Atko's Engine

Too early to tell imo. There are certainly promising signs from some of the new recruits, but the loss of championship experience is colossal. FWIW, given the parlous state of the club at board level upwards I think there's a good chance that the recruitment team have turned up some good finds. It can't be easy sourcing good quality players with the right attitudes when we're offering wages at the bottom end of championship level. Looking at the Watford game & training BTS footage it does suggest that there's a good camaraderie amongst the playing staff despite the churn of players & loss of some familiar faces. I have no doubt that this summer was all about cost cutting, & that the Vs & Pasha don't really care about our on-pitch fortunes. I am getting the sense though that VI, Adam Owen, Rudy & others of a footballing persuasion at the club have actually tried to make the best of that & unearth some gems to take us forwards & / or profit from, whilst still keeping us competitive in the division. It's not what I want for us, as promotion is more likely a distant dream than a realistic ambition in this environment. But I'm a bit more positive about this season now than I was two weeks ago when the transfer window closed. Time will tell.

Of all the things to criticise the club for, I'm not sure this is one of them. Rhodes has just retired, & clearly has a solid relationship with Gestede (which is good for consistency, regardless of what we feel about Gestede). It's a good way for him to start his post-playing career & he clearly has experience to call on from his own career that loanees will be able to relate to & benefit from, and will have good knowledge & contacts at League 1 level specifically that can help find suitable clubs for young players to move to for experience; no doubt finding appropriate clubs for our emerging talent will be his very first priority, given that only 3 are out there currently. I'm actually quite pleased with this appointment, though proof will be in the pudding...

Another frustrating day yesterday, but all issues about the owners, Pasha, Gestede aside I do not see the need to panic like some on here are. The new players will take time to get up to speed, even those who've had prior championship experience. For those of a certain vintage, who remembers the clogger that was Tim Sherwood when we first signed him?! I've seen plenty of positives from most of the new players to be confident we'll have an ok season. Which considering the churn of players this summer is probably the best we can realistically hope for. We've been unlucky with some officiating but also been poor in key areas of the field when it counts (like yesterday; the ref did not contribute much to our defeat imo, as poor as he was on many occasions). I'd also add that W Brom, Brum & Norwich are amongst most pundits picks for top 8 finishes. I'd be far more worried if we'd lost to Oxford, Portsmouth & Stoke - like we did last season incidentally, yet we still finished 7th! We need more new players & new players need time. Let's give them a bit of slack to find their feet & some consistency as in all the games I've seen so far (Bradford aside), we've been there or thereabouts in each of them & but for some fine margins we could have 4 or 5 more points on the board & be having very different discussions. Like I said, all this is ignoring the real problem, which as we all know is not going away any time soon.

Ah that's who it was is it? I watched it & couldn't think who it might be. I think there's going to be a lot of that this season... "What a pass, who played it?" "Great block, who was it?" "How do you say his name?" Is this Gestede's idea of excitement?! TBF, I'm more enthused now than I was even a week ago. Maybe I'm easily pleased but the calibre of players being brought in, on medium-long term deals, SEEMS to be a step up from the likes of Telalovic, Ennis, Woodrow, Dennis, etc & the evidence does point to a clear strategy being agreed across the recruitment team & bring implemented. Whether it works, time will tell. It's sad to lose Travis, Buckley, JRC etc, but there is some excitement (or at least curious anticipation) for the direction we now look to be taking, which is at least proactive. I will also add that Gestede's ideal of academy players getting 3000+ minutes of football this season (iirc) looks way off the mark now. Does that point to the need for a quicker transition than expected, or was this just Rudy shooting from the hip under pressure?

Wikipedia is not somewhere to go to search for facts.

Easy to forget we have billionaire owners, having spent about £5m in the same period that we've received circa £40m in players sales, lost 600+ games worth of championship experience this summer alone, & slashed player wage bill & the women's team. How lucky we were to have "an exciting summer" to look forward to!!

So, overall the real kick in the teeth is the manner of the defeat, not the fact of it. Brum are most people's choice for a top 8 spot, whereas we're predicted to struggle or at best be mid table; in that context, losing to them is no disgrace. First half was a non event really; they bossed possession but only really created a couple of half chances. We looked to hit on the break & Cantwell spurned a glorious chance to put Kargbo clean through. 0-0 was fair, neither keeper was really troubled. 2nd half we started well, looked livelier & faster in the press & turned the ball over well. Cantwell scored a great volley. That proved to be the high point, as so often is the case. They built up a head of steam, but again didn't really create much. We missed a great chance you go 2 up when Kargbo crossed for Hyam who somehow headed it back across goal when it looked easier to aim for goal, & the chance went begging. They continued to press, they made some changes & we responded. Their player thdn somehow got passed 3 of ours, went down & got a pen straight away, which was put away v confidently tbf. Then the 11 minutes came up. After that I though we were excellent, really pushed for the winner. Gueye made a great header but was denied by an equally good save, we thdn continued to put pressure on with some long throws, free kicks & a couple of corners, & they were scrambling to keep us out. However 1 corner proved our downfall. We naively went too gung ho & left ourselves exposed. The corner was poor & suddenly they broke on 5 to 1. Tbf I thought we'd survived it, but thdn a missed tackle saw the ball fall to Dykes & he got in a shot that trickled across goal & into the corner. Gutted is not the word. We should never have been in that position. We lost shape through the subs, albeit were unlucky as most were enforced through injury. But we also lost discipline & positioning & both their goals were gifts really (again). Was their penalty fair? I thought at the time it was inevitable he'd go down with 3 players around him, but maybe I was wrong in that given some comments on here from others on here. What wasn't fair was other decisions the ref gave. Ohashi was fouled countless times in the first half but got nothing for it other than a talking to from the ref for trying to stick up for himself. At 1-0 they got a free kick, ref told the player not to take it from where he'd placed the ball, but he did anyway and lumped it 60 yards, only for the ref yo pull it back. But no yellow card for kicking the ball away??? But my main gripe is the non penalty at 1-1. It was quite innocuous really but their defender clearly played the ball with his arm as it dropped from height. It was clear as day, but nothing given other than the corner that ultimately led to their 2nd goal. Imo that's now 3 penalties not given in 3 games this season. Yet the ref couldn't give theirs quick enough (in front of their fans of course). It's certainly something to give pause for thought. Game management was poor today, & I don't think the subs were at all right. Hopefully this shows what further work needs doing before the window closes. I'm not going to go too OTT about today, or about losing our two opening league games as it's a tough schedule. But VI & the players really need to learn from today, as do Gestede & Pasha about signing some players with guile, creativity & a proper eye for goal. I won't hold my breath.

Great input overall, but I'm not sure that last point is entirely correct. Tavares appears to be quite a shrewd signing from what most have said; likewise Miller, who not only looks to have all boxes ticked as a footballer for his position but also seems a great character for team morale. Henrikksen too seems to be competitive, have a good eye & seems an amiable chap. Ohashi & Gueye likewise. In fact I think most of the incomings seem of the right character in context; are they Championship quality skills wise though? Time will tell, but Gestede is only being given peanuts to spend by the owners & Pasha so there is more risk than there should be given the money received in player sales recently.

I think it was. He was clearly caught on his standing leg. Ohashi wasn't given one on Saturday. Consensus then was that if it'd been the home team then a penalty would've been given. Yet Cantwell didn't get this one. Doesn't excuse losing however.

With a completely different set of teammates that he only net 48 hours earlier! He probably only had 1 training session, max 2, before starting the match. Was a bit unfair of VI to play him imo, even though Cantwell was injured Maybe we ought to have used Tyjon instead, or O'Hashi dropping back as a No. 10 & Gueye up top.

1. Ipswich 2. Southampton 3. Sheff Utd, Leicester, Coventry, Norwich 4. Sheff Weds, Oxford & Stoke 5. 9th 6. Stoke 7. Liverpool 8. The Indian courts finally make a ruling.

I'm sharpening the knives...

Disappointing result & performance, but worth remembering that Everton aside, this was the toughest test of the summer when you factor in travel & the fact that they finished 8th in the Eredivisie. I can't imagine many of our league opponents will be as strong as NEC.

True, but the fact that he was up with play on a quick break is promising.

Nice stepover from Cantwell

Who knows, maybe Ewood will become his Wonderland...

Don't disagree, though tbf no-one considered Szmodics as a golden goose until 6 months before we sold him. You never quite know what's around the corner.

One of the things that really sticks in my craw, ignoring the obvious, is how much the Ahmedhodzic transfer to Sheff Utd has shafted us. IIRC, he was about to sign for us under JDT when they came in and gazumped us on his transfer fee &/or wages. He was then a massive contributor to them going up that season, significantly at our expense because we missed top 6 on GD. OK, that happens; but during that season Sheff Utd failed to pay up what they were contracted to pay to his former club; they were charged, found guilty, and ultimately docked 2 points this season, which is nothing for a club coming back down with £150m in its coffers. Fast forward 9 months and that same player scores the goal that, on the day, meant we again missed out on top 6 again. Where's the fairness in that?? Another example of the authorities not being fit for purpose at our expense. Edit: just seen that Bbrovers2288 beat me to it - 18 hours ago!!

I've renewed mine today. It was the hardest decision of all the renewals I've done in 40+ years. Did it with my dad & brother which tbh was the main motivation as it's pretty much the only thing that we all do together regularly, with me living an hour out of town.

Safe to say he has been!!

Disagree. For this group of players to be in with a chance of top 6 on the last day is something none of us expected in August. Throughout the season they've had to cope with their manager deserting them, and the board not providing them with sufficient support in terms of proper reinforcements when the squad was down to bare bones. To have fought back from that, & after 5 defeats in a row to then win the next 4, is quite remarkable & testament to their collective desire to overcome adversity & be a team greater than the sum of its parts. This club has many, many problems. Imo, this group of players is not one of them.

Whatever happens from here, I'm proud of these boys.

Bristol City also yet to play: Leeds (a) Preston (h)

What, even with "significant investment"??

The "number of fans" thing is a bit of a red herring when comparing us to other clubs. There's a whole host of factors that militate towards whether we have comparable attendances to them, not least town/city size, catchment area, recent performance, cultural demographic, ticket prices / affordability. Size of fanbase isn't a reason; Bournemouth, Brentford, even Luton recently managed it, why can't we?? Look at Wrexham now? Birmingham City, all clubs with historically low attendances & even less success / stature in the game, both likely to out-compete us next season. Even Wycombe have some major backing nowadays! What's clear & public knowledge is that Rovers are now down to just 4,000 adult season ticket holders. The other 5,000 are concessions, most of which have gone up multiple times annual inflation for 2025/26. That can't be far off the lowest number since season tickets became a thing. Engagement from the club to the fanbase (and I mean proper engagement, not social media floweriness) is as low as I can remember in the modern era, even going so far as to say that no more effort is going to be made to re-engage lapsed matchgoers; apathy rules, and being blunt that's myself included too, especially on Friday night, I was just too disheartened to get angry). These owners have undone EVERYTHING that Jack achieved, short of knocking down Ewood (but which is slowly decaying before our very eyes anyway due to lack of necessary maintenance) & cancelling the Academy. There are no signs of that changing under them. We're a zombie club with no drive, plan, strategy or direction amongst the board or owners. Is there any other club whose owner(s) has not attended in over a decade? That just says it all, whilst presiding over 2 relegations & not 1 single play off qualification berth to get back into the PL? If they can't be bothered coming, when money is no why should any fan who feels that their club, a fsmily & community hub steeped in pride & history in the global game, has been stolen from them? The status quo just cannot continue, and that starts with these owners realising they've locked everything up & that the decent things to do are either sell up to someone who does care (ideally), or at the very least appeal to the fans for forgiveness, appoint proper people at Ewood who know football & their roles as custodians of the club (i.e. not outside agencies), and give them the support and autonomy to start driving the club forwards again & stop this sleepwalking existence into oblivion.