We are going down (the pessimism thread)

[jim mk2]

16 minutes ago, broadsword said:

That's one thing I hadn't considered. To bin the manager you'd need to pay compo. To pay compo would need Indian beak approval. Which only comes once a quarter.

So yeah, gotta assume he's staying

Unless he quits (gives it up as a bad job with a trademark blast at his “superiors” on the way out) or another club comes in for him. At the moment though the Tomasson brand is badly damaged because of our terrible results so thats less likely to happen. Overall though I reckon we’re stuck with him 

Edited January 21, 2024 by jim mk2

[Gav]

All things being equal, players coming back from injury and they don't sell Sammi, we have enough to stay in the division, but it only takes another terrible decision from Pune and we are in the mire. 

Nobody should be surprised at the current predicament, you sell your best players and fail to reinvest and replace with inferior players, eventually the well runs dry and we are fast approaching that position now. 

JDT is the best manager we've had since these morons arrived, but he can't work miracles with no money, a massive injury list and academy players not ready for the hustle and bustle of Championship football. He will probably walk in the summer and we'll get one of the journeymen doing the rounds and its back to square one, rinse and repeat, so be careful what you wish for.

I say it all the time, as do many other posters, but our situation doesn't get any better until the owners sod off, we might have some initial pain in the short term, but we need them gone as this club has very little more to give, its broken and needs fixing.

Venkys out.

 

 

[martonrover]

1 hour ago, jim mk2 said:

Unless he quits (gives it up as a bad job with a trademark blast at his “superiors” on the way out) or another club comes in for him. At the moment though the Tomasson brand is badly damaged because of our terrible results so thats less likely to happen. Overall though I reckon we’re stuck with him 

……and him with us.
 

Yes, realistically he has two choices now - stick it out and hope we can finish the season a bit stronger, (unlikely, I know), to repair his reputation, or walk out.

Then he can re-assess in the Summer.

[sharpysharps86]

Rovers have such a brutal run in of fixtures that if they fail to pick up a couple of wins in the next 3 against relegation rivals then I can't see anything other than relegation. It feels like the club is sleepwalking into oblivion here, apathy ruling supreme across the board. I fear we won't come back to easily from League One next time, especially if the Venkys financial situation continues. I just want these rats gone.

QPR vs Huddersfield next Sunday while we are playing in the FA Cup. Fancy QPR in that one, so the gap could be down to 6 points after that 😬.

 

[rigger]

5 hours ago, sharpysharps86 said:

Rovers have such a brutal run in of fixtures that if they fail to pick up a couple of wins in the next 3 against relegation rivals then I can't see anything other than relegation. It feels like the club is sleepwalking into oblivion here, apathy ruling supreme across the board. I fear we won't come back to easily from League One next time, especially if the Venkys financial situation continues. I just want these rats gone.

QPR vs Huddersfield next Sunday while we are playing in the FA Cup. Fancy QPR in that one, so the gap could be down to 6 points after that 😬.

 

We just need to win a league game, and take it from there. A clean sheet would be a nice start.

[joey_big_nose]

9 hours ago, jim mk2 said:

Unless he quits (gives it up as a bad job with a trademark blast at his “superiors” on the way out) or another club comes in for him. At the moment though the Tomasson brand is badly damaged because of our terrible results so thats less likely to happen. Overall though I reckon we’re stuck with him 

I think the worse we play the more likely he'll still be here next season. He isnt going to leave without an offer, and no one is making him an offer until we start looking decent again for a good run.

[joey_big_nose]

9 hours ago, Gav said:

All things being equal, players coming back from injury and they don't sell Sammi, we have enough to stay in the division, but it only takes another terrible decision from Pune and we are in the mire. 

Nobody should be surprised at the current predicament, you sell your best players and fail to reinvest and replace with inferior players, eventually the well runs dry and we are fast approaching that position now. 

JDT is the best manager we've had since these morons arrived, but he can't work miracles with no money, a massive injury list and academy players not ready for the hustle and bustle of Championship football. He will probably walk in the summer and we'll get one of the journeymen doing the rounds and its back to square one, rinse and repeat, so be careful what you wish for.

I say it all the time, as do many other posters, but our situation doesn't get any better until the owners sod off, we might have some initial pain in the short term, but we need them gone as this club has very little more to give, its broken and needs fixing.

Venkys out.

 

 

Im a bit more on the fence with JDT now. I was a big fan, but if you step back essentially we are great if we score first but if we concede first we more likely than not get battered. It's been like that since he arrived. Id be interested to know how it was at Malmo.

When things are going well hes great, but the Championship is a brutal league and your team needs to be able to fight when under the cosh. 18 months in I would have expected to have a few games i could point to where he really dug us out with a team talk, subs, firing up players, smart changes of tactics. But he just doesnt seem to have that about him. If we go behind its game over.

If we just scrape through avoiding relegation at the end of the season I would still change him as I would be terrified wed start poorly next year and then be fooked.

Only way Id want to keep him is if he really showed some capability to turn our form around significantly in the next month.

Ive definitely gone from a big fan to very worried that hes a fair weather manager with little to offer when the chips are down.

[Upside Down]

1 hour ago, joey_big_nose said:

Im a bit more on the fence with JDT now. I was a big fan, but if you step back essentially we are great if we score first but if we concede first we more likely than not get battered. It's been like that since he arrived. Id be interested to know how it was at Malmo.

When things are going well hes great, but the Championship is a brutal league and your team needs to be able to fight when under the cosh. 18 months in I would have expected to have a few games i could point to where he really dug us out with a team talk, subs, firing up players, smart changes of tactics. But he just doesnt seem to have that about him. If we go behind its game over.

If we just scrape through avoiding relegation at the end of the season I would still change him as I would be terrified wed start poorly next year and then be fooked.

Only way Id want to keep him is if he really showed some capability to turn our form around significantly in the next month.

Ive definitely gone from a big fan to very worried that hes a fair weather manager with little to offer when the chips are down.

It's been like that for years regardless of who's the manager.

What else can you expect when the club systematically has no ambition?

[alcd]

3 hours ago, joey_big_nose said:

Im a bit more on the fence with JDT now. I was a big fan, but if you step back essentially we are great if we score first but if we concede first we more likely than not get battered. It's been like that since he arrived. Id be interested to know how it was at Malmo.

When things are going well hes great, but the Championship is a brutal league and your team needs to be able to fight when under the cosh. 18 months in I would have expected to have a few games i could point to where he really dug us out with a team talk, subs, firing up players, smart changes of tactics. But he just doesnt seem to have that about him. If we go behind its game over.

If we just scrape through avoiding relegation at the end of the season I would still change him as I would be terrified wed start poorly next year and then be fooked.

Only way Id want to keep him is if he really showed some capability to turn our form around significantly in the next month.

Ive definitely gone from a big fan to very worried that hes a fair weather manager with little to offer when the chips are down.

He was relegated (and sacked) with a club in Holland. 

[martonrover]

JDT far more sinned against than sinner.

Fed a pack of lies about “the project”, pleaded for the club to sign experience, (rejected), and living off scraps thrown to him by Gregg.

Not the right man for our circumstances, but the likes of Warnock wouldn’t be asked under this set up.

We would only replace like for like.

[Paul Mellelieu]

I think it's 50/50

[joey_big_nose]

Looking down the fixture list Im feeling we should be absolutely fine. Only two near definite losses in there (Leeds and Leicester away) everyone else we have a good shout with.

Think weve got a plan B with this 352 setup with JRC on the right of the three CBs.

Any more injuries could do us but we're through the mad bit of the season now - broadly one game a week till May now.

Critical that Pears (cant believe I said that) and Szmodics stay fit.

[roversfan99]

2 hours ago, joey_big_nose said:

Looking down the fixture list Im feeling we should be absolutely fine. Only two near definite losses in there (Leeds and Leicester away) everyone else we have a good shout with.

Think weve got a plan B with this 352 setup with JRC on the right of the three CBs.

Any more injuries could do us but we're through the mad bit of the season now - broadly one game a week till May now.

Critical that Pears (cant believe I said that) and Szmodics stay fit.

I dont think we should go with a back 3 and JRC as a centre back. Even average Championship sides would take advantage. Last Saturday we went with 2 full backs there and struggled going forward, then when Sigurdsson came on he hasnt a defensive bone in his body so they had free reign down his side. Same if Dolan is on the other side.

Maybe 3 at the back can work effectively with these players but I think it would need changes of personnel. We would need 3 natural CBs and JRC to be a wing back.

[joey_big_nose]

5 hours ago, roversfan99 said:

I dont think we should go with a back 3 and JRC as a centre back. Even average Championship sides would take advantage. Last Saturday we went with 2 full backs there and struggled going forward, then when Sigurdsson came on he hasnt a defensive bone in his body so they had free reign down his side. Same if Dolan is on the other side.

Maybe 3 at the back can work effectively with these players but I think it would need changes of personnel. We would need 3 natural CBs and JRC to be a wing back.

Its more of a plan B thing than something we should use every week.

Personally I think JRC does the role very well, and I would be happy to use him there against weaker opposition in the Championship - particularly if we are struggling and need to change something in the second half which is our real Achilles heel. It changes the whole dynamic of how we play. Against better sides where we are going to 3 at the back to shore up the defence I wonder if O'Riodan will come in there. Think he is right sided and can get forward?

What I do agree with you on is that playing Sigurdsson and Dolan at wing backs as we did against Wrexham is suicide against Championship opposition. Obviously JRC is best choice for RWB but LWB is a bit of an issue. Chrisene needs to make the role his, but if he gets injured /it doesn't work out we will be reduced to Brittain there. I would bring Batty back onto the bench as he would give us another option.

[KentExile]

1 hour ago, joey_big_nose said:

Its more of a plan B thing than something we should use every week.

Personally I think JRC does the role very well, and I would be happy to use him there against weaker opposition in the Championship - particularly if we are struggling and need to change something in the second half which is our real Achilles heel. It changes the whole dynamic of how we play. Against better sides where we are going to 3 at the back to shore up the defence I wonder if O'Riodan will come in there. Think he is right sided and can get forward?

What I do agree with you on is that playing Sigurdsson and Dolan at wing backs as we did against Wrexham is suicide against Championship opposition. Obviously JRC is best choice for RWB but LWB is a bit of an issue. Chrisene needs to make the role his, but if he gets injured /it doesn't work out we will be reduced to Brittain there. I would bring Batty back onto the bench as he would give us another option.

He does every role very well

[booth]

I think this is the season.

We’re just as dysfunctional as the relegation under Kean and the relegation under Coyle when the Venkys shat on the club from a great height.

They’ve created a perfect storm, again.

[broadsword]

I think the QPR game will tell us everything. After the last few days, I think we're in crisis. 

 

I was thinking it would be next year that we drop, but Christ on a bike, we could really just collapse here.

If we can beat QPR then I think we should be ok for this year. Lose and we really in it

[Norbert Rassragr]

Looking at the rumours of the last minute panic buys, we're going after L1 and L2 players in preparation for our next 'natural level'. All part of the plan to run the club at the minimum level.

[jim mk2]

Not a single post on this thread despite another loss to a relegation rival. You have to assume fans still aren’t worried - or do they think now it’s inevitable? 

[G Somerset Rover]

I think we’re goosed. Where on earth is our next win coming from? 1 win in 11. 0 in 8. That run in too.

It’s happening ladies and gents. 

[Waggy76]

If Szmodics is injured for any length of time , it will be inevitable ..

 

[arbitro]

14 minutes ago, Waggy76 said:

If Szmodics is injured for any length of time , it will be inevitable ..

 

It was a strange one with Szmodics today. He seemed to indicate he had to come off to the bench before the physios got to him. Benson immediately gave the substitution card to the fourth official and Telalovic was getting ready. When Szmodics went to the touchline after brief treatment he saw Telalovic coming on and starting waving his arms angrily. His body language as he walked around the perimeter wasn't good but he didn't appear to go down the tunnel for further treatment but went and sat on the bench. He did have an exchange with Tomasson but that appeared convivial.

[alcd]

52 minutes ago, jim mk2 said:

Not a single post on this thread despite another loss to a relegation rival. You have to assume fans still aren’t worried - or do they think now it’s inevitable? 

The latter for me. I look at the squad minus its only creative spark (sold) and its leading goalscorer (injured) and I don't see any chance. Might be better to go down this season and avoid another dire season in the Championship. Then again it's not likely to get any better in L1 under these disinterested and incompetent buffoons.

[DE.]

Pretty much resigned to us going down at this point. Impossible to see where the next win is coming from. We haven't been able to beat any of the bottom four in the last two months and since December have the worst record in the league and have shipped the most goals. The manager doesn't want to be here. We just sold our best player and haven't replaced him. 

I genuinely thought we'd be okay this season, and would only need to accept the inevitable next season, but not anymore.

[alcd]

Next season's team

Pears

Brittain

O'Riordan

Wharton

Gent

Buckley

Garrett

Markanday

Telalovic

Leonard

Gilsenan

plus a few free transfers and (even worse) loans than we have currently.