There’s no noise from the club that he‘ll be staying - even when we were high flying. The fact that the same thing has happened this season as the previous 3/4, esp with where we were at, just leaves his future inevitable imo. They should really have someone lined up immediately considering the amount of time they have had to prepare. With Waggot and TM gone I may have a management structure I can believe and invest myself in again. I really would go all out for jokanivic - bring him in and give a 2-3 year project. Plays fantastic football and has an excellent promotion track record. He’s not afraid to play young players either. He’s a manger who at least needs a season to implement his style of football before he can really be judged and at Rovers he won’t have the pressure to get immediate results - like he did at Sheffield United.

would be interested to hear whether anyone has had a rumour of his replacement floated by them? I think it’s obvious he’s going this summer - tho he should of really have gone a month go.

Jokanvic or Ismael for me would be the prime candidates. Ainsworth is most likely imo and someone who I would be genuinely happy with and willing to give a shot. If I am honest I just want a manger who I can believe in again, understand their decision making and actually plays up to date tactics.

If it were up to me I would get Ismael or Jokanvic in now. Try and save the season and if not gives the new man a head start on the summer.

Important game this. Must win if we are to cement ourselves in the playoffs. This may also seem wild but I still haven’t given up on chasing down Bournemouth. Their run in is extremely tough, and busy, which followed by there clear inconsistency almost guarantees the dropping of points. Furthermore they have to play Fulham at home Swansea away and then us away all in the space of 7 days before the final gameweek of the season. That week offers a potential swing of 6 points. All we need to do is make sure we are in range of them heading into that week. However for that to happen we don’t have much room for error. I would stick with 3 at the back. But it needs tinkering. kamisnki lenihan Van Hecke Wharton buckley Travis rothwell giles dolan gally khadra No false 9. Gally up top with two excellent crossers in the wingback positions. Simple as that.

I would stick with 3 at the back, but adapt it to be more attacking. Giles should come in at LWB, Gally down the middle with Dolan and Khadra on either side. Eventually we’ll see Dack and Diaz come in for Dolan and Gally. I would also be tempted to give Buckley a run at RWB until nymabe is back.

interesting…

Giles is rapid. However Dolan isnt - not sure why people feel he is.

Free hit in many ways but with the pressure off and Fulham’s style of play - it could be a game which falls into our hands. I’m London based and live with a die hard Fulham fan who often has a spare season ticket - so I’ve seen a lot of them this season. When teams sit back and get physical with them they do struggle, although if they get an early goal it could become a very long afternoon as we found out a couple of months ago. Their left side of defensive is pretty shaken. Left back Robinson is there weak spot imo - although incredibly quick - is actually very limited on the ball and when pressed often gives it away. I hope that we target that. Lcb Tim Ream is decent on the ball however is very suspect when players run at him, would try and get Khadra up against him as much as possible. Attackingly their game plan is fairly simple, but very effective. Get the ball wide and overload with the fullback or their top young talent carvalho. 3/5 atb should majorly counter this but we may need the wide forwards to track back at times. Much more winnable game than people think as I think our style of play is a good match up. Having Rothwell back will be key however as we need him to be able to move the ball out of their press and break through the lines.

Disagree - if we want anything out of that game then we need travis. In my opinion he has been our standout player in the last month or so. Has clearly up’d his game from just a defensive midfielder - now seems to be one of our main driving forces and often looks for the forward passes between the lines.

How many have travelled? Would of loved to have been there myself tonight - feels like a massive game in our season.

Unfortunately I don’t think we have the depth to catch Bournemouth now. The top 2 look fairly comfortable now and have squads far superior to anyone else isnt the league so I can’t see to much drama there. I wouldn’t worry about us for the playoffs - I think we’ll get there fairly comfortably without putting any real pressure on Bournemouth or Fulham. I say this because our goal scoring issues won’t last - for the past couple of seasons we have shown an ability to score a fair few goals, and have players across the team who can contribute. On top of that I firmly believe we have the best defence in the league in our first choice back 5, which imo makes us a really strong contender for those playoff matches when they eventually come around. What I would say is we need to overcome our weaknesses when we go behind. It’s been an issue which I’ve picked up on from the past few seasons and that truly lies at the door of TM - for all his success this season he has constantly failed to address this. A win against Millwall is essential to get confidence up heading into 2 important fixtures which I’m hoping for 4 points from. Fulham is a free hit. come on your rovers!

I think for the moment we need to forget about the top 2. Let’s just game by game focus on our job and cement ourselves in the playoffs. A win today would be massive in doing - providing some security despite the amount of games in hand around us. Two difficult decisions for TM regarding line up tonight - LB and Cam/false9. If Pickering is 100% fit then he gets the nod for me though I wouldn’t have any issues with Giles - I just feel he would be a better player to bring on from the bench. I would drop Buckley tonight. He hasn’t been at it recently and has cost us with his finishing over the last few weeks - I am a massive fan of his but he needs a break. Dolan is built for the false 9, eager to prove a point and get back in the starting 11 and looked lively from the bench against forest. For me he gets the nod. Back 3 picks itself. kamisnki nymabe Van Hecke ayala Wharton Pickering travis Rothwell khadra dolan Diaz Also I wanted to mention how impressed I have been with trav recently - he is so clearly up for the fight and i feel has carried us in the middle the last few games. More of the same please Lewis!

I mean I don’t mind Zeefuik starting - he hasn’t had a proper chance to show us what he can do. With him and Giles we actually have out and out wingbacks.

Start of a crucial 6 game run for us, where I believe we need 4 wins and a draw to keep us in the auto race. 3 wins and 3 losses would keep us firmly in the playoff hunt. Anything less and I would worry. For me team has to be: kaminski lenihan vanhecke Wharton nymabe Rothwell Travis Giles Khadra Buckley Diaz For some reason I am extremely confident that we will win this.

Lads we haven’t bid for solanke haha

Can we get some hints from people claiming that something is happening other than Giles?

I really hope this isn’t your own assombalonga moment…

Nope. Van Hecke is the man.

Yes, the one I’m really hoping for is Ejaria from Reading. Would be an excellent wildcard/gamechanger for the squad.

I’m expecting Joe Rothwell to stay, Ryan Giles on loan until end of the season (quality signing btw which I feel is going a little under appreciated) and a late move for a forward which will collapse at the 11th hour…

3 signings needed today if Rothwell goes. 1 Lb/Lwb cover for Pickering and to allow Edun to compete for his preferred CM role. A CM to replace Rothwell with something about them. Ejaria, Swift or Morgan Gibbs-White would be my choices. A winger/striker to offer us an attacking alternative from the bench. It seems like we’re not going to be afraid of using our academy players for squad depth which I don’t mind but we do need some cover.

The club has literally been in talks with Rothwell for the last 18months. They have seemingly financially done what they could to convince him to stay. Fair enough Rothwell wants to explore his options, however he should never be pushing for a move in the last days of the window to our main promotion rival. The club cants stop that - that’s on him.

This isn’t on the club or the manager. This is purely on Rothwell. We are where we are at the moment due to our team spirit and resilience. Anyone who threatens that needs to go. I just can’t understand how any human can not see what a big season this is for the club and the fans who have had nothing bar disappointments for the last decade and actively go about messing that up. Money clearly talks. No loyalty.

This saga will make or break our season. Ryan Giles has very good reviews from Cardiff fans - though I would prefer a perm move. I would like us to make a push for Morgan Gibbs-White, I believe he was linked earlier in in the window. That would be a genuine upgrade.