Strange one. Can understand it if he was on the verge of the sack at Shrews but it sounds like they were absolutely desperate to keep hold of him regardless of relegation or not. He obviously didn't like something there. Gillingham have become a bit of a poisoned chalice in League Two.

Pompey with a pretty strong home record, Rovers with a recent abysmal record in general. Players injured plus seemingly woeful head coach. This surely can't be anything other than a home win, but the Championship is an odd one so I guess there's always a possibility of an away result.... I want to believe, but I just can't see it with the way things are heading. Pompey 3 - 1 Rovers.

The title of this thread:

We're talking promotions to the premier league though aren't we? Edwards has one of those, an fair play to him for doing so. The other was a promotion out of League Two, which doesn't really scratch the surface and is somewhat irrelevant given its two tiers below Rovers. Mark Hughes, one of our best modern managers failed to get a promotion out of League Two with Bradford, so its a mute point IMO. That aside, you go with the here and now, and Edwards struggled massively this season with Luton, whereas Eustace had us punching well above our weight. It's a pointless discussion anyway, he didn't come here and we're stuck with someone who so far appears to be clearly inferior of either Edwards or Eustace. Lucky us!

Knowing our luck these days, Rovers will be the one club he stays at for more than 50 games. I've taken an immediate disliking to this guy. Comes across as horribly in the press. Arrogance without the results to back it up.

Not as simple as that though is it? Edwards has one promotion to the premier league on his CV. By that logic Owen Coyle wouldn't be a downgrade on Eustace either 😂. For what it's worth I think its clear now that Edwards would've been a better pick than Ismael at this moment in time, regardless of whether we think Edwards is better than Eustace or not.

Pears has well and truly ripped up any decent work he put in during the earlier parts of the season, where it looked like he had nullified a lot of his own errors. When's his contract up? He's one player I couldn't care less about going for nothing.

Was there much in the way of Venkys Out chanting? Or anything aimed towards Waggott / Suhail / Gestede? The club is an absolute disgrace from top to bottom. I don't see another win this season if we can't pick up a single point against 3 of the worst sides in the league.

Yeah, Ismael is already proving a lot of us right. If there isn't a break clause in that big old 3 1/2 year deal I'd be staggered, especially given how cheap the club does things. Wouldn't be at all surprised if he's gone in the summer and circus will continue onto the next stop.

Its also the only comms he's given since being here 😂

Someone has mentioned it on X. Apparently told fan(s) to f*ck off according to them.

0-1 Cardiff. We are thoroughly enjoying giving relegation threatened teams a lifeline at the moment, and I suspect a number of Rovers players have downed tools for the season. For what it's worth, this is the team I'd go with: A goalkeeper Britain Carter Hyam Ribeiro Travis Tronstad Dolan Ohashi Dennis Gueye Urrgh

Toxicity is relative to the time period we are in. Of course it would've been more hostile back then. Totally different generation. Meaningless comparison.

Complete and utter crap again by the looks of it. What a start Ismael is having. Had it not been for a very late equaliser and arguably lucky draw against Norwich then it'd be 3 defeats from 3. I must admit, I've become so disengaged in the last couple of months that I barely followed last nights game. Next season will be an almighty struggle by the looks of it. Relegation feels inevitable, and as many others have said, the club has been 1 bad managerial appointment off relegation for some time. Defeat against Cardiff and it could get seriously toxic at Ewood.

We'll always have that funny skipping motion he did when sprinting after the ball against Wolves.

It is far too early to judge Ismael....but that being said, I don't know whether its the timing of him coming in, the players seemingly choking in the first 7 minutes against bottom of the league, or whatever...but I've not taken a liking towards him at all so far. I hope he ends up being brilliant, but I'm extremely doubtful. No real reason for it other than feeling cynical about where the club is and where it's heading. Only other thing I'd say is that I've not been overly convinced by him when speaking to the press. Seems quite an unlikeable type. I am aware of the irony of this post where I've said its too early to judge the guy before then clearly judging him. C'est la vie.

The future? If that future has Venkys still in it then I think its realistic to think Rovers will spend a fair amount of time in League One in the coming years. The cost cutting will continue, and that will only set the club up to aim for a lower standard each season. I certainly don't see a future under Venkys where the club returns to the Premier League. Anyone who thinks its doable is kidding themselves.

2-1 Stoke. Gallagher goal absolutely nailed on. Another slow start I reckon, 2 nil down with Ohashi pulling one back for Rovers. For what it's worth, this is the team I'd go with: A Training Cone Brittain Carter Hyam Ribeiro Travis Tronstad Ohashi Cantwell Dennis Gueye Another depressing midweek evening in store.

Suddenly the title race is blown wide open. Burnley have a strong chance of automatics now with them having t play Sheff United at home still. Meanwhile we'll be trundling along somewhere between 9th and 13th I imagine.

2 nil down after 7 minutes....yeah the players are clearly taking to this guy 😂. He'll be gone in the summer probably.

Gallagher goal incoming.

Supporting Rovers is an utterly miserable thing nowadays and bad for your mental health. The owners have ripped the soul out of the club and a large chunk of the fanbase. I think a lot of us saw this result coming today but the nature of it makes it 100 times worse. Lost the game after 7 minutes, no shot on target in the 2nd half. Just end the season now.

Can't see where the next win is coming from. Stoke away next in midweek....that's a loss if I ever saw one. They'll end up mid table. Good job they had such a good start to the season really.