Goozburger

For a few months at the start, certainly, but that was followed by a good month or two of really poor performances and results. It seems to be selectively forgotten due to the chaos above his head. He won't have that luxury at Derby.

I will only say that whatever is going on at Rovers is clearly toxic. I don't think Ismael has anything to do with that, but I it does seem to me as though he has been frank with the supporters. I think that deserves some credit. @RevidgeBlue says Ismael has had 14 games, which is true (give or take, I haven't counted), but I was referring to the new players having only had four league games to gel when I said "they". Everyone has their own threshold, but 4 games is still too early for me to solidify any sort of final judgment. They deserve a bit of time to settle in, and we need this window closed so we can move on from another chaotic transfer window. I'm not over-enamoured with Ismael in terms of results. At the same time, I can see from here that he's in the midst of a squad upheaval. Yes. I know. We've had transitional periods, turmoil, and whatnot since day 1 of the Venky's. They are poor custodians on that front, and it goes without saying. The only way that we (the supporters) will ever get to a point of being united and happy again is if they sell up and we're run by, let's say, normal people who get involved and show some form of care or passion. On transfers, even if we have been signing younger players from abroad, we have at least been proactive and done our business quite quickly. That can't be said too much of transfer windows gone by. The jury will obviously be out on all players (and my take is that they deserve more than just four league games), but with our budget and losses, surely everyone can see that we can't just splurge every player sale back onto other players. The numbers just won't add up. Anyway, that's my brief take. I've got a bit more patience in the tank, but Ismael certainly needs to turn results around on the pitch, that's for sure.

You would blame Ismael for contracts not being sorted earlier? For players wanting to get more money elsewhere?

I'm talking about Ismael and what has gone on in this window. It's the biggest upheaval in a squad and he can't be blamed for it.

Gueye had a 50/50 battle with Ohashi last season. Neither were outstanding, but Gueye has had his chances and ultimately showed poor finishing in front of goal. I don't think Ismael fancies him, so we may as well twist.

They've had four league games and the window isn't shut. If supporters aren't even going to give them more than that, then that's wholly unfair. We were rubbish in the first half, but the better team in the second half. A silly mistake cost us, and not for the first time. This head coach hasn't even had a full transfer window and a bit of time to settle thereafter. But it seems like many won't even give him that. That's clearly down to an underlying hatred of the owners, but it doesn't deserve to be laid at this head coach's door, nor the cruel judgment so far being passed on the players.

I don't rate Gueye at all. He has some physical presence, but his smile and crazy attitude have never ever washed with me. He had to do some good on the pitch, and I've never really seen it. Calling Gueye thick is not right in my opinion, but I do agree that he needs to move on. Furthermore, I don't think Ismael particularly rates him, which is all that matters no matter what we think.

Why does anybody have to get angry? I'm certainly not. The defeats hurt, but I can accept that the club is in a transitional state. It certainly sounds like the Travis situation was dropped on us very quickly, and these players will need time to gel. Surely that's not an unreasonable point of view.

That tells me more about people than results. A quick look on the childish nature of social media and grown men throwing tantrums, supposedly mature administrators as guardians of this very site calling players thick, and all the other rubbish that emerges after a defeat, tells me there is no patience in football these days. I'm not as much done with the game as I am with certain so-called Rovers "supporters", and I have zero problems calling them out or copping a ban for it. It's pathetic, and the team and manager deserve some time.

Not every owner returns money from player sales straight back into player purchases. In our case, I think it's more down to who the head coaches have been and a bit of foresight as to whether they'll still be here in six or twelve months. The two common denominators are that Tomasson offered his resignation after one year, and if rumours are to be believed, Eustace wanted to leave in the summer shortly after he joined. Our ownership and upper management is chaotic to say the least, and while they should have let both head coaches go at both points when they didn't want to be here, it's probably the right decision to not let them spend what precious little money we have. To me, it more begs the question why the hell we wanted those two to stay when they wanted to get out. This worries me far more than any transfer window activity.

Based on the age of player Eustace seems to like, I'm quite glad we didn't back him. I liked what Eustace instilled on the team (until the collapse in the last ten games) but I was always worried that he has a penchant for older players. There is no resale value in that, and with the club losing around £15m a season just by standing still, throwing money at older players would have caused huge problems in quick time.

If Pears is leaving before Monday, I'd like to think we're looking at the goalkeeper position, and that we should get Michalski out on loan to League One or League Two. Toth has been good, but we shouldn't get comfortable with that, and I don't think Michalski is quite ready to step in. I'm certain we must be looking at that situation.

Half of me agrees. The other half wanted me to see how he did on loan for a full season to see if he could stay injury free and score a few. A tall order, as you suggest, but when he was fully fit, he was pretty good I thought. But seven figures... For a lad that only featured for us here and there, has a poor injury record early on in his career... I'm slightly sad that another of our own is leaving, and while I've seen a number of doom and gloom comments about our academy, say what you will - it appears to be more than funding itself.

I'm not meandering towards savouring the match day experience. I'm already there and have been for decades! I'm the same as anybody else when it comes to feeling happy or down depending on the result. But I don't treat following Rovers to the same conditional level that you do. They're not my business venture where I must dissect everything, make cynical conclusions based on hearsay, and get engrossed by the resulting negativity. I would say "what's the point?" is more a question for you than me.

On the contrary, that's one of the best posts I've read that exactly mirrors my thoughts. Hats off to you, sir. 👏 As a lowly supporter, and as I've grown older, I've started to worry less about what I can't control. I can't control who owns Rovers. I can't control who plays for us. I can't control who leaves, nor why they leave. I follow Rovers to enjoy football, and no matter what is going on around the club when it isn't match-day, I still thoroughly enjoy match days. This will sound contradictory given that I'm sitting here bang in between two Rovers match days writing this, but I often wonder if I'm the only one who finds following Rovers much more enjoyable when I don't digest the drama off the pitch, true or otherwise, and stick primarily to match days and a few beers.

Have to agree. For someone to suggest they were too quick to judge the transfer window, then have the balls to say it's somewhat an exciting one, and then call for the bloke who's seemingly driven most of the recruitment to be sacked, strikes me as the ramblings of a confused poster trying to be popular.

Oh change the record you persistent moaner. Somebody has gone to the effort to explain to you how Twitter works and you're still banging on about "but the name, but the name!". At every turn, you can't resist making it out as though the club has done something classless when there is absolutely nothing in it. I thought it was a great video, and I wish Bucko... Sorry, I mean John... all the best. Do yourself and the rest of us a favour and give up following Rovers if it makes you so miserable and cynical.

That's why I come here.

Attention. But we can take it as a light lesson in not being gullible for more serious situations in our lives. 🙃

Anyone else abroad getting unauthorized country? It's not broadcast on TV where I am.

I'm sure Eustace is a stalker. Waiting in the car around the corner of Brockhall for Tomasson to leave, now trying to get all these players that supposedly weren't good enough for him in January. He's a first-degree creep.

Whoever down voted that is a dirty Dingle and needs banning.

Unfortunately, that's where he always seems to be. ☹️

Why is this message board themed in black?

Not just our approach to the game, which worked very well, but our academy clearly has a lot to give to Ismael and the senior squad. Something to be proud of as a Rovers supporter.