DE.

I very much hope Spurs keep Ange and United keep Amorim. Two very tactically inflexible managers who will continue to keep both teams mired in mediocrity at best.

Newcastle failing into 5th sums up the PL this year. Ref obviously had a mare in the United/Villa game, but Villa should still have been beating that awful United team comfortably. I think they may regret throwing away such a golden opportunity this season - Forest too, although their good season was much more unexpected. Meanwhile one of next season's PL "Champions" League representatives loses their final game 4-1 at home to Brighton, completing a season of domestic humiliation. Took a look at the Spurs forum and they all seem to want Ange gone. Give 'em hell Chadster.

Congrats to Sunderland. An ambitious managerial appointment, backed by the board and owners. Could have been us with both JDT and Eustace. Until we get rid of Venky's, however, we'll just have to repeatedly watch other teams succeed instead.

Lol. Another example to throw in the face of people at the club who claim parachute payments are the be all and end all. A bit of ambition can do the job as well.

On here you'll find many who see through the veil, but generally? I think he's been able to convince the majority at Ewood that all is in hand. Let's face it, for most little more is needed than a handful of victories on the pitch for all to be forgiven, get behind the lads ffs, etc. I did like that JDT needled him about his stupid leased coach comment repeatedly, but I also saw a lot of our fans right after that interview posting about how much sense Waggott was making (on Twitter/X, granted, but that's sadly probably more representative of the average fan than the people who post on here and other more detailed football forums). I don't think Suhail and Rudy can even present a facade of respectability, though. Certain fans with the blinkers on will parrot the upper management's nonsense regardless of how vapid it is, but I think even a lot of casuals found Rudy's interviews in particular to be absolute nonsense.

"Financially viable" ffs. Our owners are billionaires. If you don't want to support all areas of the club properly then SELL THE CLUB. Don't cry poverty whilst sitting in your mansions, jets and limos.

Don't think it really makes much difference as long as Venky's & Suhail are around, but lol @ that statement, or lack thereof. Might as well have just read "GTFO". Waggott was the only one of the terrible trio who had any idea of how to speak to the media or fans without sounding exceptionally arrogant and/or totally clueless. Most of what he said was waffle, but it was - for the most part - the kind of waffle that experienced execs specialise in. Stuff that has no value, but on the surface sounds reasonable. Words that over tea and biscuits lead some people to declare that bright things are on the horizon for Rovers. It's a basic requirement if you need to do PR or stakeholder meetings somewhat regularly, but neither Suhail nor Rudy are any good at it judging from the recent interviews. Idk who comes in to replace him, nor do I care. All that matters is Venky's being removed.

I'd be curious to know how Spurs fans are feeling about this season. Very weird situation they've found themselves in. An abominable PL campaign which may well see them finish as the 4th worst team in the division over 38 games - although theoretically they could still finish as "high" as 14th, owing to actually having remarkably solid GD for a club in 17th position. When you factor in that the three relegated clubs are just Championship level sides LARPing as PL teams for a season, though, it's still an embarrassing position to be in. They've also lost the most games in the division as it stands outside of the bottom three (Spurs 21 lost, Ipswich 23, Leicester 24, Soton 29). Yet, the league campaign effectively means nothing and was arguably pointless, as they've qualified for the "Champions" League regardless, thanks to the Europa League 'Get Out of Jail Free Card'. So, if you're a Spurs fan who basically wasted a ton of money to mostly watch your team lose week in and week out, does winning the Europa League and therefore qualifying for the CL make up for it? Or is there still some resentment there? Particularly as far from all Spurs fans who attended the league games will have been able to attend many or any of the Europa League games. As for Man Utd fans, well... they get to look forward to moving into a gigantic circus tent in the not-too-distant future.

Didn't someone from WATR say that Venky's quite literally told them they don't need or want to hear what the fans think?

Probably adequate for a 2nd/3rd choice midfield backup, and we are assumedly not breaking the bank on him wage-wise. Just a case of whether he's happy to be that far down the pecking order. I don't think Buckley's a bad player - he's just developed into a very average player, with the exception of his passing which can be excellent at times. As an aside, reading the posts on this page I was baffled by the positive comments about JRC until I realised they were from April 2024. Some fall that lad has had.

We hear all of the time how charitable our billionaire owners are. Apparently not charitable enough to support women and girls trying to make their way in a game dominated by men since its' inception. Let's be clear - any loss being made by the women's team is peanuts to our owners. They could easily choose to support Rovers women rather than abandon them. It wouldn't hurt them in the slightest. Hopefully Glen is making that point in his communications to India.

Assuming Sunderland progress they've been solid this season, despite putting their feet up at the proverbial beach about a month before the season ended. Won't matter if they can flick the switch and start playing well again though - aside from the fans who wasted their time and money going to watch those pre-playoff matches, obviously. Still, I'd expect them to give Sheff Utd a game in the final. Bristol City and Coventry were always going to be rank outsiders simply based on how low their points totals were. Sheff Utd and Sunderland can, at the very least, both legitimately claim they were better than the majority of the division over the course of a season. The other two were very marginally the best of the rest. If either somehow snuck up through the playoffs they would, much like in a hypothetical scenario where we go up under Venky ownership, be absolutely annihilated in the PL. If clubs weren't so desperately in need of the coin that the PL provides, staying in the Championship wouldn't be so bad. From a fan perspective at least, it's no fun getting completely wrecked every week. The Ipswich fans around me have been utterly miserable this season, arguing amongst each other as they see the team get battered repeatedly and paying a lot for the privilege.

And yet one of them will be playing in the Champions League next season. I would say it's a farce but they got there fair and square, so you can only conclude that there is a ridiculous disparity between the PL and other European leagues, when the top two in those leagues are removed from the equation.

Lowest points total in many years to get 6th, so not surprising. Everyone below 4th is very average at best, and even Sunderland had an atrocious end to the season. Unless Sheff Utd lose their nerve in the final (which can certainly happen) the playoffs are theirs for the taking. It'll be interesting to see if Sunderland can start playing properly again now that they have a reason to. Coventry only finished the season one point ahead of Bristol City, but if they beat Sunderland over two legs then they'll go into the final with the wind in their sails and anything can happen in a one off game.

A very good signing for what we paid, and I think if not for injury he would have gotten into double figures.

If they hire an experienced manager with some level of past success then you can understand the decision. It's ruthless but if they're doing it out of an ambition to give themselves a better chance of getting in the playoffs next season then fair enough. How many other Championship managerial posts would Cleverley get?

Same as usual, top half or mid table. There will be teams worse run and worse assembled than us, as there has been the vast majority of our seasons at this level, and we still have enough in the first eleven to get enough points to be comfortable. With that said, if we sell a lot of the players whose contracts are due to run out in 2027 and our replacement strategy is frees, cheapos, loans and youth players then we could be in for a rough time.

The only thing I want to hear from them is that they are actively looking to sell the club or have agreed a sale.

That's why we need new owners, rather than talking about players who should stay or leave. We're in purgatory until Venky's are gone.

People say Hyam needs an experienced player beside him like that's acceptable for a 29 year old. If he needs someone to hold his hand at this point then he's not that good.

Interesting to see a lot of people tipping Luton to win the division. I don't remember having a strong opinion about them either way at the start of the season, but as a parachute club I would never have expected them to go down. I'd have assumed they'd be around the playoffs at the very least. I don't think anyone would have anticipated City's struggles either. You'd have thought they'd have the squad depth to cope with a couple of key players being injured, but seemingly not. With that said, I expect they'll be back in business next season.

I imagine he'll have plenty of interest from many Championship teams. Derby may appeal if he had a strong bond with Eustace and enjoyed working under him. If Eustace gets backing in the summer then there's no reason he can't do with Derby what he did here and at Birmingham. I suspect it'll come down to a combination of club reputation/prospects and money. I don't expect a parachute club will necessarily come in for him (not guaranteeing first team football, anyway) so the offers aren't likely to be too far apart.

An interesting group of teams in the League 1 playoffs this season. Stockport, Charlton, Wycombe and Leyton Orient. Charlton were last in the Championship in the 19/20 season. Stockport have spent much of the last decade in the National League, and only came up from League Two last season. They've had some pretty hefty financial support, losing £7m in their League 2 season - but seem to have gone under the radar a bit. Outshined by the Wrexham story. Wycombe have the most recent Championship tenure of the playoff teams, having been in the division in the 2020/21 season. Leyton Orient just about pipped Reading to 6th. They've spent much of their time in the last decade either in League 2 or the National League. Of the three relegated clubs from last season's Championship, only Birmingham bounced back. Granted they spent a silly amount of money to do so, but if that expenditure is on players that can be utilised in the Championship as well then it may be seen as a sound investment over time. Huddersfield finished 10th and lost their last 6 games. Ouch. Rotherham even worse, finishing 13th. It used to be practically a guarantee that Rotherham would come straight back up after being relegated to League 1, but looks like that's no longer the case. Bolton were in contention for the playoffs but then lost 4 and drew 2 of their last six games, and that was that. They finished 8th, 10 points off 6th spot. Wigan finished 15th. Our once great rivals Shrewsbury finished bottom and will be playing in League 2 next season. It ends a decade-long stay in League 1 for them. The season they competed with us was pretty much a total one-off. From 2015 to present, excluding the 17/18 season, they never finished higher than 12th and were more frequently in the 17th - 20th range.

I started off the season with a pessimistic mindset, concerned by what was yet another frustrating summer window and lack of investment from the owners. We were going into another season having lost our primary gpalscorer (Armstrong > BBD > Szmodics) and this time there did not appear to be a player who was going to step out of the shadows to take that task on their shoulders. Our purchases in that position were two cheap unknowns. Ultimately, none of our players got into double figures with goals or assists. Ohashi proved to be a good signing and if he hadn't spent time out with injury would likely have gotten past the 9 he ultimately accrued. Gueye had a very hit and miss season, but his personality helped transform him into a cult hero of sorts. Scoring wasn't our strong suit this season. We only scored 53, compared to 60 last season. However, defensively we massively improved - conceding 48 compared to 74 last season. John Eustace's philosophy of building from the back provided the foundations of our success for the first half of the season, ensuring that our lack of firepower up top was often mitigated by having a solid backline. We weren't always a joy to watch, but the results were there for all to see. What Eustace was doing was working. Then, January. As always, things went sour. Eustace left for a Derby side deep in relegation trouble, despite Rovers being 5th. It was an almost unfathomable move - it is unprecedented for a manager to move from a team in the playoffs to a team in the relegation zone mid-season. This is just life under Venky's, though. The only unprecedented incidents are going to be negative and embarrassing ones. The players initially reacted with defiance, winning our first two games under interim manager David Lowe and arresting what had been a poor run of form leading up to Eustace's surprise departure. A resounding defeat by Swansea in Lowe's last game in charge was an ominous sign of things to come, though. Valerin Ismael was hired amidst the backdrop of renewed protest against the Ewood hierarchy. The new manager desperately needed to get some momentum going, but instead initial performances under him were absolutely dire. Rovers bombed out of the playoff places, down to 12th at one point, and 7 winless games made it look like all hope was lost. An unexpected second half fightback against Sheffield Wednesday, going from 2-0 down to 2-2, sparked an unlikely revival which saw Rovers win multiple matches on the bounce. The teams above us faltered at the finish line, leaving us with the possibility of sneaking back into the playoffs on the final day of the season. A win would have done it, but it was a bridge too far, and a 1-1 draw left us in the all-too-familiar position of 7th. On the outside looking in, as has always been the case under the current owners. A combination of John Eustace's practicality and the division being weaker than many predicted meant that we were never in danger of getting sucked into a relegation battle, despite nerves jangling slightly during our initial downturn in form under Ismael. It's another season where top six was eminently attainable, but ultimately seized by clubs who are no better equipped than us. They just have the good fortune of not being saddled with the Venky curse. Eustace built the foundations for us to succeed this season. Venky's took a sledgehammer to those and it cost us a playoff position yet again. I continue to look forward to the day they leave.

With moderately ambitious owners I absolutely believe we would have gotten into the playoffs at least 2 or 3 times since we were promoted back from L1 - even if the budget was essentially the same. In our earlier Championship years I even think top two was possible with the squad we had available - Rhodes, Marshall, Cairney, Duffy, Robbo, and so on. Venky's are just an albatross around the club's neck which always drags us down regardless of the manager or team available.