Dreams of 1995

This just isn’t true A few misplaced passes aside, his link up play, touch offs, head downs, are all good

It isn't about going after the Rovers. It is about dependable, local journalism. The LT have to make sure they aren't seen to fight a war but there could still be a better form of journalism on offer now that their ability to report and enter the home facilities has been taken from them. Can the LT begin to highlight the facility management? I bet they could. Look at Ewood now and think back to 2005. I bet you will struggle to notice any betterment. The general state of Ewood's grounds has been unappreciated If I was in the LT circles I would begin to compose items of Club promises which have been broken - fan engagement being one. A good article could be now holding Madam to account. On our 150th anniversary we can celebrate the life of the greatest owner the Club ever had - the Venkys, upon acquisition, promised honour his legacy. It would not be a difficult write up to suggest the legacy has not only not been honoured, it has been trodden on. That would be such an easy article to write. From the top of my head - we have had to sell the training ground, we attempted to sell the training ground land in order to build houses, we have suffered relegation, SEM, Kentaro, the state of Ewood, the dwindling fan base, the condition of Brockhall, community cohesion & staff relationships broken, Shebby Singh, Steve Kean, the Coyle appointment....the list goes on Overall I think the LT have done a terrible job in holding the Venkys to account. This is what it should be about - accountability. It may mean absolutely nothing to the Venkys themselves, they obviously don't care, but to supporters of Rovers some honest and well-researched journalism would go a long way to maintaining engagement with the Club

Our entire game plan is very dependant on players having marathon engines. We are left so exposed out wide that unless they have legs like Alebiouso they are sitting ducks The manager has form for this. During his time at Baggies he came unstuck because he often just circumvents the need for a midfield. Some of the games, particularly during the later moments, become tennis like. I don't think he will ever get to the solid state Eustace had us; mainly because he doesn't look like he has a clue on how to restrict teams. We can be passed through with ease. We can be countered even easier. Ismael's defensive coaching seems to be to rely on the ability of the defenders to simply defend. I very much doubt there is a plan in place on how to not leave Wharton, McLoughlin or Miller as exposed as we have seen them this season

I agree with most of this. I do think Gudjohnsen is getting a bit of disservice at present. The service to our strikers has not been the best. The chances we have are good, but usually that final ball is less than perfect, which has meant we have missed out

Luck or judgement - who cares. That’s a really important 3 pts Will Still came to England with a very good reputation following his time in France. Can’t see that myself. I was shocked to see Stephen’s coming on in defensive midfield Overall thought we looked good value for the points. We have a couple of players who aren’t good enough - Miller being one. I don’t feel confident with him on the ball. We were told he was a real athlete as well but we aren’t seeing that Gudjohnson is a really good player. When he receives the ball with his back to goal his link up play to hold it and knock it back is always very good. What he has to learn is to then make the run after. Too often he takes a fraction too long admiring the pass. This will come with better attacking coaching. If we can feed him and Ohashi with better chances we can get goals Still think Ismael is too limited. We are fortunate to have met Southampton in this form. Their defence is shocking and we managed to take advantage A big 3 pts in what will be a long, tough season Gardner-Hickman had a good game for me. De Neve anonymous but worked hard I have seen a couple of posts talk about Armstrongs misses. Can we call them what they are please? Toth saves. He saved us the 3 pts today and for me he’s got man of the match

There will be zero interest in Ismael, and he will want every penny of his 3.5 year contract. Which makes that contract even more ridiculous. We had no money to pay for Travis, or Hyam, or Brittain, but we clearly have money for Ismael. The only conclusion could be that they did not intend to have to sack him. Which is probably why they will now carry on regardless of how we perform

It is three games. What's more, is that we looked good in all of those 3 games until we concede. Upon conceding, it seems that the next plan is to bypass the midfield and go long. Turn the game into a game of tennis, push the full backs up so high they may as well be wingers. Then we get caught out. Time & time again the next plan is our undoing. He's not good enough. If Val is in charge by Christmas then I think we are nailed on to go down

It is but it isn't being used often enough. I've seen enough from him now to know there's a player in there. He can hold it up, he can turn a man and he has an eye for a pass. He is also decent enough in the air. All of this is a work in progress but he will get there with the right coaching.

Hopeless is as good a word as any to use. When we make changes, it seems to completely derail any sort of tactical plan or momentum we have. For around 10 minutes yesterday we had long balls being sent over to Agustus Kargbo and Morishta. I mean, how careless can you get? If you are going to pump it long, at least put the bloke on who is 6 foot 5. At this point int he game he only needs to get his head onto it to make a chance. This isn't the first time it has happened We have no Plan B. Starting to think we don't really have a Plan A. I actually look at Gudjohnson and see a real striker there. He is being used criminally. His hold up play and his switching is fantastic but we see it too few and far between; instead, the aim of the game is to hit it long over the centre half and try and run onto the ball. It suited De Neve yesterday, but then he was ran into the ground and not taken off. Overall I think Val is just a poor manager. He doesn't come across as charismatic, he doesn't come across as though he's a mate of players and this is so far removed from our previous two coaches. It's been a total 180 on the progress made - we are now back to pre-Mowbray in terms of the board, the squad and the connection with the fan base.

I woke up this morning expecting him to be sacked. Then I realised this is dependant on Suhail and Rudy admitting they made a mistake. Everything we hear about those pair tells us that won’t happen Gestede doing as much damage to this club as any gone before him. What a disgrace. He can’t be putting himself in good standing for another job in club football The best thing he can do now is show decisiveness and get a grip of this situation. Val out.

It is rare you will see a post like this from me. I am somebody who enjoys managers having time to turn things around Sack the bloke. It isn’t changing. We concede weak goals. A sign of a relegation team is one that loses even when they appear to play well. If we keep this guy until Christmas then we will be enjoying another season in League one.

We simply have to sack the manager. I am sorry but he’s been awful since the day he took over

Tavares looks like a tidy player on the ball but he's clearly used to a different pace. He's far too nonchalant and looks to be a victim of the youth academies mentality of "not worrying if you lose it when trying to play the right way" That luxury ends in senior football. Perhaps he needs reminding of it. There's a time and a place to be cute; there's a time and a place to play tight and safe. If Tavares can master that, then there's a decent player in there

Feeling the same. His football is so negative. I have a few friends who are Baggies and all of them say the same thing - negative and gets found out. I have found it hard viewing this season. He has the potential to take us down

It really doesn’t matter what you spend to be honest. It is the quality that you get for the money If you think our squad is stronger than last seasons then you’re living in dreamland. Could have been £20m or 20p as far as I am concerned - our quality has decreased massively I still think there’s a player in Gudjohnson though. He needs better and more consistent service

This season has relegation all over it. Our tactics are too transparent and very easy to defend against. We are far too wide, which means when we lose possession the other team have plenty of room to break out. We keep seeing it time and time again where their central midfielders are given acres. We made Stamenic look like prime Busquets yesterday. He hasn't had an easier day in his life. The passing angles we create are all wrong. And we are not playing to our strengths. Ok, Ohashi won a great header and almost got the equaliser, but why play a game that relies almost solely on getting wide and throwing the ball in the box and then keep your 6 foot 6 striker out of the squad? It seems madness. Even if his heading isn't the best, he gives them something to think about. I don't like the way Val plays football. Big gaps between the back and the strikers when on the ball; combined with being too wide and pushing too high up when in the final third. We are exposed and quite often we get crowded out when we have the ball because we are too far apart from each other. It is a far cry from what we have been used to For the game, I think Gudjohnson showed glimpses of quality but when he gets the service he's been getting what can we expect? Cantwell looked lively enough but showed he isn't a captain. Ableoisi is a real athlete and has moments of class. Just feel he needs to improve in the final third. I don't really have anything good to say about the rest of them. To a man, poor. Kargbo really pissed me off with his sloppiness and then lack of endeavour; then 5 minutes later he sprints full blast at a lost cause to chase the keeper down. Give over you fool. Not looking forward to this season. Gaffer is on a long contract, the Venky's have form for sacking too late, and I feel we are in a position whereby survival is now classed as a good season. If this is a reset then we've really tanked all the progress made in the last 5 years and gone back to the days of Coyle.

Their goalkeeper has a look of John Buckley about him. Saudi or Norwich?

Boro going 4 for 4. Rob Edwards is a crap manager though. Or at least that’s what we were told when he was linked here

Eh? This is how the academy should work, right? We develop players in the hope of finding a Wharton. When we don't, we sell them to lesser teams for pure profit. In the meantime the players that are good enough come into the first team and challenge or provide depth. It seems a mad stance to take to being annoyed at selling academy players for profit. What that profit is used for is an entirely different argument.

Back on the wind up Earlier in the window you were waxing lyrical about Swansea's moves. They have signed some lad from Sweden who has a handful of goals; some 20 year old from Kilmarnock and a defender who spent his time mincing it in the lower leagues. Everybody else has interesting and ambitious signings - us, they are cheap, underwhelming and punts. I suppose if you always start with such low expectations nobody can call you out for being wrong like you often do with others eh.

Sad to see Buckley leave. Feels like the final remnants of the Mowbray era drifting away. Say what you want but I do miss the feel that squad had. It had a more homely sense about it; we are heading in a direction where 90% of the squad have no connection to this country, let alone the club. Not that nationality matters but nevertheless it feels as distant as it ever has for me. Losing an academy player is never good. Buckley had the potential but never quite reached up to it. Wish him all the best. He obviously knew there was a section of supporters who had nothing nice to say about him hence the comment. For me, a young man who gave 20 years to the Rovers and say what you want about how he comes across, that will be a miss in the dressing room

I don’t think many expected a move to a club like Espanyol if I am being honest. He is one of the most frustrating players during his time at Rovers, for me anyway. His first touch and his end product lacked far too often. Maybe some high end coaching in Spain will improve on that; here, whilst modest improvements from his start, it was incremental gains. This whole situation about right vs wrong is why this sport is as followed as it is. We all have different opinions and the game is played in a different way all over the world. Theres an appetite to be seen as right. In the spirit of pub chat, which this is, over the course of your days following football you will probably be right as many times as you are wrong. And so gloating when you do hit something correctly is probably ill advised. I will nail my colours to the mast - I don’t think Dolan will cut the mustard. The Espanyol move shocked me. It will render me utterly incapable of describing my surprise if he turns out to cut the mustard at the top level. Feel free to call me a perpetual naysayer. I wouldn’t say I am. But on this occasion, I just don’t find Dolan to be a very good player

He doesn’t get that much disrespect on here to be fair. It’s only really roversfan99. Most others see Gueye for what he is - a troublesome presence who is at his level in the football pyramid. He nailed his colours to the mast last year. Think he’s fishing again with a recent flurry of “Gueye is crap” comments. It’s a bit weird considering he’s spent the last 3 years having a pop at Rev for not liking Gallagher……….

Would be a shame if Gueye goes. He won us some important points last season by using his presence to worry defenders. His replacement would need to add a different dimension also