I really do not think this is going to happen.

As has repeatedly been pointed out though, Gestede has said outgoing sales make no impact on the budget. Whilst I find that hard to believe (surely it at least affects next year's budget), it does mean there's little reason being happy or even content with any sales of decent players. By the same token as 'we've never made the playoffs with him', we've also been on the verge in 3 of the last 4 seasons where he has been playing. The one he played the least games in, where we loaned him out to Ipswich for half the season after sidelining him here, we nearly got relegated.

I think you’re dead right. There has been no ambition at this club for many years now. From the owners their whole approach seems to be “here’s some cash, it’s all you’re getting and we don’t care what you do with it” .

A couple of points I’ll add… The April fans forum was the first I’d ever attended, and the level of professionalism on show was very different this time round for number 2. In that meeting I’d pressed Suhail and Waggott on whether they would be requesting significant transfer funds given we had headroom under P&S rules given the profit we posted in 23/24, but that opportunity to spend would disappear. Waggott stated that he hoped so and that transfer funds and an increase in wage budget would be forthcoming, and he acknowledged that there was a window of opportunity to spend. Suhail repeatedly claimed the squad had been reinvested in (mentioning the spend on Sam Gallagher at one point) - I argued that we’d only really replaced outgoing players (I used the term backfill), usually with cheaper options and there appeared to be no desire to progress and improve. He eventually stated he’d be requesting the maximum budget available given our FFP position. Which in the July meeting he admits he didn’t do. When asked about the owners aspirations he simply stated “A sustainable club.” Given that Waggott had always previously said “A sustainable Premier League club” I asked him “Sustainable regardless of what division we are in?” He responded by accusing me of putting words into his mouth. I pointed out I was asking the question - I redirected to Adam Owen given he has some football knowledge and background. As you can see above he wasn’t wholly convinced on the idea of breaking even. He mentioned different models we could go down and cited Brentford, Brighton and Ajax as examples. I stated each of these models relied on reinvestment of fees and presently we were more like Crewe circa 1998. Suhail stated that expenditure doesn’t guarantee success. Despite this Yasir later used the term “Punching above our weight” in a way which contradicted Suhail’s claims. At one point Suhail’s repeated attempts to absolve himself of any blame and put it in Waggott led to very audible widespread groans and comments such as “He’s passing the buck again”, “of course it’s not your fault”, and “That’s convenient”. Aside from my personal opinions on suitability, professionalism and competence, my key takeaways were: - Priority one is cutting losses. - Priority 2 is dumbing down expectations. - Suhail is feared by some employees - There is no desire to see Rovers promoted - Fans are an inconvenience, and any expectations we have are viewed as unreasonable

The problem is not that he "wants out" it's that we either wont offer him any deal at all or one which reflects anything like his true value. It's correct in a purely commercial sense to say that under those circumstances it's the pragmatic option to take the money if anyone comes in for him. It's clear where the true blame lies however and it ain't with the player.

Surely the reply to ‘Stuart Jones was only at the club for 10 years and how do we know he was good?’ is: 10 years is a long time, if he wasn’t any good why didn’t you get rid sooner?

Harsh take which no doubt I'll get thumbs down bombed for... They're commodities, if we can get 3-4 million for a player who wants out that we will get nothing for in a year... No brainer. Also, let's cut the shit, we've never made the playoffs with him in all this time either. New(ish) manager, time to move on and get some new blood in, see what they can do. I'll be pissed off if they don't use the at least some of the cash to reinvest though.... And you know what these bastards are like.

What's wrong with being stuck at "a Club like Derby?" If it was Rotherham United or something I could see your point.

Or some of the recent contributions on here from Mike Graham who was previously publicly supportive of them when he was still trying to get into bed with them. Figuratively speaking I hasten to add!

The funniest part of all these ex-Rovers joining Eustace is, once he fucks off the moment another club shows the slightest bit of interest in him, they'll all be stuck at a club like Derby. Unless his entire managerial career plan is to just copy & paste the same squad of players at every job he lands.

Eustace was desperate to get the core key players tied down to new contracts. They and their agents were probably asking him regularly whilst they were loving life sat in the top 6 playing under him. He couldn't tell them anything because he was working for shysters, liars and bullshitters. And eventually, after another fiasco of a January transfer window, he gave it up as a bad job because it was impossible to sustain what he had on and off the pitch without clarity and some backing, neither of which anyone is ever getting here - see the Fans Forum page if you want to know what I mean by a lack of clarity - if a simple Forum meeting ends up such a fiasco just imagine what it must be like dealing with them on a daily basis and trying to get answers and commitment out of them. Or if you believe in fairies it was all because he wanted to save a 30 minute commute whilst risking a year in League One.

In that probable starting X1 for Saturday that chaddy posted I think there were 16 Championship goals goals in that side last season. Draw your own conclusions.

some absolute comedy in there I’ve underlined. Particularly like the wordplay that Yasir uses to state Hull were the only team to have cheaper season tickets ‘in all age groups’ cheers pal, our adults were some of the most expensive in the league in one of the most deprived areas of the country. As for Suhail, well I expected nothing less

Don't be contradictory for the sake of it. That's what gets people's backs up. It was widely reported in the LT for one.

47% of our 24/25 league goals were scored by players who are no longer at the club.

Who said he did?

And another? How many do you want? 11 players for 4 positions. Woah

You mean the players he tried to secure new deals for?

Because we don't have any good ones.

His first foray without Slippery Steve there to navigate the choppy waters and it looks like the Venky stooge has well and truly made a hash of things. Suspect he will be on the blower to Pune to get that human shield / fake CEO / snake oil salesman in pronto on a short term consultancy deal just to take the heat out of things and so he can take a step back and hand over the smooth talking to someone well trained in the arts. Where's Mowbray and his tales of 70s Teesside and the humble people in Pune when you need him?

So he's now saying he is accountable as well for all the non contract re-signings and lost revenue ? Surely the owners should now be asking him serious questions on that. No wonder hes been hiding in the shadows so long he's clearly full of shit or has no grip whatsoever on what goes on and does he care as long as he gets paid and has a jolly time of it ?

I never said that, although we currently have 0 competent ones. Hendriksson I dont think played as a number 10 at his old club. But seems the most likely position here. Right winger, striker, then maybe one more thats versatile. I know you gave my post saying we have very little goal threat a "thumbs down" but its true.

Well that reaffirms everyone's opinion that SS is a twat, thanks for sharing

Or maybe Eustace was very happy with the team and group he had last year and recognised that it had - or was close to having - the ability and spirit needed to get into the play-offs, but was so unhappy with the conduct of the owners and their henchmen, failures in January and lack of backing that he still had to walk away from it all because he was being made a fool of and lied to (like everyone else involved here). So the next best thing is to go to a proper club and then take advantage of our owner induced chaos, strife and negligence by getting hold of some of those players that were doing such a fabulous job for him last season. So rather than a case of him storming out because he didn't think the players were good enough rather he did think they were good enough but didn't get the support or assurances he needed to go to the next stage. That desire to progress, build and get to the promised land doesn't fit with the agenda these owners have which is running the club into the ground to save them money (but will actually cost them more in the long run). Whereas Derby and just about any other limited but remotely ambitious rival will be all over it. Seen a few questioning how Derby can afford to do the business they are. It's called ambition and backing your manager. We could do it if the owners wanted to.