A couple of thoughts. Firstly we've lost two good managers because of behind the scenes issues and working environment. All of which makes it pretty meaningless as to who is appointed. They'll ultimately fail or get hacked off in the adverse conditions - it won't end well. Secondly I've thought Ismael a decent candidate for a while. Not great but decent. West Brom did worse without him and the 5 subs rule should help him do with us what he did with Barnsley. Would have taken a look at him, albeit not as preferred candidate if we were a normal club. In fact the fact Venkys/Swag has chosen him is probably one of my biggest gripes against him, since they get most things wrong! Regardless of ranging from could have been worse to a dark horse ultimately we know how it ends with us. The saga continues.

A better manager admittedly but that's a tallest dwarf. Still poor imo and the only manager who has said fans still expect 95. Another I'm delighted we are rid of.

I think there are football reasons for going there - mainly because we are not a normal club. I appreciate it's unprecedented and historically- even the last 15 years much less before - we seem a more successful club than them. And yet, in terms of structure and long term vision, it seems Derby seem a better bet to him. Blimey even if money is a factor (my take is it will be, but only one of a number) the fact that Derby can offer a better wage and assurances than we can is an appalling situation.

What's happening at Manure? Losing to Spurs is a new low! The new guy seems to be getting off very lightly considering how they are doing.

Even if that's the case it's a huge issue. In terms of quality and longevity I think Eustace could well and truly take umbridge. Probably with the timing of the transfers too. To go to Derby is a big risk. He must have really wanted out to take it. The big and worrying question is why was he so desperate for out? And I'm certain the answer doesn't reflect well on the club.

I really don't get this whole it's only about money for Eustace line. It's like the last 13 months haven't happened, let alone the last 13 years...

The way I see it is who wouldn't have done as Eustace did? We all, well most on here - outside of this forum the sun shines out of Venkys arse - complained about the lack of support in January, the lack of communication and zero planning for the future. Everyone thought he was over achieving this season. Add in he knew what he was getting into and yet still found it intolerable working with the shysters means it's most likely much worse than is thought. To know and be prepared for the owners being crap and yet still finding it intolerable speaks volumes for how bad it is. Yes it's disappointing as against all the odds he had us in the playoffs. Yes it's disappointing that he's turning out to be a better manager than we thought for us. But really the blame lies front and central with Venkys. If there was any doubt the fact we had the exact same issue with another promising manager a year ago shows where the issues lie. Our club forces anything good out of it.

I'm fairly confident it's in no ones contract - for any industry- to have the appropriate tools/equipment/materials required to do the job. Doesn't mean its not a reasonable expectation though.

If it isn't realistic to want 25% of fees generated reinvested in recruitment and to think about having your core players for 2 years then you have no business running a football club and no clue about football whatsoever. (Venkys that is although if you agree with this...)

Surprisingly so. I heard he got a couple of strikers what more could he want? The club is screwed because so many of the fan base accept anything. A guy leaving for relegation favourites should get people asking why? Daft they don't when the same thing happened 12 months prior too.

Put it this way - the last 3 strikers who have scored the goals have all cost over a million - Bereton, Armstrong and Sammi. If you don't invest anything of note you are very very unlikely to get replacements.

Agree Worryingly we are getting outspeed by the weakest teams in the division. Plymouth are one of relegation favourites and yet are spending more than us. Interesting to see how much Derby spend from their big name sale. Granted how wisely you spend is as important as how much, but there's only so much that can be wisely done when you spend the change down the back of your sofa only. Getting outspeed by the likes of Hiddersfoeld and Plymouth is a sign we are going to be overtaken again and sink even further.

The good news for this season is we won't go down. We've too many points and we'll grind out or get the rub of the green (like Boro FA Cup and Portsmouth respectively) to make sure we limp over the finish line. Mind you had the injuries come a bit earlier in the season we'd have been well and truly skunked.

I'm beginning to think that Eustace might be another Souness for Rovers. Not a great manager, but a decent one who is an excellent fit for Rovers. Like Souness I was underwhelmed by the appointment and very sceptical at the start. (And neither had good starts for Rovers.) The difference is that Souness was adequately backed and we were a normal club then. Sure he had some crown jewels so had an easier job, it's not an exact comparison! But my main point is that it was a great fit. Rather than either being a top manager they were the right fit for us at the time. This time though I think we'll sabotage the connection though.

If he's able to repeat what he's done with Rovers at WBA then he'd get them promoted. A much better base from which to build from.

I'm sure you do. Feel it always needs mentioning though as it's surprisingly overlooked by a significant amount of our fan base. Forgetting hyperbole and football fan speak for example, I genuinely think I could do better in the role than Waggot, especially with engaging the fanbase.

Yeah. Although Martin's philosophy was pure football suicide for a promoted team. And I dare say it will take a while to get out of that mindset.

And they employ competence and the best quality that they can. And are all as far from competent as is humanly possible.

Whilst I appreciate the championship is very competitive with any team able to beat any other, looking at the championship table it's pretty much exactly what you would expect. Sheff Utd, Leeds, Burnley at the top. The likes of Weat Brom and Boro in playoffs. The teams neear the bottom of the league to be the ones you'd expect to be there. As I see it there's only a couple or surprises. Luton to be as low as they are and struggling and us to be near the playoffs. Perhaps Sunderland are surprisingly high too but it's few and far between where teams aren't where expected. What makes it even more frustrating is I don't think the top 3 teams are all that good. All three I feel have been unconvincing and marginally less poor than the rest. Makes it all the more frustrating that we aren't investing that bit more needed to enable us to take the next step.

I struggle to see how someone can genuinely believe this. For starters ther hasn't been investment in any exempt areas of the club - the pitch, the ground. And my word that is evident to see. Secondly it's well documented how many costs have been cut which would suggest we are well within the bounds of FFP. Couple this with the lack of expenditure and the huge outlay in fees - Wharton and Raya and Sammi -you'd struggle to see how we aren't well within the rules. Smaller clubs than us seem to invest a lot more in fees. Preston and Millwall seem to yet more than us. How is this possible? They are similar size to where Venkys have us. Or what about the likes of Boro and Stoke who spend a decent wedge without having been promoted in ages? Neither have huge fan bases yet can spend more. Does it not seem odd these teams can do so? So where does FFP restricting solely us come from? How does it hot affect any other club to the same event? How does our cost cutting and outlay not change anything? Genuinely would like to know why FFP is still seen as an issue.

Problem.is the most winnable games are the ones we struggle with. No surprise that a tired squad of late has got good results vs Leeds and Sunderland but fluffed easier games vs Hull and Millwall. Think we are one of the few teams to lose to Plymouth too. Disappointed to lose to that lot again. Their team seems a lot weaker than previous years, but then so do ours. Feel like if we had spent even a semi respectablr proportion of our income on the team we'd have smashed them.

Stoke is an odd one really as others have said. The definition of a poisoned chalice. Imo they are rotten, as in broken, to the core. No manager - and they have had some decent ones - has managed to get anything out of them. And that to me speaks volumes. Some of the managers have decent to good pedigree in this division so for them all to fail suggests the problems are much deeper. Mind you putting Walters in charge of the football.side of things to me sounds like an utter disaster.

The last 2 games have given me massive hope that we will stay up combined with the dross of the championship. Having seen a quarter of the season play out I think there are a few teams worse than us. 2 of the promoted teams look poor. Cardiff are a mess. 2 teams have big name players who are crap at management and Preston look to be on a downwards trajectory. QPR don't look great and Stoke and Sheff Weds haven't kicked on. By my reckoning if we beat the worst 6 teams home and away we are virtually there safety wise. Granted we haven't and won't do that but I'd suspect we'd get a strong return off the worst 6 and surprise wins like Boro and Leeds would make up for any deficit. After that it's not too many points extra to survive. So looks like another season in the championship.

Great win. It's a crazy league. A couple of wins and you shoot up the table, a few without winning and you're looking down nervously. Reading about other teams it seems that most go on runs of good and poor form, you hope there's enough lengthy runs to get something. The something in our case will be survival. Wins vs Boro and Leeds are unexpected and whilst both games suit Eustace's backs to the wall approach, the quality in both teams makes the results very impressive. Still worried we aren't scoring many. That'll be a challenge long term but teams are built from the back which is something positive. Also don't like not having a penalty taker. Don't think that will end well for us. Overall though a good win. 2 clean sheets and I think it's enough to keep relegation worries firmly at bay.

The mind boggles. I guess the two of them are similar in that they both got a team to the play off final. Mind you Lamps had a much better squad, bigger budget and favourable Chelsea loans so it's not a like for like comparison. Factor in the Wembly semi final and being unlucky not to be in the final. The fact that he took the club which was a mess to two promotions. And you see straight off Robins is much better manager. Only an idiot would say otherwise. Seems like there's a lot of idiots in football.