roversfan99

You keep avoiding this, what about McLoughlin? You said terrible when he signed, and dont seem keen to acknowledge his peformance either way. Even for Venkys owned Rovers with Gestede at the helm. To replace a key player and captain with a bloke relegated to the Swiss second division who potentially needs an operation that will keep him out for months would be absolutely ridiculous. Especially if he comes on, seems our pissing about has caused that ship to sail. That is one frightening prospect that I suspect would lead to even less goals I suspect. Did we look effective doing this yesterday? Didnt create a chance doing so.

To be fair, although some of the foundations may have been in place, Ismael certainly did an excellent job at Barnsley to finish 5th. He had a very direct style there and it was really effective. He also was a trendsetter in using the newly allowed 5 subs during covid really aggressively, he would burn out the starters for 60 and always make wholesale changes. He seems to have totally moved away from those successful traits though. Whether its the higher expectations at the clubs since, or the fact that it feels like results are almost becoming secondary in how managers are judged/how likely they are to be employed. It feels nowadays that youd be more attractive to a chairman and a club if you finished 14th but playing "pretty" high possession football over rough housing your way to 5th. Today we dominated the ball but didnt create a single decent chance. Boring to watch and ineffective.

He took him off at half time presumably due to the head injury he suffered.

What sort of thrill does he get out of pretending to have a mystery transfer source.

With the random obscure foreign signings, he has struggled to even pretend that he has any clue what is going on. This is one thing it is pretty easy to nail using his tactic of guessing based on what is in the public domain.

Not goals. Or many wins.

He wouldnt. So cant be.

Amidst talk about everything else, owners, board, signings, sales and contracts. The one variable that seems to have just been assumed as ok is Ismael himself. The way he speaks seems to have charmed many. His previous spells at this level were failure and although we ended last season well, his first 7 or 8 games were obviously a disaster. A lot of neutrals seem to cite him as the main reason why they think we will struggle. He has a hard job, and I am not sure either way yet. But I am certainly not convinced. Yet.

Was a half chance at best. Also was looking for the penalty and went down unnaturally. Do you stand by your suggestion that we was correct to keep Hedges? What does he offer that no one else sees? And do you stand by your justification of us only signing one more attacking player? Also, would sum us up to replace Travis with someone who would be out for months through injury.

Would have to create a reasonable chance at goal surely?

Ismael said it was a good away performance. Id hate to see a bad one.

What did you make of McLoughlin? Early days (day) but cant see what De Neve offers. Thought Alebiousu was ok.

Really frustrating performance and result. We wouldn't have scored had we played all night, even against 10. Created nothing of note. West Brom were far superior for half an hour then sat in seemingly comfortable with us passing it side to side. If Ismael's style is just really slow, laborious passing from side to side at testimonial pace not creating chances then I am not a fan. One of the first things to point out, I mentioned the other day that we need a new set piece taker. Our set pieces and deliveries in general across the team were absolutely diabolical. Ryan Hedges deserves a mention in particular too. On what planet was renewing his contract the correct decision? He offers absolutely nothing whatsoever. As a starter, as a squad player, zilch. New signing wise. I liked McLoughlin, calm on the ball and sound defensively. Alebiosu is really quick but looks raw, quite liked him though. Miller looked uncomfortable with the ball at his feet and quite sluggish, a non entity in attack bar the throw in. Hendriksson was totally anonymous bar a few stupid fouls. De Neve, I cant see what type of player he is or what he offers as of yet. Tavares didnt have enough time but made a couple of strange decisions. Seems like we are going to lose more key players. Replacing with players for small fees from inferior leagues seems like a recipe for a long old season for me. We need a lot more than just one attacking player as there arent many goals here as we know.

Glad hes not gone with Montgomery at right back. Also good to see Axel straight in. A shame not to start Kargbo, and obviously Hedges starting is depressing. I still find it strange that Pears isnt on the bench. Unnecessarily risky not to have a senior sub keeper. Surprised that Tyjon has not been included on the bench.

What do you think of the minutes?

"Yeah, I will just stick to parroting everything the club does thanks."

Moving to a back 3 to park the bus etc, tactical tweaks, those are examples of versatility which I said can be very useful. What I am saying is that we shouldnt sign less players because of that versatility. Because one player cant play in 2 positions at the same time. Regarding Leonard, you was clutching at straws. Gestede said we planned to sign a striker. Most of us feel we need a striker. Including you. Now we seemingly will fail with that objective, you suggested that the reason behind that was in these last couple of months in which Leonard hasnt been even with Ismael, perhaps there has been a sudden realisation that Leonard is Championship standard and crucially set to avoid continued further injury complications. I would respect your opinion more if you stuck to your guns. I wanted us to bring in a striker, if we dont then I feel we will be short in that area compared to what I wanted. You seemingly share that opinion. Just stick to it, you dont have to parrot the club, shrug your shoulders and assume that Ismael/Gestede are infallible, or come up with nonsensical reasons.

Your problem is again that you've again misunderstood what I have put. Versatility is obviously useful. My point is, if you need 2 players, signing one to cover both is not sufficient as he cant play them both at the same time. Take this example. Say if we need Miller at centre back, he is most likely to be our first choice right back, so one issue solved creates another.

But Miller is likely to be our first choice right back. So if hes needed to cover centre back, then thats 2 changes in 1. I dont like when we try and cover 2 vacancies with 1 player. Versatility shouldnt mean signing less players. You cant play 2 positions at the same time.

I dont get why people seem so desperate to get rid of Cantwell. I appreciate that he didnt have the best season but hes clearly better than what he showed and is our only player with a bit of flair. I also dont buy the theory that he "isnt an Ismael player." He regularly played him last season and contrary to popular belief, he does work hard. If our plan is to shed all of these proven Championship players and Gestede will just continue to play football manager without appreciating the need for Championship experience. We soon will be in League 1.

Travis and Tronstad?

I wonder if he will go with Tyjon.

Those 7 goals each are going to be a loss. As you mention, Hedges isnt going to contribute goals. De Neve has never scored more than 2 in a season. Miyoshi if he signs, the highest goal return he has ever had is the 6 he got in a season at Birmingham, usually less.

We arent in a position to be shedding important players. He had a disappointing season but he has by far the most ability out of anyone in the squad and he does work harder than perhaps given credit for. He has to do better though.

It has been an incredible turn from 6 games ago when you wanted Ismael out. (Which is fine) Now, you cant fathom that anything that unfolds isnt exactly how he has planned. Your opinions also follow exactly what he does or what you think he will do. Youve even created a scenario where you are justifying us going from publically saying that we want a striker, something you agreed with, because hes come up with a miracle fitness regime that will lead to a young lad with repeated recurring injuries coming in and filling that role. Its not a conspiracy to suggest that he might (im not saying this is the case) not get everything he wants in a transfer window. As I said, I suspect a lot of managers end transfer windows like that. Also on the numbers. 6 or 7 was mentioned. A new first choice right back was clearly not included in that. (Nor was Batth and Weimann leaving)