davulsukur

August 20th can't come soon enough. Not sure the club media team can keep pushing Markanday, Hedges, Vale, Gent etc "like new signings" positive line until then though. What a depressing summer.

So, there is no logical reason for your 5 man shortlist then, ok no worries. Anyway, if Klopp was announced tomorrow and won England the Euros in 4 years time, you'd be the first to champion him and change your stance on English only managers. So it's all a bit moot really.

It is but you've listed 5 managers and only 1 of them has any international managerial experience? I'm not quite sure what you're getting at with how well known were Fuente and Low before they were appointed. Low held 6 club managerial positions (with varying degrees of success) before being assistant to Klinsmann for Germany, so pretty well known. Fuente might not have been well known to the general public but he managed the Spain national team at U19, U21 and U23 levels, so would have been very well known to the Spanish national set up.

Yes, you constantly repeat it and yet because of it, you can only produce a list of third rate managers and some utterly shocking suggestions like Lampard. If I told you, that you could pick any current manager in the world to manage "Football Club A"(with no restrictions) and that's all you knew, you wouldn't be going anywhere near any current English managers.

Is Jim White still "coming for you Venky's"? No one outside of Rovers gives a toss about us I'm afraid. Even if we go into Administration it would just be a small piece about how sad it is and how badly we've been run but then onto the really important football news like who Man City are signing for a £100m.

It's a poor showing for English managers if that's the best we have. Gary O'Neil might turn out to be a good manager in time but he's managed just 82 games so far and only has a 34% win ratio across them both. Eddie Howe probably the only one right now that would be worth an approach but the FA have to be asking the question to some of the elite managers (Pep, Klopp, Ancelotti), they'd all be a significant step up from Howe, Carsley, Lampard (😂), Potter. I don't think the FA will be particularly creative tbh. Probably a half assed attempt at Howe before Newcastle knock them back and then it'll be straight to Potter as he's the cheapest, simplest and laziest solution around.

I saw Leonard and Gilsenan were injured and not part of the travelling group to Austria but are they out for the longer term?

Yep looks that way. Sticking with Pears would be comfortably one of the worst decisions the management have made for a while (with regards to the playing squad). I can't believe for 1 minute that a championship manager could look at Pears as anything other than a complete liability. Hopefully the plan is to bring in another keeper and sell Pears.

Yeah I think he's been on trial since the start of pre season but they have taken him to the Austria training camp. Everton released him I believe so would be a free transfer. Rumour over the weekend was that we had "won the race" to sign him, ahead of Fleetwood town (Nixon rumour though I think)

The former Everton keeper, who has gone to Austria will likely be the 1 incoming this week I'd imagine.

No one is deluded in thinking that Southgate leaves and we instantly start winning tournaments, just the understanding that we won't win anything under Southgate, he's taken us as far as he can and if we are to progress, we need to hand over the reigns to someone else. Whilst I agree that our players are overhyped somewhat, it was Phil Foden who won PL player of the season not Rhodri. It was Bellingham who won La Liga player of the season not any of the rest of the Spanish squad. It was Harry Kane who won the Bundesliga golden boot. We have some quality players, just not a manager who can get the best out of them. Demonstrated perfectly by Southgate, as it took him 5 games to find his best starting 11 & formation.

Has to be Southgates last game. We need a new manger with some new ideas, someone who can more out of what we have. You can't have a team with Foden, Bellingham, Kane, Rice, Saka, Palmer etc. and struggle to beat Slovakia and Slovenia (with horrific performances to boot). We've played well for 45mins (1st half vs Netherlands) all tournament. Everything else has been poor. He's too reactive, waits till we are a goal down before making a change, we're not dominant or on the front foot ever. And when we get back into a game we sit back and try and force extra time (weirdly). He's done well to give him his credit, x2 finals and he's "rebuilt" England to a degree but like Rovers sticking with Mogga, you can see the writing on the wall, we need to move on if we are to progress.

I don't think Kane has ever been in any serious danger of being dropped throughout the whole tournament, despite his poor form. Southgate is generally a safety first manager and dropping a guy with a goalscoring record and the experience of Kane wouldn't even enter his mind.

Like @RoversClitheroe, I'm basically a silent member of WATR. All these ideas are great for increasing engagement.

Assuming he's fully fit to play, Shaw had to start at LB, he's much better than Trippier (not really his fault as he's a RB)

So no, then.

Has JRC ever played on the wing during his time in the first 11 for Rovers? He's almost always been at RB or CM. He's far too slow to be a winger anyway.

Jack Barrett has been included in the squad of players listed as going to the Austria training camp. Leonard and Gilsenan haven't travelled as they are still recovering from injuries. Bright prospects both of them but injury prone as hell.

Because he's 37 and didn't get a contract offer from QPR

And we've sold 2 players this window already.

Nixon linking us to Dykes? FFS, he's just another Gallagher. You'd have to assume Begovic's best days are behind him but still, he'd surely be an upgrade on Pears.

He's not rapid but he's quick enough, certainly quicker than Sigurdsson and it's paid off with some of the goals he's scored. Sigurdsson won't be playing in the same way.

Szmodics is quite quick though, Sigurdsson isn't, he'll only be effective if he's got pace around him (which he hasn't). If we sit back and try hit teams on the counter (see Leicester last game of the season) Sigurdsson won't be much use compared to Szmodics.

Absolutely. We're in the shit as it stands right now. Probably aiming for rock bottom of the league without him. And £6m!?!?!?! What the actual fuck? Absolutely dire situation at Rovers. The sooner we are shot of these useless bastards the better.

Apparently we are set to sign the keeper that was on trial as well (according to Nixon), assuming he'll be our only Goalkeeping acquisition. Poor if so.