Hedges being a first teamer perfectly encapsulates the downgrading of the team in recent years. He was brought in as a cheap sub and for a club with top six ambitions that's all he should be. The fact we keep getting in and around the top six (before inevitably falling away at the end) despite Venky's best efforts to sabotage us just calls into question WTF the other teams in the division are playing at. Is ownership/leadership at all clubs in this division just at a truly abysmal level?

Other than him being a former player, why? Wasn't his last managerial role in 2015?

Tbf zeros mess up averages and are often rounded up to 1 anyway if included.

Not looking good for the bottom three. Impressive win for Wolves away at Bournemouth, whilst the others all got hammered by mid-table sides at home. At least Ipswich can legitimately note they were in League 1 two seasons ago. Leicester and Southampton have only had one season out of the PL and already look well below the required standard.

At this point I would put Toth in because, well, why not? Pears' purple patch is over, confidence clearly gone and he's back to his usual self. Doing nothing will cost us points as he continues to sabotage us in goal, so we've got nothing to lose by trying something different, even if it seems unlikely to significantly change anything. We need a proper manager in place to actually make these bloody decisions though, not an interim repeatedly picking insipid lineups.

Realistically not very hopeful though, is it? We can't have ambition as fans whilst accepting the owners' refusal to build the team with proper backup options. It's why we always end up outside of the playoffs, time after time. Injuries and suspensions kill us, whilst underperforming players often get away with it simply because there's no viable alternative. You can't be successful with this kind of strategy, as we've seen since day one of these fools buying the club and darkening Ewood's doors. 13 years since we were relegated and not a single Championship top six finish. Absolutely pathetic, and this season will be no different.

Did you think he played well in those matches?

It took him a while to get us going, basically the last few games of last season, and that was largely Szmodics stepping up. He doesn't have that time at Derby and he doesn't have a Szmodics either. Getting out of League 1 no easy feat either these days. Big, big gamble he's taken. If he gets relegated with Derby and then can't get them up at first attempt it could damage his career trajectory immensely.

Problem is our backup is yet another cheap punt who looks to be just as dodgy.

Honeymoon period definitively over, as well as any idea these players can self-motivate themselves for the remaining matches. A new manager in asap is essential if there is any ambition for us to get top six (I have my doubts on this as ambition and Venky's don't go together without 'no' in the sentence somewhere).

At least this will hopefully put some pressure on Waggott and Suhail to get their arses in gear and appoint a manager. Embarrassing result today, 3 points thrown in the bin as we dawdle on hiring Eustace's replacement.

Losing 2-0 to this lot, after fielding that poor excuse for a starting lineup, is totally unacceptable. Really embarrassing. We need someone brave in the dugout who isn't going to pick a player because he usually averages a 6/10 (looking at you, Hedges). Kargbo should have started. A braver manager would have gone for it against this poor team.

Looks like Coventry are the team having a late surge to the playoffs this season. If Lampard can have that kind of impact then maybe Gerrard would work here. Lose today and we need an appointment announced asap. Stop fucking around and sort it out.

I don't know enough about that situation to comment, but it's fair to saying hiring a very inexperienced manager as replacement was extremely risky.

Imagine it would have been given if the other way around, but oh well. Still a shit result for Man Utd and I'll never have any sympathy for Kean's mate Moyes.

United might as well have saved £15m and kept Ten Hag. Amorim has somehow made them even worse and I don't see how it gets any better long-term without spending money that they seemingly no longer have. Beautiful.

Sacking Cooper to bring in RVN was a massive gamble. I think Cooper would have at the very least kept them above three other teams this season. As it stands it may be a decision that costs them their place in the PL, although they still have time to course correct thanks to the bottom four all being at a similar level. Can't see them staying up if they keep Ruud though.

Lol, well, I'm sure he's very interested considering how underqualified he is for the role. Has his name been linked with other jobs in this league? Genuine question as I haven't been following speculation for other clubs vacant roles.

The final would obviously be a better scenario as it's a one off match, as opposed to two legs. With a statistically weaker team we'd have a better chance of winning a single match rather than having to come out on top over two games. Based on the fact we don't score that many I'd rather face Burnley than Leeds or Sheff Utd, as we're more likely to nick a 1-0. Whilst it was obviously annoying that Burnley won the Championship title at Ewood a couple of seasons back, ultimately a final would just be about getting promoted. Doing it by beating Burnley would obviously make it even better, but I wouldn't see avenging Burnley's title victory as important or relevant. That's been and gone and was ultimately just another dark day under Venky's stewardship - we've had plenty at this point. Burnley had a miserable PL season and came back down, so whatever. It'd be all about the here and now.

Talent, yes, application, no. The occasional flash of excellence but only really useful as an impact sub on the rare occasions he was fit. Might be useful in another league, if he can get back to proper fitness, but don't think he's suited to a physical league like the Championship.

They've hired a manager whose system doesn't work with the players they have. Some lucky wins over some shit teams briefly papered over the cracks, but it's obvious Amorim is going to need significant recruitment to implement his vision, and there's no suggestion INEOS are going to provide that. If anything they are doing the opposite.

If we hire Boateng then it's sabotage from the top, plain and simple. We'd be better off keeping Lowe in charge.

I totally agree. That's why I'd like to hear some more details, if unleaded knows any more about the situation. I'm mainly curious about who allowed Eustace to supposedly have enough say in transfer policy that he could delay transfers to the point where players would lose interest. I can understand taking his opinion on board, but if the transfer committee had the final say then it shouldn't have been a factor in whether a player was signed or not. If Eustace was threatening to leave or refuse to play signings he didn't approve of, then we should have parted ways with him sooner. If he wasn't making these kind of threats then why would it delay transfers? He'd just need to get on with it, if that is what he agreed to when he signed. The only conclusion I can come to is that someone in the hierarchy gave him enough sway to significantly delay transfers he didn't approve of, and the only person who makes sense in that scenario is Waggott, as the CEO and the person who hired Eustace.

If Burnley had a better manager they'd have a good chance of autos, considering how strong their defence is. Parker's limitations mean they're likely to end up in the playoffs, possibly even finishing 4th if Sunderland keep going as they have been. Playoffs are obviously a lottery, and the lack of goals must surely be a huge concern. We've now scored the same amount of goals as them this season, with a fraction of their budget.

Have to admit I look at our run in and think, with some momentum behind us we really do have a good chance of getting a playoff spot this season. It's Rovers under the Venky curse so I can't say I expect us to finish top six, but... it's definitely there for us.