Contracts I think Ismael has asked that we re-sign the four out of contract to keep a level of consistency in the group. Personally, I would offer Batth and Weimann (once fit) new deals as a priority. I think Forshaw did quite well so a cheap short term deal in addition to someone to push Trav and Sonny would be fine for me also. Dolan and Hedges, though far superior to many of our other players technically, both needed to go. Because neither of them do the actual job they’re paid to. Hedges goal contributions are horrific and we shouldn’t let Dolan’s mini renaissance cloud the fact that he’s stunk most of his 200 games out with flicks and unnecessary extra touches, combined with a lack of end product. Both are hard working, honest players but forwards are paid to effect the final third. See ya. Sales Pears - had his best time for us in the first half of the season and was integral to us being in the top 5. Form tailed off in the new year, won’t wanna play second fiddle. Buckley / JRC - Time is up. Club an manager made their feelings known Hyam - may go if they can’t get him to sign. Assuming we have Batth, Carter and Wharton Pickering - may go, can’t see him wanting to sit behind Ribeiro Free / £1m GK, CB, RB, CM and 2x wide forwards. Any gaps will be filled by U21’s We know from Rudys interview and the last few summers that we will have approx £5m to spend across both windows regardless of what we bring in. So I expect two or three 1m ish fees, a couple of free’s and loans / short term deals. Im still undecided as to whether I will renew. Be the first time I haven’t since Keans last season. Weirdly, Rudys honesty in that interview has completely killed me because I know now, there’s no flippin hope! It’s formulaic. Zero imagination so no point in dreaming, whilst they put the ticket prices up 🙈

Overall, we’ve overachieved for the season. There’s not a single Rovers fan who wouldn’t have snapped your hand off for finishing 7th when the season started last August. The clubs problems are well documented but I do think Ismael will do ok long term. Start next season with Toth, Brittain, Hyam, Batth, Ribeiro, Sonny, Trav, Cantwell and Ohashi. With Carter, Wharton, Pick, and Kargbo. For the live of god, get rid of Hedges and I pray Dolan leaves too. Both absolutely crap, hardworking but genuinely useless. Dennis, Sanderson and Woodrow can disappear too. I wouldn’t be against offering new deals to Weimann and Forshaw. Big summer ahead!

Because there’s a big difference between playing in the first team in the championship and playing for the U21’s at United??

All opinions of course, and Dolan is doing a fine job of finishing in a high, but 200 games in, I think he’s crap mate. Hard working show pony, who has far more bad’uns than good’uns. Is the deceptively slow and takes 1733637 touches when one is all is needed. Granted, I may be proven wrong on him, and for his sake I hope I’m wrong, but my bet is he’s more likely to do a ‘Nyambe’ than a ‘Raya’. All fairly irrelevant anyway because he’s taking the coin. Meh…next!!

The keepers, regular defensive unit (Plus Carter, Pick and Wharton) and the regular midfield base (Trav and Sonny) have proven they are top half championship players for me. The question marks are all around those top four forward positions and there’s a few who’ve proven not good enough in terms of goals and assists. I’m hopeful that Gueye, Ohashi, Kargbo and Cantwell can kick on under Big Val next season. I’m strongly in the camp that Hedges and Dolan aren’t good enough as demonstrated over a few hundred games in Rovers colours. The annual drop off is mainly down to squad depth when injuries and suspensions kick in. We don’t have enough depth and we don’t have enough firepower due to lack of funds. I think we’ll target a GK, CM, Wide forward and a striker in the summer. Expect Buckley, JRC, Pears and Dolan to go. Then maybe a couple of loans and promote some young lads to flesh things out.

Pears Brittain. Carter. Hyam. Ribeiro Travis. Sonny Kargbo. Weimann. Cantwell Gueye Subs - Toth, JRC, Sanderson, Forshaw, Dolan, Hedges, Woodrow, ACD, Ohashi I think we have to get Cantwell out of the #10 position. He doesn’t carry a goal threat, nor does he assist. Imo he’s better from deeper / the left and could be a good foil for a flying player like Kargbo on the other side. Plus, we need to get goalscorers like Weimann as close to Gueye as possible. Derby 1 - 3 Rovers - Gueye x2 and Kargbo.

Time to reflect… First half we were slow. We set up in a 4231, but there were notable differences tactically. Out of possession, we didn’t press as high and the left side were much deeper than the right. In possession we were more direct, and we tried to use Kargbo’s pace. I thought the defence and Forshaw did ok, Trav looked a little laboured, Cantwell and Dolan, horrific and Kargbo our brightest spark. Big Mak, the new standard. A very good target man at this level now. Norwich had the two best chances and probably should have been winning. The second half started much the same with Norwich controlling the game without threatening, until tye 60 min mark when the subs came on…from that point, we grew into the game and it felt like there was going to be only one winner. Tactically we looked better with Sonny back and there was an obvious ploy to get the wide players running ‘out to in’ and behind their defence. The red card was harsh as Dennis had to go for the ball and Chrisene clearly tricked the ref, who officiated like he’d never played the game. Poor. Then at 85 mins we get hit by the sucker punch goal and you could have forgiven the players for thinking it wasn’t their day. 100’s fans began streaming out of the ground…but this team is made of stronger stuff! Credit to Hedges and Weimann who made a difference in an attacking sense, then the ref gives a free kick for a foul which looked blatantly like it was in the box before we draw level with 20 secs to spare…it felt like a win and a huge moment! If we can keep that defence, plus Sonny snd Trav fit, then VI’s job is to find a combination solution between Dolan, Cantwell, Kargbo, Weimann, Hedges, Dennis and Woodrow. I would personally like to see us play someone like Yuki or Dennis up next to Gueye. Especially if we’re going to be more direct..Cantwell doesn’t carry any goal threat and so needs to be played deeper or off the left. interesting few weeks…

I’d go with this, mate…genuinely think it’s 50/50 whether VI works out at Rovers or not. The next 12 games are an interesting ‘free hit’ for him! Big game today.

The managers brief is clear, keep us up and sustainable and you can have the keys to the club for good” Im not even sure they have lied to Big Val this time. I think he’s probably looking at it thinking, he’d like some stability and job continuity himself. You don’t get sacked at Rovers. I don’t buy into the narrative that the club would sabotage us getting into the PL. On the contrary, a ‘budget’ promotion would be a blessing to the mission of reducing debt, a guaranteed £200m over two seasons (including parachutes in season two) which would more than cover costs, and pay down the owners debt. Then, once you’re in the promotion cycle, the chances of bouncing up and down are higher…which all means Money!

Good spot, he also steered clear of admitting the club wanted promotion…it’s clear that the brief is to be self sufficient. Heres how I think the chat went… ”Val, keep us in this league, bring through plenty of homegrown players for us to sell, so we never have to go back to our bosses for extra cash, and you’ve got £600k a year for life!” Job done.

Nooooo….think of it like this! Youve been in a relationship with your new squeeze for a year. You think she’s amazing but recently, she’s had a wondering eye, you’ve seen her flashing other fellas the eye in Preston, Hull and Plymouth and decided to give her the benefit of the doubt, and then your worst fears come to light when you find out she’s met a guy from Derby. In your final showdown, she tells you how he’s offering her “so much more” and if you’d just propose to her, commit to her then she’d turn him down….what would you do?

Having had some time to read more about Ismael - his methods, past experience etc. I genuinely think it’s 50/50 that he works out. The comparisons between us and Barnsley are good, but there’s no doubt that he didn’t hit the heights at West Brom, and trying to analyse a managers performance at Watford just hurts my head. It seems that Big Val, is a strict disciplinarian and whilst that’s a brilliant trait in many ways, IF it goes wrong, you can lose a group and it’s basically over. In a dressing room like Barnsley’s, or ours currently, where players aren’t earning what others at rival clubs are and have been written off, then you can forge an ‘us against the world’ mentality which drives everything. That’s what I think the board are hoping for… Alternatively, if the wheels come off, he’s proven his teams can hit severe death spirals and im not sure we’d survive another in the Championship. I hope this works out! 🤞🏽

And you know that, how? Waggot hired JE. But the search and due dilligence was done whilst JDT was in post, after they decided to begin the process.

Eh? How many people have you hired? Leadership / Execs standard = wishlist plus applicants sift, get down to a midsize list 10x, first iv’s (online), Get 10 down to 5 and then do second interviews (f2f) for the final group. Review and select successful candidate / finalise. 2-4 weeks Standard process.

Probably best to see how this turns out, before we get too worked up? Surely…