John Eustace - our head coach

[Norbert Rassragr]

For what it's worth, the feeling in Coventry is that it's all but announced that Lampard is some sort of Head Coach rather than manager.

[EwoodGlory]

His odds have dropped a lot, 10/3 2nd favourite 

[chaddyrovers]

1 hour ago, EwoodGlory said:

His odds have dropped a lot, 10/3 2nd favourite 

Lampard is 1/6 odds on

[roversfan99]

I cant see them appointing an England level calibre of manager.

[chaddyrovers]

 

[Upside Down]

Oh well, looks like it's a pretty shit time to be a Coventry City supporter.

[Blue blood]

5 hours ago, chaddyrovers said:

 

The mind boggles. 

I guess the two of them are similar in that they both got a team to the play off final. Mind you Lamps had a much better squad, bigger budget and favourable Chelsea loans so it's not a like for like comparison. 

Factor in the Wembly semi final and being unlucky not to be in the final. The fact that he took the club which was a mess to two promotions. And you see straight off Robins is much better manager. Only an idiot would say otherwise. Seems like there's a lot of idiots in football. 

[Mattyblue]

Starstruck owners again. Also see the fella at Plymouth.

[chaddyrovers]

2 hours ago, Mattyblue said:

Starstruck owners again. Also see the fella at Plymouth.

It's their director of football at Plymouth Neil Dewship was behind their move for Rooney move

[Mattyblue]

Well he’s just as bad then.

[chaddyrovers]

1 hour ago, Mattyblue said:

Well he’s just as bad then.

I believe Dewship knew Rooney from the Everton academy days

[Mattyblue]

Ah, jobs for the boys, that explains it.

[Norbert Rassragr]

It's been a while coming, but my friends won't be happier. I doubt it'll be quite as spectacular as Rooney at Birmingham, but I'd still put a £5 on relegation.

[Eddie]

New ownership and Lampard is not held in quite the same regard as he was a few years ago, but there are still tons of players available on loan from Chelsea...

Might not be the dumbest move. It was the key to his success at Derby. 

[sharpysharps86]

Strangely I think Lampard will do ok there. It depends on expectations of course. At Plymouth the expectation is surely t stay in the league, and Rooney might just manage that due to their home form.

With Coventry, what is the expectation? Presumably to be in and around the top 6. Lampard will likely get a bit of a free pass for the rest of this season but I think he could solidify them in mid table. I don't think he is THAT bad of a coach, but he has made some really poor decisions in his managerial career that have cost him. Going to Chelsea far too soon, then taking the Everton job when they were in a mess before going back to Chelsea when where having a crisis, just really odd decisions. Taking the Derby job was the one thing he got right.

Anyway this is the Eustace thread. Thought he got it bang on last night. Went to frustrate Boro and hit them with a sucker punch, did exactly that. Reminded me a touch of Leeds away last season.

[Eddie]

I thought Rooney and Plymouth were doing quite well? At least, that was the sense on here before and after they beat us a few weeks ago...

[RevidgeBlue]

2 hours ago, Eddie said:

I thought Rooney and Plymouth were doing quite well? At least, that was the sense on here before and after they beat us a few weeks ago...

Do you still not like Eustace because he isn't as eloquent as JDT and chews gum then Eddie?

[philipl]

Of course we all love the boss who pulls what is commonly regarded as a not quite good enough squad into a 5 run winning mean machine.

But the unity of purpose he has engendered is there for all to see and he has done this at a time when all the pointers are to the non-playing side of Rovers being a bitter shambles. 

Exceptional achievement.

[smiller14]

Been a while since I liked a Rovers manager more. There were some tough times last year and must admit I was at times really frustrated with him, but he got us over the line (after inheriting a shambles) and has kicked on this season.

We are much more pragmatic and adaptable and all the noises from players point to a fondness and respect for him. 

It feels like a perfect blend of Hughes, Allardyce with sprinklings of the JDT esque football, albeit not the kamikaze, 100mph approach favoured by the latter. As a result we are resolute and rarely out of a game. 
 

[RevidgeBlue]

He needs an improved contract to make him absolutely bomb proof so that if a rival Club comes in for him it will cost them an absolute fortune.

He won't get it though I don't suppose.

[Feed the Yak]

I had significant doubts about him when he came in.  The scarring over the years increased my skepticism that the appointment was anything more than a yes man for Waggot. I was disappointed with the way we set up when he came in and felt chances to win and pull clear of relegation were squandered and interviews talking about togetherness were a folly.

I take it all back. Regardless of what happens moving forwards Eustace is clearly not only an intelligent and pragmatic manager but a motivator too and that is essential in modern football. It's great to be smart but if the lads don't like you, you're not going to be around for long.

Big respect to Eustace and I hope he can remain focused on the task at hand without interference or interruption from above and around him on the non-playing side of things. 

I thought I was done with it all last season, but I am so proud of this team.

[Forever Blue]

Thats now 17 clean sheets out of the last 29 league games. 

And 10 clean sheets out of 20 league games this season alone.

Absolute god of a man!

 

 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

1 hour ago, Forever Blue said:

Thats now 17 clean sheets out of the last 29 league games. 

And 10 clean sheets out of 20 league games this season alone.

Absolute god of a man!

 

 

When you look at what he’s got to work with it’s a terrific achievement. Unfortunately it won’t be going un noticed by clubs further up the food chain. Shades of Ken Furphy, Jim Iley, Gordon Lee, Howard Kendall etc. Back in the day when we had a succession of up and coming top managers.

[sharpysharps86]

I do worry that when Wolves inevitably bin Gary O'Neil that they might have an eye on Eustace. Unless their owners think they can get a bigger name.

Waggot has managed to stumble upon gold dust here with JE as he seems so far to be an upgrade on JDT at this level at least.

Not suggesting JDT is a bad coach....just that he wasn't able to switch things up enough in style of play against certain Championship sides when needed. Eustace appears to be able to adapt to different teams more comfortably.

Edited December 15, 2024 by sharpysharps86

[Forever Blue]

39 minutes ago, sharpysharps86 said:

I do worry that when Wolves inevitably bin Gary O'Neil that they might have an eye on Eustace. Unless their owners think they can get a bigger name.

Waggot has managed to stumble upon gold dust here with JE as he seems so far to be an upgrade on JDT at this level at least.

Not suggesting JDT is a bad coach....just that he wasn't able to switch things up enough in style of play against certain Championship sides when needed. Eustace appears to be able to adapt to different teams more comfortably.

I don’t really agree with the narrative about JDT. In his first 6 months at the club he managed quite a few 1-0 wins at home. He was more than capable of setting up a team to defend. 
 

That wasn’t his preferred style though. He wanted to attack, so as the players got better at doing what he wanted, he just went for the jugular, even against the better teams. With better attackers in the first few months of his 2nd season we’d have blown most teams away. 

By the end he wasn’t willing to change his style. He could have done, but I think he chose not to as a way of sticking 2 fingers up to the clowns above him that had let him down. 

JE is just more pragmatic, and I think defensively we are just so well drilled. it was clear after a month or so of him joining that he could set a team up to defend really well. The surprise this season is how good the football has been at times.