Rover down South

Bristol City poor but a fantastic three points. Miller was superb tonight as was Ohashi. Forshaw did his job when he came on. Nine points from three games we didn’t expect to win. Amazing!

Can’t see Gudjohnsen & Gueye ever working together. I think Ohashi or Tyjon need to play just off AG. He needed that first goal at the weekend and you can see what it meant to him. I think there’s many more to come from him and that number 9 role is his now. Gueye has the passion I wish other players would display, but he is nowhere near Championship level. As for Saturday, I’m going 2-2 with (TGH & Gudjohnsen for us)

Well…….

Got a feeling we sneak a narrow win today and Gudjohnsen gets his first goal giving him and VI a little respite. I’m usually wrong so expect an absolute drubbing 🤣

Completely agree. Don’t always agree with his player selection but his decision to go with two strikers I have seen as a positive. But last night for example, at 1-1 he takes off a striker. At 1-2, he takes off another? His substitutions are a cluster bomb and defy logic. I felt last night his substitutions were bizarre. All six goals conceded this month have been scored in the second half. Opposition managers adapt to win the game. VI doesn’t have that ability, hence why he’s never succeeded at this level.

It's him or Gueye. Personally, I'd have kept Harry Leonard over both of them.

My prediction is they'll get a few in on loan in January and say we backed him. He'll get the boot at the end of the season, and we'll get another uninspiring manager in League One. There'll be some sort of relegation clause in his contract I'm sure where they don't have to pay him up! We all stated when he first arrived how he stood on the sidelines motionless & clueless. He just doesn't know what he's doing and gets flustered making shocking substitutions. For what its worth, I'd just stick with Gudjohnsen up top now. Keep him on the pitch. I do think he just needs that first goal.

I think Gudjohnsen may of had his best game for us tonight, but that doesn't mean he had a good game!! Signed as a striker, he doesn't really look like scoring. Few good touches and nice cross which led to the goal. As for De Neve, his crosses were hurried and woeful.

He just doesn't have the rapport with the players that JDT & Eustace had. The mass exodus in the summer wasn't just on Pasha & Gestede (and trust me I'm not defending them!) cashing in, the players wanted out. They were playing for the badge for Eustace. Pasha & Gestede were at the club, but the players were still overachieving. Along comes Ismael and that desire to play for the club evaporates. The players that can get out are gone in the blink of an eye. Tronstad isn't the player he was twelve months ago. Far from it. Ohashi has looked lacklustre, yet he was knackered last season after a full season in Japan??! He's had to make Cantwell captain to get him interested. He's failed wherever he's managed in the Championship. No coincidence for me.

No way Ismael gets sacked now. Pasha and Gestede need their scapegoat later in the season. We are going down without question and it'll be long before the season is over. The squad is shockingly bad. No fault of the players that came in, they saw a chance to play in England in the second tier and took it, who wouldn't. VI is way out of his depth. Tactically clueless. A proven failure of a manager and living up to it. But he's exactly what Pasha & Gestede needed. A 'yes' man who was on the Championship scrap heap with nothing to lose. Although he did lose.....he lost the core of his squad, and unlike JDT & Eustace who had the bollocks to stand up and say "fuck this", he just stood by and went along with it all. He deserves for his managerial career to be in tatters when his time at Rovers comes to an end. When a ship gets a hole in it, there's a bloody good chance it's going down. We are like a fucking colander. Apologies for the language. Don't usually swear on here, but I'm so so angry.

I don’t usually put the boot in on our players, but I’ve slated Kargbo and De Neve this week. Fair play to both. Nice finish from Kargbo today. Another solid performance from Cantwell. Kind of reminds me of when Sven made Beckham captain. No one expected it or really agreed with it, but bought the best out of him. Can see that in TC. Fighting hard for the team. Good to see after he had his critics last season.

Crikey. De Neve on too. Ismael really going for it 🤦🏼‍♂️

Same team, same system and will be same outcome. Worries me VI has no plan b. Hope I’m wrong.

You’ve just predicted us to beat Stoke 2-1 on Saturday?? We need to score two goals for your prediction! He has no quality whatsoever. Downgrade on Markandy and that says it all. The only asset Kargbo has is pace, yet he jogged back watching last night. If he had used his one asset he could have gone some way to preventing that goal. He can’t cross, shoot, tackle. Pointless signing.

Not a chance of us winning with that team. Where are the two goals coming from? It’s rinse & repeat from VI. He’ll just throw Kargbo & De Neve on after 60 for Miroshita & Hedges and Andri on for Ohashi. We need to go with Gudjohnsen despite his lacklustre start and hope he gets that first goal soon. Ohashi is not consistent in front of goal.

Put this on the Swansea thread. We just don’t have the quality to play the system he’s playing. Alebiosu is doing all the work down the right hand side. Miroshita had little impact and I’ve seen absolutely nothing from Kargbo to suggest he ever wears a Rovers shirt again. Similar down the left with Ribeiro. I would bring Wharton back in and play Ohashi off Gudjohnsen which I’ve always felt would be his better role. Be a good opportunity after an hour to introduce Tyjon into games. Main issue is the lack of centre backs. With Carter out, our back up would be Pickering & Atcheson, but we have to utilise what we have. No combination of two centre backs we have are anywhere near Batth & Hyam. Not saying we will storm up the league, but it might help stop us shipping goals and I’ve seen nothing from any of our three recognised strikers playing as a lone striker to suggest it’s working. Until January where I’m hoping the penny will have dropped that we need Championship experience and not cheap European gambles, it’s about damage limitation. I would consider…… Keep playing the same system and the same team, we’ll be rooted to the bottom of the league by Christmas.

Alebiosu spent the best part of ten years at Arsenal youth, so no coincidence he is standing out amongst the summer signings. In recent years, recruitment from European leagues has led us to just two decent signings in Kaminski & Tronstad. On the flip side, there were the likes of Wahlstedt & Telalovic. We now it appears have a squad full of players like this that we are relying on keeping us up! Last season we had a wealth of championship experience in Trav, Hyam, Dolan, Batth & Weimann. All replaced with European league gambles. I’ve not seen Baradji kick a ball yet, but I can pretty much assume he’ll be poor. What we saw in Kargbo I’m not sure. Downgrade on Markandy in my opinion. Recruitment has been absolutely dire.

Repeat that line up from tonight and Stoke will hammer us on Saturday. We are vulnerable at the back as no combination of any two centre backs are close to what we had with Hyam & Batth. I think we need to go with a flat back three with wing backs. Of course, we are short at CB so until Carter is back, Pickering would be cover! Ohashi has never looked like an out and out striker to me and always felt he would be better playing just off the target man. I would try….. It’s always Alebiosu and Ribeiro getting forward and getting crosses in, so just feel the wide players are pointless and tightening up the central defence and getting Ohashi in to take the burden of TC, who is trying to cover every blade of grass at the moment, would be better. Just my opinion.

Just seen the replay of their second goal. Kargbo, with his only real asset being pace, just slowly jogging watching the Swansea player break away! AK47 turned into a spud gun. Absolute shite.

Great ball to Alebiosu who has been fantastic tonight. Gooooaallll Cantwell

Not really confident on a result but let’s be positive and go 2-1 Rovers with Gudjohnsen & Miroshita scoring. Personally think to get the best out of Gudjohnsen & Ohashi is to work on a system where they both play.

Two things I have questioned this past few weeks. 1. Where is Pears? Why has he not been in the matchday squad? Why has he not been seen on social media posts? Given Glens post about what’s gone on, did he speak out and been banished to train with the kids? He needs to be our #2 keeper regardless of previous performances. 2. Why was the captaincy given to Todd Cantwell when Sonny has taken the role in Trav’s absence? Seems an odd decision. No disrespect to TC but why was Sonny overlooked?

I have the same feelings. Rovers supporter for over 30 odd years and this lot running the show have sapped the last of my enthusiasm this summer. I understand we should be getting behind these new signings, but losing Brittain, Batth, Dolan, Trav and now Hyam is too bad. Most other clubs in this division would have tied them up to longer contracts and strengthened to compete. We are League One next season without question. We haven’t got a good enough squad. Players will be played out of position and as we saw when he arrived, when the going gets tough, Ismael hasn’t a clue. I imagine that purple patch towards the end of last season was the players putting themselves in the shop window. Our demise this season will be tragically embarrassing.

It’s going to be Pickering & Miller at centre back at some point v Watford. Wharton still not 100% Absolute madness to let Hyam leave

Surely only a matter of time before Hyam confirmed then 🤬