Great point. Probably best to judge JE’s current intentions when the transfer window is shut. From a leadership point of view, the best would publicly back the squad they have and then plot to replace them all with better over time. I done know much about JE other than the lads (current and former players) are “havin” him. The Big Sam Interview with SS was very good. Well worth an hour of anyone’s time, the bit where they dissect JDT and JE, and then contrast the ‘head coach’ vs ‘Man manager’ methodology is interesting.. JDT is the former. JE, the latter and Big Sam is vocal on which type he thinks is the best. Without spoiling, JE - ‘Man manager’, focuses less on a specific style of play and more on moulding the group psychologically and tactically to ‘get the job done’. Interested to know which of the current crop of youngsters you think will come through next. Gilsenan is the only one I’ve seen up close and think is special…expect Leonard and Garrett to progress. Really rate Sam Barnes too but he’s had a terrible time with injuries. Who else is worth keeping an eye on?

Weird point though, considering we signed 7 players last summer and 6 the year before though mate. Completely understand if you were questioning us spending the £7-10m we need to get us back on track. There’s absolutely no evidence in previous behaviour that this is likely. I’d suggest we’d be odds on to sign between 5-8 players, based on recent history.

Out of interest, what makes you think we won’t sign 7/8 players, bearing in mind we’ve signed 5, 6 and 7 players respectively for the last 3 summers? I think, all things told, new manager, FFP now not really a problem, Swag and his ego back at the wheel plus the inevitable SS sale and the obvious gaps in the squad, that 7/8 signings is a real possibility….what we actually spend in fees etc is another question entirely. The numbers say they can prob spend £7-10m. Wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest if we sold SS, took another slab of cash for AW, plus the Raya money and spent £1m on fees, a few frees and loans! #manageddecline

Szmodics on JDT and JE was good. JDT the tactician and JE as the man manager. Was interesting to hear Big Sam’s take on it. Clearly believes in the JE ‘Pragmatic’ style over ego fuelled ‘Head coach’ methodology. I think it’s horses for courses. In a well funded, well run club, JDT would thrive…but his inability to relent on his style in order to pick up a few points in a shit show like Rovers would’ve meant almost certainly relegation. JE is the type of ‘Manager’ who focuses on motivating his squad and isn’t too wedded to a style or pattern of play. Meaning his isn’t as tactically astute, but he is more likely to ‘find a way’… Based on that interaction, I’d say JE is better suited for us right now.

Rosenior sacked at Hull!!? 👀🤣🤣

Eustace, McFadz and Fleck were Waggot signings, 100%. They came just after Swag and Co had emancipated Gregg over the American and planned JDT’s removal. I could see it a mile off at the time, and there’s been no evidence to the contrary since. Gregg had chosen JDT and the signings up to the end of January. Swag and Co decided enough was enough, primed the new team and took back control. I’ll be very surprised if Gregg is here in July.

True, plus one good season in the championship and you’re going to get a big move, potentially into the Premier League. Do you think we’ll spend 7-10m this summer? Every club, bar Real Madrid is a stepping stone. There aren’t many positives at Rovers but attracting players who know that we have a history of creating that platform is a good thing.

Do you think we still have a chance with McGuire? I’d have thought we’d pissed in our chips there?

If we’re letting O’riordan go out on loan then we defo need a Champ CB, plus McFadz. Imo

Chrisene permanent would help us cover LB, LWB and CM. 👍🏼👍🏼

GK - NEW / Pears / Leo RB - Brittain / New (Loan) / JRC LB - Pickering / NEW CB - Hyam / Carter / O’Riordan / Wharton / New (Mcfadz - Free) CM - JRC / Trondstadt / Travis / Buckley / Garrett Forwards - Hedges / Markanday / Siggy / Leonard Then - SS (unlikely) / Gally (Hopefully not) / Dolan (probably not) / Telalovic (hopefully not) So we need 4x forwards (2x wide players and 2x Strikers) In total - 4x New permanent cash signings. (GK, LB, ST, Winger) Think Hyam and Szmod esque, Championship experience. Then 4 loans / Free (RB, CB, ST, Winger) Disclaimer - I am not saying we WILL do this or that we WILL spend the following amount, but after the Wharton sale, Raya cash and expected £15m for SS we SHOULD be spending £10m+ on fees this summer.

I think we I would add McFadz on loan and a CM but JE did say the focus would be on the 2-3 areas not signings. 1) Forwards 2) keepers and then 3) some defensive cover

It’s sad, takes a lot for me to subscribe to any type of doom but the facts are stark mate. Once you see it, you can’t ‘un-see it’ right? 😞

This is no more Eustace’s fault than it is Ten Hag’s fault at United. Both clubs are rotten. Rovers are in a process of ‘managed decline’. The budget gets cut every year, and it shows…in the stadium, around the ground and on the pitch. I saw a table this week showing that only Rotherham had a smaller wage budget than us this season. Eustace has a good name within football. He’s well regarded by some of the old pros I know and you will struggle to find a fan of Birmingham or Kidderminster who have a bad word to say about him. I’m not advocating him and the jury is still out for me but, Blackburn Rovers make it hard for any manager on the planet to succeed. Look at the January window for example. We had won one game since November and they loan out the club captain, sell the most prestigious talent we’ve had in recent history and then buy no one and ‘forget’ to press send on the American Striker we wanted to sign. Add this to last Summers clusterfuck, the O’brien fuck up the January before then and the Rothwell for Dembele and Jed Wallace the January before that, and you’d be forgiven for thinking someone at the club actually wants us to go down. They haven’t made it easy for any manager…that’s for sure. Im relaxed-ish about today. Because honestly, the curve we’re on means even if we survive, it’s only a matter of time before we go down. Hope change is around the corner.

Most likely, though I can see us playing and extra man in midfield like Chrisene and starting Dolan on the bench.

A terrible offensive performance but nevertheless a first clean sheet since November and a point on the road are huge positives. As are 5pts in 4 games since the managerial change vs 5pts in the previous 11. If Dolan pops that chance away and we win 1-0 then it’s a peak Allardyce style win. But the more I watch JE, the more I get Hughes vibes. Hughes focused initially on being hard to beat, creating a togetherness ‘us against the world’ and deploying a pragmatic approach. Then once the base was set, added those attacking patterns and suddenly you have a very capable team. For as long as the lads are behind him, JE has the chance to turn the ship around. I said a week ago that I didn’t expect to see a Eustace style team until we were safe and most likely not until next season. I stand by that…

Here’s how I would line up… Pears Hyam. McFadz. Wharton Brittain. Sondre. Ayari. . Hedges Dolan. Szmodics Gally Subs - Leo, O’riordan, Chrisene, Buckley, Garrett, Siggy, Moran, Telalovic I quite liked the look of Ayari in the cameos I’ve seen. With the injuries mentioned plus the form of Garrett and Bucko not ready to start, I’d give him a chance. Although, the player I think JE was talking about who may play out of position, in there is Chrisene. When he first arrived, I remember reading that he had played CM and a few Villa fans actually saying it was his best position. My heart says 1-2 to Rovers but my head says this has a draw written all over it.

Argh come on, give the guy a break. He’s into a new job, post January window and he needs another 4 wins in 15 from a group who had won 1 in 11 prior to him turning up. He doesn’t have a great chance to coach them or change anything in terms of style. This gig, until the summer is 100% man management. It’s ensuring that every single player is having you and is dialled in. From a media point of view, he’s being asked the same questions over and over and answering them the same, because the only thing he can do, with games coming every Saturday and Tuesday is bring the group together and send them out to war. I don’t expect we’ll see anything in terms of style of play until next season. On a side note, weirdly I have a lot of family connections in Birmingham and they’re never shy of chatting shit about Rovers vs their beloved blues and to a man, they love Eustace - “brilliant man manager, tactically sound, we scored goals and kept them out”. Every single one of them want him back and two of them are tipping him to get us promoted next season!!! So let’s not write him off yet.

I have no problems with GB. My assertion of his situation is based on the change in behaviour from everything recruitment based being about him, to the plug being pulled on the McGuire deal, Mcfadz and Fleck turning up and then Eustace. All of whom smelled nothing like data driven, Nordic based Broughton and reek of Swag. I’ve since heard that ‘the club’ were aghast that GB had agreed to pay £5m for Mcguire and this set off a chain of events. GB has not been pictured or seen anywhere publicly (other than the games). His only outside communication on his personal LinkedIn. Swag has moved to hush the constant yapping of JDT and completely emancipated GB. Now all there is, is for Swags boys to pull this around and ‘save’ the club from relegation and it’s mission complete. The LET article on his position is very telling… The only way Greg stays is if he agrees to be Swags errand boy. My guess is he’s already officially gone and working his notice until the summer or they’re letting the dust settle before it happens. Let’s see…

Greg is done. My guess is that he’s working an extended notice period to hand over / end the several aspects of his role. The writing was on the wall as soon as the McGuire deal got pulled and then Waggot started signing players and a manager from his little black book IF they keep the DOF role, it wouldnt surprise me to see Jonty get it. That’s what he’s aiming for. Lets see…

Ahhh so it turns out, Greg IS on shaky ground and in spite of his role, it was indeed Waggott who hired Eustace and based on what we’ve seen, also brought in McFadz and Fleck whilst stopping the McGuire purchase. Who would’ve thought!! 👀🤣

This didn’t age well mate 🙈🤣🤣👍🏼

Yeah….because we only EVER speak to people we directly work with during a specific time. We don’t form our network from long-standing relationships in the places we work and talk to people afterwards about how this guy is doing or how that person is to work with. Oh wait…. It’s fine if you don’t agree with me, or believe it. I’m ok with watching how it unfolds going forwards. As I said, it’s just a hunch, fingers crossed, GB will come out very soon (as he does after every window) and tell us all about how he instigated those signings and the targeting of Eustace. 🤞🏽 Q - Is there no part of you that thinks GB is inconspicuously quiet? Oh, and as far as I can see, Gregg, who never misses a chance to do the PR ‘standard’ welcoming handshake piccy with new signings, was last seen doing this with McGuire, (the one that “fell through”) and maybe it’s me, so feel free to correct me if I’m wrong, but I haven’t seen a single picture of him welcoming McFadz? Fleck? Eustace? Probably just a coincidence, let’s see…. 👀

Like o say, just a hunch…I for one have never been against GB and JDT. I just felt a wind of change in the couple of weeks before this came to a head and Gregg has been nowhere to be seen. IF those late signings and Eustace were the work of GB then great..hopefully we’ll hear from him very soon, right? I just don’t think they are… Either way, the two older lads do seem to trace back to Eustace which shows an element of forward planning. But, then was it Eustace who pulled the plug on McGuire preferring to spend any cash they do have, himself in the summer?

duplicate so deleted.