A theory that might have more credibility had it not been an ongoing prediction by the same poster for years and years.

Its the owners I hate. Their lapdogs Suhail and Waggott are also dragging the club down too. They have pulled a blinder purposely or otherwise though where now Eustace takes all of the flak and many seem happy to overlook the mess that still remains. You agreed that he had been let down when it emerged that he was going, now hes the villain of the piece. As has been mentioned, and he deserves some stick, but seems a bit wrong that on Saturday 100% of the bile will be chucked towards Eustace and 0% at the root causes of our problems. If expecting a player playing in an attacking position to offer any sort of attacking threat is expecting too much or expecting things that a player cannot do, then yes I am. I dont hate him by any means, sure he is a nice guy and no doubt that he tries his best. But I dont like seeing players play for my club who clearly arent good enough. And Gueye managed basically the whole game at the weekend. Ohashi might only be able to do an hour but Weimann or Cantwell can come on for him when he tires. But lets attack them from the start, get 1 up and get their fans on their back.

If Hedges is even a consideration to start then yes, it is a difficult decision. Derby are not only crap but their confidence is on the floor. We should be going to attack them. Is Hedges going to do that? Scoring, assisting, beating players, speed, dribbling, creating, youve repeatedly admitted that hes "not that type of player." If you are in favour of leaving Ohashi out for if and when Gueye tires (in his last 8 games, he has played 90 minutes 6 times and 88 minutes twice so im unsure why) then it really highlights our January "attempts" to sign the striker we need. We signed a player more suited out wide who hadnt played for ages and is also suspended, and Cauley Woodrow who seemingly doesnt come into your thinking as a potential sub. Little wonder that Eustace got so pissed off. Although you seemingly have gone from brief outrage that we had messed him around as he left, to constantly picking apart his media comments.

Hedges was ok but he didnt really do much going forward and certainly not to outrank a season (and beyond) of poor and ineffective performances. Weimann is a very useful impact sub to have but as we have seen playing him away from home in particular, he can struggle from the start. So as I said, difficult decision to make. Our wide areas are a very weak position. You look at some of our rivals and the options they have in those positions, and its night and day.

Its a tough one as we have such poor options out wide. But Derby are there to be attacked. Probably go with Gueye with Ohashi just off him. Kargbo left so the question mark is wide right. Weimann often struggles from the start especially away from home. Hedges doesnt offer anything. Dolan deserves dropping and ACD has been a poor signing.

Derby are crap, we have to be winning this game. We need to really attack them, Weimann is a goal threat and perhaps deserves a start but especially away from home, is often invisible when he does start. Him and Hedges in the same starting 11 would feel quite negative. As a Rovers fan though having seen it all before, a drab loss wouldnt surprise many.

Forshaw didnt make progressive passes though and even simple ones sometimes went astray.

Ones who will be key players either way and/or ones with slight knocks that would play in an important game but could do with a rest might. Its a frustrating pause for all just as the season gets onto the home straight.

I suspect that a number of players will pull out to save themselves for the remainder of the club season. We will beat Albania and Latvia regardless so it doesnt matter either way. Hall is injured.

I definitely have never said that he was a top manager. Did a decent job though overall.

Not even about a high press necessarily. Cantwell and Gueye are regulars and we were particularly passive and flat for much of the game. It felt like a specific tactic/part of the gameplan and I dont think it worked. Shouldnt be fearing Norwich at home.

Still cant see the logic in them actively not wanting something which both financially and in terms of how it may reflect upon them, would be of massive benefit.

I dont think its just about the quality of the players either. I think we all agreed that Eustace was making the team bigger than the sum of its parts. It doesnt mean that he was backed, just like managers before, in fact the lack of backing literally led to him quitting. No reason to think that Ismael will be backed when so many others havent. Unless you think that minimal reinvestment and not always getting the final say to be considered being backed, in which case, yes I am sure some players will be signed under him.

The more passive tactics we did employ still saw them repeatedly get their players on the ball in attacking areas, the number of time one of them picked the ball up on the half turn was ridiculous. Thankfully in the main they didnt do much from there. As the home team we should have played more on the front foot. The triple Ismael sub has been something he has done throughout his career. He has often been criticised for it due to the predictable nature of it. That being said, some managers can go the other way and make changes too late.

Not being backed doesnt mean literally not signing any players. It means at least in my back not being given significant enough resources and of course not having final say also doesnt help. Eustace wasnt backed. Tomasson wasnt backed. And towards the end Mowbray wasnt backed. All displayed frustration in the media and no reason to suggest it wont happen again.

Its hard to judge much after 2 days training with the new manager but I felt like we were a lot more passive and really didnt want to press at all which surprised me. I dont think it worked to be like that. We did also see the multiple subs on the hour mark which is an Ismael trademark. It has been suggested as an area where he is quite inflexible.

@chaddyrovers do you think that Eustace WAS backed then? Wasnt the narrative when he left, so just checking if thats changed.

Not like you to view all of the refereeing decisions Just ignoring the Hyam elbow completely? Debatable Dennis straight red? Is the clear penalty the one on Ohashi? If so, im not even convinced that it was a foul. But if it was, your eyes must be great to see exactly where any contact happened. The ref was shit but it wasnt purely in Norwich's favour.

Im sure youve been living under a rock for 14 or 15 years. Managers dont get backed here, and then leave.

A big thrill to get a late equaliser but ultimately only drawing sees us drop outside the play offs. There is some great character amidst adversity in this side but there are a number of question marks in terms of quality and I would think there is much more of a chance of us falling short. Overall it was a pretty poor performance and a game lacking in quality. Our midfield felt non existent at times especially in the first half with them regularly picking the ball and turning in dangerous areas and also they had 2 big chances. Forshaw struggled and Tronstad needs to start now hes back, Travis was also very shaky and hopefully Tronstad being next to him will help him. Dennis is an idiot and I dont get why our fans give such warm applause when a player is sent off. Some "significant investment." Hyam is also an idiot for leaving one on Gunn and any suspension would really weaken us as him and Carter are 2 good centre backs and Sanderson is massively inferior. Ribeiro is decent and Brittain again right up there with our top performers. Gueye did a few nice things without ever looking like scoring, Dolan was shocking and needs dropping, Cantwell was more involved but in the main poor, Kargbo gives us something different with his pace but often found wanting at the end of his runs with his end product. Still, an upgrade on our other wide options for sure. Weimann really has a knack for scoring goals. From the start hes usually anonymous but great run and header to equalise.

I think we know that like those before him, he wont.

How has Forshaw become a regular all of a sudden? I know Kargbo and Gueye are muslim but I wonder if they will be fasting? Could impact their energy levels over the next month.

Jason Lowe was playing in the Championship, Andrews was clearly a level above him. Akpan was as bad if not worse though.

And hes English so he cant be overrated.

The overreaction to peoples reactions about the letter are as bizarre as the overreactions themselves. Although I think to some it is a trigger to the boards incompetencr rather than an issue with anything Ismael has said. Probably didnt write it, even if he did, full of typical manager speak. Im sure he never has given 2 thoughts to our title win, and the rest is just standard manager speak like they all give. Not worth thinking about.