v Sheffield Wednesday (a) - 10/12/2024

[BRFC4EVA]

Another brilliant away performance. 5 wins on the bounce with 4 clean sheets  and 4 away wins in a row. Insane really.

As others have said Eustace has done an incredible job. The squad is a reasonable championship squad, contrary to what others are saying, however I do completely agree that he is ringing the best best out of a well below average forward line. 

They would all be squad players at pretty much all other championship teams at best. The fact we are winning games is a miracle. I was not sold on him in the least after the pathetic end to last season, but wow was I wrong.

Chaddy I doth my cap to you. I agree with some things you say and other times I don't. However you were constant in your desire to give Eustace the opportunity to sign his own players and play his style. Fair play to you.

The sad thing is the hope that kills you. We need 2 players in Jan. A quality striker and a pacey wide player. And we'd have a chance. Sadly we'll be shopping at poundland and shit prem teams U21s. 

Wankers.

Edited December 11, 2024 by BRFC4EVA

[A Northern Horde...]

Fantastic run of form,what is possible if Eustace is backed in January.?

FFS we better not get carried away with this lot in charge.

Some very big crowds to come over Xmas and New Year I think,fully deserve the backing!

Edited December 11, 2024 by A Northern Horde...

[yankfan]

Can’t knock the results. Solid at the back and you always have a chance. 

[Forever Blue]

4 hours ago, RevidgeBlue said:

Not really, (I'm assuming the answer is Broughton) do you think Tronstad played well last night?

He was completely invisible for me. By no means on his own in having a poor game imo though as I've mentioned and I don't think we can carry on playing like that and winning for very long  but for the present we won so hey ho.

Eustace continues to squeeze the absolute maximum out of a very poor squad. Long may it continue.

You’ve backed yourself into a corner with Tronstad so all you can do now is say he’s poor every week. The reality is he’s the first name on the team sheet for many. The reason for that is he’s consistently excellent. His passing, tackling and positioning are at a very high standard for the Championship. 

[Old Codger]

It is nice to be in a position where we can mix it with teams at either end of a very vanilla table (Argyle being perhaps just a bad day at the office I guess) and the resolve to get bodies in the way in front of our own goal is a wonderful thing to see. It is also brilliant to see what appears to be a very united and together squad, as evidenced by the very comfortable and charismatic after-game approach to the travelling fans. Of course it is easier to look relaxed and happy having ground out another win, but something seems to have clicked for our boys and so long may it continue. Acid tests coming up without the golden boy after his silly booking, and I wonder if we might struggle against a physical Luton side on Saturday without his talent at the heart of our attack? Travis and Tronstad are absolute rocks for me, and the pairing of Baath and Hyam fills me with the kind of confidence that Keeley and Fazackerley used to give back in the day - something about experienced older heads at the heart of a defence just feels right.

I'd very much like to see Harry Leonard get a run out at some point too - maybe use his youth and eye for goal for a few games for 60 minutes or so before bringing on Yuki to chase down tired defenders and hunt his goals as a super sub? As much as I like the lad, he isn't really hurting the opposition at the moment, so something has to change.

JRC was solid enough this evening, but I think he is capable of so much more. However, it was his tenacity and willingness to get forward that secured our victory, something he has demonstrated he can do before, so perhaps he just needs a longer run to find his niche again?

Something about keepers here - we all know that a) confidence is everything and b) keepers tend to get better as they get older and more experienced (up to a point), but Pears seems to have the support of his defenders now, and feels much more reliable than last season (just watch him have a stinker on Saturday now!). There wasn't really much for him to do this evening at all, but what he did, he did well.

Opposition shout out - Barry Bannon - dare I say he was Tugay-esque? Something about older players and their ability to deliver killer passes and sweep the ball about with aplomb. He stood out in the Wednesday side as a very polished and capable player, despite his bald pate and advanced years. I don't think you can go much wrong with a player of that calibre..

We still have Andi Weimman to come back in of course, and Siggurdsson, if he ever gets off the treatment table - VInce Grella the second, I guess.

Being a Rovers fan is a happy place at the moment - long may that continue for us all, especially as the fixtures come thick and fast - none thicker than the appointment with the old enemy on 4th January. Let's hope JE can keep the momentum going, but as the man says, let's also just take it one game at a time. Sensible stuff, for we only really remember the highs 😉

COYB!!

[Mattyblue]

He obviously watches Tronstadt like a hawk so every mistake he does make (which of course he will over 95 minutes, a misplaced pass here, a tackle that doesn’t quite do the job there) he’s going ‘shit him’.

Contrarian Rev being Contrarian Rev

[Bbrovers2288]

I thought tronstadt was fine, some vital nicks around our box was crucial for the clean sheet. 
 

guessing if sigurdsson was fit he would come in for cantwell but he isn’t so he just needs moved on. If brittain is back maybe jrc in there , our Allen key, unless he moves ohashi back and geuye gets rewarded

[lraC]

49 minutes ago, Forever Blue said:

You’ve backed yourself into a corner with Tronstad so all you can do now is say he’s poor every week. The reality is he’s the first name on the team sheet for many. The reason for that is he’s consistently excellent. His passing, tackling and positioning are at a very high standard for the Championship. 

It would be much easier no if he just came out and admitted he was wrong.

I did not fancy this manager one bit, but I can now happily admit, I was wrong.

It isn’t difficult, especially when it’s nice to be proven wrong. 

[arbitro]

As with most of the recent games I never really felt under any undue pressure such is the new found resilience and once we scored I was confident of another win. I could copy and paste a lot of what I've been posting for the last few weeks as the performances have been so similar, it's a Rovers Groundhog Day at the moment. No outstanding performers once again but a team who graft, are brave and more importantly are together. This togetherness thing has been a Eustace mantra since he came and to be truthful I got a bit bored with him saying it last season because in quite a few games I didn't see too much evidence of it. Now I believe it's getting us through games. The four successive games we have not conceded in cannot be under estimated and clean sheets are the cornerstone of any successful football club, particularly the Championship. A special mention has to go to Gueye. He has had his critics (I have been one of them) but his smile last night was worth the admission money. It's clear to see what the other players think of him and if he is not careful he could be in danger of becoming a cult hero.

Oh and that Tuesday night hoodoo has been smashed too. Right now I couldn't be more chuffed.

 

[philipl]

Really really happy- this 5 match run looked like comic book stuff before we went to Cardiff!

Eustace is doing an excellent job organising and motivating this squad. Defensively even with a middling level keeper we are superbly set up limiting oppositions to virtually no clear cut chances. 

And there is enough quality in the side that the skill and application gel long enough to create a goal. The hard work on left and right in the build up to Gueye's header were exceptional.

As for individual players, JRC was showing how good he is and creates a selection headache for Saturday. I fear we will find out how good Cantwell really is when he is missing on Saturday- for such a showy looking player he does a lot of accurate basic stuff really well. Dolan always struggles against a big physical side but his mobility means he is always rushing them- lost count of the number of misplaced Wednesday passes after Dolan chasing down.

Talking of Wednesday being big, how many of the have bellies on them. OK Belly Bannan is perhaps understandable but...

Talking of mistakes, Eustace seems to have coached Rovers out of making as many as we used to.

Talking of selection headaches, 9 players unavailable last night yet we still were rock solid, had good Championship quality coming on in the second half and still John Buckley was sitting on the bench at the full time whistle.

Loving it! 

[norwichblue]

8 hours ago, chaddyrovers said:

 

 

I love seeing these videos. That “togetherness” that Eustace is instilling on complete show. All the lads buzzing. All the fans buzzing. The way Trav just fucking loves winning. The celebration from Gueye.

Feels good being a Rovers fan right now!

RTID 🔵⚪️🌹 

[Tom]

My first brew in the Leeds office will be nice this morning, obviously in my Rovers mug!

Few Wednesday fans around me.

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

Feels good doesn't it....long may it continue!😎

[martonrover]

1 hour ago, philipl said:

Talking of mistakes, Eustace seems to have coached Rovers out of making as many as we used to.

I think credit goes to his two assistants, too.

You see them drilling the players, (particularly the defenders),  pre-match, and it's well organised and purposeful.

They are definitely not just here because they are the head coach's mates.

[47er]

7 hours ago, bluebruce said:

Nobody on here is trying to do that, chiefly as none of us has the power to do that. If anything I'm sure we all want him to get to keep it.

The game is over, we won, we're all ecstatic. If people want to now have an objective discussion about whether he actually headed it, which is certainly questionable without seeing a HD slow motion replay from the right angle, I don't see a problem with that.

Ultimately the dubious goals panel will make the decision one way or the other and that will be the end of the matter.

First up ie one look at it it, looked like Gueye went for it and connected beautifully.Had no doubts at all. 

I'm sure he'll keep it and its important to us that he does.

[tonyoz]

Agreed. He went for that cross and not even a defender’s head in the way was stopping him. 

Edited December 11, 2024 by tonyoz

[Crimpshrine]

1 hour ago, martonrover said:

I think credit goes to his two assistants, too.

You see them drilling the players, (particularly the defenders),  pre-match, and it's well organised and purposeful.

They are definitely not just here because they are the head coach's mates.

I wonder how much coaching McFadz gets involved in. He certainly seems very influential in terms of motivation and team spirit. It looks like a sensible decision to keep him around this season despite him not getting on the pitch very much

 

[47er]

9 hours ago, Neal said:

playing out from the back all the time. 

Every week you see goals coming from this, including in the Premier League. There's been some near misses with Pears as well.

If you must,start the possession game well out of the danger area. I can see the point of it but does it lead to more net goals? (No pun intended!)

[Mike E]

27 minutes ago, Crimpshrine said:

I wonder how much coaching McFadz gets involved in. He certainly seems very influential in terms of motivation and team spirit. It looks like a sensible decision to keep him around this season despite him not getting on the pitch very much

 

Particularly notable vs Burnley, how much he was talking to the defence while ‘warming up’. He must’ve ’warmed up’ for the whole game.

I think Mowbray did something similar re: using senior players as additional coaches/motivators. Can only be a good thing, and if Fadz told me to do something I’d fucking do it:

[ben_the_beast]

32 minutes ago, 47er said:

Every week you see goals coming from this, including in the Premier League. There's been some near misses with Pears as well.

If you must,start the possession game well out of the danger area. I can see the point of it but does it lead to more net goals? (No pun intended!)

We've struck a good balance with playing out from the back. Recently we've seen a few lovely moves starting in the defence resulting in goals. But at the same time, if it's not on we've been going long. Eustice seems to have the players trusting their instincts rather than rigidly sticking to one philosophy. 

[cesus]

15 minutes ago, ben_the_beast said:

We've struck a good balance with playing out from the back. Recently we've seen a few lovely moves starting in the defence resulting in goals. But at the same time, if it's not on we've been going long. Eustice seems to have the players trusting their instincts rather than rigidly sticking to one philosophy. 

I agree with this, there seems to be no ego from Eustace or the players. We battle, work hard and keep the game simple. Russell Martin this season, Vincent Kompany last season seemed to push their own arrogance and ego at the detriment of their own players capabilities.

[MarkBRFC]

12 hours ago, only2garners said:

When was the last time we won 4 away games in a row?

Last season.

[den]

3 hours ago, norwichblue said:

I love seeing these videos. That “togetherness” that Eustace is instilling on complete show. All the lads buzzing. All the fans buzzing. The way Trav just fucking loves winning. The celebration from Gueye.

Feels good being a Rovers fan right now!

RTID 🔵⚪️🌹 

Gueye’s still a crap footballer but he does make people smile. Can’t help but like him.

Anyone else remember crap strikers that did that? I can’t.

[G Somerset Rover]

Not posted for some time due to being caught up in family stuff, but just to say hats off to Eustace - I've given him some stick but he is getting so much right at the club at the minute. IMO exemplified at the weekend when he made Tronstad captain; it would have been so easy to give it to Hyam but he's clearly spotted that Dom is performing exceptionally without the burden of captaincy. 

Little things like that, the team spirit and belief he's instilled (just look at the final whistle) tells me we have a good one. A couple of smart January signings (yes I know), is the least this guy deserves.

[chaddyrovers]

3 hours ago, norwichblue said:

I love seeing these videos. That “togetherness” that Eustace is instilling on complete show. All the lads buzzing. All the fans buzzing. The way Trav just fucking loves winning. The celebration from Gueye.

Feels good being a Rovers fan right now!

RTID 🔵⚪️🌹 

Same here, the bond between the players, Eustace and his staff plus the fans is clear to see. 

Eustace and the players must take huge credit for the current results and performances. 

PNE fans last night very quiet at work