2025-26 Relegation thread

[broadsword]

2 hours ago, wilsdenrover said:

2 from us, WBA and Oxford. 

Yeah, that;s the feeling I get. West Brom, what's happening to them? They're imploding. If they just got an old hand in, they'd get out of that

[RevidgeBlue]

I know it's been said a million times before on here but it can't be repeated often enough.

Who'd have thought driving out a manager with a very good recent track record who had you in 7th and replacing him with a Head Coach with a very poor recent track record everywhere he's been and replacing your best players with cheap Eurotrash would end in tears?

Strange one really.

[M_B]

3 hours ago, wilsdenrover said:

2 from us, WBA and Oxford. 

Think Portsmouth and Charlton will drop back in, and a points deduction for Leicester would be another one. 

[wilsdenrover]

6 minutes ago, M_B said:

Think Portsmouth and Charlton will drop back in, and a points deduction for Leicester would be another one. 

Let’s hope so.

[Gamst]

23 minutes ago, RevidgeBlue said:

I know it's been said a million times before on here but it can't be repeated often enough.

Who'd have thought driving out a manager with a very good recent track record who had you in 7th and replacing him with a Head Coach with a very poor recent track record everywhere he's been and replacing your best players with cheap Eurotrash would end in tears?

Strange one really.

Yes apparently this season is 'complicated' according to Val. I think you've summarised the situation pretty succinctly here. 

[DE.]

1 hour ago, broadsword said:

Yeah, that;s the feeling I get. West Brom, what's happening to them? They're imploding. If they just got an old hand in, they'd get out of that

They just hired a new manager, another total rookie. Massive, arguably very stupid gamble. 

[RTM08]

I've never thought we were going anywhere but down and now we're finally being cut away from the rest - this would have happened earlier but for some fortunate results against some out of form teams. 

This is 100% by design. Now, who is responsible for that design is debateable - the owners neglect, Pasha's power trip, Gestede's football manager fantasies, hidden agent's money making scheme are all potential candidates. 

The only hope there is now is that a manager with some nous comes in and goes back to basics, because Ismael is way out of his depth and is somehow anchoring an already abysmal squad of players. 

[NJRover]

4 minutes ago, RTM08 said:

I've never thought we were going anywhere but down and now we're finally being cut away from the rest - this would have happened earlier but for some fortunate results against some out of form teams. 

This is 100% by design. Now, who is responsible for that design is debateable - the owners neglect, Pasha's power trip, Gestede's football manager fantasies, hidden agent's money making scheme are all potential candidates. 

The only hope there is now is that a manager with some nous comes in and goes back to basics, because Ismael is way out of his depth and is somehow anchoring an already abysmal squad of players. 

I’m totally with you but what baffles me is do they just expect people to keep turning up to watch the tripe on show?! Attendances are plummeting (today looked very empty on the highlights) and will continue to do so in L1 so what’s the end game. 

[Gamst]

I do think the single biggest impediment to our on field successes has been Pasha's alleged self imposed wage cap. I seem to recall him being quoted as saying we should 'wash our own face/arse' or some similar nonsense. Events since have strongly supported this wage cap existing. It presumably resulted in us being unable to tie down our better and more experienced players to new contracts. This had the knock on effect of upsetting Eustace who wanted to reward his charges. It has also meant the we have been restricted to buying replacement players from obscure European leagues where the wages are lower. I suspect Pasha and Rudy saw themselves as geniuses thinking they could beat the system find worldy players for pennies. It turns out this tactic is nothing but self-destructive and the majority of fans who called them out on this have been vindicated. 

[davulsukur]

Really dark times ahead for Rovers fans.

We're heading to our lowest point for quite some time in the next few months. And it's going to be a rough few years ahead. If we can't get shot of these owners, we might not even hit rock bottom for a few more years yet.

The club don't seem to care at all either.

[Ghost7]

We're gone. Reason being they will stick with the manager.

He's been largely appalling since the moment the season kicked off (with a full squad and without one.) At first he didn't know his best 11, changed the back line every week with fit players, then he couldn't decide on a formation and persisted with a failing one for months.

He hardly ever wins! His subs derail games. I've never seen anything like it and he gets away with it again and again.

It's humiliating we haven't already sacked him.

[StHelensRover]

The best price you can get on us to be relegated across the market right now is 13/8

The bookies now think we're going down. I don't know whether a win on Tuesday will shift that dial much.

[simongarnerisgod]

clearly the policy before the season started was to flog whatever value players we had,recruit some cheap replacements and just keep our position in the league, it was concluded there were 4/5 teams worse than us and we`de survive,that was the height of our ambition,unfortunately it`s flawed it looks like we are going to be relegated

[Ghost7]

3 hours ago, Gamst said:

I do think the single biggest impediment to our on field successes has been Pasha's alleged self imposed wage cap. I seem to recall him being quoted as saying we should 'wash our own face/arse' or some similar nonsense. Events since have strongly supported this wage cap existing. It presumably resulted in us being unable to tie down our better and more experienced players to new contracts. This had the knock on effect of upsetting Eustace who wanted to reward his charges. It has also meant the we have been restricted to buying replacement players from obscure European leagues where the wages are lower. I suspect Pasha and Rudy saw themselves as geniuses thinking they could beat the system find worldy players for pennies. It turns out this tactic is nothing but self-destructive and the majority of fans who called them out on this have been vindicated. 

1000% this.

[G Somerset Rover]

This was all so predictable (look back at my previous posts), all so avoidable.  150th year, only to be shamed like this.

[B16Rover]

17 hours ago, Gamst said:

Yes apparently this season is 'complicated' according to Val. I think you've summarised the situation pretty succinctly here. 

I find quantum physics complicated , but unlike Val I recognise my D in GCSE physics as a limit of myself and dont apply for physicist jobs 

[davulsukur]

Just a month of pain to go. 

We're not winning a single one of those games, we'll be cut we'll adrift by the time the full time whistle goes against Derby.

[aletheia]

It will be utterly unbearable if we do stay up to see/hear RG and Pasha’s arrogant drivel about how the aligned plan is still ongoing and an exciting summer lies ahead. Pass the sick bowl.

[MarkBRFC]

2 wins in 16 and not even in the bottom 3.

Long way to go this season, and I have it 50/50 on us going down.

Some really bad sides down there.

[StHelensRover]

18 points needed from 16 matches to get to the magic 50 points which will probably be enough this year.

5 wins and a few draws or 6 wins. 

West Brom and Pompey at home and Oxford away are cup finals now, if we can win those games, that should do it.

Edit - i'm aware our record against the teams around us is stinking and that we haven't beaten any of those three yet

Edited 4 hours ago by StHelensRover

[RevidgeBlue]

Last night's win was necessary to give us any sort of chance of staying up but was in no way any sort of reliable guide of whether we actually will do or not.

I can't believe West Brom will do nothing for the rest of the season if they continue to struggle. At the moment they're the only team apart from Oxford and Wednesday I can see us finishing above.**

All hinges on the quality of Ismael's replacement. If Johnson stays until the end of the season Id have it as 60/40 in favour of us going down. If Ismael had have stayed we were 100% down without a whimper.

**Subject to Leicester not getting a points deduction. When will we actually know about this? If they do get one at the last minute and are relegated they'll surely appeal and we won't know the outcome until well into the summer?

[StHelensRover]

1 hour ago, RevidgeBlue said:

**Subject to Leicester not getting a points deduction. When will we actually know about this? If they do get one at the last minute and are relegated they'll surely appeal and we won't know the outcome until well into the summer?

I have a sneaky feeling this is going to end up going into next season if not resolved very soon, because of the appeals process.

I think they may get a decision this season with the deduction applying from August, because the EFL won't want the chaos which would emerge from the scenario you painted, where clubs wouldn't know who had been relegated on the final day.

[wilsdenrover]

39 minutes ago, StHelensRover said:

I have a sneaky feeling this is going to end up going into next season if not resolved very soon, because of the appeals process.

I think they may get a decision this season with the deduction applying from August, because the EFL won't want the chaos which would emerge from the scenario you painted, where clubs wouldn't know who had been relegated on the final day.

I believe they’d have to say they’re going to appeal within two weeks and that appeal then has to be heard within four weeks of them doing so. 

Unless the EFL really drag their heels there’s absolutely no reason this shouldn’t be resolved this season. 

[JHRover]

The EFL I bet will wait until the outcome of the season is known or all but known and then make a decision on Leicester, either by imposing a punishment from the start of next season or by deducting them points this season but not enough to tip them into the bottom 3 and relegate them.

The chaos and furore that dropping them into the bottom 3 this season and them getting relegated off the back of it would create would be far too much for the EFL mob to handle.

[wilsdenrover]

1 minute ago, JHRover said:

The EFL I bet will wait until the outcome of the season is known or all but known and then make a decision on Leicester, either by imposing a punishment from the start of next season or by deducting them points this season but not enough to tip them into the bottom 3 and relegate them.

The chaos and furore that dropping them into the bottom 3 this season and them getting relegated off the back of it would create would be far too much for the EFL mob to handle.

Who would the furore be from beside Leicester themselves?