Many more years of disappointment await.

Cantwell spent much of the game wide, Eustace got his tactics wrong. He doesnt track back as much as others, he isnt the quickest but you want your technical players in the centre at the heart of things. On the ball, Dolan hasnt got anywhere near the same quality. You mention him getting goals from there, none since the opening day suggests the move hasnt really done that. Hedges isnt a particularly good crosser, but even considering this stuff around the number 10. Why would you pick Dolan over Cantwell if the rest of your argument is to play around Gueye? Exactly. This idea that he cannot possibly be a right back under Eustace is totally unfounded. He is so much better when he has space in front of him. Ive mentioned Brett Emerton before, he isnt otherwise similar but Emerton also struggled when having to attack players from a position higher up. He also is a better one on one defender than Brittain.

He hasnt started scoring any more since he moved central, no goals since the opening day. Cantwell is a flair player, stick him out wide and youll maybe not get the work rate tracking back that others can offer. The difference is that Cantwell has far more quality on the ball than Dolan or indeed anyone else in the squad. Its a position where you want your most talented player in, and he is that.

I just cant see him dropping him a game before a 2 week break. He also might be wary of upsetting him. Either way, I cant see it but managers dont always make the right decisions.

The above shows why it is uninspiring. And thats why its not the front 4 that I want. I would like to see the one player we have with a bit of guile and flair and the one player we have who has any interest in taking players on. JRC has played his best football at right back.

Manager contracts are not the same as players whereby you might act a bit quicker to tie them down to retain asset value etc. No rush to give him a new deal.

Pears will play the next 8 games sadly. I have seen enough over his Rovers career to know that he costs us far more than he saves. Why would you put Dolan in the middle who flatters to deceive in favour of a player who is obviously our best technical player by some way and also is perhaps defensively not the best?

What an uninspiring front 4 that is. Our only flair and our only directness on the bench. Tronstad doesnt deserve dropping either.

Toth Rankin Costello Carter Hyam Pickering Travis Tronstad Cozier Duberry Cantwell Weimann Gueye I think that we need to bring in Toth. We know that Pears is never far from a mistake, it made sense to keep him in but he had a shocker last night and we know more mistakes will be round the corner. I would make a change now, Eustace wont. Playing Carter at RB was only ever going to work short term but him there against anyone with pace is an accident waiting to happen. We have a player with history of being a good Champipnship right back who has been hindered by use as a utility man, put him back at RB and give the defence more balance. I think Eustace will stick with the same back 4 unless Brittain is deemed fit enough. The attacking midfield positions are the most uncertain. Cozier Duberry has to start to give us directness we lack. Cantwell needs to play centrally, the question mark is the left hand side which was neglected in the summer. Weimann, Hedges, Dolan, Sigurdsson, its all much of a muchness, any of them can start, not as bothered who. I think Eustace will take Cantwell back out and restore Hedges. Up top, its time for a change. I think Eustace might agree. Not totally convinced by Gueye yet but I would hand him a start.

Probably zero. No point costing mistakes and no making saves he isnt entitled to make/arent fairly routine to earn us points. But he will lose us points over a season.

He is one player mentioned in a post about a number of players that prompted further discussion once I was asked about the comments made. Had I just come on and criticised him alone then you may have had a point. I think questioning his all round play (whilst commending him on his finishing ability) is fair. He isnt fast, he isnt strong and he struggles to contribute when he doesnt score. Had I jumped to conclusions saying hes shit/he isnt good enough then again fair enough, but I didnt. He obviously wasnt the only one to struggle tonight, basically everyone did.

Social media is full of posts desperate to paint Rovers fans as desperate to moan and reeling in seeing us lose but I actually think tonight highlighted some concerns that were already there. You cant say our start hasnt been very good but suggestions of a play off push etc seemed premature. After conceding 6 goals in 4 games, we have looked stronger in defence lately, but the 3 clean sheets have come twice in games where the opposition has had 10 men, and the third against an abject Bristol City side. We deserved praise for how we set up on those days but Pears has not been tested too often and he is never far away from a howler, over the course of the season he will cost us far more points than he earns us. We faced an attack with pace in it and our slow defence was run ragged, with Carter exposed as a centre back playing out of position, Wright tortured him. We have scored a good amount of goals but it has felt more due to being clinical with a few wonder goals rather than as a result of a well balanced attack. There is an imbalance with many of our attackers wanting to all play in central areas, Cantwell is the most talented but he was a liability when he was further wide and has to be in the middle. The lack of pace was not addressed in the summer, Cozier Duberry looks to be a bit different to the rest in that he looks to commit full backs but even he is desperate to come inside. The likes of Dolan and Hedges will always have more ineffective games than effective and Weimann whilst being a cleverer player than either doesnt have the legs compared to when he was a real consistent threat at this level. Up front we have 2 strikers signed for cheap from a relegated Belgian side and the Japanese league and we are still figuring them out. Ohashi is a mixture of brilliant composure in front of goal yet offers absolutely nothing else to the side so when he doesnt score, he may aswell not be playing. Gueye needs to prove that he can couple his physicality with a goal threat but both are still to show exactly how effective they are and how they can compliment those around them over the course of the season. There is justifiably a lot of talk about the extra character in the side especially with more experience but I found todays performance to be a strong example of what we have seen in years gone by. A midweek away game where nobody really showed up and we were comfortably dispatched, by a side with quality but one that had been in terrible form.

I am not criticising his lack of goals in those 3 games. But his lack of all round game has been a factor in our disjointed attack. He isnt strong and he cant hold the ball up and bring others into play. He is quite slow and doesnt really offer an option in behind or in the channels. And technically his passes can often be loose and go astray. I think he clearly is an excellent finisher when he gets the chance, but when he doesnt score he doesnt offer anything.

Gueye deserves a chance because Ohashi has done nothing for 3 games. But ive not seen much slagging off and one cross did go right to him and he totally misjudged it and it just bounced off him.

Dreadful performance, disjointed, slow, sloppy, very poor all round. Pears is never far away from that sort of performance. Spilt 2 and got fortunate and their third goal is an embarassment. Time to get Toth in. Carter played the first real pacy winger that he has come across and failed miserably out of position. We need to get JRC at right back and drop one of the 3 centre backs currently in the side, possibly Batth. In attack, as many have said and despite the comments about positive recruitment, we badly needed pace and didnt get it. Ohashi was invisible again, Cantwell needs to play centrally but looked like he would rather be anywhere else, Weimann didnt do anything and Dolan a lovely mix of needless tricks and a suicidal back pass. Cozier Duberry at least offered glimpses of a threat and needs to start at Plymouth. Special shout out for £10m man Buckley for as bad a cameo as you could wish to see.

We didnt when Szmodics, Wharton, Armstrong, Rhodes, Gestede, Cairney, Hanley and Duffy were sold. Their major sales were last summer, I dont think they sold much this summer but still spent a bit.

Speaking well on TV doesnt mean anything in terms of management.

They definitely are not similar to us in terms of reinvestment. They have spent loads of the Gyokeres/Hamer etc money on a number of players, many of whom (Simms, Wright, Van Ewijk etc) did very well last season.

Im ok for spending my evening listening to what Graham Potter thinks about Dan Ashworth. What I do know is that Ten Hag is doing a very poor job as United manager, they have absolutely no sign of any gameplan despite a side assembled full of players Ten Hag has worked with before, he doesnt seem capable of motivating them, I have no idea what he is even trying to do and results are getting worse and worse. And long may it continue.

Youve still not said why Ten Hag as an individual deserves to be backed with more time. Youve still not displayed any suggestion of what style of play you can see that Ten Hag has shown signs of implementing. Youve still not explained why Ten Hag is likely to break this supposed third season curse with an improvement in results, probably because they are getting worse and worse. Youve not said one thing about Ten Hag and his work at United which would be an argument in favour of keeping him at the club. He has already had loads of time, loads of money and the influence to sign loads of players he specifically wants and they keep getting worse. If they have a structure which for whatever reason you are sure is a good one, despite another summer with considerable spending including on players Ten Hag has worked with before. But if thats changed for the better, then surely you also bring in a manager that can improve on the terrible results and total absence of any plan or playing style to compliment that structure. Hopefully they stick with him and continue to be a laughing stock though.

Just to add some context: - I asked if he has ever won a header (had forgotten his header v Stoke) in response to someone suggesting that maybe he is selected for his height. He certainly is not a notable aerial threat, but he is a wide man, so its not something you would expect. Either way, I don't think his height gets him into the team, and it certainly shouldnt. It isnt really a criticism of a wide player to suggest that he isnt a threat in the air. - Being good enough or not is relative to what the task is. Im fine with him being a squad player. He isnt good enough IMO to warrant a regular starting place because as I said, I dont think he is productive enough. - The talķ of him living off one goal came as a direct response to a poster asking if it had been forgotten when defending him. Obviously it was a brilliant goal, but it was very much a one off, not a regular occurence. I dont think he does live off that goal in general, it was just a direct reaction to that being used as a defence. As I said, Mokoena once scored a 30 yard worldie, that was a one off too. You mention about him being involved in 15% of our goals. That is a goal at Norwich which was an excellent finish but as I said, his goal record across his Rovers career is poor for an attacking player. His other contribution ws helping the ball on to Ohashi v Bristol City, not that far in their half and by the touchline. He then ran forward a fair way, cut in and curled one into the top corner so it doesnt really change much!

I would understand more in terms of defending set pieces but again he isnt really an asset in that regard.

The odd example, but I certainly dont think he is selected even 1% for his height. Most likely a combination of him being a hard worker and experienced player, and due to a lack of fit enough alternatives.

You keep going off on a tangent about previous managers. United consistently play in such a disorganised way, with everyone scratching their heads as to what he is trying to do. League results for over a year have led to embarassing league positions. The way the team is playing is down to the manager, why after watching that would your response be to back him for a further extended period?! What do you see about Uniteds performances and results makes you justify such a stance? What style is he trying to adopt (he has been there ages now, hes not new) and do you see signs that its working? If we had a manager who was overseeing terrible results relative to who we are, and absolutely no signs of any sort of game plan. Would you want him to then be backed for an extended period?

The issues when Steve Kean was here went far beyond him as an individual, same with Owen Coyle. Venkys were and always have been the problem. It didnt mean that we may aswell have stuck with terrible managers because they werent the main problem. I cant fathom how sacking a manager who finished 8th and is currently 12th with absolutely zero evidence of any style of play/any clue on how to set up the team effectively (unless you can tell me what you have seen from them in terms of a style and/or green shots of something coming together) creates any more problems. A new, competent manager wouldnt fix all of the problems, but it would fix one big one.