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

[riverholmes]

1 hour ago, den said:

When, year after year you sell your best players and give your manager nothing to replace them with. When you have owners who have no idea about English football appointing under achieving nobodies to run it for them, you eventually get to exactly where we are.

we’re at a point where the squad is too small in numbers and lacking in quality. There’s nothing in midfield, the back four can’t compete even for everyday crosses into the box and up front neither Gueye or Ohashi offer anywhere near enough - and where’s the competition from a third or fourth striker? I don’t think there is any.

Dont blame the manager. I doubt anyone could succeed under those terms. Don’t blame the players either. 
 

We are set up to fail and until the owners realise that and understand they aren’t capable of changing it, nothing will change.

Our biggest signing, in terms of influence, was a loan and Beck could, depending on terms of the contract, be recalled in January by Liverpool (though, no sign of it at the moment). I expect Cantwell to be good but it’s not enough. And confounding the lack of investment is that the youth programme isn’t delivering at the moment, aside from, perhaps, Duru.

The signings tell me that Eustace’s remit is to keep us in the league and little else. I think he’ll do that. Though putting Weimann and Carter against in-form Cissoko was not clever.

I would seriously consider phasing Travis out with a new signing in the near future. Perhaps, he could play RB or serve as a back-up. I think he’s never recovered from earlier injuries and I think it might one day come out that he is forced to play within himself because of it.

Finally, at least Carter’s Tyler Magloire-esque RB performance (respect to Magloire who has just returned from a really terrible knee injury to get on the bench today for Northampton) might put off prospective clubs. As a CB, I think Rovers will get bidders.

Edit; I wonder if Eustace’s playing era is reflected on the pitch. Ability is vital too, but our side is worryingly one-paced across the pitch.

 

 

Edited 20 hours ago by riverholmes

[jim mk2]

41 minutes ago, sharpysharps86 said:

 

                                    Toth

 JRC / Brittain      Carter      Hyam       Beck

                       Travis         Tronstad

             Coz-Dub      Cantwell    Sigurdsson

                                  Ohashi

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

[Blow-in]

Well, travelled over for my son's 21st. Disappointing performance and result but had a decent day none the less.

Plymouth fanzone was good and at least we were not stuck drinking Foster's.

[joey_big_nose]

Annoying older supporter comment but tbh when we play two away games in a week like this we usally struggle to pick up points. Compared to recent seasons actually getting the game back to level pegging is quite a significant improvement. Usually we are dead as soon as we concede the first....

Frustrating but as long as we put a good performance next game at home we can just move on.

[chaddyrovers]

2 minutes ago, Devon Rover said:

Hi @chaddyrovers I'm interested in what part of my post and my opinion you felt you should down vote without commenting on? I tend not to down vote other poster's opinions out of courtesy but I guess that is your response to disagreeing with something? Not particularly constructive, or impressive, to be honest. 

Firstly, I didn't like the comment about people wearing Blue and White tinted glass, cos at the end of the day, we are all proud passionate Rovers fans but we all have different opinions and I enjoyed reading most of the ones. 

Secondly, I don't think it needs a big rethink and shakeup against Swansea but we do have 3 games in a week including 2 home games. Yes he has to rotate abit more during those 3 games which I don't think Eustace has. 

Thirdly, I disagree we aren't a good team but are decent team which is still developing and learning how Eustace wants to play. I have watched both Sky live games this weekend and I don't think any of their 4 teams where better than we have been this season. Every team has dips in form and if you said to me at the start of the season we would be 8th in the league after 9 games and won 4 games at home on the bounce I would have deffo taken it. I also feel that after a poor performance and defeat, people go abit to far in their criticism of the team and Eustace, 

fourthly, I do think Eustace leads this team well and I think we have good head coach. 

 

[Devon Rover]

4 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

Firstly, I didn't like the comment about people wearing Blue and White tinted glass, cos at the end of the day, we are all proud passionate Rovers fans but we all have different opinions and I enjoyed reading most of the ones. 

Secondly, I don't think it needs a big rethink and shakeup against Swansea but we do have 3 games in a week including 2 home games. Yes he has to rotate abit more during those 3 games which I don't think Eustace has. 

Thirdly, I disagree we aren't a good team but are decent team which is still developing and learning how Eustace wants to play. I have watched both Sky live games this weekend and I don't think any of their 4 teams where better than we have been this season. Every team has dips in form and if you said to me at the start of the season we would be 8th in the league after 9 games and won 4 games at home on the bounce I would have deffo taken it. I also feel that after a poor performance and defeat, people go abit to far in their criticism of the team and Eustace, 

fourthly, I do think Eustace leads this team well and I think we have good head coach. 

 

Fair enough, Chaddy. I disagree on a few areas but down voting you would probably be a rude way to show that. Thanks for the response.

[chaddyrovers]

2 minutes ago, Devon Rover said:

Fair enough, Chaddy. I disagree on a few areas but down voting you would probably be a rude way to show that. Thanks for the response.

I have remove the down vote now considering your response and the way I think we found some common ground even we might disagree on what the front 4 should be. I can tell you what the back 7 should be but I am completely undecided what the front 4 should be for the Swansea game

[Devon Rover]

1 minute ago, chaddyrovers said:

I have remove the down vote now considering your response and the way I think we found some common ground even we might disagree on what the front 4 should be. I can tell you what the back 7 should be but I am completely undecided what the front 4 should be for the Swansea game

Thanks, although that wasn't necessary - I was just a bit miffed about it without any context (plus, I am grumpy because of the result, let's be honest!) I thought your response was clear and reasonable. I'd agree re indecision about our best front 4 and I certainly get the impression Eustace feels similarly 🙂. Have a good evening.

[M_B]

A quick look at the table and we're doing fine, in fact better than fine, certainly much better than anyone expected.

We've played a home game less, win against Swansea and it will no doubt mean a play off position. Some of the stick Eustace is getting is way over the top, given the  start to the season and position in the table. 

 

[Hasta]

8 minutes ago, M_B said:

Some of the stick Eustace is getting is way over the top, given the  start to the season and position in the table. 

Examples?

Since FT I can see one post that’s harsh on him.

Plenty of fair criticism over these two performances in isolation.

 

Edited 19 hours ago by Hasta

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

I said before the game that playing two screening midfield players with a back four that rarely cross the half way line would give our front four too much to do. Even four really good players would have their work cut out and we haven’t got four really good players up front. Beck coming back will make a difference to a certain extent but I think we need a change of personnel or a change of system.

[chaddyrovers]

11 minutes ago, Devon Rover said:

Thanks, although that wasn't necessary - I was just a bit miffed about it without any context (plus, I am grumpy because of the result, let's be honest!) I thought your response was clear and reasonable. I'd agree re indecision about our best front 4 and I certainly get the impression Eustace feels similarly 🙂. Have a good evening.

I fully understand and your point about me not explaining myself about why I disagree with your opinion, so I hold my hands up for that. 

I am disappointed about losing the game and I would have taken the point after JRC scored. I felt Eustace should have taken the point and Travis should have said on the pitch the same. 

[islander200]

8 minutes ago, M_B said:

A quick look at the table and we're doing fine, in fact better than fine, certainly much better than anyone expected.

We've played a home game less, win against Swansea and it will no doubt mean a play off position. Some of the stick Eustace is getting is way over the top, given the  start to the season and position in the table. 

 

I'm a fan of the job Eustace has done so far but he does deserve criticism for today.

More players should have lost their place after the midweek game against Coventry, and he shouldn't have had Carter at rb with the tricky players they have wide.

Also after the extremely poor first half changes should have been made at ht ,Cantwell on ,Jrc to rb and I would have brought Baker on for Travis at a minimum

[LDRover]

Stayed in the Crowne Plaza down here as did the players and coaching staff.

Eustace spent most of his time on his laptop (assuming he was watching Plymouth games) so said to him 'you seen any weaknesses to exploit, gaffer' to which he responded 'too many to mention'.

I didn't realise at the time he was referring to us.

Edited 19 hours ago by LDRover

[LDRover]

1 hour ago, RTM08 said:

He also said that we came with a gameplan not to concede and that we conceded uncharacteristically. Sounds like there was no real plan to attack, just to sit back and hope for the best. 

Talks complete and total guff.

Yes, this is really poor stuff from the manager.

Turning up to a game to 'stay in it' just gives the initiative to the opposition and leaves you one mistake away from throwing Plan A out the window.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

18 minutes ago, islander200 said:

I'm a fan of the job Eustace has done so far but he does deserve criticism for today.

More players should have lost their place after the midweek game against Coventry, and he shouldn't have had Carter at rb with the tricky players they have wide.

Also after the extremely poor first half changes should have been made at ht ,Cantwell on ,Jrc to rb and I would have brought Baker on for Travis at a minimum

When I saw Carter giving that winger half a pitch to run into I could have cried. You can’t let a player gather the ball, turn, and still have 20 yards to get up to speed to run at you. You’re dead meat as a full back against any decent winger in those circumstances.

As for the other full back - what can I say. If Pickering never pulls the shirt on again it won’t be too soon. Shocking defending for their second goal. You’re seconds away from a vital point and he just stood and watched their guy head the ball back across goal. That’s not the first time he’s let that happen recently.

Edited 19 hours ago by Tyrone Shoelaces

[roversfan99]

1 hour ago, chaddyrovers said:

Its all depends on a number of things and whether these players who are international football duty come back and injuries 

How would you set up for the Swansea game then? 

Its was first starts in the last few games so hard to judge up and alot of it for me is our service to Gueye and Ohashi in the few games is really poor and that is one of my worries over the last few games. Another worry is the amount of chances we actually created during the last few games. (All excluded the second half of the QPR games). 

Ohashi would probably come back in up top. Cozier Duberry would come in on the right wing, Cantwell for Dolan, JRC at RB, Beck at left back. Dunno who would play left wing, maybe give Sigurdsson a go. Probably Hyam and Carter CB, Tronstad and maybe Travis or if not then Baker. I want to see Toth in goal but Pears did well today in fairness.

Regarding your service point, I think 2 things. Firstly, its not a case of a striker being solely reliant on service, obviously there is a big element of that but also you dont seem to consider that an attackers movement and anticipation mean that natural goalscorers almost create their own chances. Take Szmodics last season, we had a poor team that created little but he knew how to make clever runs, sniff out chances and ended up top scorer in a poor side.

But obviously better service and more attacking gives them a better chance. You have regularly defended Dolan and Hedges but they have repeatedly shown that they arent very effective in the final third.

I am certainly not convinced on Gueye though. He is technically very poor and clumsy and he clearly isnt a natural goalscorer. He had a good opening in the first 30 seconds that he wasted. He does have some potentially useful attributes but the more I see him the more concerned I am. He initially benefitted from the fact that our strikers were so poor last season that it felt like anyone was an improvement but that alone wont be enough to sustain high opinion of him.

[roversfan99]

Eustace mentioned post match that the game plan basically was to rely on the subs to change the game. I found that a bit alarming, we shouldnt just be going to away games to teams like Plymouth without much intention to attack initially, and we played like a side trying to cling on and hope to be in the game towards the end. Our away form is very poor this season and I am not convinced that our fans spending good money following us across the country are likely to see too many wins without a change of tact. 

[islander200]

Looking forward to having Beck back and I hope after this two week break Cantwell is ready to be starting every week,he needs to get a run of games in 

Crozier Durberry should get his first start too  ,we ain't seen  end product yet but his quick feet will cause a bit of panic and he looks decent at getting around players 

Is he away with England underage again,? If so probably means he will be on the bench.

They should have loaned Duru out he should have been on the bench today with jrc at rb

 

[M_B]

33 minutes ago, Hasta said:

Examples?

Since FT I can see one post that’s harsh on him.

Plenty of fair criticism over these two performances in isolation.

 

We've been really poor last 2, but it's as if the previous 7 didn't happen.

We're a point outside the play offs after 9 games. More importantly we're 8 clear of the bottom 3, which if we're all honest is what we were looking at before the season started. 

There's an international break now for some to get things back into perspective. 

[chaddyrovers]

5 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

Ohashi would probably come back in up top. Cozier Duberry would come in on the right wing, Cantwell for Dolan, JRC at RB, Beck at left back. Dunno who would play left wing, maybe give Sigurdsson a go. Probably Hyam and Carter CB, Tronstad and maybe Travis or if not then Baker. I want to see Toth in goal but Pears did well today in fairness.

I can named for keeper, back 4 and midfield 2 but beyond that I am undecided

5 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

Regarding your service point, I think 2 things. Firstly, its not a case of a striker being solely reliant on service, obviously there is a big element of that but also you dont seem to consider that an attackers movement and anticipation mean that natural goalscorers almost create their own chances. Take Szmodics last season, we had a poor team that created little but he knew how to make clever runs, sniff out chances and ended up top scorer in a poor side.

But obviously better service and more attacking gives them a better chance. You have regularly defended Dolan and Hedges but they have repeatedly shown that they arent very effective in the final third.

to get the best out of Gueye he needs crosses or balls down the side of the defence. 

5 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

I am certainly not convinced on Gueye though. He is technically very poor and clumsy and he clearly isnt a natural goalscorer. He had a good opening in the first 30 seconds that he wasted. He does have some potentially useful attributes but the more I see him the more concerned I am. He initially benefitted from the fact that our strikers were so poor last season that it felt like anyone was an improvement but that alone wont be enough to sustain high opinion of him.

He needs to play regular to be judge and currently he isn't. Since his sending off, his confidence has dropped and we need him to get that back. 

[Armchair supporter supremo]

Are we again going to be hoping to hold our own in the league just long enough until we can strengthen our weak areas in January so that we can push on and put a serious playoff spot challenge in. (something we've failed miserably to do in recent winter transfer windows) 

[Hasta]

14 minutes ago, M_B said:

We've been really poor last 2, but it's as if the previous 7 didn't happen.

We're a point outside the play offs after 9 games. More importantly we're 8 clear of the bottom 3, which if we're all honest is what we were looking at before the season started. 

There's an international break now for some to get things back into perspective. 

I get that, but you said “some of the stick Eustace is getting is way over the top”. 

I can see a lot of surely valid criticism of him trusting the same players who threw a stinker of a performance in at Coventry.

But getting “stick” which is “way over the top” hasn’t happened on here since full time, unless you’ve got some examples I’m missing.

 

 

 

Edited 18 hours ago by Hasta

[M_B]

9 minutes ago, Hasta said:

I get that, but you said “some of the stick Eustace is getting is way over the top”. 

I can see a lot of surely valid criticism of him trusting the same players who threw a stinker of a performance in at Coventry.

But getting “stick” which is “way over the top” hasn’t happened on here since full time, unless you’ve got some examples I’m missing.

 

 

 

Just in general.

 

Edited 18 hours ago by M_B

[Hasta]

11 minutes ago, M_B said:

Just in general.

 

Nonsense