joey_big_nose

I know hes a big guy so tempting to play it hugh, but think Gueyes pace could make a big impact here. Theres a lot of space all over the pitch and he can get in behind.

Id bring JRC on at right back, Gueye up front, and Buckley into midfield to get his foot on the ball.

Really horrendous performance... Lets see if Eustace can turn it around. Its very open and lots of room, just the passing has been horrendous. Total absence of quality.

You can see he can beat a full back straightaway... it's rare to get that straight out of a new signing. Last new winger who came in and could obviously beat a full back is a while ago. Probably Khadra? So while he hasn't pulled up any trees I am optimistic about him. Do agree that it would be good though if we saw him go outside the full back as much as inside. Part of why Saka is so brilliant as he can do both so well, so I hope mini Saka has the same approach.

I know arbitro is a referee so you will be far more interested in his opinion than mine (as you should be!) but it seemed to me that it was a red. He was fully lunging studs up into the top of the ankle. Really really dangerous one. The QPR players had very few complaints.

On Gueye - every game he played up to Burnley he looked like he could hurt defences at will, but was completely ineffective this afternoon and when he came on against Preston. Hopefully just a blip. I guess he might start on Tuesday as we rotate the team. It would be very disappointing if he shrunk as a player as he looked completely transformational on his first few games. On Yuki - he's a great finisher, dangerous on the edge or in the box. But we aren't going to get much out of him if he's deeper than that. Doesn't have the pace, skill or strength to worry a defender 40 yards out from goal. Good at pressing without the ball though. It's a conundrum as they're kind of opposites really. Gueye on form is the ideal link up player but a poor finisher, while Yuki can finish but not really link up. And while they could maybe work as a partnership I can't see us doing it as we will aways want a number 10 in our system.

Thought it was interesting that Buckley got the captaincy when he came on. Seems like a big vote of confidence to me. I wonder if Eustace's view is we'll be aggressive, take the bookings and rotate the squad when suspensions come in. To be honest the schedule is so ludicrous across the next few months players need to be rested anyway suspension or not.

Yeah Travis genuinely looked like hes moved p a couple of levels... Him and Tronstad worked very well together with Somdre dropping off to cover and Travis finding space. Travis had a real play maker role which ive never seen him do so effectively before. Great long and short passing.

No, Hedges played left back.

Love that we're 2-0 up and we can roll out Big Mak...

Been really impressed with Travis. Hes passing the ball much much better than he normally does. Apart from a silly yellow its been a really first rate performance from him. Dolan has been very good too. Hedges needs hooking but I dont think we have another left foot to come in on that side.

I guess it comes down to Eustace's philosophy for home games against mid table opposition. Do we setup to try and score, or to not concede? I am really not sure at the moment. He's a hard one to read... seems defensively focused but has had the team quite attacking at times, and the players we have bought have tended to be more offensive. Will be interesting what he goes for. I would like to see someone start in the centre of the pitch who can pass the ball forward (Cantwell, Wieman or Buckley). But to do that will mean either dropping one of Travis or Tronstad which seems very unlikely, or putting a ball player in at number 10 or playing a three in the midfield. The age old problem we have had of not wanting to drop good pressing players (Dolan, Hedges, Gallagher last season) for ones who can pass the ball...

He's a real quality player. Surprised that QPR have managed to hold onto him for so long. Would have thought a parachute club would have got him by now.

I think playing both Carter and Pickering as full backs in a back four will be a problem personally... neither provide the outlet needed... So I would maybe consider moving to the below. Brittain has been preferred to JRC at right back but if JRC is properly fit Id like to see him have another shot. Pears JRC/Britain Carter Hyam Pickering Travis Tronstad Wiemann Dolan Hedges Gueye I'd think about going to a back 3 as it suits our players better imo, but it's hard to justify when our defensive record has been so good.

Hedges did okay imo, except his final ball which can be said about everyone in the team. Worst player by far was Baker imo, did nothing.

I was a bit surprised given we had an extra man that we didnt get Brittain on to give us a better delivery in from the right. Carter over lapped a couple of times, but think Brittain would have had more joy. Our balls into the box were atrocious.

Really poor game quality wise... So disappointing we did so little with the extra man. Happens so much... The key thing is to make sure you get the balance right in midfield to use the ball and make the right passes but we didn't do that... Even when we brought Wieman and Cantwell on.

My bad, swore he got a yellow earlier

Well he was on a yellow so he would have still gone off!

Red card changes the calculations completely... Gueye on is a no brainer... Cozier - Duberry as well to run at them. But we need someone to come in and pass the ball well as they will sit deep. Is Cantwell fit enough? Will he be disciplined to come deep and pickup the ball? Feels like we should give it a go with the extra man.

Feels like this game is made for Ohashi and Gueye up front together. Id take Baker, Dolan, Hedges off for Britain, Wieman and Gueye. Go 352 and see how their cbs handle that...

Oh if they offer it hes going to take it. No second tier manager in the history of football has refused a top tier job. But I cant see how board or whoever will decide picking a manager in the Championship who has achieved so little (so far) as a good idea.

Now though? I mean he won 4 games in 18 I think last season at Rovers... And in 22/23 - the main season he was at Birmingham as he signed October 22 - they finished 17th (!!). Its a massive for a premier league club to go for a manager whose record has been pretty poor in the Championship except a run of games at Birmingham at the start of last season and five games with Rovers this season... I cant see it personally. Just very hard to justify a premier league appointment on that data.

Maybe... but one good thing about the way the Championship works is if your manager is worth nicking he's usually got you promoted, or at least in the playoffs. And if he gets you promoted he's going to stick around. A prem team isn't going to have any interest in your manager unless he has a promotion. Same for top Championship clubs. It would be quite weird for him to miss out on promotion/playoff and also get nicked by another club. I think we should be able to keep him for this season and next. The main risk of him leaving would be if he felt he wasn't getting supported by the club in the transfer market, but tbh he's got a lot of good players in this summer so he's probably feeling pretty positive on that score. So the recruitment team and owners needs to keep that up over the next few windows and it will be okay.

I think we could play 2 up top if we took a leaf out of Luton's book from a couple of years ago and go 352. Pears Carter Hyam Pickering Brittain Travis Tronstad Beck Dolan/Wieman Yuki Gueye I reckon that would work very well. Beck's made for that marauding LWB role. Quite like to see that lineup at somepoint (though obviously wouldn't change anything at the moment given the run we are on). In terms of this game I would stick with same team as Bristol - with Gueye, Cantwell, Wieman, Cozier-Duberry, Pickering, SIgurdsson, Brittain, Buckley, JRC all available to come on if needed. Can't think of when we have had so much on the bench.