v Middlesborough (h) - 4/4/2025, 8pm k/o

[NeilInBristol]

24 minutes ago, JCRovers said:

Anyone betting on that Derby will finish higher than us this season? They have Swansea, Portsmouth, Luton, Hull and Stoke left to face. Not impossible and if that were to actually happen, then all fans will understand the tremendous amount of damage caused by the owners and board for not being able to keep hold of Eustace. For all the inflatable snakes being displayed towards him as an act of being betrayed, the real ones are still at club, dismantling it piece by piece until nothing is left.

Some would argue he could have stayed and at least got us to the play offs and left in the summer.

[ben_the_beast]

Really think that game could have finished 4/5-0. It was so poor that I don't think Boro were taking us seriously. Especially their front players. Time and again they could have seen us off, but when they were around our penalty area players kept being selfish and going for goal, rather than playing the final ball. 

More effort second half, but there is no system I've no idea what Ismael is trying to achieve. Neither do the players. 

Only the fans came out of that with any respect. 

[Gamst]

Just now, NeilInBristol said:

Some would argue he could have stayed and at least got us to the play offs and left in the summer.

I’m conflicted about this. Not sure whether I’m annoyed that him leaving derailed our slim promotion hopes or grateful for the heat it’s put on the owners/stooges. 

[martonrover]

1 minute ago, NeilInBristol said:

Some would argue he could have stayed and at least got us to the play offs and left in the summer.

Listen, who can blame Eustace for walking out on these muppets?

 A bunch of lying crooks.

He was doing a very good job and should’ve been rewarded with a contract extension.

Due to the amateur way the club is run, and the pathetic lack of investment, even he almost certainly wouldn’t have got us in the Play Offs.

[alcd]

35 minutes ago, MB Rover said:

12 points off relegation… is it enough?

Just as well that Lowe took 6 points from the 3 matches he was in charge. Without that it really would be squeaky bum time now. 

[Exiled in Toronto Mk2]

Anyone else think Pears was to blame for the second? A pointless performative dive for a shot heading for the corner flag.

[Neal]

36 minutes ago, MB Rover said:

12 points off relegation… is it enough?

Literally doesn't matter. People have to start to let go and face up to it...  Relegation and the rest is inevitable. 

[JCRovers]

7 minutes ago, NeilInBristol said:

Some would argue he could have stayed and at least got us to the play offs and left in the summer.

Some can argue that he actually did supporters a "favor" by walking out mid-season for a club in the relegation zone. It made national headlines and revealed to everyone what an embarrassing state our club is currently at. You can call Eustace whatever you want but at least he demanded certain standards to be adopted from his employers on how to run things.

[Ghost7]

1 hour ago, alcd said:

Hedges is absolute dog shit. I never seen an attacking player with less end product. 

50 minutes ago, DanielMB said:

Dolan?

 

You get what you pay for......... 300k for the pair.

 

Bayes' interview was better but what I can't fathom is why no one asked "is £4.5m enough Suhail?" when that was stated as the budget as if it were something to be proud of.

That's a £4.5m total budget across a summer and January transfer window and includes any loan fees etc. It means juggling approx £2.5 million in summer and £2m in winter and that transfer fees must be under that.

It isn't enough to ensure you stay in the Championship and isn't enough after selling what we have sold.

Bonkers.

[Exiled in Toronto Mk2]

Who was the shifty looking bloke next to Gestede?

[Tomphil2]

When you are looking at a starting line up containing Buckley, Hedges and JRC we've no right to expect anything.

Not one of those would start in a team outside the bottom 3 yet all 3 are what will be considered key players next season.

[chaddyrovers]

What a shit show. 

Terrible awful start to the game. Ismael emotionless on the touchline all game. 

First half performance pathetic, no passion, no effort, etc  

Second half, we show some passion at least. But players confidence is at rock bottom. Set pieces are appalling. STOP playing it short and have an ACTUAL PLAN to them. 

Ohashi our best player by far..

Rovers need to dismiss Ismael tomorrow and put Damien Johnson and David Lowe in charge until further notice. I would bring David Dunn back onto the coaching staff until the summer. Put some passion back to those players at least. 

Rovers need to admit they got it wrong on Ismael appointment and hold them hands. Sometimes someone can interview very well and decent CV but it doesn't work out for them at that club

[chaddyrovers]

12 minutes ago, Exiled in Toronto Mk2 said:

Who was the shifty looking bloke next to Gestede?

Adam Owen tends to sit next to him normally at Ewood Park

[chaddyrovers]

30 minutes ago, Exiled in Toronto Mk2 said:

Anyone else think Pears was to blame for the second? A pointless performative dive for a shot heading for the corner flag.

No. Some fans were having a go at Pears over both goals and fans were having a go at them and saying what could he do. 

Yes we need a new keeper for next season but not at fault for either 

[Tomphil2]

No good panning the players however dismal they might be, aim it at the real constantly recurring problem upstairs and in India.

The loss of Eustace rattled them and we'd already lost form but it's clear they've never bought into the guy nor understand his tactics.

 

Edited 7 hours ago by Tomphil2

[Tricky]

9 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

not at fault for either

Sobered up yet, my little chadster?

[chaddyrovers]

3 minutes ago, Tricky said:

Sobered up yet, my little chadster?

???

 

[roversfan99]

18 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

What a shit show. 

Terrible awful start to the game. Ismael emotionless on the touchline all game. 

First half performance pathetic, no passion, no effort, etc  

Second half, we show some passion at least. But players confidence is at rock bottom. Set pieces are appalling. STOP playing it short and have an ACTUAL PLAN to them. 

Ohashi our best player by far..

Rovers need to dismiss Ismael tomorrow and put Damien Johnson and David Lowe in charge until further notice. I would bring David Dunn back onto the coaching staff until the summer. Put some passion back to those players at least. 

Rovers need to admit they got it wrong on Ismael appointment and hold them hands. Sometimes someone can interview very well and decent CV but it doesn't work out for them at that club

We do not need David Dunn.

[Ghost7]

42 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

What a shit show. 

Terrible awful start to the game. Ismael emotionless on the touchline all game. 

First half performance pathetic, no passion, no effort, etc  

Second half, we show some passion at least. But players confidence is at rock bottom. Set pieces are appalling. STOP playing it short and have an ACTUAL PLAN to them. 

Ohashi our best player by far..

Rovers need to dismiss Ismael tomorrow and put Damien Johnson and David Lowe in charge until further notice. I would bring David Dunn back onto the coaching staff until the summer. Put some passion back to those players at least. 

Rovers need to admit they got it wrong on Ismael appointment and hold them hands. Sometimes someone can interview very well and decent CV but it doesn't work out for them at that club

 

They won't sack him. Will never happen.

The club would not ever consider paying the compensation involved, and no one at board level would admit making a mistake.

[Fraserkirky]

2 hours ago, Exiled in Toronto Mk2 said:

Anyone else think Pears was to blame for the second? A pointless performative dive for a shot heading for the corner flag.

He is an absolute joke of a goalkeeper

[SuperBrfc]

1 hour ago, Ghost7 said:

 

They won't sack him. Will never happen.

The club would not ever consider paying the compensation involved, and no one at board level would admit making a mistake.

Yeah, we're stuck with him. The way Gestede was going on about Ismael needing time to "implement his philosophy", the summer to come being an "exciting one" (ridiculous) and recent performances getting better based on the data was telling. Plus, the other two stooges were repeating "we're not a sacking club" like a pair of programmed robots, which suggests he will have all three years to get things right.

We've seen this play out before. Results are crap. Doesn't matter. Performances are crap. Doesn't matter. I think the only way we see the back of Ismael is if he walks himself, like with many others throughout this charade.

What makes it worse this time, is that this manager is showing us nothing on or off the pitch. Appears totally cold and arrogant, he is not a winner or a motivator. Very much like the chancers that appointed him. The players aren't having him either. I don't know how this lot do it, but they always manage to find a way to make things worse than anybody could expect.

[Mattyblue]

‘We are not a sacking club’ like it’s a badge of honour, a sign of a ‘proper football club’ when in reality they are merely doing the bidding of owners who won’t pay compo.

The constant stream of BS falls on deaf ears now, fellas.

[Upside Down]

This defeat was absolutely inevitable. A Rovers win should have been 100:1 odds minimum and a boro win 1000:1 odds on.

The only silver lining to all of this is that the fanbase seems to be finally turning and waking up to the charade that's been going on here for the last 15 years.

[wilsdenrover]

7 hours ago, Polky said:

 

🙂

and that 1 point was salvaged deep into injury time.

[cesus]

6 hours ago, chaddyrovers said:

No. Some fans were having a go at Pears over both goals and fans were having a go at them and saying what could he do. 

Yes we need a new keeper for next season but not at fault for either 

In isolation you can say first goal well hit, second goal wicked deflection. Same with Pompey, a well hit strike.

Your goalkeeper at this level has to be your equaliser with the well hit shots, otherwise I might as well be in goal and shrug my shoulders when the ball is in the net.

We look weak going forwards, clueless in defence and for 2 weeks running we have conceded the first shot on goal. I know the Cardiff game was a very early goal too, 1st or 2nd shot.