Kjell

It will be interesting to see how our central defenders handle Morris, and how Alebiouso copes with Agyemang. Not to mention how Pears will manage the situation...

Derby have a proper manager. We have a snake.

Valerien Gestede is his real name.

One does not need to have a moral fiber in one's body to see how the owners have held our club hostage for 15 years.

I guess there is a genuine sadness behind the mask of every jester. They have held our club hostage for 15 years, and I sincerely hope we will reclaim it one day. Perhaps there is one last fight left in us fans?

I'm sorry; I should have realized it's late! I guess we've all had 15 very long years.

Funnily enough, I received a phone call this evening from someone presenting themselves as BRFC Privy. I could swear it was a lady pretending to be a man. Anyway, the point is that they wanted me to pass on that Tavares, although he has good knowledge of the English language, is the only one of our new signings who hasn't found a proper house yet. He is also investigating the reasons behind his lack of intensity, including whether buying a new Tesla might be a contributing factor, as well as other aspects like mattresses and food. As I understand it, things get complicated because his girlfriend isn't settled in the area and wants to move to Scandinavia, and he feels very let down by Travis leaving, as well as the pitch at Ewood. I am certainly not claiming any ITK - no badge necessary - just passing on information that might settle some nerves. Our data approach only fails in one of ten cases, and money, of course, cannot buy success.

I agree. I'd say our most significant issue is the owner, followed closely by the bastard symbiosis called Pasha Gestede. However, as Eustace demonstrated, fostering a sense of unity and involving good people in daily training sessions (with some sent on scouting missions🫢) can enable a fairly average team to overperform. When I did due diligence on Ismael on his arrival, the most worrying parts for me were his player management, reports about arrogance and poor/inflexible game management, etc. For me, playing style is irrelevant (though I understand it matters to others), what matters is Rovers winning. I guess it would - unfortunately - only be speculation as to whether Ismael will be a success if Gestede and Pasha are removed. Bring in a proper CEO and 5-6 proven championship-experienced players in January, and we might have a chance. For me: pay up and bring Big Sam back. First, survival, and then two years of backing, with below-average championship spending, and we would be back in the PL. And yes, I know it's never going to happen.

"I'm concerned about the results, not about the performance. It was another great performance." Ok. If Ismael starts distorting reality like that traitor Steve Kean this could get ugly. Tonight was an abysmal performance and we are by far the worst team to play at Ewood this season. Sheffield United was total crap, and still miles better.

Yup, and TGH assaulted a couple of their players and didn't get sent off.

I believe it is more down to the individuals making up the staff. I have zero confidence in this guy being assigned the task of uplifting the spirits at the camp for the Southampton match (or any other match...).

Alternatively, it tells us what Gueye thinks of the manager!

Eustace wanted to sign Thomas-Assante. Rudy wanted to sign Kargbo, Forshaw and Dennis. As we all know the snakes are still in control of our club.

As we have been told, we have recruited exceptionally well, and we are extremely flexible - or, in the words of Ismael, it's "just as we expected." We are not dependent on anyone, and when both Alebiosu and Miller are out, we'll play TGH in both right wing back and right center back, and Tavares will be both a number six and a number eight. "All the stats are there, and when you look at the numbers, it's actually very good. Just as we expected". The league table will also be much more "aligned".

Ismael 4th Sept 2025: "I know there were a lot of questions about our centre-back and why we lost one. But we knew, or I knew, that with Hayden, Scott, Lewis and Sean, we were really, really strong in that position." Do you still think the same, 19th Oct 2025, Valerien? Managed decline, combined with outright stupidity, has never really been a formula for success.

I do not disagree regarding the real problem, but Ismael seems more 'aligned' with that problem than his two predecessors.

Yes, and our hope for survival is steadily diminishing as we have lost more games than we have won and drawn combined.

What's his loss percentage?

Our current situation is a direct result of the disgraceful actions of Rudy Gestede. He is just as detrimental to this club as Jerome Anderson was. It’s time for him to go. We also need to have a competent Championship CEO in place well before the January transfer window. To achieve our short-term goal of survival, we need to bring in at least 4 to 5 experienced players..

We need a new manager and 5-6 new players with Championship experience in January.

Nope. Managed decline.

I read it as: 'never chase a lost ball' - but I guess that is only football reimagined as Karg-ball.

Since he now has both a flat and a car and knows the language, Ismael has chosen to drop him since he is also obviously crap.

I have struggled a bit to see how Ismael wants us to play, maybe especially what I thought was supposed to be a high press – or at least high intensity – has shown itself to a very small degree. Then we’re kind of somewhat organized at the back – until we aren’t. We’re not particularly direct, we’re not particularly physical, and the new players (apart from Alebiosu) don’t seem to have very clear basic skills or standout strengths. I really haven’t found a better description than the one a Watford fan gave to LT back when Ismael was appointed (not entirely sure on the possesion bit): "We were quite dour, not negative but we would tend to spend a lot of the first half shadow boxing to see what the other team had. They weren't playing by the same rules so often we'd be a goal down before we knew what happened. He was very safety first, massively into possession." https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/24964221.blackburn-rovers-lowdown-valerien-ismael-watford-spell/ If Stoke comes out with high intensity in the first 10-15 minutes, I could easily see us going down 0-2. At that point, Ismael will need to decide whether to bring in De Neve, Kargbo, or Henrikson to turn our fortunes around.

Much higher up? As sky-high as Rudy and Suhail? F**k sake. They even set up an unofficial Twitter account from inside the club to control the narrative during the summer. Wake up!