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People call it a two team league because, by and large, only two teams ever win it. You have to go back to 1985, 40 years ago, to find another winner. Celtic have won 13 of the last 14 titles, so it's more like a one team league these days. Of course there are other teams there, but the suggestion is that they are mainly there to make up the numbers, which is difficult to argue. That's not to say the other teams don't have value - of course they do. It's just not very exciting for an outsider when you know the same team is pretty much always going to take the title. Fans of the other teams can have hope of their club getting into Europe, or avoiding relegation against the odds, or winning one of the domestic cups, so for those invested in an SPL team it's not a total loss. It's just a shame the odds are so heavily stacked in one team's favour (two technically, but again, 13/14 of the last league titles have gone to Celtic). Another team challenging at the top is great to see. Even if Hearts don't get there this year, I hope they can build on this base and become a genuine threat in future years. It can only be a positive for the competition as a whole.

But he has been churning out trophy after trophy in that time. Palmer himself forced the exit. Players that with regular game time elsewhere turn into stars are just collateral damage. Rogers has taken years of regular football to get to where he is now. The player that joined Boro was miles away.

Typical Rovers approach: ascertain the bare minimum they can get away with, shave a bit more off and crack on with the resultant husk. Surprised at not being open at all before Tuesday... we must be the only business not doing a post-Christmas sale. Could have had one big messy one-off sale and tickets job at Roverstore today... kids with Christmas money, little to no other local matches on, etc., etc. Ho hum. It must be those pesky fans not cementing their plans a week out in the busiest and most expensive time of year that are to blame.

Watched Newcastle last night against a poor United side, and theyve been on a few times this season. If Gordon is England's first choice left winger then its a problem. Quick but so poor in the final third, has been all season.

I think that's the easy answer when a manager fails to make the most of a talent, say De Bruyne and Mo Salah at Chelsea. Their departures should be huge negative marks in Mourinho's record. To me, Guardiola has been carried away with putting together a cosmopolitan squad and overlooked certain youth players. There might be an element of snobbery in there too, when it comes to a Cole Palmer, when we know how well Guardiola gets on with the multilingual 'thinkers,' eg. Gundogan.

They wouldnt have played, especially Rogers. The Rogers that left and went to Boro (?) would not have had a sniff around Foden, KDB etc. So he wouldnt have come on as he has done going elsewhere. Even Palmer would have been slower getting into a team with such quality so wouldnt have come on as much.

Val has his limitations but he's doing alright with what's available to him. It obviously helps that the division is such a shitshow this season. Some of his recent comments have been very interesting reading between the lines. He himself identified the fans' discontent goes back many years, which combined with the comment about this being the most difficult challenge of his career and the club being run in an unusual way, was certainly him indirectly pointing the finger in Suhail and Venky's direction. Perhaps subtly enough that they wouldn't pick up on it, or at least he'd have plausible deniability. Self-preservation, for sure, but not the actions of a total yes man.

Obviously the correct treatment is to not include them. My point is, you and others are pointing out his good man management and the great team spirit. I dont see how there is any evidence or foundation to use that as a positive specifically to attribute to Ismael. In fact, players within the squad not training properly, not giving 100% in games or being questioned outside of football would if anything be red flags. The main barometer for any manager is results. Ismael's overall have been poor. Obviously with him being currently employed by the club, besides a very brief blip last season, you will go on full unequivocal propaganda mode.

Teams play more defensively away from home so he hasn't got the players to cut through or to put the few chances away.

Have to agree there. Wolves are down, Edwards job is all about next season and building a squad for promotion push next season Keith Andrews is doing a very good job at Brentford Burnley don't have the quality to stay up On West Ham, They need a goalscorer up front but other quality players signings needed but they are in this position cos of poor recruitment and poor decisions from their owners. Their squad just look poor and don't look like a team so Pep wouldn't have develop them into the players they are today?

Still on the books. 5 PL2 games for the U21s this season. Plus 2 PL Cup, 2 National League Cup.

You're deliberately missing the point here and you know it. Besides, it's not even January yet so we'll see how things stand towards the end of the season before concluding this isn't going to finish the same way that 110 of the 135 SPL seasons have finished.

and what did Ismael do with players not training properly? he dropped them from the match day squad. wouldn't you have done similar or not? do the players not have their own self responsible for not training properly? 4 points in the last 2 games against top 6 side and we see the match day squad playing for Ismael and for each other, and the supporters. the squad need readjust due to Ismael changing results to get points on the board. Also he has brought Litherland, Pratt, Diamini, Atcheson into the squad and they look fine and in the case of Litherland and Pratt you wouldn't know they were in their first few games at this level

I'm sorry that you don't like your opinions to be questioned.

So Hearts are top, you think Celtic are threatening and Rangers are not that far behind? Thats 3 teams isn’t it?

For a start, he isnt very good in the air. Even when he wins it, it isnt particularly accurate. I dont think hes good enough to be the main central defender. I think he is more suited to the left side.

Does Jake Batty play football at any level for us anymore? I remember him going to Stanley and playing quite a lot for them last season but haven't heard much this season.

And subsequently they wouldnt have been the players they are today had they stayed. People often mention it as if they let current day Rogers and Palmer leave. Not quite the same but there are similarities with Raya here. He was let go on the cheap but had be stayed, he certainly wouldnt have developed into who he is today, after 7 or 8 years in the Premier League, training with top class players and coaches etc.

what's wrong with McLoughlin in the centre?

I bet you didn't even have to look that up either.

Im not sure he has fully united the dressing room. I think youd have to go back to the Murphy/Etuhu days where it was clear that 100% wasnt being put in. But we have had problems of players not training properly this season according to Ismael himself, seemingly wasters like Gueye and Tavares. Also Kargbo not bothering to track back leading to a goal, public comments about Carter's preparation. There have definitely been performances full of grit and real character but also ones showing a real fragility. I certainly wouldnt be able to commit to bigging up Ismael's man management as a positive. There is certainly a lot of merit to the argument that he has been left with a poor and imbalanced squad, even if he has seemingly played a big part in endorsing the players hes been left with. And he isnt in the Kean and Coyle category. But I certainly havent been impressed with or warmed to his management overall.

Yes. The US has the worst of any of them. Mainly because it funds and enables most of those mentioned and more. North Korea, DRC, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan and Sudan are only in the state they're in because of US involvement. FIFA constantly say that we should keep politics out of football (which is impossible) yet they're more than willing to get involved in the politics when it suits them lining their own pockets. An absolute reprehensible organisation which needs to be gotten rid of and replaced by something fit for purpose.

They had a buy-back option on Rogers. Palmer forced a move away - they wanted to keep him, but couldn't guarantee him the game time he wanted.

Let’s summarise the position here… - Rovers sell digital tickets online - the Sheff Weds tickets are digital - home fans can still buy them via SWFC - away fans can’t buy them from Rovers nor Wednesday (for away areas of Hillsborough) Its boff all to do with staff “holiday entitlements”, the club shop sometimes not opening on Mondays or revenge for the boycott call. Someone, somewhere, with authority at Rovers has decided to take them off sale on the Rovers website. The key questions to ask are “who” & “why” because I can’t think of any positive reason for this course of action. 🤷‍♂️