v Sheffield United (h) - 21/10/25

[Rover down South]

4 minutes ago, SIMON GARNERS 194 said:

I disagree..a fookin Dustbin in a Blue n White shirt would have more impact.

It's him or Gueye.

Personally, I'd have kept Harry Leonard over both of them.

[RevidgeBlue]

7 minutes ago, M_B said:

Maybe read the player ratings in the telegraph, looks like he watched the same game as me rather than the one you'd decided before they'd even kicked off. 

He played a good ball over towards De Neve leading up to our goal but apart from that he didnt do a great deal and never looked remotely like scoring.

I agree with RF99 on this.

[DE.]

Gudjohnsen did well for the drilled cross that bounced off De Neve into Ohashi's path, but what else did he do of note? Genuine question as I barely remember him being involved in anything else. Could be that my brain is already replacing that wasted 90 minutes with other, more useful information. 

[Tom]

Whatever your opinion on Gueye this kind of public comment isn’t one of a manager who will have the team running through brick walls for him. this is at least the third time he’s publicly criticised his own players.

VI on subs🗣️

"The striker we've got on the bench was Pape, who came on at the end.

"Honestly, the performance from Pape last weekend didn't convince me that he would make an impact for us at the minute.“

[StHelensRover]

Coming in here hoping to see someone has summarised VI's post match comments because I can't bring myself to watch him without wanting to smash my phone!

Who's fault is it this week according to him? Was it another fantastic performance? 

[Polky]

 

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

9 minutes ago, Rover down South said:

It's him or Gueye.

Personally, I'd have kept Harry Leonard over both of them.

Yeah,aren't we spoilt for choice RDS!

Fair point about Leonard..but Rudy's at the Wheel and all that.

[RevidgeBlue]

1 hour ago, wilsdenrover said:

https://www.rovers.co.uk/news/2025/october/21/ismael-reflects-on-blades-defeat/
 

"Nothing is aligned at the moment"

Im trying to resist the temptation not to swear but failing miserably.

Get the **** out of our Club and take your chums Rudy and Suhail with you!

[StHelensRover]

2 minutes ago, Polky said:

 

Bizarre stuff. Just looked and he writes for Yorkshire Post so he has no skin in the game, no reason to make anything up, so I wonder what on earth is going on at Ewood 😂

[StHelensRover]

Just now, Mercer said:

"I'm concerned about the results, not about the performance," Ismael told BBC Radio Lancashire.

"It was another great performance. The only thing that concerns me is that we need too many chances.

IMO, utterly delusional.

Sadly, Ismael has entered into Steve Kean territory.  This might well turn really ugly.

I think the crowd will definitely turn on Saturday if we fall behind. I will anyway 😄

Though I don't know if it counts as turning on him, if I never ever wanted him as manager at any point.

[Tomphil2]

The most worrying thing about Ismael is he never looks nor sounds like he gives a shit, he has the demeanour of a hit man.

Cold, cool, detached, just doing what he has to and collecting the money.

Not good at all.

[DE.]

He repeated the word "complicated" about a hundred times. Thinks it was a fantastic performance but also said we can't defend or score. Looked and sounded absolutely lost. 

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

The inane murmurings of a man who has lost the plot and most likely the dressing room.

Remove asap.

[Mercer]

13 minutes ago, Polky said:

 

 

10 minutes ago, StHelensRover said:

Bizarre stuff. Just looked and he writes for Yorkshire Post so he has no skin in the game, no reason to make anything up, so I wonder what on earth is going on at Ewood 😂

Wow.  Don't know what to make of that.  Ismael in process of being fired?

[bazza]

If Ismael is fired, who in their right mind would come to Ewood?

I look at Damien Johnson and wonder what is this lad doing with his life? Why is he still here in this toxic atmosphere? I had high hopes for him when he was in charge of the youngsters. He's going backwards.

[Miller11]

2 hours ago, lraC said:

Fans forum meeting. Wait to see the minutes that the club want, but I hear it was a jolly good old chat. 

Not sure where you’ve got your info from Carl, but I certainly wouldn’t agree.

[Mercer]

1 minute ago, bazza said:

If Ismael is fired, who in their right mind would come to Ewood?

I look at Damien Johnson and wonder what is this lad doing with his life? Why is he still here in this toxic atmosphere? I had high hopes for him when he was in charge of the youngsters. He's going backwards.

There will always be desperados or wannabes willing to give it a go.

[Roverthechimp]

34 minutes ago, Mercer said:

 

Wow.  Don't know what to make of that.  Ismael in process of being fired?

Probably code locks on doors and the batteries are flat. Nobody knows whose job it is to go and buy new ones (if India approves the outlay)

[Roverthechimp]

54 minutes ago, DE. said:

Gudjohnsen did well for the drilled cross that bounced off De Neve into Ohashi's path, but what else did he do of note? Genuine question as I barely remember him being involved in anything else. Could be that my brain is already replacing that wasted 90 minutes with other, more useful information. 

I have him down as a reasonable player outside the box but not a goal scorer. 
Problem I saw (again) today is that players really don’t know where to put the crosses/final ball. That is a major coaching flaw - either pen spot or area between keeper and backline should be drilled into them all. Sure the odd miscue/overhit will still happen but right now it looks like they have never trained together 

[Hasta]

1 hour ago, Tom said:

Whatever your opinion on Gueye this kind of public comment isn’t one of a manager who will have the team running through brick walls for him. this is at least the third time he’s publicly criticised his own players.

VI on subs🗣️

"The striker we've got on the bench was Pape, who came on at the end.

"Honestly, the performance from Pape last weekend didn't convince me that he would make an impact for us at the minute.“

That’s a pretty shocking comment to out in the public domain, whilst backing other players who have looked pretty awful.

[roversfan99]

21 minutes ago, Roverthechimp said:

I have him down as a reasonable player outside the box but not a goal scorer. 
Problem I saw (again) today is that players really don’t know where to put the crosses/final ball. That is a major coaching flaw - either pen spot or area between keeper and backline should be drilled into them all. Sure the odd miscue/overhit will still happen but right now it looks like they have never trained together 

Gudjohnsen hasnt shown that he is reasonable outside the box. 

We have conceded 2 goals in his 4 starts and there have been other wasted opposition counter attacks as a direct result of his inability to hold the ball up.

[roversfan99]

He isnt wrong on Gueye. He is a shocking player and not only that, when he comes on he displays a terrible attitude and demeanour suggesting that he feels hard done by not to play more despite him being so useless.

But again, saying it in public is not the right move. And its not the first time. 

I dont see any character or resilience in this sorry set of players, but it will only further decrease that when the manager is so public.

[lraC]

1 hour ago, Miller11 said:

Not sure where you’ve got your info from Carl, but I certainly wouldn’t agree.

Good to hear Duncan. I look forward to reading the minutes, if it’s not, what I heard.

Any idea when they are being released and will I be a fair reflection of the meeting? 
I did hear what I posted, from some who attended last time and refused to attend this due to the farce with the minutes. 

[Ossydave]

Awful comments on Gueye and whilst I don't completely disagree as he's not amazing, it's a dickhead trick voicing his opinion like that in public. Gueye probably more than anyone at the club is a confidence player, treating him like that makes an average/poor player even less useful! VI is clearly a stubborn wanker and came up with the ridiculous concept of Hedges and Kargo up top as a result.

I can't see many, if any of the players liking VI and I strongly suspect we'd see improvement in certain individuals performances if he went. Of course there's the argument they're well paid and owe it to the fans but ultimately its a job to them and nobody at all performs their best if they think their manager is a twat in any form of employment.

[Torgeir]

7 hours ago, Kjell said:

I believe it is more down to the individuals making up the staff. I have zero confidence in this guy being assigned the task of uplifting the spirits at the camp for the Southampton match (or any other match...).

I actually don't think that's our biggest issue, but it's certainly starting to become a factor now as well. I can see that McLoughlin is barking at his teammates, and Tronstad has looked quite unhappy in a few of our earlier matches as well. Kargo got a telling off after he went 10 yards offside on Hedges' flick-on, so this is a real test for the team spirit and Ismael looks more and more deflated for each day. 

We should've scored more in the first but also almost conceded two from set-pieces right before Ohashi scored, a goal that was more a fluke with de Neve trying to score and not crossing. Then in the second half we looked winded, Henriksson I thought ran out of steam after the first half and should've been replaced a lot earlier after going back to back matches in the Championship. Gardner-Hickman also went AWOL for the second half and everyone panicked as soon as the ball entered their feet - and that's when we have to rely on a bench that isn't up to standards... something that's glaringly obvious that it isn't, and the reason why Ismael is so reluctant to make the substitutions.

This squad needs serious investment in January and just wonder if we will try and loan players despite Ismael being against it as a stop-gap solution, or if we'll actually spend some dough.