Has systemd broken Debian this time?

So, I decided to try Debian 10. The install was uneventful. Fun started when I wanted to "remove" systemd, using the recipe given here before: install install sysv-rc and sysvinit-core. It worked but... it removed network-manager and lightdm (and others I did not have time to write down). AT the next reboot there is a looooong wait at: starting system message : dbus, then all I get is a command line login. I log and there is another delay before getting a prompt. Network in unreachable and I can hardly install without it :(( I had installed with xfce, I can try with some other DE. Or install TDE and hope removing systemd won't wreck everything beyond repair... Anyone got Buster running without systemd? Otherwise I'll wait for Devuan to release its Buster equivalent. Thierry