Mercer

A very welcome, almost essential given our next few games, 3 points. A win that I think is a temporary reprieve merely papering over the cracks. Two poor teams and this could have gone either way given chances spurned by both teams. Undoubtedly, Toth won us the game and McCarthy cost Southampton the game - the resultants of good and poor goalies. I don't think we learnt too much over what we didn't already know. A major concern is Tronstad who I don't think looks too interested and bothered. Worrying how easily we were sliced open and better teams will punish us. I look at our November fixtures and I can't see where we get a point.

Confidence and momentum everything in this league. Coventry will take some stopping. Lampard has done a terrific job.

I think our only hope is that a 'whistleblower' from the last 15 years comes forward and opens up any can(s) of worms! Doubt it will be that straightforward! Difficult to comment without more specifics but a lender which has taken security has a number of options available when it comes to enforcing its security. Reasonable care must be taken to obtain the best price reasonably obtainable for the asset - these duties are owed to all creditors (other secured, preferential and other unsecured) and also to the borrower!

First goal will be all important in this game. Armstrong can score goals for fun at this level and, sadly for us, think he will on Saturday. Southampton by at least 2 goals

If I was a 'remote' owner and my business was declining and the brand image was being tarnished, both as a result of so many poor decisions having been / being made, my Chief Operating Officer would not be in post for very long let alone 15 years. Given Pasha has been involved since our owners bought the club, you wonder if Pasha has 'a hold' on our owners which makes him unsackable / irreplaceable. IMO, there is something sadly wrong and awry with our club.

Manning is on thin ice but has been in post for a much shorter time than Ismael. Norwich usually reasonably patient - think he'll get another 2 or 3 matches. Would you want Pasha and Gestede in your corner when things are going badly wrong? IMO, a sacking now would be about 'self preservation' for the 2 stooges - I think we are in that territory now.

Despite his 3.5 year contract, it would be no surprise to me if Ismael isn't gone by Saturday. He's the obvious scapegoat with his poor results record since being appointed, for Gestede's player trading failing miserably and also for the sparsely populated stands. Trying to find a bookie offering odds on Ismael being the next Championship manager to go.

And Ismael looks and sounds hopeless after seeing his post match interview and reading his post match comments! IMO, the looks and sounds of a desperate manager seeking excuses, passing the blame on to the players and numerous times referring to how it's becoming "complicated". Think he's lost and doesn't know what to do - his time is done here, he just needs to resign.

There will always be desperados or wannabes willing to give it a go.

Wow. Don't know what to make of that. Ismael in process of being fired?

Certainly renowned for their 'Chicken Tea Pies' !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That was awful starting with initial tv pictures showing very sparse stands - fans voting with their feet and rightly so. We need even more fans to go missing on Saturday. Those there should have given Pasha, Gestede, Ismael and the team pelters given what went on in that match - too many of our fans merely offer a shrug of the shoulders and are getting what their indifference deserves. As for the game itself, if confirmation our Head Coach and our team are a busted flush then this was it. Diabolical defending, headless chickens in Gardner-Hickman and Henriksson, a brain dead wing back in De Neve (Burrows showed him how it's done) and a dud of a centre forward in Gudjohnsen. Add utterly bizarre substitutions and it's little wonder the end result was inevitable. Two of our 'star' midfield recruits missing - Tavares seemingly not even good enough for the bench whilst it would be a surprise to see Baradji on the field of play in 2025. Only Alebiosu, again, emerges with credit - this lad will be off in January. We are in one huge, huge mess. My only consolations tonight were an excellent curry, a couple of 'Boxers' and a wonderful bottle of red to finish.

God looking at the opening picturez, wondering if the turnstiles have failed at 'Deadwood'

Staggering that another 'star' signing is failing miserably. Don't think too many of us are surprised

Head says the wily Wilder will have too much nous for Ismael and his organised and disciplined team will run out winners with Ings notching. Heart says Gudjohnsen will open his account for us and we win and Hamer will prove a bigger miss for SU than Cantwell will for us. Red wine at the ready should it get unbearable!

Given who they have lost, he's unexpectedly done very well. Credit where credit due Will do okay at Forest. Think he'll get them top 8 given players at disposal.

My view is they wont sell in fear of what due diligence might uncover / reveal. Do you think the operation of Rovers has been / is squeaky clean? Let's not forget the investigation by the Indian authorities into the alleged breach of foreign exchange management rules by VHPL - there is some history there. So what is their option? A managed decline is a strategic reduction which normally leads to the closure of a business. Is this what we are seeing with Rovers? If Rovers are finished in 5 to 10 years time, I think Venky's acquisition of Rovers 20 to 25 years ago will be seen as a mere footnote in the history books with hardly a ripple on the pond and who will care? A number of times we have been knocking on the play-off door and our owners haven't seized the initiative. IMO, the operational management of Rovers doesn't convey a burning desire or ambition to get back to the PL. We might well be in a relegation scrap this season and a scrap I don't think we will win. You tell me where you think the club is heading.

It's a bit more than 'opening the books'! Due diligence when considering the acquisition of a company is a thorough investigation by the would be buyer into a company's financial, legal, and operational health before an acquisition. It should leave no stone unturned from both legal and financial perspectives. A big focus is obviously on risk identification and risk mitigation. Due diligence would be undertaken by both accountants and lawyers and for a company the size of Rovers, you would be looking at several weeks' work (even up to 2 months depending upon efficiency of selling/buying teams and findings). It is a timely and costly process.

I think 10 years is a bit of a stretch but over recent years yes. In decades as an accountant, I worked across many fields in industry, commerce and sport (including football) and I can't recall any acquired business where the ownership was so remote, detached and seemingly hands-off in the organization and management of its business (a business some would consider to be in relative free fall). I would have expected such a business to have either entered insolvency or been sold many years ago. So what is our owners' end objective? I do not think they will ever sell - I understand over the years there have been a number of expressions of interest in buying either the club, or a part of it (Battersby and cronies being one that made it into the public domain some years ago), but all seemingly rebuffed. IMO, it's a managed decline with an almost inevitable conclusion as I posted yesterday. Even if our owners were minded to sell, the only way they would get back any sizeable part of their 'investment' of £200million+ is if we got back to the PL - it wont happen.

IMO, they will only be done with the club when it folds. I think there are obvious reasons why they won't sell. It could take another 5 to 10 years to 'see the job through' but in my mind it will happen and our club will be finished.

If you can't win when you are playing well just when the feck will you win!?!? A three and a half year contract for a man with Ismael's record is ridiculous - IMO, it stinks. Think Pasha and Gestede, aided and abetted by Ismael have transformed a very decent team that narrowly missed out on the play-offs to a team that will be embroiled in a relegation scrap and are unlikely to come through unscathed.

Reading that gave me the shivers. Firstly, I think it would be idiocy to play three at the back without Carter or Miller being available. The folly of letting Hyam leave without replacement heightens by the hour. Secondly, SU would have Atcheson and Montgomery for breakfast. Only seen Atcheson play once and he was nowhere near ready and tbh not sure he ever will be from what I saw. As for Montgomery, ffs, this is a lad who last season was scrambling around Marine and Chorley and in a matter of months some think he is a latter day Paul Madeley who played anywhere and everywhere for Leeds and England. I think Montgomery is one of the most over-hyped players ever to come through the ranks at Rovers and is a pale, pale shadow of Jason Lowe - enough said!!! I thought he was in the 'donkey' class when I first saw him and I haven't seen anything in the slightest to change my mind. IMO, we aint half signed some real dross in the summer window including the 'star' we chased all summer (Morishita) who seemingly has been 'sent to Coventry'. Think this will be men against boys and another desperate defeat for Rovers to cement our place in the bottom three.

Loved watching Byrom - played with intelligence and a sense of imperiousness. Would have thought he was round about the 1 goal in 2 game mark. Really surprised he never played for one of the 'big boys'.

It's a personal view - in my eyes it is not a 100% certainty that Rovers will not suffer a points deduction this season. You are all over the place - firstly you say it's a prediction which it isn't and then you say 'we've seen plenty of these comments previously' when it's the first time I've mentioned a points reduction against the Rovers. Get a grip of yourself. I think you are one of the very few who don't agree with the ref's decision - boot on the other foot and Rovers losing, you would have been saying it was the only decision the ref could make! There was no bigger supporter than Jack Walker and even he didn't expect Rovers to win every game. It is not embarrassing as a fan if you think Rovers will get relegated - I think the only embarrassment sits with our owners and executive management who have allowed this situation to arise. A I have said to you before, take your head out of the sand, smell the coffee and stop trying to defend the indefensible where Rovers are concerned - my God, bet Pasha and Gestede would like all fans to be like you and that is not a compliment!!!!!

Where does it say it's a prediction? IT IS NOT A PREDICTION - it is a personal view "I wish I could sit here with 100% certainty that Rovers wont suffer any points deduction this season - sadly, with our ownership and executive management, I can't". It was the referee's decision - the ball would not bounce, it would not run and the pitch had become a big risk for the players' safety. McKenna was right to flag his concerns. Roles reversed and Ismael would have done the same. What can you not see? Embarrassing to expect Rovers to go down. Why? Do you not think it's embarrassing when you seem to forecast Rovers to win every game? What is your forecast for the Coventry game?