If we were paying millions for a 27 year old captain of a Championship rival with 200+ games in this league under his belt and no record of fitness issues this place would be jumping for joy.

In some respects I'm sorry to see Trav go but I also think were he playing for someone else he'd be seen as a bang average championship player. It'll be interesting to see how he does at Derby. Although they've spent some money they also look bang average to me and I'll be amazed if they get anywhere near the play-offs.

Whatever has happened, we dont know. But he is being painted as the villain and its being assumed that hes this bad egg. A narrative pushed by the club but without saying what hes actually done wrong.

Pears is absolutely fine as a Championship back up keeper. Definitely far too accident prone as a #1, but adequate as a stand in. We were happy to have him a few years back once Kaminski was injured. Unfortunately we then made the wrong call to let Pears keep the jersey and sell Kaminski, but that's hardly Pears fault! If we get offered genuinely decent money for him (seems unlikely) then you take it, but I certainly wouldn't want to be chasing him out of the club. Not least because it's not as though Toth has really proven himself either just yet, so it's not even just injury we need to be wary of.

Absolutely this, I was thinking fans would be absolutely outraged that he has left but apparently (according to some) he won’t be a miss as he’s not “technically good” do some realise you need leaders?

Again, the family feeling died a long time ago.

I think an issue we have is you could probably take at least two from Good Enough (Toth, Alebiosu) and to be fair a couple from Not Good Enough too (Kargbo, Montgomery, maybe De Neve) and move them into the Unknown category. Which now constitutes a majority of the squad! We've well and truly rolled the dice this window. The law of averages suggests we'll probably get both successes and failures from this current crop, but we'd better hope there's at least four or five more in your good enough section come the spring or we'll be bang in trouble.

The club regime controls the narrative with all incoming and outgoing players. Sadly some can't see this and instead leap to the defence of the club regime for being 'truthful' and 'honest' about the situation rather than engaging their brains for a few seconds. Take the Travis example - he hasn't been made available by the club for any sort of press coverage since the players returned to training in June. Unless I've missed it, apologies if I have, there hasn't been a single interview with him, either with in-house media or external media. That in itself tells me something, because there have been a lot of interviews with players and staff and lots of 'fun and games' with players - but no sit down interview. Whether deliberate or not the result of this is that nobody has had chance to ask him about the situation, so of course his version of events isn't going to get any coverage. Naturally the regime would dictate the questions allowed in any interview regardless, just look at their conduct in the Fans Forum meeting, but they haven't even gone that far this summer. They know what they are doing alright and so when Ismael needlessly stacks all the blame for the situation at Travis' door, despite the club admitting already this summer that 'mistakes' were made on contracts in the last 12 months - seemingly contradicting themselves - it is time to ask questions not simply accept it as the gospel truth. As with every sort of situation involving two parties there are probably two accounts / versions of events. I understand a natural temptation by fans to side with the manager/club/directors as it is more comfortable, easier to blame the outgoing party and align with those that remain. Life is rarely so simple and being a fan does not mean just believing in the most palatable scenario because it is easier or more comfortable. It involves asking serious questions and challenging the narrative being set by untrustworthy people.

Ah that's who it was is it? I watched it & couldn't think who it might be. I think there's going to be a lot of that this season... "What a pass, who played it?" "Great block, who was it?" "How do you say his name?" Is this Gestede's idea of excitement?! TBF, I'm more enthused now than I was even a week ago. Maybe I'm easily pleased but the calibre of players being brought in, on medium-long term deals, SEEMS to be a step up from the likes of Telalovic, Ennis, Woodrow, Dennis, etc & the evidence does point to a clear strategy being agreed across the recruitment team & bring implemented. Whether it works, time will tell. It's sad to lose Travis, Buckley, JRC etc, but there is some excitement (or at least curious anticipation) for the direction we now look to be taking, which is at least proactive. I will also add that Gestede's ideal of academy players getting 3000+ minutes of football this season (iirc) looks way off the mark now. Does that point to the need for a quicker transition than expected, or was this just Rudy shooting from the hip under pressure?

Im sure he has, I would too in his situation If Rovers didn't pay in chocolate buttons, then it wouldn't matter how much players liked Eustace, or how much they were tapped up

Seen a few say this, he’s served 10 years and captained for 3 years, personally liked him a lot and will be a miss but not sure a “legend” just my opinion

He could run his contract down. Do you think the club has been pushing him around or Travis himself via his agent and Eustace has created the fuss?

Without knowing I agree that we are giving contracts which in many cases won't be good enough. That's part of life and especially the running costs of a football club. If I don't get a pay increase at my job I can go on with my job, but at the same time see if I can more money elsewhere without making a fuss. Especially being in a leading position it has to go under wraps. I don't believe Travis has done this in a silent manner, and to be frank, it probably has been very very difficult to do it. I believe Eustace have been tapping up the players he would like to recruit and created an unrest among them. This has made a very strange and unsure atmosphere among the players. I don't think Travis started looking elsewhere once a bid came in, but his agent has been pushing him around; He was linked to Birmingham, Derby and Wrexham already in June. Stated that Derby was favorites for the signature. Then Coventry came in to the rumor mill.

Not the case, he was a regular starter for Chorley once he moved there (barring a spell when he was injured) & before that he was a regular starter for Marine during the first half of the season I would however agree that he is not yet good enough, & that 12 months ago he was playing in the 6th tier

Apologies, you're correct RE Ribeiro. He's our best left back. I don't think Montgomery is good enough (yet) based on what I've seen. It's important to remember 12 months ago he couldn't get in the Chorley team. Kargbo I really don't see. He's quick, but so incredibly wasteful he makes Dolan look like Pirlo.

Charlie Methven was (rightly) mocked for being a bit of a knob and having plenty of David Brent moments in that Sunderland 'Til I Die doc, but I also remember thinking while watching it 'yeah, but his staff do seem pretty useless...'

He has asked to leave with reports that he didnt want to run his contract down and that he asked to play v West Brom. Im still not seeing any substance as to what he has done so wrong.

I think you are being extremely harsh on Montgomery and Kargbo specially. I think lots of supporters are envy of Kargbo. His pace and power is extremely valuable. Also I think you forgot Ribeiro, who you have to put in Good Enough. Besides that I will agree, and The unknowns will be very exciting to watch progress.

You seem to have ignored everything that we have seen happen at Rovers over the past decade or so. It is obvious that he was given a lowball contract offer, and a told that it wouldn't be increased, so Travis looked elsewhere once a bid came in If this wasn't the case, why have Rovers not been able to agree contracts in the past year alone with Dolan, Brittain, Tronstad, Hyam,or even Hedges

I think Dolan was really well suited to Ismael. He improved when Ismael came in and hes really energetic and a good presser. Some of the players we have signed dont even fit into the remit of pace and power so I dont think its critical that every single player has it or the intention to build a team where everyone has to have it. Morishita is tiny and quite slight, on paper he doesnt fit the mould. No reason he fits and Dolan wouldnt have. McLoughlin is quite a slow centre back, he doesnt fit the mould. And with some of the current players. Ohashi doesnt fit the mould, but still plays above Gueye who is bigger and stronger but ultimately is crap. Hyam is an important player, as is Tronstad, Ribeiro is a regular too. Hedges isnt really an athlete. None are stand out athletes, so I dont think the intention is to build a team where every single player has to be purely an athlete. You need more than that. I still also think that Travis as much as anyone was a real athlete and would have suited Ismael down to the ground. Buckley and JRC were coasting. Certainly neither of those 2 will be a miss.

My officially unofficial "good enough or not good enough" ratings below, based on what I've seen over the last 12 months: Good Enough Toth Alebiosu Hyam Mclouglin Pickering Tronny Cantwell Ohashi Unknown Michalski Miller Carter Wharton Tavares Baradji Henriksson Tyjon Miro Not Good Enough Montgomery De Neve Forshaw Hedges Kargbo Gueye

Speaking to supporters of other teams they disagree wholeheartedly and mean that Travis has done everything wrong in this scenario and should have behaved more professional, especially as team captain. Looking at the timeline; Mid-july: VI says that contract offers have been given, but not accepted and the club has put them self in a difficult place. While there have been no formal bids for Travis, three clubs have enquired - one of which is claimed to be Coventry - meaning Travis could either move in this window for a fee, or see out his last season and move next summer as a free agent. He was also quoted: “Sonny wants to stay at the minute. So he didn’t come to us and say, ‘I want to leave’, or something like that. Trav gets picked as team captain against WBA (9th of august). 12th of August VI says that Travis has asked to leave the club. This has probably (only assumptions) given VI and Rovers a difficult way to handle the situation at the moment. Coming from two losses, heads down and lots of negativity a club captain wanting to leave can't be around the rest of the players because he isn't doing his job as team captain. VI stating that he wants to leave gives Rovers horrible negotiation power, but speeds up the process.

Confidence, it's as simple as that. You can have all the technique in the world and have 0 confidence and the performances will show. There's no doubting there's a player in there somewhere, he just needs a fresh start and new surroundings. He will be up against some of the worlds best in that league and will be an amazing experience nonetheless. If he gets his head down he could end up with a really good career out there.

I'm pretty confident that, barring a very bad injury run, that there will be three worse teams than that squad. Beyond that, I don't think we can say it's competitive one way or another because we're heavily dependent on the new signings being up to it. They could be - and one or two are showing good early signs - but the Championship is such a relentless league. It worries me that so much of the squad could be physically struggling once we get past Christmas, and that's before making judgements about their quality.

Rovers have played just 14 Championship games since Norwich City last visited Ewood on 1st March (for Ismael's first game in charge) the team that day was Pears; Brittain, Carter, Hyam, Ribero; Forshaw (Tronstad), Travis; Dolan (Dennis), Cantwell (Weimann), Kargbo (Hedges); Gueye (Ohashi). Of the 16 players used that day 6 have left (or are due to leave e.g. Pears) 3 of the 4 unused subs have also departed - Rankin-Costello, Woodrow and Sanderson. Only Toth remains Carter and Forshaw unlikely to feature due to injury Leaving just 8 survivors from only fourteen games ago! The grand reset has happened quickly!