roversfan99

How do you think that Markanday would fare in La Liga?

Coyle won 5 of his first 18 league games. (And won in the cup) I often see people point to the likes of Szmodics and Brereton when people question anyone to suggest that they dont rate a player early doors. But equally, there are far more examples of players who struggle early doors who go on not to make the grade. I think personally to say outright that Ismael is shit and deserves to be sacked, or similar, would be over the top. But equally I dont see much evidence to be "all in" on him. Not that it matters much as hes here for the duration either way.

I see that Elliott Jackson is today pushing a narrative that the fans should be "all in" on Ismael. Where do people stand on him at the moment? Amidst the shit storm of what happened off the pitch in the summer, the only thing that really seems to be discussed (understandably) is whether he is truly genuinely happy, whether he can be happy or whether hes towing the party line sat on his long contract. He has obviously had some big difficulties as do all of our managers under these twats. But how convinced are people that he is the best man to take us forward? I certainly am not "all in" on him personally, obviously I back him and desperately hope he does well as he is the current manager but I would say I am 30-40% convinced that hes any good. There have been glimmers of promise and a lot of mitigating factors but a lot to do to fully convince me personally. Hopefully he can really change my mind by putting a run of results together starting from last Saturday.

Not wrong though.

That option being to spurn any chance of building an attack by repeatedly standing offside.

Surely we arent potentially criticising a player for being available every week?

But we have lost a hell of a lot in defence. And that defence did really well last season and earnt lots of clean sheets. Hyam, Batth and Brittain were all excellent last season. Of course there is something to the injury concerns between Carter and Wharton. Carter has repeatedly picked up muscular injuries over the last 2 seasons and picked up another 30 minutes into pre season. Wharton missed 16 months with a terrible knee injury. But the issue is compounded with only having one other senior centre back. If theres any area of the team that is most likely to be downgraded, its the back 4.

I would certainly say weaker. It wasnt the plan to lose so many key players and its easy to underestimate how good they were at this level. Signs on the new recruits are mixed as you would expect.

Yeah, I also cant understand the fixation about 4 (well, 6) key players all leaving the club because we cant sort first team contracts out. Only a minor issue.

Yeah if they have big doubts that the manager is right for where they are now, theres not much point allowing loyalty and perceptions about what they "deserve" to overrule that for a randomly chosen period of time. Its a poor example and there will be more obvious ones, but I remember the outrage when Southampton sacked Nigel Adkins and appointed Pochettino. Adkins had done a good job and didnt "deserve" to be sacked, but the choice was still a good one.

Yep, its just a series of individual circumstances and there is no pattern to see here and nothing that the club has done wrong.

It was a penalty against Birmingham. The West Brom ones perhaps but we were really poor that day. Its more the Birmingham one that people are claiming as unfortunate and undeserved whereby it was our own naivety and poor decision making that led to both goals. Especially the 2nd.

Again, you go off on tangents regarding individual players but the fact remains. And obviously regarding Gestede, how he speaks publically. And I am clearly not on my own in thinking that.

Again chaddy, 1 first team player in 2 seasons has signed a new deal at the club. That being a left back who signed on a strange initial 6 month deal that was then extended. That pattern isnt normal and isnt healthy. End of story. You clearly are swallowing everything that comes out of people within the clubs mouths and that is your prerogative.

To be fair, those death spirals seem common at Rovers regardless of manager. Thin squads unable to cope with a 46 game season.

I suspect you know the following and are purposely twisting my point. My issue is not with a policy of selling players with a year to go. Although when we didnt, you also defended the club on that. My issue is with the total inability and unwillingness to offer competitive contracts. Its with one contract being sorted in 2 years. The wage structure is clearly too low. And on your other points. Yes, Gestede is a prick. And why is it when a signing looks good based on very few games, its deemed a good signing. But when one looks poor, its because hes not had enough time? Surely it works both ways? Based on what we have seen before, some are better than others, although things may change in the future. We conceded 2 really poor goals. Not unlucky, not bad decisions made out of control. Fully of our own making. Got what we deserved.

They won 2 nil at Millwall before the break so I suspect he felt obliged to keep them the same.

5 games in. I presume you wish relegation upon them and consider it a disgrace?

I think that West Brom appointment was a sentimental and emotional decision from all concerned. Mowbray had just been given the all clear from such a major illness, it never felt right or likely to work out and didnt. He obviously isnt as poor a manager as made out on here. He did a good job here and did a better job at Sunderland. Both clubs werent as equipped to expect to finish in the top 6 like Sheff United are. But I certainly cant see how he would be a standout candidate now, especially considering his recent illness. Wouldnt make sense to me. Wilder is the obvious and most sensible shout but there is a lot of water under the bridge, and you do wonder if that would cause issues. Also, the squad has had a big overhaul since last season.

Majority? Id say it is a split based on the very little we have seen. Alebiosu, Miroshita, McLoughlin, Miller and Gudjohnsen, good signs to varying degrees. TGH I suspect will be a useful squad man. Tavares, De Neve, Henriksson, big question marks ane Baradji a waste of time. But either way, our issues wont be apparent 5 games into the season as our first 11 is competitive and that has always been the case. Its when the games tick by, the injuries mount up and a lack of depth is exposed.

Obviously getting wages down is very much the plan. But dont let them fool you into thinking this summers overhaul is part of any plan. They wanted to keep all of the players that left and planned far less in the way of a squad change. Do we deserve more than 6 points? The game that seems to cause people to think we are hard done by is the Birmingham game. There was little in the game either way for 85 minutes, just one moment of quality. But it was solely down to our naivety and our poor decision making that led to a defeat. I still dont get how we can end that game feeling hard done by. Otherwise, West Brom and Norwich were deserved defeats. Hull we clearly deserved to win. I would also strongly suggest that we deserved to win yesterday, we took the lead and saw the game out very well. But if you argued that we deserved more v Birmingham, you could probably say that on quality of chances and territory it was pretty even. Your general point at the end is fair by the way.

Obviously we are basing opinions both positive and negative very early on here, as its all we have to go on. For example, Gudjohnsen on a promising half an hour. But it appears a mixed bag. Gestede also comes across unprofessionally and arrogantly. Alebiousu, Morishita, McLaughlin and Miller to varying degrees also appear promising additions. But equally, he has signed a player out injured for months and also De Neve and Henriksson have appeared to be well off the standard so far. Tavares has also really struggled. But obviously the main issue has been the abject inability to hold on to any of our existing important players, with pathetic offers of the same wage and just an extra year. I suppose he isnt the main person to blame for that but Broughton managed it.

I think Ohashi is best suited to being a number 9. He likes to run in behind and he can use his body quite well. I think because of his frame, its easy to assume that he would be more effective deeper (hes hardly got the physique of a typical old fashioned number 9) but I dont see what skills he has that would be better suited there. I just dont think he is anything special. Hes a decent Championship striker but hes not one that cant be improved upon or one youd have faith in really making the difference. I liked the look of Gudjohnsen although he did have a specific job to do of helping to see a game out and he really did help in that. He has attributes that are really promising. That being said, the acid test will be what he offers in terms of helping us get more goals.

He hasnt been in the last 2 years. When he has played, he has looked really shaky and error prone and often seemed to evade criticism which was unfairly put on Hyam. I have always seen suggestions of the Premier League as unfounded but he has certainly shown before that he can be a good defender at this level and perhaps it was just those fitness issues that meant that he struggled to perform to his maximum during those 2 seasons. So the question is whether he can stay fit. Not only is it critical as he is our only natural right footed centre back but its also important to allow him to get some rhythm back.

For Wrexham in particular, it almost feels like a totally new team. With Parkinson's track record at this level, I do wonder considering that they have built a team of good Championship players, whether you just would be ruthless not based on what Parkinson deserves as it would feel unjust, but you make a tough managerial decision with similar ambition that they have shown signing players to try and get the best from them. If you arent convinced now but wait and see, you could be wasting time and leaving it too late to have a real push higher up. Im unsure if their owners will do that. They are seemingly incredibly ambitious and invested but they also seem really loyal.