v Plymouth Argyle (a) - 5/10/2024

[Forever Blue]

Eustace won’t change, he’s said himself that he prioritises clean sheets. His team set up reflects this. Out of the last 19 league games we’ve kept 9 clean sheets. If we repeat that over the next 19 games we’ll pick up enough points to be comfortably mid table.

The worry for me is that the defence has too many individuals who are capable of giving a goal away out of nothing. Hyam’s jump for the 2nd goal is a case in point, and I’m not sure a fairly soft header should beat the keeper so easily. It looked a bizarre goal to concede. 

I just think he needs to freshen things up. This break has come at a good time. Hopefully it means players like ACD and Cantwell can get properly fit. The football is becoming turgid again, which is unsurprising given the players he picked to start the game yesterday. Those front 4 offer very little in the way of pace or flair, which is vital away from home if you’re trying to soak up pressure and hit on the break. We also don’t have Sammie’s clinical finishing anymore.

Good start to the season though overall, and 3 of the next 4 are at home, albeit against strong opposition. 
 

Eustace is doing a good job with the resources available.
 

[G Somerset Rover]

34 minutes ago, Herbie6590 said:

Define “lack of ambition” 

I reckon a good 500+ of that 1k following wouldn’t have bothered yesterday if they’d known the true sum of Eustace’s ambitions.

Plymouth away - not Leeds or Sheffield Utd. Extremely concerning. 

Edited October 6 by G Somerset Rover

[NeilInBristol]

20 minutes ago, RTM08 said:

Explains why he fits Swag perfectly.

Someone explain to me why the club expects people to fork out hundreds if not thousands of pounds throughout the season when this attitude seeps out of every pore of the club.

Away at a team at the top of the league that would make sense, away at Plymouth though?

Then the second question comes - the plan was not to concede, and then we did anyway, but the plan stayed the same 1-0 down? Why?

Don't over analyse it.

Quotes taken out of context. 

Listen to him for yourself. He basically implied that after 1-0 the plan was to prevent further goals and try and get an equaliser then see. 

A point away from home is usually what most championship teams go for and that was his game plan. 

Agreed it's not ambitious but it's realistic.

We don't go to away grounds to get a win sadly

When he's got pears in goal, beck on loan and not in the team, Dolan on the wing, he can't exactly expect the lads to get an away win, that's not the quality we have. 

Especially after the midweek loss away 

He was going for a 0-0 or 1-1

Game plan worked well in second half very frustrating we lost it in the end 

[arbitro]

33 minutes ago, Herbie6590 said:

Define “lack of ambition” 

And that game plan is all well and good providing you don't concede the first goal. It's a bit insulting to me for Eustace to come out with that when most of us are still hurting. He should be coming out and saying he got aspects of the game wrong like selection and tactics - I'd have far more respect for him if he did.

Or is he exonerating himself and putting it on the players?

[ABBEY]

boring boring rovers

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

21 minutes ago, NeilInBristol said:

Don't over analyse it.

Quotes taken out of context. 

Listen to him for yourself. He basically implied that after 1-0 the plan was to prevent further goals and try and get an equaliser then see. 

A point away from home is usually what most championship teams go for and that was his game plan. 

Agreed it's not ambitious but it's realistic.

We don't go to away grounds to get a win sadly

When he's got pears in goal, beck on loan and not in the team, Dolan on the wing, he can't exactly expect the lads to get an away win, that's not the quality we have. 

Especially after the midweek loss away 

He was going for a 0-0 or 1-1

Game plan worked well in second half very frustrating we lost it in the end 

Sadly that’s the truth of it. We haven’t got the players to breeze up at clubs like Plymouth and expect to win in style
The last time we got promoted and had a team that could win at places like Plymouth in a canter we had Dunn, Duff, Jansen, Friedel, Berg, Flitty etc etc . How many of our current team would get into that team. I’d say not one.

[arbitro]

7 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

Sadly that’s the truth of it. We haven’t got the players to breeze up at clubs like Plymouth and expect to win in style
The last time we got promoted and had a team that could win at places like Plymouth in a canter we had Dunn, Duff, Jansen, Friedel, Berg, Flitty etc etc . How many of our current team would get into that team. I’d say not one.

If Eustace had drummed this 'keep it tight for an hour' into the players it becomes a mindset for them. Once they scored an early goal that game plan goes out of the window and tactics should have changed to take that into account. But they didn't and the effect of going one down was there for all to see. We did get on the front foot after the changes but why not go with that (or a variation of it) from the start. Eustace has to accept his culpability here.

[LDRover]

Although I and others have rightly questioned the tactical plan the biggest thing the manager should be criticised for is the lack of a reaction to Tuesday's display. 

For me it was a prerequisite that we were at it from the get go but we were anything but that.

[BankEnd Rover]

5 minutes ago, arbitro said:

If Eustace had drummed this 'keep it tight for an hour' into the players it becomes a mindset for them. Once they scored an early goal that game plan goes out of the window and tactics should have changed to take that into account. But they didn't and the effect of going one down was there for all to see. We did get on the front foot after the changes but why not go with that (or a variation of it) from the start. Eustace has to accept his culpability here.

If Eustace feels duberry will make more of an impact off the bench then fair enough, I understand that.

We need better options than Dolan/hedges starting, these 2 are both not up to standard so hopefully wingers are a priority in January and we offload the primary…Otherwise he’ll walk for nothing! 

Edited October 6 by BankEnd Rover

[DE.]

2 hours ago, MarkBRFC said:

Not sure Cantwell is an unknown, he has 3 promotions from this division!

Lol yeah indeed, I lumped him into the wrong bracket there. With him it's more general question marks over professionalism.

[arbitro]

1 minute ago, BankEnd Rover said:

If Eustace feels duberry will make more of an impact off the bench then fair enough, I understand that.

We need better options than Dolan/hedges starting, these 2 are both not up to standard so hopefully wingers are a priority in January and we offload the primary…Otherwise he’ll walk for nothing! 

For me Cozier-Duberry should have started yesterday. With him and Cantwell on from the start we could have got at them rather than sitting in to accommodate the game plan. I would rather defend a one goal lead later in the game rather than chase the game and he susceptible to a counter attack. If we are going to execute the game plan that Eustace had then why not go with a back five like we did at Leeds and Leicester last season?

[BankEnd Rover]

4 minutes ago, arbitro said:

For me Cozier-Duberry should have started yesterday. With him and Cantwell on from the start we could have got at them rather than sitting in to accommodate the game plan. I would rather defend a one goal lead later in the game rather than chase the game and he susceptible to a counter attack. If we are going to execute the game plan that Eustace had then why not go with a back five like we did at Leeds and Leicester last season?

Yeah or at least bring them on at half time. Let hope Eustace learns from it and isn’t as stubborn as our previous manager…

Duberry & Cantwell as starters and build the team around them.

[DE.]

4 minutes ago, arbitro said:

For me Cozier-Duberry should have started yesterday. With him and Cantwell on from the start we could have got at them rather than sitting in to accommodate the game plan. I would rather defend a one goal lead later in the game rather than chase the game and he susceptible to a counter attack. If we are going to execute the game plan that Eustace had then why not go with a back five like we did at Leeds and Leicester last season?

I assume the game plan at Preston was similar, as from memory by the 35 minute mark neither side had a shot on goal. I think we do need to be a little more attacking on the road, although I can understand Eustace's attempt to be pragmatic as our defence is susceptible to bring breached. It's a difficult balancing act but we do seem to need a bit of adjustment somewhere. 

[arbitro]

3 minutes ago, DE. said:

I assume the game plan at Preston was similar, as from memory by the 35 minute mark neither side had a shot on goal. I think we do need to be a little more attacking on the road, although I can understand Eustace's attempt to be pragmatic as our defence is susceptible to bring breached. It's a difficult balancing act but we do seem to need a bit of adjustment somewhere. 

Getting a result away from home is palatable as we did at Norwich, Burnley and Preston. It's when the methods don't work like at Coventry and yesterday that questions are asked and a fear I have is that Eustace isn't radical enough to make big changes to both tactics and personnel.

Hopefully I'm proved wrong over the next few weeks.

[sharpysharps86]

15 hours ago, jim mk2 said:

I agree the Baath - Hyam partnership needs to be axed. They can't defend simple crosses - witness Coventry's 1st goal in midweek. Baath no world beater but I'd drop Hyam, he's weak physically and always has a mistake in him. A very average defender

Carter needs to be moved to centre back and Brittain brought back. Beck straight in for Pickering

There's alot riding on Cantwell this season as he's just about the only creative player we have apart from JRC. I'd bring back JRC, we need more skill in this team

If Sigurdsoon is the answer I don't know what the question is, and the Japanese lad looks lost up front on his own. In truth, we needed to sign a proven Championship striker in the summer

I think with Sigurdsson, for me at least, it's that I think he and Cantwell could play really well together and create some chances. You mention Ohashi looking lost up front on his own, and I think a large part of that is down to the sides inability to create chances for him. Hedges and Dolan can't be trusted to be consistent in creating chances. Just my thoughts though, I appreciate that other's won't agree.

When Brittain is back, I'd be tempted to try him further forward with JRC at right back. Brittain, despite his flaws defensively probably has the best crossing ability in the side. The cross for the Ohashi header against Norwich being a solid example.

Agree that there is a lot riding on Cantwell, but it's something he should be thriving on to be the main man at a club.

There is no doubt that the last two games haven't been good enough, but I still feel that JE is the man for Rovers at this current time. After last season, getting near the playoffs is really just a pipe dream. I suspect some fans started to get carried away after a 7 game unbeaten start to the season, but right now Rovers have all the makings of a mid table Championship side. We'll probably spend some time in the bottom half as much as we do the top. I'm ok with this given the circumstances that the club currently finds itself in, but it's when the players put in absolutely dire performances last the last 2 games that isn't acceptable.

Edited October 6 by sharpysharps86

[LDRover]

Edit....

Edited October 6 by LDRover
Double post

[chaddyrovers]

It would have been a very different game if Weimann had scored in the first few minutes. He should have scored. 

On the winner goal, Pears didn't even put a hand out to stop Whittaker's header either. 

I can understand why Eustace wanted to keep it tight for 60 mins and stop their players influencing the game then go for it attacking them. I also think we need to get crosses into the box when we got Gueye in the team and hold the ball up. We didn't enough of this. 

I would like to see more attacking front 4 where we take the game to Swansea whilst remaining defensive solid.  

 

 

[JCRovers]

Think Eustace need to shake things up and start dropping players and tweak the tactics after the International break. Would be better to have Tronstad dropping down to form a back-three during build-up rather than having an inverted fullback like Pickering. This is the reason why Eustace is insisting on starting Hedges on the left hand side to offer width but I think Beck is more than capable of doing that job now that he's back after suspension. My starting XI against Swansea:

                      Pears

Brittain   Carter   Hyam   Beck

                    Tronstad

          Travis     Cantwell

Cozier-Duberry            Ohashi

                       Gueye

This lineup provides atleast some versatility in attack with a playmaker (Cantwell), target man (Gueye), finisher (Ohashi) and pace (Cozier-Duberry). I see Dolan and Hedges more as squad players who can enter last 15-20 minutes to defend a lead since they are both hardworking and tracks back. Weimann and Sigurdsson can be utilized as impact players to chase a goal in the latter stages of the game. Think Ohashi could do a good job as an inside forward on the left to cut inside with his right foot, feed off Gueye and be a threat with his clinical finishing. Travis can be used more as a box-to-box midfielder. JRC and Pickering can be backups to Brittain and Beck to provide crosses for Gueye in the middle. If Pears starts making mistakes then hopefully Toth is up for it to provide consistency and stability to defence. Would like to drop Hyam in all honesty but sadly the team doesn't have any good replacement as I don't view neither Batth or McFadzean as any better (both being too slow and thus a potential liability during transitions).

Edited October 6 by JCRovers

[simongarnerisgod]

both goals yesterday came from defensive lapses,it appeared we`ve started to revert back to last season,not stopping the cross and not being agressive enough to attack the ball with the 2nd goal,tbh,hyam is a flake,pears is always prone to lapses,carter is a fill in right back and miles better as a centre back

unless you replace the rogue element we`ll get defeats like this and coventry,ypu can add dolan to the rogue element,he`s more a hinderance than a footballer

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

2 minutes ago, simongarnerisgod said:

both goals yesterday came from defensive lapses,it appeared we`ve started to revert back to last season,not stopping the cross and not being agressive enough to attack the ball with the 2nd goal,tbh,hyam is a flake,pears is always prone to lapses,carter is a fill in right back and miles better as a centre back

unless you replace the rogue element we`ll get defeats like this and coventry,ypu can add dolan to the rogue element,he`s more a hinderance than a footballer

That last goal was a shocker given we were seconds away from what might be a crucial point come next May. The left back, the centre halves, the keeper all at fault.

[Old Codger]

I think the Plymouth and Coventry set backs demonstrate clearly the benefits, value and impact of individual players to the overall balance of the team. For me we have been a much more attack minded, defensively coherent and balanced side with Beck playing than without. Not only his defensive capabilities have been missed, and significantly altered our overall quality, but his attacking potential and eye for decisive forward movement has been very much missed since that arsehole bit him for making a mistake at Nob End.

As things stand, yes I agree with much of the sentiment above that we have perhaps flattered to deceive in our opening few fixtures, but the fact is we ground out results when better players and greater balance were available. That gives me confidence that perhaps we might return to a more stable and potent shape once those players, especially Beck, come back into the side.

Yesterday told us very little that we didn't already know about this squad, but it is the little things that are the difference that makes a difference. I believe we will bounce back, and that back to back defeats will not become the de facto pattern as we move through this season.

 

[Dreams of 1995]

I feel sorry for Gueye really

It is useless judging him and Ohashi whilst they have Dolan behind him. I am sorry but his race is run for me. He’s a player I put firmly as last place on any time sheet

His lack of effort yesterday was a rarity but sums up where he is at. He won’t sign a contract I believe so let the bloke go

We will look a much different side - and did - when you put players in that position that can trap a ball and pick a pass out. I still have confidence in this team

I just hope Eustace starts to see JRC as a right back and Cantwell gets fit enough to play the 10. A front four of Hedges, Cantwell, Duberry with Gueye or Ohashi in front is good enough for this standard. With Siggy and Wiemann on the bench we have enough firepower. We’ve just hit a rocky road and that happens in the Championship 

[simongarnerisgod]

16 minutes ago, Dreams of 1995 said:

I feel sorry for Gueye really

It is useless judging him and Ohashi whilst they have Dolan behind him. I am sorry but his race is run for me. He’s a player I put firmly as last place on any time sheet

His lack of effort yesterday was a rarity but sums up where he is at. He won’t sign a contract I believe so let the bloke go

We will look a much different side - and did - when you put players in that position that can trap a ball and pick a pass out. I still have confidence in this team

I just hope Eustace starts to see JRC as a right back and Cantwell gets fit enough to play the 10. A front four of Hedges, Cantwell, Duberry with Gueye or Ohashi in front is good enough for this standard. With Siggy and Wiemann on the bench we have enough firepower. We’ve just hit a rocky road and that happens in the Championship 

i agree with the dolan point,though i don`t think it`s a lack of effort,more a lack of ability on and off the ball,impact sub if we are really desperate,tuesday night was the turning point for me,completely inept

[rigger]

5 hours ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

Sadly that’s the truth of it. We haven’t got the players to breeze up at clubs like Plymouth and expect to win in style
The last time we got promoted and had a team that could win at places like Plymouth in a canter we had Dunn, Duff, Jansen, Friedel, Berg, Flitty etc etc . How many of our current team would get into that team. I’d say not one.

I don't know about make the team, few if any would make the bench.

[speeeeeeedie]

16 hours ago, Waggy76 said:

To seriously challenge for a top six place, we need new owners and a CEO... 

I think that is something the entire message board would agree on. Until it happens all we can do is comment on what is seen on the pitch.