arbitro

When Alebiosu is bombing on (in or out of possession) Miller shifts over to cover, likewise McLoughlin on the left. In a four this might not happen and render our attacking full backs less effective. There will be times to change formations in game depending on the circumstances and I like this flexibility. Gudjohnsen improved massively in the second half from his recent form. I have thought at times he looked last and one paced but latterly in today's game he really out it in and hopefully his goal improves his confidence as I thought this was waning.

It is which is why, along with De Neve Ribeiro can't get near the team at the moment.

I agree. Tronstad was really off today and bringing Montgomery on certainly got us on a different trajectory going forward but he also got in several telling challenges in our final third. TGH arguably had his best game for us today.

It was really strange to hear supporters booing and singing 'you don't know what you're doing' to a manager when your team are one up. They might have had a point after Still took off their best player and replaced him with a centre half who went to play in midfield. I think there might be two managerial vacancies in the Championship this week. Russell Martin anyone? 😂😂

The three at the back allows us to play wing backs and today they were probably attacking more than defending. Alebiosu and De Neve were really good today and the first goal came from Alebiosu getting up the pitch. Personally think we are more suited to a 3/5 at the back with the players we have but it's good to have flexibility and be able to change.

It seems like a lifetime ago that I walked away from Ewood with that feeling you only get from winning. But in all honesty I just couldn't see a win coming after we went behind albeit I thought we were unfortunate to go in one down at half time. We had enough chances to at least be level at the break but the game at that point was like so many this season when we perhaps should have got more. As the second half wore on and we were still missing good chances (for balance Southampton missed a few too) I had pretty much resigned myself to a defeat. And that feeling got worse when Ismael made his triple change as I just couldn't see how the players coming on were going to impact the game. De Neve was arguably our best player but Tronstad and Morishita were a long way off the pace but I just thought Hedges and Montgomery wouldn't improve us. I was wrong. The driving run from Montgomery seemed to get us going and he played some smart, forward passes. Hedges got up and down the line and Henrikson started to run forwards from midfield. But I still doubted whether we'd get anything out of the game and I would certainly have taken a draw at that point. Alebiosu, despite falling a touch below the high standard he has set got us back in with a goal which I thought was a cross. Who cares. We grasped the nettle and went for it in a manner I haven't seen for a while. The winner again probably had a touch of fortune about it but again, who cares. After he scored Gudjohnsen was like a man possessed. Just before he scored my friend said 'he needs a goal' and hopefully now he has that monkey off his back he will get more. In truth today's game could have finished 5-5 but again, who cares. The downside for me today was the number of easy chances we missed but that's for another day. Enjoy the win.

We were talking to Matty Warhursts dad and it definitely wasn't Paul.

Great performance from the under 21's and the manager deserves credit as he got his tactics perfect. We played counter attack in the first half and created more chances than City. Taking a 2-0 lead was perfect as we broke with pace when the opportunity arose. I thought the penalty awarded for a foul on Tyjon was harsh but he despatched it expertly. The second goal from Powell finished off a smart, incisive move. We new City would come out in the second half and go for it but we defended terrifically well and really limited them to long distance shots. We reverted to a solid back five to quell their attack and let them have the ball in non threatening areas. It worked to a tee. A really enjoyable game with lots of good individual performances but the collective was indeed better. And as I alluded to the manager deserves great credit for his game plan and tactics.

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.