John Eustace - our head coach

[Mattyblue]

You are expected to be on the front foot at home, you need to be able to break teams down that will often sit in, you will need to pick up a substantial number of points at home if you want to have a decent season.

So it wasn’t ’ridiculous’ at all to mention the fact he hadn’t won one. Didn’t particularly bother me last season as his short spell to May was purely to keep us up by whatever means, he did. Now he’s won a home game too, so let’s put it to bed.

[Exiled_Rover]

1 hour ago, Mattyblue said:

You are expected to be on the front foot at home, you need to be able to break teams down that will often sit in, you will need to pick up a substantial number of points at home if you want to have a decent season.

So it wasn’t ’ridiculous’ at all to mention the fact he hadn’t won one. Didn’t particularly bother me last season as his short spell to May was purely to keep us up by whatever means, he did. Now he’s won a home game too, so let’s put it to bed.

The only game that annoyed me was the Sheffield Wednesday one, and that was all about Pears throwing two into his own net, heads going down and Wednesday absolutely flying.

The Plymouth draw was credible after we went down to 10 men.

[Darrenbot]

I had my doubts about him for a while after we got him but the more he's here the more i'm liking how he's doing with us.He's been able to get us points from losing positions that for years we were terrible at and he's got over the home win hoodoo he had last season.Now if our cheap owners backed him with proper money in the transfer market we could go somewhere with him.

[Upside Down]

Was not impressed at all last year with him.

Happy to say I was wrong with that and will gladly eat my humble pie.

He's managed to finally turn round the issue we've had since venkys took over the club whereby we'd immediately forfeit the match upon conceding a goal.

[arbitro]

The jury was out for me when he came in but I was swayed towards him after the win at Leeds and Leicester where he showed terrific tactical acumen. He has revamped the squad and seems to recognise that experience is vital in the Championship. This season we have seen more of his mark on the team in the way we have played. The Blackpool game aside his substitutions have been great and won us several points already but he keeps it simple invariably going like for like. Importantly the players seen to like him and the way we scrapped yesterday after going down to ten was a real source of pride for us all.

[Ossydave]

5 hours ago, Upside Down said:

Was not impressed at all last year with him.

Happy to say I was wrong with that and will gladly eat my humble pie.

He's managed to finally turn round the issue we've had since venkys took over the club whereby we'd immediately forfeit the match upon conceding a goal.

Totally agree, he's won me over. He got what yesterday was all about and compared to that absolute shit show JDT served up last time, executed the plan to perfection despite the twat of a ref.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

1 hour ago, arbitro said:

The jury was out for me when he came in but I was swayed towards him after the win at Leeds and Leicester where he showed terrific tactical acumen. He has revamped the squad and seems to recognise that experience is vital in the Championship. This season we have seen more of his mark on the team in the way we have played. The Blackpool game aside his substitutions have been great and won us several points already but he keeps it simple invariably going like for like. Importantly the players seen to like him and the way we scrapped yesterday after going down to ten was a real source of pride for us all.

I give everybody a chance when they come in, apart from Coyle, he was obviously a walking disaster. Eustace had done pretty well at Big Club so I reckoned he must have something about him.  He immediately put right what JDT never could, the constant leaking of goals, apart from the aberration at Bristol. As you say the two life saving away performances at Leeds and Leicester told me the players were playing for him.  This season we’re back to being the resilient Blackburn Rovers team that we expect from teams wearing the Blue and White. We aren’t brilliant but we are a hard working team that are giving 100% , that’s all I ever ask for.

Edited September 1, 2024 by Tyrone Shoelaces

[DackDackGoose]

3 hours ago, arbitro said:

The jury was out for me when he came in but I was swayed towards him after the win at Leeds and Leicester where he showed terrific tactical acumen. He has revamped the squad and seems to recognise that experience is vital in the Championship. This season we have seen more of his mark on the team in the way we have played. The Blackpool game aside his substitutions have been great and won us several points already but he keeps it simple invariably going like for like. Importantly the players seen to like him and the way we scrapped yesterday after going down to ten was a real source of pride for us all.

He's been getting results in the big games against good teams feels like we haven't had that for years. JDT never got it tactically right (did have an awful squad though).

Am really liking Eustace, think this will be an interesting season

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

1 minute ago, DackDackGoose said:

He's been getting results in the big games against good teams feels like we haven't had that for years. JDT never got it tactically right (did have an awful squad though).

Am really liking Eustace, think this will be an interesting season

That’s the thing we’re coming out on the right side of crunch matches.

[Darwen Rover 007]

Agree with others, winning most if not all over.. seems like he knows what is needed to succeed in terms of personnel and tactics.. 

What I'm also really impressed with is how he comes across, humble yet a steeliness that you know.. just don't go there.. he will be gaining huge buy in and respect and the fact TC mentioned he was a factor also bodes well.. 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

13 minutes ago, Darwen Rover 007 said:

Agree with others, winning most if not all over.. seems like he knows what is needed to succeed in terms of personnel and tactics.. 

What I'm also really impressed with is how he comes across, humble yet a steeliness that you know.. just don't go there.. he will be gaining huge buy in and respect and the fact TC mentioned he was a factor also bodes well.. 

it won’t be long before holding on to him will become an issue unfortunately.

Edited September 1, 2024 by Tyrone Shoelaces

[Darrenbot]

It makes you wonder what the Yanks at Birmingham were thinking replacing him with Shreck last season

[Eddie]

Let's not get too ahead of ourselves - we are 4 matches into the league season and we're a few days removed from an awful performance and tactical approach against Blackpool.

Great to see improvement over last season and he's addressing some of the doubts and concerns that were rightfully their in the second half of the season, but there's still a very long way to go yet. 

[Mattyblue]

33 minutes ago, Darrenbot said:

It makes you wonder what the Yanks at Birmingham were thinking replacing him with Shreck last season

Americans wanting a big name… Plymouth the latest example.

The Canadian at Wrexham much more canny.

[chaddyrovers]

17 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

Americans wanting a big name… Plymouth the latest example.

Plymouth DoF Neil Dewsnip cos he knew Rooney from when both were at Everton. 

[ageoftherover]

52 minutes ago, Darrenbot said:

It makes you wonder what the Yanks at Birmingham were thinking replacing him with Shreck last season

A reminder we're not the only club with idiot owners. 

[Mattyblue]

3 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

Plymouth DoF Neil Dewsnip cos he knew Rooney from when both were at Everton. 

So he knew him as a top class player… which means feck all to managing a bottom half second division team, so that fella is even more daft than starstruck Yanks.

Edited September 1, 2024 by Mattyblue

[chaddyrovers]

11 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

So he knew him as a top class player… which means feck all to managing a bottom half second division team, so that fella is even more daft than starstruck Yanks.

Dewsnip managed Rooney when he came through the academy. 

[Mattyblue]

So like I said he knew him as a top class player, and that means what for managing a second division team (that had just stunk out another one)?

[wilsdenrover]

5 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

So like I said he knew him as a top class player, and that means what for managing a second division team (that had just stunk out another one)?

It was nothing more than a jobs for the boys appointment.

[chaddyrovers]

Its who you know not what you know there

Edited September 1, 2024 by chaddyrovers

[Gamst]

I don’t feel Eustace gets the credit he deserves for keeping Rovers in the championship last season. He touched on what a huge challenge it was in his post match interview. He inherited a team that were almost totally devoid of any confidence. People forget just how awful we looked in Dec/Jan time after JDT had essentially downed tools. Picking up that group and generating a team spirit again must have been a huge task. He appreciated that the only way we were going to survive was by scraping together unspectacular draws. Anything more expansive would probably not have worked. Whether by design or luck, Waggot might just have stumbled upon a gem of a manager! 

[Exiled_Rover]

5 hours ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

it won’t be long before holding on to him will become an issue unfortunately.

Nah, he's an English manager that wears a tracksuit on the touchline and talks in a Brummie accent - he'd have to take Rovers up to ever sniff the PL. 

[aletheia]

No issues with JE but Waggot certainly didn't get him by design. A normal club would have seen that JDT was fed up with lies and removed him a season ago as JDT himself requested. But obvs that wasn't happening because it might have cost SWAG a few quid.

SWAG and his paymasters waited for JDT to actually pay the club to leave.

Edited September 1, 2024 by aletheia

[Admiral Nelsen]

4 minutes ago, Exiled_Rover said:

Nah, he's an English manager that wears a tracksuit on the touchline and talks in a Brummie accent - he'd have to take Rovers up to ever sniff the PL. 

 

He also doesn't have a promotion on his CV, which probably rules him out from getting poached by a parachute payments club. There's always the possibility that he makes a sideways move if he does well and gets sufficiently fed up with the Rovers circus, but that seems very unlikely from where we are now.