v WBA (h) - 23/10/2024 - k/o 19:45

[tomphil]

Booing clowns like that should be turfed out by their earhole and banned for acting like slapped arses whenever we aren't winning.

Sick of these dicks in our home crowd 'iv'e paid £20 to watch this shit' etc.

Well stay at home with the rest and spend it on spice instead !

[roversfan99]

I think Eustace is clearly a manager who is never going to play exciting, risk seeking football, he didnt at Birmingham. His strengths clearly lie in organisation and pn the defensive side.

To be honest with the current squad, it is a very understandable approach. We have a squad that has much more experience but its lacking in attacking threat, very little pace, no real obvious source of goals and only Cantwell with any flair. The likes of Hedges, Dolan, Weimann and Sigurdsson arent players youd specifically look forward to watching. We need to remain solid and it often wont be the prettiest watch but it could be the most effective approach.

One area where I think we need to become much better is attacking set pieces though.

[Groundhog]

No wonder it was 0-0 last night 🤣:

 

Edited October 24 by Groundhog

[speeeeeeedie]

0-0 was about right. Their subs made a difference. In the last 15 Swift and Johnston got on the ball with regularity and pegged Rovers back. 

I'll not change my tune that Pears is a liability. Nobody has any idea what he will do. 

Someone posted yesterday that not 1 of Rovers starting 11 is nailed on. I think Owen Beck is. He is very good, and a massive upgrade on Pickering. Cantwell would be too is Eustace moved him inside. 

Rovers are a lot harder to breakdown but aside from that it's same old Rovers. No pace and will never score off a corner. 

 

[MarkBRFC]

32 minutes ago, speeeeeeedie said:

Rovers are a lot harder to breakdown but aside from that it's same old Rovers. No pace and will never score off a corner. 

We scored off a corner on Saturday?

[Groundhog]

Why do we play Cantwell on the left? He seems to rome, and him and Dolan often trade places, but not often, probably by circumstance rather than design. All I can think is that it's a "modern football thing" and that having Dolan central allows him to press their back line and harry? 

 

[DaveyB]

4 hours ago, Torgeir said:

This is a fact, especially away. But if you look at stats from last night we had around 49% possession so I think they were tired too but definitely had the better subs. We also don't really have an outlet with pace these days, the closest being Hedges, so teams aren't too afraid to press us high up on the pitch because they know full well we won't outpace their defenders. 

49% last night (although WBA had 52% apparently so the sums don’t quite add up), but only 30% on Saturday - and the effect of the two games was showing at the end last night imo

[dingles staying down 4ever]

31 minutes ago, Groundhog said:

Why do we play Cantwell on the left? He seems to rome, and him and Dolan often trade places, but not often, probably by circumstance rather than design. All I can think is that it's a "modern football thing" and that having Dolan central allows him to press their back line and harry? 

 

It has been tried several times before - Souness with Dunn, Cairney was played wide right under Bowyer. It is thought that there is more space for a wide player to float inside. If they play centrally then central midfielders or defenders can pick them up and nulify them.

The full back can provide additional width with the overlap which give the defending full back the question of who to cover, go with the drifting wide man and be exposed to an overlap or leave the wide man and hope a central player picks him up.

[Exiled_Rover]

1 hour ago, speeeeeeedie said:

0-0 was about right. Their subs made a difference. In the last 15 Swift and Johnston got on the ball with regularity and pegged Rovers back. 

I'll not change my tune that Pears is a liability. Nobody has any idea what he will do. 

Someone posted yesterday that not 1 of Rovers starting 11 is nailed on. I think Owen Beck is. He is very good, and a massive upgrade on Pickering. Cantwell would be too is Eustace moved him inside. 

Rovers are a lot harder to breakdown but aside from that it's same old Rovers. No pace and will never score off a corner. 

 

He made a couple of routine saves, but one of their chances was due to him not coming to claim the ball and the penalty appeal was because he didn't call for the ball and collided with Travis.

He's a bad GK, but we also have 5 clean sheets so he'll be persisted with unfortunately. 

[dingles staying down 4ever]

13 minutes ago, Exiled_Rover said:

He made a couple of routine saves, but one of their chances was due to him not coming to claim the ball and the penalty appeal was because he didn't call for the ball and collided with Travis.

He's a bad GK, but we also have 5 clean sheets so he'll be persisted with unfortunately. 

OK I accept what you are trying to say but the penalty appeal was all down to Cantwell shoving someone over. I agree he is not a good keeper.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

1 hour ago, dingles staying down 4ever said:

OK I accept what you are trying to say but the penalty appeal was all down to Cantwell shoving someone over. I agree he is not a good keeper.

That’s why you don’t want the Cantwell's of this world anywhere near your penalty area if you can help it.

[speeeeeeedie]

2 hours ago, MarkBRFC said:

We scored off a corner on Saturday?

Correct, but it was a bit of a fluke wasn't it? It was hardly a well executed set piece. Dolan pinballing it off either their defender or Gueye then past the keeper.

I don't see much invention or set up at all. I'd love to be proven wrong though.

[speeeeeeedie]

1 hour ago, Exiled_Rover said:

He made a couple of routine saves, but one of their chances was due to him not coming to claim the ball and the penalty appeal was because he didn't call for the ball and collided with Travis.

He's a bad GK, but we also have 5 clean sheets so he'll be persisted with unfortunately. 

He also tried to clear one late on, scuffed it, and put Rovers back on the defensive. 

You are right, he's not going to be dropped after another clean sheet but his next clanger is not far away.

[RoversTilliDie]

2 hours ago, MarkBRFC said:

We scored off a corner on Saturday?

We give the oppisition loads and loads of corners, in a lot of matches. Why not just give them a penalty. Its true we hardly score off corners, or set pieces. Wonder what they do on the training ground.

[Andy]

15 hours ago, ageoftherover said:

I always find it strange that people find this to be a point in his favour.

I've worked in places where there was complete nonsense going on above/politically. Within that, there were still people working alongside me who counted on me to do my job, not to mention customers/clients. I know the circumstances around JDT were abject last year, but I will always consider straight up downing tools to be very poor professional behaviour.

I agree - I didn't intend for it to be a defence in any way, just an explanation of what happened.

When he was all-in, we were greater than the sum of our parts and some of the football we played was the best I've seen in my 30-odd years of being a Rover.

But yeah, as a character trait, it's certainly not a desirable and does take a bit of credit away from the otherwise very good job he did here.

[alcd]

7 hours ago, Exiled_Rover said:

He's never been played in his natural position and he doesn't have the physical attributes to play out wide. Similar to Markanday, really.

He's softer than a marshmallow and certainly wouldn't do any pressing. Needs to go in January if an offer comes in. Will probably stick around to go out of contract. 

[sharpysharps86]

6 hours ago, roversfan99 said:

His main issue was the squad at his disposal. Its very difficult to be competitive at this level when you have a squad like we had.

That being said, I did raise a concern during last season that he was sticking with a style that was exposing us more than was necessary. The results we got when Eustace came in didnt particularly improve though last season.

Yeah last seasons squad was clearly inferior compared to this seasons, but JDT didn't do himself any favours whatsoever (no ability to adapt, falling out with players). I'm much happier with Eustace in charge, who seems far more equipped for the Championship, and seems way less toxic.

[DaveyB]

3 hours ago, Exiled_Rover said:

He made a couple of routine saves, but one of their chances was due to him not coming to claim the ball and the penalty appeal was because he didn't call for the ball and collided with Travis.

He's a bad GK, but we also have 5 clean sheets so he'll be persisted with unfortunately. 

I could hear him shout ‘keepers’ from my seat in the JW so there’s definitely no way that Trav couldn’t hear him - that particular incident was down to Travis alone. 
(That’s not excusing all the other stuff though - the way he continually parries even routine shots in front of him gives me palpitations in the stands, god knows what it does for our defenders!!)

[simongarnerisgod]

2 hours ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

That’s why you don’t want the Cantwell's of this world anywhere near your penalty area if you can help it.

im`e sure i never saw shearer,sutton,garner,jansen or dunny anywhere near their own  the penalty area,unless it was a late siege by the opposition,if you leave a player on the halfway line and another in midfield the other side have to bring 3 back,it`s common sense to have an outball

[M_B]

1 hour ago, speeeeeeedie said:

He also tried to clear one late on, scuffed it, and put Rovers back on the defensive. 

You are right, he's not going to be dropped after another clean sheet but his next clanger is not far away.

It seems to have been "not far away" for quite a while now.

[Brfcw]

9 hours ago, Lancaster Rover said:

Clear difference of opinion on this one which is what makes this site worthwhile, I think he's absolutely miles off it. I don't believe he is a nightmare for good defenders, he's fairly easy to pop off when pressing and his first touch is like a sledgehammer, which undoes much of the physical attributes he brings.

Admittedly he did cause one panic attack but I felt that was more to do with the lad at centre half switching off rather than clever or purposeful running from Gueye.

I tend to agree, you cant have a striker who doesnt score, but then Yuki is barely better in this regard. I think when you look back to the early games, they played beat with Gueye up top and Yuki sitting behind. Unfortunately we cant play them constantly together as we have no real 3rd striker option, so currently Eustace just chops and changes. January we are going to need another striker to give us the outlet, and we really could do with both Yuki and Mac getting a few goals.

[Ghost7]

Toth must be shit in training.

[chaddyrovers]

10 hours ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

I’d have brought Gueye on sooner and had Yuki playing off him. I’d have gone a bit more long ball, we weren’t creating much as it was. Neither of those two are much more than nuisance value playing up there on their own. Siggy offers nothing at the moment,  at least Baker or Buckley would be more involved and would maybe stop them playing through us. Bringing Britain on made sense. It depends whether Eustace wanted to hold on to 1 point or go all out for 3. To me it looked like he was happy with 1. WBA wanted all 3 and went for it at the end. However them subbing players on in time added on was bizarre to say the least.

I’ve watched the last two home games now and the entertainment value was very low. Any neutral would have switched off before half time.

So Buckley or Baker as wide player instead of a wide player like Sigurdsson? 

WBA went for it? Really? Like for like come on for them. Dobbin and Johnston came on in 83 mins. Wallace came on 92 mins. Hardly going for it was it? 

Both teams very well organised and tough to break down

[chaddyrovers]

8 hours ago, roversfan99 said:

Cantwell doesnt provide adequate cover, its half arsed and he was fortunate not to concede a penalty.

I dont agree. He did his job. 

8 hours ago, roversfan99 said:

I know that it was a game that was closely fought between two well organised teams and the players may well know their roles. As often is the case with games managed by Eustace, it wasnt the most pleasing on the eye. The main reason for that is our lack of spark (beside Cantwell) and speed in attack which is obviously not his fault. 

I'm not arsed about being pleasing on the eye, I bothered about effective football and picking up points. I dont want to be anywhere the relegation battle and under Eustace I think we will be top half at least

8 hours ago, roversfan99 said:

You also have been very keen to criticise JDT since he has left after staunchly defending his style until the day he left, on which you were very angry and sad.

I said previously, I hold up my hands up and admitted I was wrong to staunchly defending JDT. Also factor he was falling out with players like Brittain and Wharton. 

6 hours ago, roversfan99 said:

I think Eustace is clearly a manager who is never going to play exciting, risk seeking football, he didnt at Birmingham. His strengths clearly lie in organisation and pn the defensive side.

You seem to have a real problem with Eustace's approach. 

Is exciting and risk seeking football going to produce better record and points totally? 

Eustace is a head coach who approach his tactics and style depending who we are playing. He wasnt willing to go all.out attack against WBA and good tactical coach in Carlos Corberan. 

Would yourself differently in terms of tactics and style? 

5 hours ago, Groundhog said:

Why do we play Cantwell on the left? He seems to rome, and him and Dolan often trade places, but not often, probably by circumstance rather than design. All I can think is that it's a "modern football thing" and that having Dolan central allows him to press their back line and harry? 

 

It's by design, The 3 behind the striker all roam and interchange. Cantwell is allow to roam and by coming from the left isnt going to pick up. 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

22 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

So Buckley or Baker as wide player instead of a wide player like Sigurdsson? 

WBA went for it? Really? Like for like come on for them. Dobbin and Johnston came on in 83 mins. Wallace came on 92 mins. Hardly going for it was it? 

Both teams very well organised and tough to break down

Which team was hanging at the end pal ? Rovers or West Brom ? 

I’m 75 and I could have done what Sigurdsson did. Did he actually touch the ball? Anybody with a pulse would have been an improvement.