Kjell

We can agree on this bit, which highlights how stupid this strategy was. Points - or the lack of those - can see us relegated. I'll be genuinely surprised if four of our acusitions this summer turns out to be top half Championship players, but of course nothing is better than if we have a dozens of Alebiosus in disguise, waiting to be polished.

Dirtiest tackle yesterday? None came close to the one TGH got booked for.

Why are we destined for a relegation fight then? Far inferior manager?

Speaking of shoves, did anybody register McLoughlin giving Andri a proper push after the goal? To me, it looked like a push you would give the opponent after a bad tackle, etc. Although I can understand the frustration, I found it a bit strange from our "captain".

I obivously agree with you, but I would like to add that we probably never tried to attract any of those. They would have liked to sign players with championship experience. Rudy wanted an aligned manager and Ismael of course joined, knowing (deep down) that few other clubs would take him on board.

Imagine if we signed Carlton Morris instead of Tavares, Gueye, AND Kargbo. I'd be tempted to throw in some others as well. But he does not fit the club's profile. He is a 29-year-old dinosaur, while we prefer young, cheap, crap, low-wages, no-career players. Aligned sustainable stupidity.

Just stop it. Rudy does not offer contracts to players with proper careers, over 25, and who ask for a normal wage (relative to a medium championship standard).

I suppose it depends on your alternatives. Compared to an Australian rugby player, a mediocre Hull reject, or a loyal Welsh left winger, I would argue that Batth is a significant upgrade.

Unfortunately, Val gets away far too easily with his excuses. He’s probably an okay, fairly average manager in some respects, but he also has certain traits that are harder to accept. In the first season, it was an endless lament about the injury situation — something he claimed he had never seen before. Fair enough, there were many injuries, and that’s frustrating. What I find unbearable is that he then goes on with long speeches about how, once he’s had a proper pre-season with his training methods and, not least, signed players with the — according to him — right statistics, things will change. Fast forward a few months, and here we are at the start of November with a weak, thin, and injury-ridden squad. And what does Ismael do? Well, he complains about the injury situation. Not my manager!

Ismael: "If we had played with Yuri or Pickering, we would've had problems in the air defensively." It seems like a strange remark after a game where we lost two air duels that allowed the opponent to score.

Hate to break it to you, but the thing is that he let all the cliches out in the media interviews, and saves the real talk for the internal game plan and dressing room. Val however is the champion of media honesty 😅

I guess it's the hope (and Pasha) that kills us. I had one of my best away trips to a freezing cold Riverside on November 27, 2024. Before that, I enjoyed a nice trip to Sunderland, where we won 5-1. It’s hard not to like Eustace after those two experiences, so I hope I'm excused for my fond memories of him🙂

At least we can agree on Big Sam 😊🤩

The remainder of November and December will be massive for us, in terms of our chances of staying up, as well as our fixtures against Portsmouth and Oxford in March. As soon as Norwich bin Manning, I think Pompey and Oxford being worse than us, is our genuine chance.

Does anyone remember if Andri touched the ball today?

Everyone is entitled to their own views, and since it has come up, I would have preferred Eustace over Ismael every day of the year for 150 years. I can never understand why some wouldn't prefer us to be a winning team, but I realize that people are different. Did we test their goalkeeper once? Venkys out!

I wouldn't rule out the possibility that the instructions might be poor as well.

Boys vs. men

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.