John Eustace - our head coach

[roversfan99]

6 minutes ago, Mashed Potatoes said:

His record was that he inherited a team that had gained just 5 points from the previous manager's last 11 games - a spiral clearly leading to relegation - and was charged with the brief of ensuring that we were not relegated, a task which he has successfully accomplished. Hardly the grounds for criticism, I would have thought.

Its a huge assumption to suggest that we would have continued that form throughout the rest of the season.

6 minutes ago, RoversClitheroe said:

JDT would have got us promoted if he were backed.

Both him and Mowbray were not backed at the point where we needed a push, even if it meant selling players. Im well aware how bad our owners are.

But you are cutting off your nose to spite your face if you would be aggravated if we did spend a bit (we won't, even though we have money sloshing around) simply because we didnt in the past.

[Upside Down]

7 hours ago, martonrover said:

Disagree.

If I thought we’d bring in an upgrade I’d concur.

I don’t care about statistics to meet an agenda.

We were shipping goals left, right and centre when Eustace took over.

With one exception, he changed that completely.

Prior to Leeds and Leicester those games were being conceded by some.

We won them both.

The guy has earned the right to a proper chance next season.

There are no relegations on his CV, (unlike certain other head coaches I could mention).

Even though we won't bring in an upgrade he's not earned a chance for me.

He's shit. We'll be relegated next year with him at the helm.

[Giant]

Eustace was brought in to do a job, keep us up. He’s fulfilled the brief. I’ll judge him properly when he’s had a full season managing the team, anything else is unfair. 

[martonrover]

13 minutes ago, Upside Down said:

Even though we won't bring in an upgrade he's not earned a chance for me.

He's shit. We'll be relegated next year with him at the helm.

Utter nonsense.

How did getting rid of Eustace work out for Birmingham?

I’ve just seen an interview with him on ITV and he had the class to say he is sorry they have gone down, (as a local lad he obviously supported them).
He walked in to a total mess here, on and off the pitch, and please don’t bother with the seven point gap stuff because the direction of travel was firmly downwards.

It’s not been a bed of roses, but he has achieved the objective and that is all that matters.

There isn’t a manager on Earth capable of suddenly turning us into a good team, capable of winning week in week out.

We had the worst defence in the league and he addressed that.

The real problems lie further up the food chain, meaning any manager / head coach will have his work cut out.

 

[Upside Down]

30 minutes ago, martonrover said:

Utter nonsense.

How did getting rid of Eustace work out for Birmingham?

I’ve just seen an interview with him on ITV and he had the class to say he is sorry they have gone down, (as a local lad he obviously supported them).
He walked in to a total mess here, on and off the pitch, and please don’t bother with the seven point gap stuff because the direction of travel was firmly downwards.

It’s not been a bed of roses, but he has achieved the objective and that is all that matters.

There isn’t a manager on Earth capable of suddenly turning us into a good team, capable of winning week in week out.

We had the worst defence in the league and he addressed that.

The real problems lie further up the food chain, meaning any manager / head coach will have his work cut out.

 

We all know the problems above him but he's still shit.

The fact that he was happy just playing for draws against some of the shittest teams in the league says everything.

He's here for the next two years regardless so hopefully he proves me wrong. Thus far I am yet to be convinced by him.

[Dreams of 1995]

13 minutes ago, Upside Down said:

We all know the problems above him but he's still shit.

The fact that he was happy just playing for draws against some of the shittest teams in the league says everything.

He's here for the next two years regardless so hopefully he proves me wrong. Thus far I am yet to be convinced by him.

You are making up that he was happy playing for draws and then using that as the crux of your argument

That is very weird behaviour in my opinion

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

The way I look at it is - Eustace came in a took a look at the squad. What are we good at ?  What are our strengths ? Where are our weaknesses ? what formation will suit us best ? 
First he looked at the strikers and thought - “ Bloody hell, the cupboards bare in that direction. Apart from Sammi nobody has a goal in them. That’s after he looked at the goalkeeping situation and though - Bloody hell, we’re in big trouble between the sticks. Defenders - were not too badly off as long as we can defend in numbers. Midfield - a bit limited plus too many of the players are injury prone.

So - pack the defence, ensure the keepers have as little to do as possible. Try and get the ball to Sammi as much as possible. Grind out as many points as possible until we can regroup in the close season.

Not pretty on the eye but we live to fight another day.
 

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

ANY Manager working under Venkys is doing so with one Hand tied behind their Backs.

Prepared to give him Half a Season,no more.

[Ewood Ace]

A clear pattern emerging with him his best 3 performances have been Leeds, Newcastle and today. All 3 games we were big underdogs and could set up defending very deep, keep 10-11 men behind the ball, rely on a bit of luck and hope Szmodics could do something on the break (which remarkably he did in all 3 games.) 

The problem is you can't set up like that on a regular basis in this league. You can't play like that at home to the likes of Millwall, Plymouth, Wednesday and 10 man Coventry. And if we don't want to be facing a similar challenge next season we need to find a way to play against and beat those sort of sides at home.

[Exiled_Rover]

2 hours ago, martonrover said:

Utter nonsense.

How did getting rid of Eustace work out for Birmingham?

I’ve just seen an interview with him on ITV and he had the class to say he is sorry they have gone down, (as a local lad he obviously supported them).
He walked in to a total mess here, on and off the pitch, and please don’t bother with the seven point gap stuff because the direction of travel was firmly downwards.

It’s not been a bed of roses, but he has achieved the objective and that is all that matters.

There isn’t a manager on Earth capable of suddenly turning us into a good team, capable of winning week in week out.

We had the worst defence in the league and he addressed that.

The real problems lie further up the food chain, meaning any manager / head coach will have his work cut out.

 

He's an Aston Villa fan, apparently. 

[Exiled_Rover]

52 minutes ago, Ewood Ace said:

A clear pattern emerging with him his best 3 performances have been Leeds, Newcastle and today. All 3 games we were big underdogs and could set up defending very deep, keep 10-11 men behind the ball, rely on a bit of luck and hope Szmodics could do something on the break (which remarkably he did in all 3 games.) 

The problem is you can't set up like that on a regular basis in this league. You can't play like that at home to the likes of Millwall, Plymouth, Wednesday and 10 man Coventry. And if we don't want to be facing a similar challenge next season we need to find a way to play against and beat those sort of sides at home.

The 3 best performances were the ones where we could set up like team did against JDT - get men behind the ball and plan to hit the opposition on the counter attack. It requires far less skill / ability than trying to dictate the play. 

You simply need better players than we have on the books to attack and put the likes of Millwall, Plymouth, Coventry et al to the sword at home when they've set their stall out for a draw. We have absolutely nothing up front (especially with the injuries to Hedges and Leonard). 

JDT got around it by:

1. drilling the players to within an inch of their life to play his system (progressive passing patterns and all)
2. having the best CM in the division
3. playing suicidal football and sending both FBs bombing on to overload the attacking areas

When it worked it was great to watch, but he had no plan b when teams had a counter to it and we were on the end of numerous heavy defeats during his tenure as a result. 

[Upside Down]

1 hour ago, Dreams of 1995 said:

You are making up that he was happy playing for draws and then using that as the crux of your argument

That is very weird behaviour in my opinion

Well he said as much before the games " Plymouth Argyle isn't a must win" and the way we played suggested the same.

We've been incredibly lucky to survive.

The three wins especially -

Leeds - Just couldn't score for love nor money. We nicked it.

Sunderland - Shit season, in the middle not going anywhere and not really bothered.

Leicester - Already won the league and never even got out of 1st gear. Again, we were lucky not to concede with them easily getting through our sieve defence.

We never convincingly put some shit teams like Millwall or Plymouth to the sword. Bristol City was an absolute disgrace as was the Wednesday game.

Fair do's packing the defence away to two parachute clubs being content with a draw and possibly nicking the win, but we played the same way at home against some of the shittest teams in the division. Absolutely not good enough. The points return is shite.

Next year I'd give him a month or two but no more than that.

Sunderland, Bristol City, Plymouth Argyle, Sheffield Wednesday, Birmingham City, Preston North End. The minimum acceptable points from those fixtures should be 15.

[chaddyrovers]

8 hours ago, martonrover said:

Utter nonsense.

How did getting rid of Eustace work out for Birmingham?

I’ve just seen an interview with him on ITV and he had the class to say he is sorry they have gone down, (as a local lad he obviously supported them).
He walked in to a total mess here, on and off the pitch, and please don’t bother with the seven point gap stuff because the direction of travel was firmly downwards.

It’s not been a bed of roses, but he has achieved the objective and that is all that matters.

There isn’t a manager on Earth capable of suddenly turning us into a good team, capable of winning week in week out.

We had the worst defence in the league and he addressed that.

He mentioned his post match interview that we were doomed and losing games and conceded far too many games. He turned it around by making us hard to beat. Tough watch at times but we were never going to continue to play the same way under a different head coach. the defence needed sorted and he did. 5 clean sheets in the last 9 games and we off them against Leicester, Leeds and Southampton 

7 hours ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

The way I look at it is - Eustace came in a took a look at the squad. What are we good at ?  What are our strengths ? Where are our weaknesses ? what formation will suit us best ? 
First he looked at the strikers and thought - “ Bloody hell, the cupboards bare in that direction. Apart from Sammi nobody has a goal in them. That’s after he looked at the goalkeeping situation and though - Bloody hell, we’re in big trouble between the sticks. Defenders - were not too badly off as long as we can defend in numbers. Midfield - a bit limited plus too many of the players are injury prone.

So - pack the defence, ensure the keepers have as little to do as possible. Try and get the ball to Sammi as much as possible. Grind out as many points as possible until we can regroup in the close season.

Not pretty on the eye but we live to fight another day.
 

Great summary. That is probably what Eustace thoughts were when looking at the squad players outside 14 or 15 players. You can see this with his team selections and subs. No massive rotation. 

We know that in forward areas we need good signings this summer and good solid keeper signing. With a couple of defensive signings and 1 centre midfield signing. Our squad players need to move on cos they aren't good enough for what we want here

Edited May 5 by chaddyrovers

[Mattyblue]

17 points in 16 games, that is a relegation points tally extrapolated. So forget ‘x wins’, ‘x defeats’, ‘x clean sheets’, ‘couldn’t win at home’.

It’s all about points however you get them, home wins, away wins, nicking 1-0s or whatever, who cares and that point tally generally isn’t enough to stay up, never mind leading to having a decent season.

However, his job was to keep us up - he did, in tough circumstances as always when you come in mid season to a struggling team and you want to play in a vastly different way.

Some silly hyperbole about how he’s been ‘superb’, as is the he’s ’almost Kean now’ nonsense. So yes, he does get a fresh start from me, but it is no coincidence that all his wins came away, that’s just how he set up the team - with no Sammie going forward and back on 0 points , he will have to fundamentally change his approach to home games, and perhaps he will as the means to end that was his role this season is put to bed (and thank feck it is).

 

Edited May 5 by Mattyblue

[M_B]

Now we're safe, I'm sure he'll look back on this period as a pre pre-season. As fraught as it's been, it's been the perfect situation to assess what he does and doesn't need. 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Without a significant strengthening at both ends of the team we are doomed to repeat this season. Expecting a more expansive way of playing with the existing squad is just dreaming.

[ABBEY]

15 hours ago, rovers11 said:

He achieved the one and only remit he had when given the job in Feb - keep up in the league.

I feel like the job he's done has been poor though. Not a single home win and a very poor style of play.

I'd personally get rid but he probably does deserve a summer 

Birmingham would not have gone down if they had kept him.

Have it Tom Brady cheat. Your fuck all without owd bill wanking ya off

.

[NeilInBristol]

54 minutes ago, M_B said:

Now we're safe, I'm sure he'll look back on this period as a pre pre-season. As fraught as it's been, it's been the perfect situation to assess what he does and doesn't need. 

Looks like bucko isn't wanted by him either 

[M_B]

45 minutes ago, NeilInBristol said:

Looks like bucko isn't wanted by him either 

No, it's a shame being one of ours, but he just hasn't pushed on. Eustace may see it as horses for courses though, he may just not see Buckley as right for the situation last season (let's call it last season) 

Using the same logic, he obviously feels he can trust Dolan and Gallagher. I personally think we'd be mad to let them go. 

Despite the stick they both get, they're both experienced squad players and they are both paid for. What we need is to keep both if possible, then sign players to challenge them for their place. They've been first choice players for too long. 

[Lancaster Rover]

He's done the job he was recruited to do IMO, nothing more, nothing less. He certainly doesn't get a free hit from me going into pre-season, in fact I think the pressure is now on to prove he's more than an emergency stop gap. 

The next 6 weeks are where he earns his crust, a forensic review of where the strengths and weaknesses lie, how we address those from a personnel and formation/style point of view. Decide what is a realistic style of play to retain our status as a championship club and hopefully get back to chasing play-offs and promotion. He's proved that he can make us hard to beat, I want to see him show how he's going to turn those draws into wins. That doesn't necessarily mean dominating possession or going back to JDT ball, it does however mean we need to either be more clinical or create more.

All the loanees obviously go back and we're left with a fairly shallow squad, the only out of contract player I'd retain is McFazdean as I think his experience and commitment has been invaluable and has been far and above the player Hyam has been the last 15 games. 

 

[Mattyblue]

Totally agree on McFadz. Yes he’s experienced, but a superb attitude and a leader in a team that seriously lacks them - as the actual captain for most of this season is very much lacking in that quality from where I’m standing.

Edited May 5 by Mattyblue

[LDRover]

Saw his interview on ITV last night where he said something along the lines of 'when I came in we were doomed'.

Talk about building your part up.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

9 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

Totally agree on McFadz. Yes he’s experienced, but a superb attitude and a leader in a team that seriously lacks them - as the actual captain for most of this season is very much lacking in that quality from where I’m standing.

I like the guy a lot but his clock is ticking. Not every game we play will be a siege,  sometimes you have to chase back from the half way line. You don’t always get games were you don’t have to move out of the penalty area. I reckon I’m quicker over 10 yards and I’m well past it.

Edited May 5 by Tyrone Shoelaces

[Mattyblue]

Oh he’s obviously on borrowed time at 37, but  if we never see him in a Rovers shirt again, he was still a bloody good and needed signing.

Edited May 5 by Mattyblue

[J*B]

McFadz is at his best when we’re under bombardment defending our 18 yard box and need a leader to organise things. He’s been vital since January but I do not want to spend another season like this one. By default that should mean that his services are redundant.