What's the sum of all parts in the Rovers team at the moment, if Travis isn't playing? Total transfer fees paid for our starting eleven must be a lot less than £10m?

He normally does put 1 or 2 decent crosses in tbf but over a full game or even just 45mins, it's no where near enough.

I'm worried. Not gonna lie. Last night we a had small glimpses of good play despite the individual errors leading to 2 goals. Be more confident having Hyam back in the rear end along with Ribiero. I'd like to see Kargbo start this one ahead of De Neve. Also would like to see him cross with his left foot instead of cutting back and floating balls to the edge of the box. Not going into it with much confidence but I think a busy home ground will up the ante and be that 12th man. (Cringe alert ⚠️ ) We're gonna have to really get behind them and give them extra incentive to get stuck in and work harder. We go again.

Did Ismael prove a point by playing de Neve in two posisions? First showing how ineffective he's in his natural position at LM/LW, then how he was a duck out of water on the right. Some baffling substitutions last night that tells me Ismael was more worried about some of his starters than the result.

I'll second that, Wow.

Agreed it’s madness how anybody watching the first two games think on it one more up top will be enough truly mental

Assuming by stating they have someone in mind - could be putting 2 and 2 together and getting 5

He also reiterated that its 1 signing plus replacements. Which is nowhere near enough.

As much as the main problems at the club involve those above him, I'm very concerned about this guy. 2-0 down in under 5 minutes last night. Not the sign of a happy camp. It's happened that many times under these owners though, that it doesn't even surprise me any more tbh.

‘Compete with Ryan Hedges’ How about we sign someone clearly better than Hedges? It wouldn’t take much… Also, how does VI’s quote in anyway suggest we’re closer??

The constant cost cutting will eventually see us back in League One. Just checking on previous experience and last season young Tyjon scored 6 goals in 20 academy games. Decent but hardly unbelievable. Montgomery was in Division 6 and played around 20 games for Chorley and Marine with the Keeper playing for City of Liverpool who finished bottom of Division 8 in effect after being sent back from a loan at Bamber Bridge in Division 7. 3 months later these guys are being relied upon in our first team squad!!!

Im not a Derby fan and never will.... Travis can go there, dont give a toss anymore. He wants more money and avoid Venkys. Hopefully one day we will rise. Its a shame we cant compete anymore with champinship clubs. And for me Eustace is a rat taking advantage of our situation. End of.

It is definitely giving Owen Coyle season vibes at the moment.

It'll be another Rudy randomer. No champ experience, will take months to adjust. Still, probably better than Hedges whoever it is (you'd hope anyway!).

I don't think guys like Ismael need selling an illusion i'm pretty certain that in his case he's been told look we need to sell/let go half the squad and replace with cheaper to develop quickly. We think you are the man for the job and you can decide the profile of the replacements if not the actual player. Here is the contract, here is the bonus structure, insert some release clauses to protect us both. The last 3 head coaches have relaunched their careers here and gone on to big jobs afterwards despite the challenges here. We won't stand in your way if you wish to leave for a club that will pay compensation, do you want to sign ? No brainer.

And as predicted an article this morning about being ‘nearer’ to the rw signing but no names given

He hasn’t been told what to think yet.

A shame for Tyjon who could've used the Carabao as a stepping stone into the first team, but like last season we went out early. I'd be tempted to sell him for £1m if that's Arsenal's offer and used the funds to strengthen our best 15. Can't see him getting much playing time in a struggling team unless Cantwell leaves.

Would that still not be contractual though even if it’s conditional? Of course hitting a condition on playing minutes is pretty easy when you’re the chap who picks the team…

Smacks of a conflict of interest to me (for VI).

I've seen the argument made that it's a good thing the head coach is aligned with the board, and while I understand why some might claim that, I would still argue that being aligned with stupidity is not automatically a good thing. JDT left because of that stupidity. Eustace left because of that stupidity. Ismael? Who knows what he thinks and will do?

The owner/excuse of a board MO is simply to reduce costs. This has been on the cards for a couple of years. We got away with penny pinching under JDT and Eustace but most fans could see there would be issues coming - as the owners/management were just kicking the can (contracts/signings) down the line. We got lucky with a couple of competent managers but they could see the issues, raised them and then walked away. To anybody with a bit of common sense, that's as big a warning as you need. Two experienced football men left because the club, in their eyes, wasn't being run right. Snakes my arse. So here we are. This manager has no defined system that I can see. I have no idea how this guy wants to play. If we could see he offered something different, it would be something to cling to. The academy players seem a weak cohort - which happens. It's just happened this season, which is like a perfect storm. There is nothing left of value to sell, yet we can't afford to buy without selling. We won't pay championship wages.. There is no interest from the owners. There is no plan to succeed. We will go down without a whimper. We are are a husk of a club.

Take it Chaddy doesn’t post when even he can’t manage to put a positive spin on something.

Not surprised with Travis asking to leave. Don't blame the lad he did his best. Just wish the headline was Venkys asking to leave. Hard relegation season ahead with probably numerous head coaches.

I remember being at Luton while they wore the pink kit. Can't think of any other times but it's probably because I wasn't actually at the matches when they wore it.