Wendal

Further confirms that Pasha is the only decision maker here, he makes all the decisions and sends out his puppets to take the heat (until they get fed up and leave or are removed from role for refusing)

Same cycle on rinse and repeat - Pasha putting the designated puppets forward to take all the heat for Venkys decisions. To be replaced once they’ve served their purpose with a new cast of puppets. The one constant on the ground at Rovers since the takeover is Pasha. Why?

I want to be positive, I really do. It’s difficult when we’re going from a 29 year old who was at his peak and one of the first names on the teamsheet until a few days ago to a 35 year old who hasn’t played for 7 months and was so bad that he wasn’t even registered for half a season. The fact that no one else is even willing to take him on a free, with all the money flying around this summer suggests most clubs have seen what Wolves saw when they removed him from the squad.

And Wolves went from second bottom with 9 points/-19 goal difference to 42 points and 16th in the league. Suggests Dawson was part of the problem and teams clearly haven’t been beating down the door for the last 7 months to sign him

One of them only played 5 games after signing. For me, it’s a massive red flag when a 35 year old defender on the back of some really poor form is left out of the squad completely halfway through a season and then doesn’t play a competitive game for the best part of 7 months. If we were going down this route, why didn’t we just offer Batth a new contract on decent terms? They’re contradicting everything they’ve been preaching for the whole summer. Goes to show what we all know, this has always been about cost cutting rather than squad building.

Dawson - scored two own goals in the same game last November, was left out of Wolves 25 man squad in January 2025 and hasn’t played a competitive game since

Yep, that RoversXtra account picked it up within a couple of hours of it being posted on here

Exactly this. It’s the same script every year. Wheel the selected puppet out to deflect all the anger and abuse for Pasha/Venkys agenda and once they’ve served their purpose get new puppets in with false talk of a new project. Same cycle, rinse and repeat. Hunt/Anderson, Senior, Shaw, Waggott and Broughton have all played this role before. Gestede is the puppet for this cycle. Once he’s served his purposes it will probably be Owen who they wheel out for the next cycle or get a whole new set of puppets in. We fall for it everytime and meanwhile Pasha continues to execute the Venkys agenda relatively unscathed

Not a go at you personally but this is the exact response they want from the fans. Draw all the attention/fury toward their designated puppet (Gestede this year) and deflect away from their own decisions. They’re 15 years in now, there is no naivety and they have their own man on the ground. Make no mistake, these are Venky/Pasha decisions with Gestede as the sacrificial puppet for this year (previously Broughton, Waggott, Shaw, Hunt, Senior etc etc)

We’ve seen this with Broughton and Waggot before, it’s the same playbook from Pasha being rolled out again. Have the puppets front up and take the heat for this idiotic cost cutting agenda. All the fan/influencer/media attention and anger will be focused on the puppets instead of Pasha/Venkys. Once the puppets have sufficiently deflected attention from Pasha/Venkys they will be thrown under the bus and replaced with the next set of puppets alongside promise of a new project. It’s literally the same cycle on repeat. Pasha is always there, ensuring he and Venkys are absolved of blame. He has people believing that the owners are still naive and victims, 15 years in and being taken advantage of by the designated puppet (this year Gestede) - all the while he remains, pulling the strings and managing the decline of the club.

Exactly this. Hunt, Senior, Shaw, Broughton, Waggott and now Gestede they’re all the sacrificial lambs ready to be thrown under the bus once the vile Pasha has got them to front up for the decisions he and Venkys are making. The disgusting and confrontational way in which Pasha talked about the club, fans and players in the radio Lancs interview told us everything. That was him on his best behaviour, imagine what he’s like behind closed doors? Sure enough we’re seeing the playbook run again - already we’re seeing leaks and the usual suspects claim this is all Gestedes doing. He will get thrown under the bus with the promise of better times when he’s gone and a new project. Then the cycle will rinse and repeat. Pasha is the only decision maker at Rovers - JDT and JE have been clear on this.

I respect everything that’s been done to expose and lobby against Venkys to date, but I think it’s naive to lay all of this solely at Gestedes’ door. The one constant since the very beginning has been Pasha. His entire way of operating is to pull the strings of others, let them take the bullets, and then absolve himself of responsibility so he can stick around longer. The way he talks about the club, the players, and the fans mirrors exactly how they’ve all been treated this summer. Let’s not forget: Waggott was essentially pushed out by Pasha. By the end of his tenure, JDT was already reverting to “ask Suhail.” He is the owners’ representative and their main adviser on all things Rovers. He was working for Kentaro and instrumental Venkys takeover of Rovers. He has been around ever since and overseen our decline. Given he’s been the one constant throughout the last decade at Rovers, we cannot let him do what he always does - allow others to take the bullet while he continues to operate in the shadows.

Looks like Hickman is primarily a right back so if Hyam is sold then the plan is to move Miller into the centre and backfill at right back. This is cheaper than signing an actual proven centre back (or keeping the one we already have) so fits with the cost cutting exercise that’s been happening all summer. Meanwhile our central midfield options are horrendous, options on the wings are mediocre at best and our 3 strikers are unlikely to conjure 15 goals between them. The heart and soul that has sustained this club since Mowbray rebuilt it have finally been ripped out this summer and replaced with a random mish mash of nobodies from Europes lower leagues.

We’re showing all the classic signs of a team destined for relegation - not winning our easy home games, playing well and losing, missing good chances, performances littered with individual errors, naive players with no aggression. The managers comments are also concerning - he said the 1st half was ‘50/50’ and we gave a good performance - Norwich had 8 shots on goal and should have been 2-0 up before the penalty. These are Steve Kean and Owen Coyle levels of delusion from a manager whose win percentage at Rovers is identical to theirs.