roversfan99

So when those 2 players you mentioned scored yesterday, you think anyone was anything other than delighted? Its rubbish.

Yet when a player has been here for half a season or even a season and is struggling and people are saying he isnt up to it, you rubbish them and say he will come good. Kargbo looked promising yesterday but its very early days to put any doubters (which were more at the lack of money spent and the level Kargbo individually had played and done well at, no one had heard of the player himself) "in the bin." You are already on the turn though against Eustace and justifying the running of the club. Nornal service has been resumed. Recruitment has been very short term focused and mixed but the main reason is the shocking lack of reinvestment.

Yes, im sure that people spend so much time and money watching Rovers because they want them to fail.

As the feeling of injustice wears off, you are left with a coach above his pay grade steering you through such an important part of the season. But its cheap and easy so I suspect it will happen.

We dont do new contracts here.

He may have told a white lie, who cares. He left because the clubs a mess. That should be our primary concern. The owners and board still carry on and they are the issues.

Interviewing a large number of people suggests that they dont know who or what they want. Obviously the main thing is quality but it doesnt suggest that they anticipated what to do when Eustace was no longer here. It does also matter though when the decision is made. We only have 13 games left and are in mid February so we need to make a decision soon. You like with transfers were asking for a decision to be made soon. Because you know that isnt likely you are changing to justify it. And how do you know that the decision lies with Gestede and Owen?

The players have been united all season, its totally irrelevant to the point that Eustace was justifiably irritated by the transfer windows both in January and the summer. The main issue was the lack of budget considering the sales but this was compounded seemingly by the jumbled nature and often the fact that the head coach is getting enough of a say regarding the players he will then be judged on. And has Kargbo "put all of the doubters in the bin?" Again, most people (even you didnt seem too impressed) raised a question mark over signing a player who had struggled to make an impact above Serie C. We all hoped he would be a hidden gem but its too early to say either way. His cameo yesterday was very promising but hes played about 40 minutes of league football so far, plus an hour in a cup game.

Absolutely. Decided and didnt bother to tell him. But at least then we had the summer. Now we need to make a decision quickly.

The club has done very well to manipulate the situation so now most of the anger is at Eustace and not at the real problem. Venkys.

Its clear that there was no succession plan for what was to happen post Eustace and the fact that he had shown his frustration publically for some time prior to leaving means there really ought to be. So many alledged interviews suggests that they dont even know what they want. I cant see past the likelihood of them just giving it to Lowe. They dont have a clue who to appoint so its easier for them just to let him carry on. I would be against that, hes done very well in covering but the feeling of injustice that Eustace left has been raw. That will ease. But any decision needs to be made ASAP as there arent many games left.

He worked here as a young player over 20 years ago under different owners. I dont see what relevance it has.

Same with Derby surely. Yes, it would be great if both failed to get promoted/avoid relegation. But our focus is surely on us so we need results to go in our favour.

How did you know it was and come across a Venkys advisor, out of interest? "Another line on the P&L" doesnt really make sense but it is clear that they do treat us with the total disregard that you suggest. They couldnt give a shit about us and their lapdog essentially said as such in a recent fans fans forum by saying they wont be coming any time soon as they have more important matters to attend to.

Dolan and Hedges are often coupled together because they are usually the 2 that start out wide. And both have had poor seasons from an attacking perspective, but Dolan has always been much more effective than Hedges, or at least more capable. In terms of balance, it probably does suit Dolan far more to have Kargbo on the other side as mentioned above. There is then less reliance on him in attack and he also has someone on the other side opening the game up. Hedges was never particularly good but 2 things I think have made him even less effective. Moving him to the left which is not his position. And also the 2 bad hamstring injuries have made him even slower and more unable to take people on. He needs letting go, hes not capable at this level. Dolan probably can point to games played and expect to be towards the top earners. If so, thats an issue as he hasnt done enough to warrant that. But if we could agree some sort of deal, even though I and many others have been critical of him, at the age hes at, I wouldnt be against it. But we dont offer new deals out anyway. So Dolan will go and Hedges will have his extenson activated.

The narrative has definitely changed significantly after the statements by the club and also off the back of a couple of wins. Short term, I still understand why he would have been frustrated by the January window. Will Dennis and/or Woodrow have any significant contribution in them between now and May? Ribeiro looks a shrewd short term pick up, and Kargbo has impressed in cameos. Sanderson seems a decent player to have to cover in defence, I still dont think Forshaw is what we needed but his goal was important yesterday. But obviously in terms of building, our squad is still lacking any foundations. A large chunk of our squad is here short term and arguably our best 4 players (Brittain, Hyam, Tronstad and Travis) are all out of contract next summer. We havent renewed a contract for so long and that doesnt appear to change anytime soon, and the fact that Eustace didnt get any assurances regarding the summer suggests that we wont be in a position to rebuild. Naturally our focus needs to be on this season at the moment, but the percentage change of promotion is so small. Even if say we have 50% chance of a play off position, which I would say is very generous, it leaves us with probably again a generous 10% chance of promotion from there. 3rd and 4th place will be heavy favourites. Then we are back to square one.

You was very frustrated at the owners/board for not giving Eustace the contract and assurances he wanted to build. Has any of your personal frustration moved towards Eustace?

Short term at least a really good opportunity has opened up. Giving the job full time to a caretaker more often than not is a bad idea so no way should Lowe get the job. He has done very well covering and the side has responded excellently to Eustace leaving. I would be furious if we appointed someone like Boa Morte or Boateng. They shouldnt even be getting interviewed.

Had the feeling of a game we just had to get 3 points in however we did it. The first half was dire however the second half was much better and we deserved the win against a poor side. Lots of talk about Forshaw, I know people will think its confirmation bias but I dont think Forshaw was particularly good, in fact he (like a lot) was particularly poor first half. One dodgy backpass should have led to a goal and he gave the ball away a few times. But the game felt like it was drifting and his goal was not only brilliant but the timing was critical so lets hope come May we look back on that as a really crucial contribution. Its ridiculous that we have Ribeiro on such a short term deal and typical of the club. He looks a real find and if we can get him signed for longer (no contracts given out in over a year is it?) then left back is sorted next season with him and Pickering. Deserved man of the match. The centre backs were solid as was Brittain. Dodgy Pears feel like he is back again though. Travis is so important to us, good to see him getting up to speed and hope Tronstad is back soon to partner him. Cantwell had a strange game, he does things no one else is capable of but he was wasteful in the fimal third. Dolan impressed and deserved his goal, and also took on his man a few times and opened up space. Cozier Duberry seems to constantly be falling over and aside from winning the ball and a good cross for Gueye didnt justify starting. Kargbo only really had one chance to show his pace so it was great to see him show another side to his game with a lovely one two with Gueye and a perfect pass for Dolan. Often quick wingers can be neutralised when a team sits in. Gueye missed a couple of good chances but some of his hold up again was very good.

Obviously being a former Rover player isnt a PROBLEM. I never said that. I just dont think that a playing career here over 20 years ago should have any bearing on the decision. Its a huge step up from the Irish league.

Why would you love Duff? Just because he is a strong personality? He wouldnt be mentioned if he didnt play for us.

You speak about the problems in recruitment in the past tense but with the same dysfunctional setup I see no reason why things wont continue. My point about sustainability has been taken out of context. I was saying that the West Brom game in the immediate aftermath of the embarassing way that Eustace left, it created a seige mentality and the performance was well above normal standards. We cant rely on that feeling across the rest of the season, it was relating to discussions of leaving Lowe in charge which obviously shouldnt happen. I think alledgedly interviewing quite so many people shows they havent a clue what or who they want. Feel free to forward on these supposed articles on Wicky, if you google his name they dont come up. Either way, I dont see how a couple of articles can make him suddenly become the one you want but thats up to you. You definitely did say Wellens lives local and it certainly didnt read as tongue in cheek but if it was, ok.

The point im making isnt about Dolan. He did ok on Wednesday but most of their compliments came at the start. Its about the idea that its better to listen to opposition commentary for a more balanced opinion. What you actually get is an opinion having not seen much of the players in question.

The commentators of other teams will rarely have seen our players live though. A lack of supposed bias will be massively outweighed by that. I also watched with West Brom commentary and they started by talking about Dolan and Hedges out wide. They did that because Mowbray had mentioned them pre match.

That is correct and I told you that when we were debating but you stuck with your initial opinion.