I’m really surprised with how negative this board is about this appointment. Out of the realistic options he is probably in my top 3 (O’Neil was by far the best choice out there IMO). He makes teams hard to beat, aggressive on the press and quick in transition. Those are principals most fans can get behind. It’s also not dissimilar from our current set up, we need someone who could come in immediately and get results, rather than someone who would implement a new style of play. Ismael fits this profiles. He worked miracles at Barnsley before moving to West Brom, where he actually had them in the top 2 for most of the season before results fell off and they finished 5th. Watford was disappointing 100% but their record with managers says a lot. Chris Wilder was awful there. This is not me defending the board, sack them all. But this appointment could have been far worse. Let’s get behind him.

If those line ups are true it’s abit of a shocker. I don’t want to knock the players starting because no doubt they can do a job for us, but Forshaw, Hedges and Weimann aren’t starters for me. I don’t mind Hedges when it’s a tough game and we need defensive cover but against Swansea when we should be on the front foot it just doesn’t make sense to me. Buckley deserves to be starting - one of our best players in 2025 so far. Kargbo has looked electric every time he’s been on the pitch. The first player that we’ve had in a long long time that gets me off my seat as soon as he gets the ball. He’s so direct. Screams to me of Lowe playing it safe. Which is fine, and in many ways has worked so far, but it’s also what Mowbray did for years and years and IMO was the main reason we couldn’t make that final step and become a play off team, which we really should of done.

Again - I apologise

Apologies in advance lads - I’ve made 3 games this season and lost every one 1nil (Watford, Millwall and Burnley). Hopefully the curse is lifted tonight. Pears Brittain Bath Hyam Beck Travis Buckley Dolan Cantwell Kargbo Gueye

Ribeiro would be a good addition and seems to be done. Lewis Obrien would leave us very well set up in CM, although I don’t think is a priority. Sounds like we may be able to get him on the cheap though. I’m personally not bothered about missing out on Danns. Would be a risk particularly in January to rely on a player with 8 games under his belt to hit the ground running. A marquee striker is an absolute must though. The lad from Nantes would of been that - however he played and scored last night so I don’t see anyway he’ll be coming here today…

Fake account I’m afraid

So Kargbo in on the left side. Still would expect 2 signings on top of that. A striker and a CM/LB. Any credible links to a striker? I don’t believe we’ve actually bid 4m for that Geubbels fella.

Think people are being proper harsh on Cantwell. He is quite clearly our best attacking player and with him on the pitch I always think we have a chance of nicking a goal, which is so often our game plan. The struggle for him is the players he is playing with in those final 3rds arnt quite on his level.

Is this not on red button tonight?

Pears Britain Bath Hyam Beck JRC Tronstad ACD Cantwell Dolan Weimann ^ only correct team IMO. Buckley isn’t good enough and JRC has proven to be more than competent at CM (I actually think it’s his best position). Weimann seems the only one who can finish so I’d say whack him up top, although I’m not opposed to Gueye. Huge game. Win this and we are set up really nicely for a very winnable fixture run. Alongside some attacking additions and we could gain some momentum.

Bit harsh - clearly has quality just injury prone.

Great thank you!

Unfortunately ticket office is shut now and isn’t open on Saturdays for away fixtures. I am told that duplicate tickets are sent down on the coaches in case tickets haven’t arrived in time so hopefully will be able to figure something out at the ground.

I have an email with the order confirmation of the tickets but the tickets aren’t attached.

PLEASE HELP/ADVISE. London based Rovers fan here, I ordered 5 tickets for the Millwall game on Monday but they still haven’t arrived. Our ticket office is shut and so is Millwalls. What should I do?

Brereton was never lazy. He lacked quality for years but he always worked hard, did his defensive duty and clearly cared. Don’t get me wrong - proper poor move for him to run his contract down after the amount of time we gave him but he would be a massive improvement on what we have. We will never get him though - stinks of a return to Sheffield United.

That’s an awful miss by Gueye but another assist!

Is that 5 assists in the league now for Gueye?

Brilliant from Gueye and what a finish from ACD!

That was a stonewall pen. Brilliant from Gueye - shocking from the ref.

Will this be available on sky sports red button?

This may seem abit rogue but I’m not sure how anyone can look past a switch to a 3-5-2 set up. I really like the look of: Pears Hyam Bath Pickering JRC Travis Tronstad Beck Cantwell Gueye Ohashi For me it just seems so well balanced. Let JRC and Beck provide the width and put the ball the ball in box meanwhile Ohashi and Cantwell playing off Gueye has a lot of potential. It’s been clear for a while that our wingers are no where near good enough which has led our attacking threat to be pretty much nil. This set up gives us a greater presence up top and means neither Gueye or Ohashi will be isolated - which they have constantly been this season. I honestly back Gueye. We have not been playing to his strengths - only then can we judge him.

My guess would be Godo, who was on loan at Wigan last season.

I like Travis. I would want him around the squad/Team. But the conundrum is that Tronstad is a level above as a Pivot midfielder. Travis may get around the pitch well and add real energy, however his ability to play those forward defence splitting passing/be a ball carrier is quite limited. Against weaker opposition I feel there will be better options to play in there alongside Tronstad. I’m personally a massive fan of JRC in CM and think he compliments Tronstad really well. He’s also much better in there at RM where he struggles to get into the game. He provides the quality on the ball that Travis lacks and works well as the more forward thinking player of a dual pivot. ATM we have Buckley, Travis, Tronstad and JRC in there as options. We probably need another body as cover (PREM loan ideal) and we’re pretty set. If we sold Travis and brought in someone who is an upgrade (perhaps the Colombian lad from Bayer Levekusen) then it would probably be quite smart business - mainly due to the midfield balance it would give us. I’m just not sure Travis and Tronstad are the best fit, unless we are doing a defensive job against superior opposition, which shouldn’t be too often. Then you have the issue of dropping Travis and the captain against weaker opposition which we know Travis doesn’t take well. If we brought in a good replacement then it could make sense all round.

Stansfield would be absolutely incredible business. 6M would be excellent value - he’s a real talent. My best mate is a Fulham fan so I have been aware of him for a while. He can play anywhere across the forward the line and would be excellent off Gueye. However, Silva from Fulham already announced that he will be staying as part of their squad for this season and is expected to get minutes in the prem. He came off the bench against United on Friday. No chance of that happening.