Of course the players are culpable. We gifted Derby two pathetic goals within ten minutes. We then gifted Stoke a goal. We have gifted three goals to the opposition, aginst two poor teams struggling to score / win. You may well be right about the manager. He certainly wasn't my preference. But you cant blame him for those defensive errors. Pretty sure his team talk won't have included the 'gift goals to the opposition then go from there' instruction.

We feel despondent because we at last had a little bit of hope and belief. No star players, no mercenaries, a bunch of honest professionals playing as a team, overcoming their limitations and giving their all. Defenders defending, midfielders running and attackers trying to create. It's not been pretty all season, but it's been honest. I'm disappointed how we have collapsed. I thought we were mentally a lot stronger. Other than Gueye and perhaps Ribeiro everyone else had a drop off in form. We miss Batth and Weimann.

Eustace was more than happy to sign his 12k a week contract at Rovers. He was then very happy to sign his 20k a week Derby contract. Should a PL team come in for him he will be more than happy to sign his 40k a week contract. You know I didn't want Valerian. I don"t know of any Rovers fan that did. Offering him a 3.5 year deal mid season was foolhardy in the extreme. Logic defying appointment. I know you were sad to see Eustace leave, but don't kid yourself he has any loyalty to Derby. He will leave them just as quickly as he left us as and when it suits him.

Ha ha. Leave Tugay out this!!

Three at the back for way too long, gifting them a goal, devoid of any creativity, starting Forshaw ahead of Tronstad and aimlessly pumping the ball towards their box 2nd half. Another very poor performance against a struggling team.

Another depressing away performance. Feel sorry for our travelling fans. Swansea, Norwich, Derby, Stoke. One point. Pathetic.

They are actually the same person.

And Plymouth.

Three lumbering centre halves marking no one. We've no chance unless he gets one of them off.

Whenever you have a problem you have an opportunity. Our problem was the manager had sodded off. The opportunity was to galvanise the club and take advantage of our unexpected lofty league position. We needed immediate impact from someone with gravitas, standing, credence and credibility. A proven track record in the UK at this level, or above. Or a left field inspired appointment to catch a moment in time. We did neither. No one would have criticised a short term appointment targeted solely at promotion. We would have welcomed it. And now, if my feelings are anything to go by, we are all tired, frustrated and a tad exhausted having invested a lot into the season. So imagine how the players feel.

I can't help feeling we missed an amazing opportunity when appointing Valerian. Of all the names mentioned by fans from Duff to Cooper, from Allardyce to Edwards, from Warnock to Lowe, from Travis / Tronstad, no one, I repeat no one suggested, wanted, or recommended Ismael. Our manager had just left, we had an us against the world mentality and could have maintained and increased squad and fan harmony at just the right time, with the correct appointment. We all know that the financial and performance future looks bleak. It was therefore imperative we tried to maximise the returns possible this season by galvanising the club with someone we would universally unite behind. Just for three months if need be. Make it clear to the rest of the division we were trying to get promoted. Was that too much to ask? We knew the players were tired and overused with uncertain futures. And now even all of us are jaded. And we've not kicked a ball. So frustrating. We would all be buzzing if every set piece was being aimed at Gueye under Allardyce, or we were kicking people off the park under Warnock. Or Duffer had a 3.5 year contract, or Travis and Tronstad were trying to both manage and play. Win or lose we would all be re-invigorated. It's not all about big budgets, parachute payments, expensive signings and big followings as Luton and Ipswich and Brentford have proven the last few years. Belief, confidence, shared goals, comraderie, team spirt, friendship, unity, will to win, momentum, happiness, strength ie an appreciation of the psychology of sport are equally as important. Especially so when you cannot compete financially. I've nothing against Ismael. I wish him well with his project. Unfortunately as the rest of us knew already, there is no such thing as a project here and the only thing that could save us was promotion to the Premier League.

On the 21st December 2024 we lost 1-0 to Millwall. Since then we have a shocking return of 15 points from the next 54 available. We needed to win, or at least not lose to Swansea a couple of weeks ago. We needed to be strong at home and beat Norwich. We needed to beat the bottom of the league last week away from home. One point from those three games. A crushing, hugely disappointing performance at Derby. We've blamed injuries, the transfer window, the manager leaving, an under performing new manager, individual players. And through it all the fans as always have been brilliant. It's time the players rewarded them starting away at Stoke.

Feeling sorry for 2700 travelling fans.

Traitor? Hes not sold nuclear secrets to China, or told Putin where we build our submarines. Hes not moved to Burnley or PNE, or even a competitor for the play offs. Hes just a guy offered a better financial package to work elsewhere. If he had said that instead of bullshitting about projects and visions and home then few would have begrudged him his move. Ignore him with pleasure. Laugh at their results. It's neither here nor there. We could have been more proactive, he could have been more open. When money is involved people will always protect their own interests.

A million pound a year is a lot of money. Two million more saved on Ferguson. Millions more saved getting rid of all the dead wood. You are comparing losing money in one area of the business to justify losing money in a different area of the business. Neither are sensible, but you know that already. They are losing money. They need to cut costs. Its pretty straight forward.

He left for a lot more money. There's nothing absurd about it. Or hard to understand.

Chaddy, do you think Man U will cease to function after losing all these high calibre staff members? Or do you think they will cope just fine?

It's £ 5.00 a week DE. Like Chaddy says its a pathetically small sum of money. So why is everyone up in arms about it?

Two rights dont make a wrong. Plus there is a lot more jeopardy with player purchases and management recruits. No suprise you are following me about with your little man crush. Its called business. Clearly you've always been an employee. Do you get free dinners off your line manager? You just love moanng for the sake of it.

Its still 20k a week. That is an expensive canteen! When you are paying Harry Maguire 10 million a year its no wonder that none of them ever want to leave. ---- I saw that our directors are pulling 1 million out of Rovers each year. It's hard to fathom the stupidity behind these decisions.

They were spending one million a year on free food for all and sundry. Let thst sink in. They've lost money the last five years. The amount of waste and dead wood in large organisations makes your hair curl. I'm not suprised they are rationalising everything. ----- I was reading that the minimum spend in transfers and wages over the last six seasons, for promoted teams in the PL that stayed up, was around 130 million. The only exception being Brentford who spent around 60 million. Anyone spending less went down. Sadly it looks like what goes up, must come down.

League One journeymen? You mean hugely invigorating football project? But you are quite right. The one thing Derby can do is run. And give their all. So we have to match them in that area. That's why I'd start with Ohashi, Dolan and Hedges and match their effort early in the game.

Yeah let's all be really nice to Eustace. Can everyone please remember he only left for purely footballing reasons and a longer term project. And the communication and vision of the owner. And to be nearer to somewhere else. And because Rovers are so toxic that no one else in their right mind would come and work here. Three games, no goals, zero points, from fourth bottom to bottom, please give him a big cheer. He needs every bit of support he can get.

Other than the odd result Derby haven't been conceedung many. But are really struggling to create and score. We also know that feeling. Team selection is interesting. The back seven pick themselves, but that is where the fun starts. People suggesting Cantwell out left, Ohashi out right, Kargbo out left, Hedges out right. I wouldn't try and be too clever in this game. I'd start Dolan, Hedges, Ohashi and Gueye. All in their preferred ppositions. Its a basic requirement of football to be able to run. All four of them can and will.

Always loud and proud in decent numbers when they come to Rovers. Especially seeing as they get tonked away from home. Genuinely seem a decent bunch when you visit their forums or listen to their podcasts.