Gamst

I admire Ismael’s arrogance. 2 weeks ago he was talking about the impressive team spirit and his hopes for the playoffs. We have lost 3 consecutive games against relegation strugglers and are now out of the race. A few days later and he’s selling this as a new beginning and we are supposed to swallow this up and be encouraged? We commence another rebuild with the architect of our recent capitulation at the helm. Established players leaving and cheap/spent/desperate replacements to come in. Do the club think today’s article is going to excite the fans? They must really think we are utterly thick. I suppose this means he sticks around even if we lose all our remaining fixtures. I cannot get my head around why he wants to employ a possession based game when he has always been a long ball type and we don’t have the players or the money to sign the necessary players? How can he see this job as the opportunity to suddenly become the next Pep.

Sadly I’m starting to think there’s nobody who could be the ‘man for the job’ anymore. We may be past the point of no return and we just have to wait for the owners to sell up.

Nobody has resale value if you let their contract run down.

Hmmm I suppose so, but Eustace took over a team completely bereft of confidence whereas Ismael joined a club in the playoffs and repeatedly spoke of how united the squad was and what a good attitude they had. That has completely evaporated in 2 weeks which is some achievement.

Who next though? A downgrade on Ismael presumably if such a thing exists.

There have been so many final straws. Football fans are very fickle but they are also fiercely loyal and for unfathomable reasons we’re all still here. O’Brien was the final straw and McGuire was the final nail in the coffin. We’d long since run out of metaphors by the time Eustace left for a relegation candidate after being the 3rd manager to be let down in the January window after getting the team into playoff contention. I really hope I can disengage more completely this time.

Maybe someone asked him what the plan is for next season? Surely none of them can look a supporter or a camera in the eye and claim there is any plan apart from destruction. We are not investing in players or offering contracts and now we have a dud of a manager on a long contract to captain the ship.

It doesn’t really matter anymore. Won’t be going up or down and neither player is likely to be here next season.

To lose consecutive games to Derby, Stoke and Cardiff who all hadn’t won in many games is actually embarrassing. We were in the playoffs so it’s not like we had nothing to play for. 2 weeks into his reign and the playoff chances are over. I’m still really annoyed that Eustace didn’t just finish the season with us as we were well placed but he’s showing how talented he is at Derby. The owners now have a manager that matches their ambition. What on earth will next season bring? We are utterly broken and I can’t recall ever feeling as uninspired as I do now in my 30 years of supporting the club. Please please please please sell the club. Please.

On the bright side, I don’t actually care anymore and thus I don’t expect defeat to impact my general enjoyment of a weekend. I’m grateful to Ismael for this. Focus on off season plans now! One of the worst starts to a managerial term ever given that we are playing struggling teams who can’t buy a win.

Ismael really needed a good start. He’s not to blame for what’s gone on before him, but he’s come to a side where the fans are rightly at the end of their tether. He knew what he was signing up for and agreed a lengthy contract (the players aren’t permitted such seemingly). He enjoyed a ‘warm welcome’ against Norwich, but I suspect things will turn sour quickly. If we lose to Cardiff at home then I think the tide turns. It could be a record for a fanbase asking for a manager to be sacked after 4 games! Considering how important it was that he started well, it’s remarkable that he saw fit to change the system that had gotten the team in the top 5 prior to his arrival. It’s pretty arrogant to switch things up and he’s gotten what he deserves so far. Big game for him on Saturday and for what it’s worth, I think we’ll lose comfortably.

He’s someone who accepted the Venkys plan to reduce costs, ‘develop youth’ and battle bravely against relegation. No decent manager would accept such constraints. He was awarded a long contract for being complicit.

It’s a damn good job we had those 2 wins with Lowe in charge otherwise we would be looking over our shoulder

Ismael was lauding the spirit within the squad prior to his arrival. How has he completely dismantled that so quickly? Quite the accomplishment and quite the managerial appointment! Waggot/Pasha and owners deserve failure, but we don’t. We should enjoy our mid table meaningless run-in now as next season is set to be a catastrophe. Along with a threadbare squad and no meaningful funding for signings we can now add a dud manager to our list of woes. And we’re stuck with him for years too, as he’s been given a long contract and the owners don’t pay compensation.

Do we have to wait until 60mins for any substitutes?

Disneyworld… as if the circus at Ewood wasn’t enough!

They don’t support the club and the club are unwilling to prolong their contracts. They realise they are likely to leave soon and will want to preserve their fitness for any future move. A bad injury could see them unemployed next season. They also probably realise that the owners and directors don’t actually care about the club and sense that the club is about to fall off a precipice. Add to that a popular manager just left to join a team who are likely to be relegated in preference of staying with a playoff challenging club. He has been replaced by a disciplinarian who has been given the long contract that they and the former manager are not being offered despite their hard work. As highly paid professionals they should do a lot better than today and mostly the effort over the season has been excellent. These are not excuses but I can see why heads might drop and I doubt a lack of respect for the fans is a contributing factor. I find the players quite likeable mostly and this is not really their fault. What an unholy mess and if rumours are to be believed the architects of the chaos and decay have been given a pay rise.

Looking forward to hearing Ismael’s post match autopsy. Very quickly taken us from a playoff spot to several points adrift after losing away at a team who are bottom and not won/scored in months. Meanwhile the manager who got us in that favourable position is in the opposition dugout. He’d literally prefer to manage a team who are heading to league 1 than stay at Rovers. Can’t wait for next season.

Well a mid table finish will be better for my blood pressure anyway.

Am I right in thinking Derby hadn’t scored a goal under Eustace but scored 2 within 7 minutes today? Wow.

The key today is to keep it tight early doors.

Put it this way, I’m not concerned about boro poaching Ismael from under our noses if Carrick gets sacked. I’m sure if we offered cooper, Edwards or O’Neil a bumper salary with assurances about funding and contracts we would be an attractive job given our league position. Remember we do have Billionaire owners and an excellent FFP position. If only we had ambition.

The reality is that most managers (Eustace included) would not tolerate a situation where there are no assurances re future spending or player contracts. I suspect that rules out all the managers you listed. Given the above constraints I reckon Ismael is about as good as we can hope for. I think with proper support a team in the Playoffs with only a handful of matches left could attract the people you mentioned.

My guess is David Lowe.

Maybe the Karanka link was planted to make us feel happier with Ismael? In which case maybe Ismael is a fabricated link to make us content with Wagner? We are so gaslit right now that anything is possible.