arbitro

Seeing Nobbers come back to win impressively last night I had a quick look at their loan players. They have Jebbison, Dobbin, Devine and Armstrong. They all started last night, played really well and have all contributed to Nobbers good start. Our fella doesn't like loans (and he's never wrong). And how are we doing with Gestede's 3000 minutes for Academy players?

Keep going mate. Your mentality seems to be strong and I think that will help you.

The man is a walking, talking egomaniac. He is responsible for results and questions around why results have bombed should be answered. He just doesn't want to be challenged at all just like Gestede and Pasha.

Another good article. https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11688/13456407/sheffield-wednesday-championship-club-file-for-administration

A rally cry from the administrators. In a perverse way this will galvanise the whole club. Why would any Rovers fan not settle for something like this to help exorcise the club. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c1lqmmml533o

It's a strange paradox I'm feeling about the news that Sheffield Wednesday will almost certainly be consigned to relegation if they are deducted 10 points. Whilst they will take up a relegation spot (it's likely one less to worry about for us) it moves them closer I believe to getting rid of their awful owner yet we are stuck with ours with no sign of anything like that happening to us. In a strange way it takes the pressure off the whole club unlike us where our purgatory seems eternal. Football fans and clubs deserve far better.

And in the clip of several seconds how many Rovers players appear?

I heard it said last night that 80% of games in the Championship are won and lost by one goal. That is the competitive nature of the Championship and Ismael has to find a way of coming out of games with a win. No more hard luck stories of excuses as they count for nothing.

It doesn't but four or five Sheffield United players were quickly on the scene.

It's a cop out from Ismael by using the word 'us'. If course the players have a responsibility but results are primarily down to him and his coaching staff. He ultimately carries the can and his deflection shows a real weakness in my view. Good managers, through smart tactics, team shape and substitutions will eke points out of difficult situations whereas poor managers won't.

After reading about the alleged 'team spirit' comments from Gestede and Owen my mind went back to the incident on Tuesday night when TGH got into a ruck and was quickly surrounded by four opposition players. At the time I thought how slow were Rovers players to go to the aid of a team mate and this clip proves it.

That is the hardest hitting one for me. With a full backing from everyone it says we are ignoring the last fifteen years just as they have by ignoring the history and traditions of the club and town. And not to mention the 'we will absolutely respect the Jack Walker legacy' statement from the lady Venky. I think it's something that could capture the imagination of the wider media. An alternative to the 150 year awful official merchandise could be things with 135th anniversary on them.

I would really understand it more if you weren't going in protest against the owners and their cohort.

Exactly. He is responsible for results despite the hand he has been dealt although I do believe he was complicit in the exodus of experience in the summer.

Team spirit is important but will only get you so far. If those two are using this as any justification for decimating our club then I find that insulting. Let's see how the team spirit is now after the manager has publicly called out Carter and Gueye.

Ismael has totally embarrassed himself with his Gueye comments. As bad as Gueye is we needed some physicality up front when we went behind. Ismael out Kargbo up there. Talk about cutting your nose off to spite your face. A manager with a huge ego is not what we need right now.

I was confused tonight by Ismaels change of shape after his substitutions. We went from quite an attacking system with two up front to one who was Kargbo. This was when we were losing. God knows where he had Hedges playing as he looked as confused as the rest of us. Then he went from a back three to a back four by taking McLoughlin off and putting De Neve to left back and like for like with Montgomery on for Gardner-Hickman, again when we were losing. And at 2-1 we game we take everyone back for a Sheffield United corner leaving no opportunity to counter attack. Nobody will ask the questions so Ismael is not held to account. I can't fault the players effort tonight as I can't in almost every game this season. But the lack of quality and experience is killing us. I know it's been said many times but the downgrading of so many players looks likely, even at this early stage to get us relegated. Step forward Gestede and Pasha as they both have deconstructed our squad alarmingly. They neither will be accountable for their part in the whole sorry mess we are in. In normal circumstances a relegation could mean a change of ownership and a chance to clear out the debris. We know however that simply won't happen here.

The nucleus of that side have started the last few games. Excluding loans out and injuries the under 21 squad is looking a bit thin.

I have seen him play on both sides and he looks equally adept at both. The advantage of being two footed I suppose.

Rovers under 17's out in a sterling performance this afternoon beating Stoke 7-1 in atrocious conditions. Some of the football was excellent and it strikes me that as well as having some real talent they are a really well coached group. A 3-0 half time score was a fair reflection but a slow start to the second half saw Stoke pull one back but this seemed to be the kick up the backside they needed and from then on it was almost total dominance and in truth the score could have been more. There were lots of really good individual performances but it was the collective which was impressive. It was good to see Harvey Higgins score before he went off at half-time. This was planned I was told following the 45 minutes he got recently. He will have a hour on Saturday at Leeds and providing there is no reaction it will be full steam ahead. The left back Theo Pitt looks a hell of a prospect and he is 15. Mbonzale is 14 and we brought a lad on called Oliver Flynn after about 75 minutes who looked about 12. It's early days yet but I'm quite excited about this group.

I thought there were signs of dissent in the ranks towards the end of Tomasson's reign as there were with Souness. Those two you mention got the odd result to quell any immediate revolt but there did seem to be some grumbling from the players. Your point about not being good enough is absolutely correct but sometimes a good manager can squeeze some more out of average players. I honestly can't see Ismael as one of those types.

The manager carries the can for results of course and results are the barometer for any club. Therefore they will ultimately pay the price with their job at a normal club but we are not normal. Usually there are signs if the players are going through the motions in a statement of disenchantment with the manager but I haven't seen any evidence of that (apart from Charlton) so I assume they are behind him.

Yes he was an unused substitute on October 11th at Cleethorpes Town.

Patrik Farkas has had 13 minutes game time in the three games Prescot Cables have played since he went there. In my view another totally pointless loan which will do absolutely nothing for his development.

Totally agree Ian. There seems to be almost a resigned acceptance from the vast majority that we are battling against the tide having tried pretty much everything to influence change. Aside from the occasional organic chant I don't believe anything else will happen which is no slight on anyone who has been involved in protests and the like. I'm not even sure the owners are or have been aware of the unrest last season and purely a personal view but I would think they are happy with the way the club is run. I think they are shielded from any news of unrest by their man on the ground. Personally I doubt whether they actually watch the games and more. It's a real feeling of helplessness but as the owners they can do what they want. It's a sad situation when I was envious of the reports last week that Sheffield Wednesday could be served with a winding up order. For their supporters that could be the light at the end of the tunnel. For us there just seems to be an everlasting purgatory.