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We'll be firmly entrenched in the bottom three by the next international break. This team is simply not good enough.

It’s a simple as this really, Ismael is perfect for the club in its current guise.

A huge two fingers up to the fans, which is par for the course really.

Sacking him may not help with this squad but his 60th minute 3 player psycho subfest every match doesn't help. He also seems insistent on them tapping the ball around more than they should when some players clearly aren't able.

It seems the performance today, for the raw technical ability of the squad, was ok - so we can't fault application. The individual weaknesses would be carried and helped by an otherwise competent squad so we shouldn't hang the players out to dry. As was said earlier, a change in management would merely be shuffling deck chairs on the Titanic. Until the ownership changes, we will live this groundhog day over and over. Maybe League 1 will force them out. Three or four seasons in the bottom half of League 1 with Bolton and Wigan then we can hopefully spend the following ten years climbing back up the leagues. It's wasted breath to expect anything different under this ownership. This season really is as expected - bottom half flirting with relegation. It's still early days so win the must wins and we may well be ok. However, to be cynical, are we just postponing the inevitable if we do survive? We have to be pragmatic and accept from where the club is today it's a long road back in any scenario. Ultimately, the darkest days for Blackburn Rovers may still be to come in the next few years as the chickens come home to roost.

Remembrance Day has nothing to do with the football, we honour the fallen pre kick off and wear a poppy on the shirt but it’s not as if the game has any links beyond that. To pretend it would be disrespectful to protest after the ceremonies is clearly arguing in bad faith.

It’s becoming harder and harder to find three teams that might end up behind us when the season’s finished. I can see Derby and Birmingham continue to struggle, but more than us? It’s a stretch. Don’t think sacking Ismael will make much difference barring some miraculous new manager bounce, he’s doing about as much as he can with the players at his disposal. Switching to a 5-3-2 against Coventry was the right call for example, there’s just not enough firepower in the squad to make the formation or tactics matter.

Agree but the people in charge appointed Ismael when we were in one of the most desirable positions you can be in mid season, with plenty of good managers available who they chose to not pay for, they probably didn't even speak to them, he was the best they could do - who do you think they'll find now in the hands of Pasha and Gestede? The current "board" is incapable of landing the right manager at the best of times.

I'd have more sympathy had he been upset about the club pulling the rug from under him with the sale of Hyam. The board downgraded our defence majorly at nearly every opportunity and the manager pretended he was pleased, without any pressure on those above him to do more for him. The summer should have started with a top centre back coming in. We were linked to a few ambitious ones (probably falsely) and they never happened as per usual. We now have a Hull 3rd choice, playing alongside a RB at CB or Scott Wharton (who previously wasn't getting in the side) - this is the reality; they are either making mistakes or can't manage the workload and the result is a new pairing each week or month. The fans knew Carter and Wharton couldn't play regularly once a week - and even if they could play 90 minutes twice a week, which they need to be able to, I still sensibly questioned in pre-season - were they good enough. Are they? Really? Compared to the rest of the league? I have my doubts. Decent backups... but now nearly all our centre back pairings feel like backups. Gestede, Ismael and Pasha all have to go. Ideally starting with Gestede and Pasha but none are fit for their respective jobs. The minute we ignored spending solid money on a proven striker and a high quality centre back, combined with recklessly selling Hyam - we were doomed. Dolan was never replaced and we instead loaded up on attacking central midfielders - when our best player plays there (Cantwell)... bizarre strategy since we were clearly weak on the wings, needed to replace Dolan and upgrade Cozier-Dubbery and Hedges, adding to that being short of a proven goalscorer and needing more quality in central defence..... Now piece in the Moussa Baradji transfer (for a fee!) and tell me where that fit into a strategy to start the season strongly? It didn't. There was none. Naivety and arrogance led by Gestede. Further to that they bragged about ignoring the loan market, something that has arguably kept us in the league many times in the past. The fact we're now even more reliant on Ryan Hedges tells you all you need to know about our summer recruitment. It's that poor our manager has no idea what his best XI is (understandably difficult when the majority haven't played at this level)... and we can't see where the goals are coming from in any front 3 combination, that simply can't shoot with conviction at goal or beat a man - how was that not showing up in the pre-season data? Yet a need for an injured Moussa Baradji was - along with Henriksson both as competition for Cantwell? Underfunded and not taking the league seriously enough is the theme in the departments that matter most behind the scenes at Rovers. A low wage cap will never work in the Championship if you plan on winning games but yes it will get you relegated - you get what you pay for - other teams have goals and we aren't getting any. The irony is we're over reliant on the one man (Cantwell) that costs more per week than what Pasha is willing to spend. The board, the owners, the agencies and the current manager have all got to go. We are going down and deservedly so for how the club has chosen to operate and hire.

The club’s parent is VLL, a UK registered entity. It has a (very modest) unsecured overdraft from SBI. If V’s decide to sell the club without paying off that overdraft, SBI would simply squeeze the credit lines elsewhere in the group until they got paid. They wouldn’t just shrug their shoulders and go “never mind…” To suggest otherwise I find to be completely incredible…

Glad it's not just me.. Ramipril Rovers, we are here btw..

That's my take on things also. The total apathy amongst a lot of our supporters is alarming. Almost embarrassing.

I get the allusion…but struggle with it; the SBI stuff I simply can’t get my head around 🤷‍♂️

Not if the manager prioritises his own birthday celebrations ahead of crucial game preparations.

Wouldn't surprise me if Gestede ended up with the job such as things are! 🙄🙄

https://www.business-standard.com/finance/news/indian-banks-write-off-rs-1-7-trillion-in-loans-in-fy24-shows-govt-data-124112601126_1.html @Herbie6590 I think this is it.

Just keep taking the tablets....

If the fanbase doesn't rise up now, we never will and -for what it is worth- I have come to believe we never will.

It's in relation to an article posted on here a couple of weeks ago about how the Indian banks would loan large sums of money to wealthy individuals or companies for whatever reason and then when things came to a head they would just write off the debt. I'll have a look at seeing if I can find it again as it was an interesting read. Pure corruption obviously, but you'd have to have the naivety of a toddler to not think that's the sort of world venkys operate in. As for them being just the face of ownership, the last 15 years has had enough mental shit happening to suggest this is at least a possibility.

Certainly not getting sacked if there's compensation to pay for the nearly 3 years remaining on his contract.

Apathy is the word. For the first time in years I didn't even bother to look for the score until after the end of the match. I had a much more enjoyable afternoon than I would have had so I'll do it again next week.

I think he is alluding to the idea that Venky's are not ( never were)the real owners, but Kentaro, now under another name(s). The SBI stuff I don't get...

Harchester United & Melchester Rovers ?

Please could you explain, in plain English, how & why the SBI would have to write off debt if Venky’s decide to sell the club. I am struggling to grasp your logic.

This is a key point. As much I want Suhail and Gestede kicked to the curb, it doesn't deal with the underlying issue. First the remit was to get Kean & Anderson out, then Shaw, Agnew, Singh, Waggott etc... There comes a point where you have to accept that the more things change, the more they stay the same. There has been a conveyor belt of these clowns running through the club from the moment Venky's took over. For as long as they own the club, they will keep employing impostors who can't believe their luck. Any professional with an ounce of integrity and self-respect doesn't last two seconds. Now and again we might accidentally stumble on a winning formula and put on a facade of normalcy... until the club realises we're doing too well and course-corrects into the iceberg.