Enjoyed the game. If Celtic played in the Championship with us they'd walk it. Some excellent players, Jota, Japanese guy and others. They took the lead from a deflection. Our attack should have had two more with one on ones with their keeper. We aren't world beaters but be fair that was a good result after only a couple of friendlies, playing in front of a big away crowd, young lads in various positions. All in all not bad. Yes we defo need strengthening but we have the kernel of something good at the Championship level. Good pressing, good one touch movement. Some weak performances but not too shabby overall I'd say.

Is the Celtic game being streamed anywhere?

On May 2nd I posted this: ------------ " ... Whoever gets the gig will be fighting with his hands tied behind his back because the summer will have passed where he could be assessing needs, recruiting etc.. There'll be excuses of having no pre-season for new hires. Players left on the books plus academy canon fodder will need a whole new set of shapes to drill as half the bleeding playing staff will be gone and their established patterns of play gone with them. Totally lame dude, just totally lame. Venkys, if you ever have any hope of owning a successful club you really need to get your arses into gear. Interviewing 6 people, really, wtf." ------------ I'm no oracle but if it was obvious to me surely it must have been obvious to Waggot. No surprises then. Three first teamers gone, pre-season well underway, 26 days until season kicks off, no transfers in! Whoever stumps up, unless they're from Malmo, they won't have a clue about our patterns of play. We're going into the new season with our hands tied behind our back yet again. We need new players yesterday! WTF.

I think you must have forgotten to take the plastic wrapping off 😀

According to the Waggot article in the Telegraph the market is awash with available players right now, just a case of selecting the skills that JDT wants. Also we have cash. Not all doom and gloom then.

I'm not trying to be a smart alec here but it's my view that they were offered deals that reflected their ability. They just didn't have much 'usable' ability. Nyambe was never fit and as I said wasn't going to improve much beyond where he's at now. Always out of position, can't cross, never scores or even threatens to score. Rothwell was a show pony. Exciting, dynamic, once every ten matches, little to no end product, slow thought process and decision making. Could he press? The aim is to score and win matches not look good in little cameos with no end product. He was also as good as he was going to get. Lenihan, well there you have more of an argument, sad to see him go yet he's not a world beater. Looked good going forward and good channel passing this last season, but defensively can we really say he was always in position. Good, one of our own, but brace yourself, it's always tough to tell a mother that her baby's ugly, I have to be honest and say he was just above adequate at best. Just compare him to the young loanees we've had in his position. There's better out there. We've played those guys for three years now and never got above 8th. They were offered what they were worth IMHO. It was their choice not to sign. C´est la vie. Move on. Over to you GB.

I think to counter question is 'when was the right time to sell them'. Mid season whilst pushing for a play off place? Tough choice, money or being competitive. My understanding is that we tried to get them to sign new contracts way back but they refused. We knew pretty much all season they were going so when was the right time. One route forward is to throw money at the problem but what does life look like without a wage structure? Tough choices to make. I'm minded of that comment that came from a White House advisor (at least that's where I first heard it), for every difficult question there is always one simple, easily understood, obvious wrong answer. I'm no champion of the Rovers board but sometimes crap happens in triplicate. The king/s are dead, long live the king/s. Time to move on.

Agree fully. I'd add that IMO Nyambe was already his best self, he'd never get any better. He was strong defensively but weak going forward mainly because he had no idea what to do with the ball when reached the other end of the pitch. Constantly caught out of position, constantly injured. He was one of our own so sad he's moving on but from a purely footballing point of view we can do better. Selling Nyambe, Lenihan and Rothwell in the last transfer window wouldn't have gone well with us would it. In and around 2nd place and then we sell the captain and an attacking midfielder, can't see that as being well received. We were always going to lose these three and it probably made sense to give it one last big heave at promotion before lettting them go. Crappy situations happen, we move on. There's better out there in all positions and I think we will find them. If it costs Venky's money then who cares. On a seperate note I think TM lost the plot with this whole 'you've got to be a nice guy to join our club' thing. Pro spirt needs an arrogant even nasty side to a blokes make up. We ended up with a dressing room full of boy scouts. Time to move on and them three leaving and JDT/GB joining is the stepping off point for a new adventure. On balance I'm glad they're gone.

The reel of Ahmedhodzic is all a bit fire brigade action. Loads of sliding tackles which Championship forwards will dive from. Coupled with nothing on his distribution capabilities, holding a line, stepping up for offside and headed clearances I'm not sure he's configured for the championship. But what do I know. If JDT has worked with him and has confidence in him then, if he's a reasonable cost, I guess he's useful to the squad. Would like to see more from him though and not just last ditch tackles and putting fires out.

You've all got me thinking about what makes a good striker (aside the obvious "scores goals"). I like Gallagher. Of course there's things he's not good at, only the Exceptionals of this world, your Shearers, your Henrys, can do it all. If a goal is scored from way outside the box we put it in the 'Worldie' category, but by definition these are rare. If a goal comes from a player gliding his way through from way outside the box we again applaud and say 'Worldie'. These are all very unusual styles of goal scoring. The majority of strikers own the box and through good vision and good movement stick it in the net from balls fed into them. My point is that Gallagher isn't in the Shearer 'can do it all' category and relies on service, usually from out wide. Fix the problem of wingers playing on the wrong wing and players doing so many step overs that they make themselves dizzy and Gallagher will score goals. The problem in my eyes is purely down to balls into the box not whether Gallagher can convert them. True he can't trap a bag of cement but neither could Kevin Davies and he went on the have an international career. JDT obviously knows this (football 101) and that will be the problem he fixes first IMO. Gallagher or BBD in the centre matters less, again IMO.

IMO Cantwell doesn't come, which depending on your viewpoint is disappointing or dodging a bullet. For me, after all these meh transfer windows, I'm just happy we are reportedly fishing in the right pond at last. I'm warming to GB.

The good news is that we now have football people at the helm, Maggott, Pasha and who the hell else was sticking their nose in are sidelined. Broughton has got to be a sensible new start, a qualified bona fide real football guy not a pen pusher. I think the Maggott posse got totally lost in the recruitment process. Broughton turns up and says he knows just the chap, left field, scratch head, "Oh OK, go on then". Joke process but if Broughton did say FO and grabbed the reigns then that augers well for the future and player recruitment. Feels like we've kind of got our Williams back, someone who's actually grabbed hold of the steering wheel, so it feels good to me and hopefully we are back to being a 'football' club. JDT is untested at our level but he at least talks the talk. Undoubtedly he sees us as a stepping stone to bigger appointments but he'll have to succeed here first for that to happen so I'm OK if this turns out to be short term. Strikes me as similar to Mauricio Pochettino's first toe in the water when he stumped up at Southampton. Also seriously impressed with his number two. The threadbare squad is his elephant in the room. If cash is available and we don't lose any more players eg BBD then I think we'll get some exciting players on board. If there's no cash or we lose more players then we can write off the coming season as the juniors aren't ready yet, no where near ready. My guess is no extra money and a BBD sale in which case JDT is in for a very bumpy ride in his first year. All speculation at this stage but I'm definitely encouraged by recent turn of events. Tickets are pricey but what the hell, look at the price of beer these days! See you down there.

Euphoria and realism are difficult bedfellows. Having watched his video interview I could see straightaway that he was worth a punt. Talks well, had a stellar career like king Kenny so will command respect from the dressing room. Focusing on youth development, making the kids present tactics to the rest of the team to improve their decision making on the field in the heat of battle, what's not to like. Reality though, he's starting from a very difficult place. We have a threadbare squad. Recruitment budget are unclear. Desired signings won't be available short term, etc., etc.. Like many before him I expect him to have bad times before the good times arrive. Like it or not we're in for a difficult ride short term but yes I agree wholeheartedly with his appointment and of the new DoF and backroom staff new boys. I'm actually quite excited 😊

Just watched the JDT interview. Like it, sold, sign here. Venkys/Maggott this is how it's done. Welcome on board JDT now go win us something. The End.

Didn't I read somewhere that Rooney has a financial stake in Derby. If so then he's presumably motivated to stay where he is and get them promoted.

May 2nd. Apologies for self quoting here but nearly 6 weeks in to it and it was as predictable as I said. No manager, no pre-season, no players.

Glad to see that Broughton's persuasive tones managed to convince Lenihan to stay, result for our new DoF. Nyambe defo next out the door so 2 from 2, good investment. Clearly the thrill of working under Ainsworth wasn't enough but hey what ya gonna do. As said by someone earlier we would have done better divvying the DoF wage up between the two leavers. Will the wait for the new guy be really as Earth shaking as it should be after months of searching to get the very best (I'm including TMs notice period),. Clearly Lenihan and Nyambe know the answer to that and have left the building. If I cheered up I'd still be depressed.

Dundee have just appointed a new management team. "It has taken time and patience along the way but we have brought someone in that ticked all of the boxes. It's an exciting time for the club and we are looking forward to working with ..." See, follow a sensible months long process like Dundee and we too could end up with Gary Bowyer All works out well in the end (yes, tongue in cheek).

Has Lennon been mentioned? Don't remember that. Too scarey.

oops, typo, Wagner.

I wonder which way around it is: a) We're agonising between a number of competing and really keen applicants b) We're begging mildly interested targets to join the 'project'. I suspect the latter, no bugger (of repute) wants to come and we're too shit scared of ending up with no one that we haven't dotted the no hopers on the head just in case. It's only guess work but probably not a million miles away and if so how bloody embarrassing. Are we really that much of a basket case club that we can't actually get a manager ... any manager. If Ferguson or Warner stump up then I'm out of here, permy. What am I hoping for, well at this stage one of Ainsworth, Delia or the Rotherham guy. Anything else is beyond dismal. But is landing one of those three really what would have made us happy at the beginning . I think not. What's happened to my club?!

I have it on good authority that it wasn't Carlo Ancelotti on the phone to Waggot it was just a spoof call from a random Madrid local sports radio station. Waggot tried to call back to verify the call but couldn't get past the telephone receptionist who was pissing himself and choking on his KFC Big Bucket. No it's true, I'm ITK. Honestly.

... ah OK, legitimate reflections on his goalkeepers performance in 2022. Does seem harsh though. Still opinions is opinions. Watching the Wales match, tell you what I know he's an old man now but I wouldn't mind Oleksandr Petrako applying for the managers job here. Loving his teams performances last two matches. Does hurt to have a few of those players I suppose. Bit out of our league.

Genuine question guys 'cos I've totally lost track of the names mentioned but were Rooney or Shearer or Sherwood ever talked about as being candidates?