onlyonejackwalker

We were in the play offs and had just recruited a striker, two wingers, a midfielder, left back and centre half. For this guy to take what we had, plus the new signings, gain 1 point from 18 (and that was due to a 96th minute goal), take us from 5th to 12th, rarely look like scoring, always look like conceeding, never look like winning, is desperately bad. An appalling appointment. More so, as all of us knew exactly what was needed. A short term motivator, who would instill renewed belief in our jilted, snowflake players. Lowe was in the top ten short term options after Eustace left. Maybe even top five. Get shut and let him see the season out.

I'm hugely disappointed in the players. Even if they dislike this manager conceeding within 5 minutes most weeks is totally unacceptable.

I'm lost for words. Players, management, executives and owners stinking the place out. We are plumbing new depths.

How can current results be acceptable? How can he be given a free pass until the summer? How can we allow him to recruit his own players if he continues to lose every week? How many games does he need to lose before we accept it is not working? We were in 5th position when he took over. We are now 11th. No one has seen anything to think he can put this right. There is no chance the players will start believing in him, or his methods. No chance at all. We are one heavy defeat away from the entire fanbase giving up on him. Most have already.

First we blamed Travis missing. And Hedges and Dolan and Pears plus Gueye upfront. Then Tronstad Missing. And Hedges and Dolan and Pears. Then the recruitment team in the January window. But Gueye improved. And Hedges and Dolan and Pears. Then Ohashi missing. And Hedges and Dolan and Pears. And Eustace leaving. Then Adam Forshaw. And Beck and Batth missing. And Hedges and Dolan and Pears. Forshaw still with a little bit of Sanderson. Brittain losing form. Then Hyam collapsing. Then Carter miles off. And Dolan and Pears. Then why don't you fuck off home Valerie. And now Travis and Tronstad, Hyam and Carter, little bit of Hedges, lots of Pears, Woodrow new to proceedings, Dolan whatever he does and the donkey turned racehorse is now a pony who can't get a start. And it all began just before Xmas. Whilst in the top six. With the chance to re-inforce in January. We were two judicious player signings away from enjoying the end of the season. We were one, stop gap, managerial signing away from being competitive all year. And despite everything, we are still only five points off the play offs. We spent some money in January but on what? Forshaw was on 12k a week at Plymouth, rumours of 20k a week for the lame duck from Forest. How much are Woodrow and Sanderson costing? In fact, thinking it through, maybe only Ribeiro can hold his head up high. This is up there with the most chronic mis-management of all our assets in all my time watching the Rovers. Typically when there was a little light at the end of our very dark tunnel. 3.5 years of Ismael? Holy fuck. We were always one bad appointment away from disaster. No wonder the Venkys have spunked millions on the club. They are absolutely thick as pig shit. I'm not renewing next season. Its not just the ticket, its the travel, parking, refreshments, loss of earnings, loss of time and mental energy all adding up to significant personal investment. I was so much happier with 6k or 7k attending playing Shrewsbury in the late 70's and early 80's. This Venkys induced mind fuck isnt healthy for me.

Allardyce and Dyche were always unlikely. Warnock was a decent option. A mate at the match has just said it was a completely spineless performance with zero structure, he won't be travelling away again and cannot wait to get home.

Appleton, Berg, Ince, Hodgson, Kean, Coyle, Ismael. This has been a bad three months even by Rovers standards.

Me too. Normally. This has been a particularly bad run of results and performances however at a critical time of the season. Even the likes of Hyam, Travis and Btittain have looked very average. We have missed Beck and Batth enormously. And still not scored enough to cover defensive frailties. If I was the manager I'd be desperate for a result, but he appears remarkably chilled out on the touchline and in interviews. We are five points off 6th. We either start winning or we will end up simply.going through the motions for the remainder of the season. The players have largely struggled since December. Other than two games under Lowe. Too many individual errors. Too many below par performances.

12,000 x £ 150.00 = £ 1.8 million. 5000 x £ 400.00 = £ 2 million. Less police, concourse, safety, cleaning and general infrastructure costs with only 5000 attending. Whilst I like your train of thought, the owners want maximum income and minimum expense.

Admirable optimism. Fingers crossed. Portsmouth 3 Rovers 1.

A momentously stupid appointment. You have to wonder if anyone has a clue what they are doing. Months of hard work undone in five games. And only the fanbase seems to care. So depressing as a fan when we invest so much energy into the club.

Not good at all for my mental health and wellbeing. We would still be in the play offs standing ten foot tall if we'd got Allardyce in for three months. In fact we'd still be in the fucking PL if we'd not sacked him.

Yes it was so.obvious to all of us. An arrangement to maintain spirit was all that was needed. Pity we lost at Swansea. We could have hopefully plodded on for a little while longer.

Both those lads have contributed fully to our team success all season. They have worked tirelessly all year helping our defence, but you can't see any of that. Because they play on the wings you class them as attackers and judge them accordingly. Ask yourself, why did Eustace keep selecting them in a top six side? Because he made clean sheets an absolute priority at all times, all season and they were integral to that cause. Sensibly. he sacrificed our attacking intent to safeguard our defence. And that included those lads trudging up and down relentlessly to protect the full backs. Youve seen ACD, Kargbo, JRC and Dennis on the wings. I'd still rather have Hedges and Dolan anyday over those. Our next best two wingers are arguably Beck and Brittain.

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.