a 'final' penalty every time. Same goes with England.

Bit of a hard question to answer. I could list a ton of centrebacks and you could tell me no.

All that being said, Harry Maguire took one of the best penalties I've ever seen in the final of the Euros. Bet you wouldn't put him on a list of penalty-takers.

All down to who feels comfortable taking them. How they feel going into it. What the plans were beforehand. We're not privy to all of that, so it is pretty difficult to be critical.

Had Ayari missed you probably would have said you didn't want a 20-year-old loanee taking one. I thought Newcastle took the biggest risk by having a fresh sub take one.

Luck of the draw at a certain point.

A disappointing end, but an enthralling cup tie and a performance that all of the players should be proud of. Anyone being critical should go and do something else with their lives, nights like this are why you are a supporter.

Every single player deserves credit. Yes, a few were better than others, but that was the definition of a team effort. Most of all, I think that performance should shut a few critics up for a bit. Several of those players have been slaughtered for being terrible signings, not good enough to wear the shirt, and a sign of a future in League One.

The pressure is now on them to replicate that performance and show consistency, but many have been judged before they've even been given the chance to play.

11 hours ago, simongarnerisgod said:

i can understand eustace philosphy at the moment,just make us defensively better and harder to beat,hopefully next season he can actually give us an identity and an attacking plan,though personally i think he`ll be off when he finds out there is no money to spend despite us spending hardly anything this season and taking in 18 million from adam wharton

Is he?

I remain hopeful and he deserves more time to get his system in place, but so far I see a reduction in our attacking threat with little improvement defensively. If anything, he's just benefited from having a slightly fitter squad than the one that JDT was dealing with for the final 5-10 matches of his tenure. 

45 minutes ago, simongarnerisgod said:

give your head a wobble,won the league at derby and the league with forest,plus numerous league cups,two european cups,in succesive years all with smaller,provincial clubs,the best english manager ever imo

I'd assume it was a joke.

I hope he's a great manager, but the constant use of 'you know' as a filler means that I can no longer watch his interviews.

It didn't last long. 

One thing that disappoints me, although I'm sure I'll get flack for it, is what a shame it is to have a manager whose native language is English, and yet he is less eloquent than our previous manager.

A post-match statement full of clichés, 57 'you knows', and endless 'the boys'. 

12 minutes ago, LDRover said:

And if my auntie had balls she'd be my uncle.

Christ.....

This is an idiotic response. Even for the internet.

6 minutes ago, superniko said:

I guess for this specific example you only get a limited amount of loanees you can pick in your squad. 
Almost every position on the pitch is needed more than CB so why did we loan someone who struggled in the French 2nd division over a CM to replace Wharton for example.

The two kind of aren't related.

Needing depth at CB didn't rule out our ability to bring in a CM. We simply didn't sign a CM (aside from Fleck) and that deserves criticism all of its own. 

Just now, LDRover said:

Agreed.

So why loan another (shite) one in?

Because we might have multiple injuries in that position. He's one injury away from being needed in the matchday squad.

It would be like asking why we would bother having 3 keepers. 

Brittain's night summed up there.

A second touch that's a tackle. A tackle that's a foul. 

Just now, bluebruce said:

And that's with Wharton out.

Why would we need multiple central defenders on the bench?

There's a lot of harsh criticism of players, in the case of Telalovic it is harsh criticism of a player who has barely featured for us.

As supporters, we have to choose. Do we want to complain about everything? Owners, CEO, DoF, manager, and players? In which case, we'll get little sympathy and achieve nothing.

Or do we want to complain about those who will all agree are at fault for the current situation? Because it isn't Telalovic. It isn't Ayari.

A few need a bit of a reality check on that front. 

He reminds me a bit of Craig Short.

We haven't been good. They haven't been good.

This match is a good example of what riding your luck looks like. Under JDT this same performance would have seen us 2 or 3 down, we were just in that kind of a rut.

We'll still likely lose. This isn't pretty. 

I don't think Telelovic is nearly as bad as some make out.

He will never be a star, but he could develop into a decent squad player. If he does, then he will have been a success when you consider the costs involved.

It is, without doubt, something of a bitter-sweet feeling.

I was a huge JDT supporter. I thought he was a breath of fresh air post-Mowbray. The brand of football he tried to play was, when it worked, some of the best football that we have seen in a very long time. Until recently, it delivered entertainment even in losing efforts. He was honest. He was thoughtful. He brought a sense of decency back to this club that had been sorely lacking for some time. Most of all, he had ambition.  

His tenure will be one that I fondly remember. Many have already highlighted the cup runs and some of the fantastic performances. There were some incredible enjoyable moments. Not only that, with a bit more luck down the final stretch last season he could have delivered playoff football and potentially even promotion. 

With all that being said, his position had become untenable. Not only because of the very poor run of results, but also because it felt as if he had lost his commitment to the job. Once it was revealed that he'd asked to step aside last summer it is difficult to imagine how he could keep the dressing room.

Good teams require buy-in and togetherness and his eagerness to leave showed that he wasn't really fully committed to this job from last summer onwards. It is easy to understand why and I don't think he deserves too much blame for that, but we can't forget that this is a well-paid position in one of the top 10 leagues in the world. As a football club, as a set of supporters, we deserve to have a manager who is fully committed to the job and who really wants to be here.

JDT was not that this season. He left with the dignity that he brought to the job on a daily basis and, for the first time in a long time, I actually wish a departing manager well in his future endeavors. There is little chance that I will develop the same level of fondness for Eustace that I had for JDT, but Eustace could be an excellent appointment who proves to be more successful as a manager at Ewood.

Time will tell, but it is a real shame.

I still think that we will stay up. I even think that we will stay up fairly comfortably. But things are looking bleak. 

I actually think there are positives in this display from Telalovic as well.

He at least shows some intent and can turn his man. 

The equaliser is coming. 

Just to be a bit positive, Ayari looks alright.

At least we don't have a manager on the touchlines in a Moncler jacket. That would be the end of it for me. 

Just now, Tricky said:

Wtf does he say to them at HT? 

Can't recall the last time we came out better for it.

Dead man walking unfortunately 

I actually think we started the second half fairly well. Or, in the very least, looked better than we did in the first half. 

Just now, Mike E said:

Envy while disregarding the circumstances. Pretty shameful.

Shame. Shame.

My envy for Adam Wharton is no greater than it would be for any professional athlete.

As for disregarding circumstances? Some on here make it seem like he was sold into slavery. He could have stayed. He didn't. 

We have too many players playing out of position.

If you're being generous to JDT, that's because the recruitment hasn't been good enough.

If you're being unkind to JDT, you could say that this is a level of stubbornness that we have seen from several managers in the past.

I think it's probably a little bit of each, but it's difficult to expect players to gel when we have them learning on the job.