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I dont. And not in the patronising way you imply, where I am just being a bit thick. Ive yet to see an explanation as to why specific clubs benefit from someone who "knows the club" rather than just finding the best possible manager ignoring whether hes been there before.

Absolutely. Its a tired old cliche spurted out often by poor quality pundits. In Celtic's case, any joe bloggs would likely guide them to the title to be fair with the resources they have. And if its literally just a couple of weeks interim appointment, makes little difference. But in general, why do people deem it as so important? In what scenario does it outrank just getting the best possible manager to get the best possible results? What is so important "to know" about the club that requires an ex manager or player when the club would have been run by and employing different people.

Why do so many teams have set piece coaches? I dont get why its seen as necessary. Lots of teams do. Yeah, but why? Is it necessary. Team x and team y do. Superb counter arguments.

This Montgomery kid I know nothing about him, what is his preferred position. He looked good when he came on last week and we seemed to start playing better after he came on this week. Surely in line for a start soon. Can we accommodate Todd Cantwell now? or will he have to wait his turn, he should have to win back the shirt, not be an automatic choice right away.

Could be waiting til 5th November

If only Pears had been as good as average, he's just a poor keeper all round. Not saying Toth is a Big Brad or A Sir Roger but he seems a clear upgrade on Ainsley.

Source?

There's been some very disjointed performances this season, heads have been down and I'll openly admit I've questioned if the players liked VI or indeed understood what he's trying to do. Otherwise happy looking players have looked miserable as sin. In hindsight maybe they just care and don't like losing though? He doesn't really come across as a likeable person, but you don't always have to be to be a successful manager. Yesterday they looked like they were playing for him for sure, hopefully a couple of wins breeds more confidence. I have to say though, our last 2 opponents have looked like teams with managers on their way out, so it's no surprise Still has been binned off tonight. Like us, Bristol appear to have played struggling teams at the right time recently but came a right cropper at weekend so it'll be interesting to see how it pans out on Tuesday.

Watched Gudjohnsen's first goal a few more times and what impresses me is just how quick he sorted his feet out in order to hit that first time. He totally had his feet messed up but he sorted them in a flash and finished well. Passing and close control leaves a bit to be desired but he did provide the pass that ended up going to De Neve and then got in the box for the finish so all good work there

Bit late but here's my ratings: Starting XI: Toth (8) - pulled off a fantastic save to deny Mavididi in second half. Has been a vital factor in securing our last two wins. Has the potential to become a top-end Championship goalie if he improves his left foot and distribution. De Neve (6) - did OK before getting substituted at half-time for tactical reasons. Provides athleticism on the left hand side but still struggles with the physical aspect of the game. McLoughlin (5) - thought he was quite poor and struggled to contain Fatawu at times. Doesn't look assured on the ball. Wharton (4) - played poorly in my opinion. Was caught on the wrong side and didn't put his body behind the ball which gave Mavididi a great chance to score early in the second half. Later lost out on pace to Daka during a transition moment and had to be saved by Miller. Sorry to say this but he has become worse since the lengthy spell on the sidelines last season due to the serious injury. Winning a couple of headers isn't enough. We need to sign a center back in January if Carter can't be trusted to come back into full fitness and play regularly. Miller (8) - has improved vastly over the past few weeks and stood for a commanding performance with his battling attitude. Tackled, intercepted, tracked back and even helped his teammates to recover the ball when they struggled. Alebiosu (9) - man of the match for me. Signing of the season so far and an absolute steal for £500K. Not only does he have pace but his ability to read defensive situations and block/screen opposing players from getting to the ball inside the box is impressive to see. The run he made to skip past two Leicester players, bombing down to the byline inside the box and finally square it to Gudjohnsen for 2-0 was the icing on the cake. Will be a Premier League player by next season or so if he keeps this up. Tronstad (5) - have no idea what has happened to him other than the contract situation. So wasteful in possession. TGH (4) - really poor performance from a technical standpoint. Provides a bit of athleticism in the middle of the park but is causing problems for his teammates with his poor passing decisions. Squandered a great chance early in the second by skying it with his weaker left foot. Also has problems in the defensive department as he fails to track his runner at times. Henriksson (5) - likes to press but is overly aggressive trying to win the ball with sliding tackles. Right decision to pull him off at half-time as he was already booked. Ohashi (7) - really good at pressing and forcing the opponent to make mistakes and win the ball high up the pitch, especially in the first half. Gudjohnsen (8) - the goal against Southampton last week gave a real confidence boost. Poacher's instinct to be on the end of the first one and resolutely fired home the second from close range. Has also improved somewhat in keeping hold of the ball and link play, albeit looking a bit weak in the challenges at times. Subs: Montgomery (6), Morishita (5 - wasteful in front of goal/ final third, needs to improve his decision-making), Hedges (6), Forshaw (N/A), Gueye (N/A) Coach: Ismael (7) - got it right with pressing high up the pitch and making it difficult for Leicester to play out from the back. Correct substitutions at half time as well. Match summary: thought we did really well at times by creating some momentum whenever we won back the ball high up on the pitch. Our right hand side in defence looks really strong at the moment with Miller and Alebiosu. The problems we faced came mainly from the left side and Fatawu in particular. Have to say that our central midfield is shockingly bad when in possession and is often the main cause to attacks/transitions breaking down early. Hopefully Baradji can make a real difference here when he gets fit because the current level of our midfield is sub-standard for Championship. Thought otherwise that our running capacity and willingness to press was impressive to see. Leicester didn't really manage put any substantial pressure on our goal after our second.

Or Pickering. He looked comfortable there when he played as an emergency centre half. His passing out of defence was good and he’s tall enough to cope with headed challenges.

Not been that impressed with McLoughlin if we continue with the current formation I would rather play Ribeiro on the left of the 3

Villa and Arsenal have had once for few seasons.. JDT wanted one when he was here

Do you know what year that was Gav? I know it was before I went to Sheffield in October 1971 as Hendrix was already dead by then (I did see him live in Liverpool though!. I also remember visiting the Wilson Peck shop many times, often when I should have been in lectures….

Quiet in here 😳😥

So? Doesn't really make it valid. One of the masters of set pieces was Tony Pulis, except he didn't do anything extraordinary at all, just worked hard in training and adapted the players to suit their strengths. It was seen as the way forward for lesser teams like Stoke at the time and to an extent the dingles under Dyche. Now it seems to be the latest fad even with the so called bigger teams.

Not a legendary player in the Souness mold but looking at his Wiki entry, not too shabby either- A centre-back, Ismaël played for Strasbourg, Crystal Palace, Lens, Werder Bremen, Bayern Munich and Hannover 96. As a player, he won the Coupe de France, the Coupe de la Ligue twice, the Bundesliga twice, as well as the DFB-Pokal on two occasions.

I’m just glad we got to play them whilst he was still there.

Alot of teams have these type of coaches

23 players we registered. So we have 2 spots left. https://www.rovers.co.uk/news/2025/september/08/rovers-submit-2025-26-squad-list/ Any signings under 21 wouldn't need to be register.

Speaking of set pieces what about that one yesterday when we had everybody back in our box and Leicester had two players just waiting for a squared ball for a shot a goal. Even the dogs in the street could see what was going to happen but none of our players could.

At least he spelt “ Piece “ right. That’s a tricky one.

If things stay as they are one of Pickering and Ribeiro may have to be loaned out.

I know Chaddy will probably have the answer but how many can we actually sign and register? How many spaces do we have left?

It's got to be, that's not even funny 😳