Quite telling how a lack of leadership at the back are costing us at the moment. Defence was all over the place in the first half vs Derby. Pears not commanding his box by punching the ball for the first goal, Carter/Hyam unable to clear the ball for the second, and Sanderson almost gifting them a third. Batth provided that leadership and made both Pears and Hyam look better when he came into the side for injured Carter. Don't expect much from Pears but Hyam is a real disappointment in this regard. Wouldn't surprise me if Ismaël starts with a back three against Stoke after seeing that mess yesterday.

A manager "capitulating" after 15 minutes by switching formation to match your opponent is never a good sign. Sure, Ismaël has only managed two games but you would think by now that he has some clear ideas on how he wants the team to play. Can tell you right now that we'll be in trouble if we were to revert back to being a possession-based team as we simply don't have the players for it. Focus should lie on verticality, tempo and hitting other teams on the break, not passing the ball around outside the box. On another note, Pears is an absolute coward for not catching the ball for the first goal; almost always chooses to punch the ball when challenged in the air. Might as well replace him with Toth for the next few games because Pears doesn't instill any confidence whatsoever into our defence right now.

Pears 6 - Didn't have much to do throughout the game. Can't be blamed for the goal as center backs should've closed down Crnac quicker inside the box. Ribeiro 6 - Similar abilities to Pickering; decent crosser but lacks pace. Need Beck back into the team. Hyam 5 - Unnecessary foul on the keeper during first half. Hopefully won't serve a ban for it. Carter 6 - First ninety minutes for a while. Will need a few games to get up to speed. Brittain 7 - Looked lively on the right hand side, making several strides forward. Forshaw 5 - Sloppy in his passing game. Didn't venture forward much either. Positive news that Tronstad is back. Travis 6 - Worked hard but wasn't getting forward enough to support the attackers. Kargbo 7 - Did well in his first start, taking on his opponent on the left and causing problems. Got a bit tired in the second for obvious reasons. Cantwell 5 - Game didn't suit him as it was played with a fairly high intensity and he had to do a bit of chasing when out of possession. Couldn't connect or find passes to Kargbo or Gueye and was taken off for Weimann on the hour mark. Dolan 4 - Poor game yet again. Doesn't beat his marker for pace and often finds himself making wrong decisions in final third. Can't possibly see him retaining his place once Dennis is match fit. Gueye 7 - Worked hard, providing an outlet for the team with his ability to hold off defenders and link-up play with his teammates. Needs to be at the end of crosses inside the box more often as he drifted out wide too much. Match summary: Not much between the sides to be fair. Norwich started well but Rovers grew into it at the end of first half and enjoyed a bit more possession in second. Dennis is a bit off pace; unnecessary foul/booking for the first challenge but still slightly unlucky to be sent off (second yellow) trying to get on the end of a cross. Game turned at that point but great response to get back on level terms at the final minute. Central midfield aren't really supporting the attackers with runs into the box so feel that it's important that we get Beck back to provide a threat out wide on the left and offer Kargbo options when he's drifting inside.

Norwich are ranked top three in league in terms of possession so don't think Cantwell is suited to play against opponents who wants to press high and make it compact/ restrict space in the middle (even though he might get fired up playing against his former club). We need pacey wingers and central midfielders who can make runs into the box in this game to hit them successfully on the counter. Pears Brittain Hyam Sanderson/Carter Ribeiro Buckley Travis JRC Dolan/Dennis Kargbo Gueye Would like for Pears to get dropped but I honestly haven't seen Toth perform well enough to warrant a change.

I understand that but can't imagine Ismaël would've signed a three-year deal without being given some sort of clarity / guarantees with regards to the contractual situation for basically half the squad. Either that or he's really desperate to get back into management. Like everyone else, I wish him all the best but it's frustrating how slow the club is acting in key areas like player recruitment and replacement of a head coach.

Three-year contract until June 2028 huh? Yet they weren't prepared to offer Eustace an improved one. Interesting... https://www.rovers.co.uk/news/2025/february/25/welcome-valerien-ismael/

Problem is that the club is being run more like a clown show rather than a proper business. A manager / head coach role isn't exactly an entry position into a company in which 150 people happily can apply for and genuinely believe that they are qualified. A proper way of handling a departing head coach would be to have a contingency plan in place, i.e. a list of say ten managers, contact their representatives to find out about their demands, narrow it down to 3-4 that matches with what the club is willing to pay, call them for interviews and then make a final decision a few days later. This process should have already started once rumours about Eustace going to WBA, Coventry, Wolves etc. started appearing in the press at the end of last year given how fragile the contract was (500K release-clause). But the club is always in a reactive state, never proactive. Whether it regards player transfers or a new head coach, the club never behaves in a state of urgency with respect to the current situation, but will rather wait until the very last minute to make a cost-saving decision.

"Abismael", as in an "abysmal" appointment. Alright, I'll see myself out...

The story of Rovers for the past six years (not in chronological order): - Never spent more than 1 million pound in any of the last six winter transfer windows. - Club makes a statement, saying that there has been a "significant" investment in January when commenting on Derby's approach for Eustace. - Club receives an official bid in the region of 10 million euros from French side Nice for Brereton Diaz during his final year of the contract. Bid was rejected and the player subsequently leaves on a free the following summer. - Club has raked in around 35 million pounds with the sales of Wharton and Szmodics yet less than ten percent of that money has been reinvested in the squad. - Eustace has already been in charge for two matches at Derby yet we are entering our third (or even fourth?) week of finding a replacement among the supposedly 150 applicants. - Club responds angrily when they're getting "deceived" by a head coach's intentions (Eustace) yet doesn't have a contingency plan in place for someone whose release-clause is set to merely 500K. - Messed up (on purpose?) the transfers of Brierley, O'Brien and McGuire for two successive January windows, with the latter player leading to JDT resigning. - John Park leaves his position for the second time, with rumours circulating around power struggles within the club as reason behind it. - Club has failed on numerous occasions to capitalize on a promising league position by not investing or strengthen the squad around mid-season. I don't want to hear anyone say that they "trust the process" of the club when it's blatantly clear for everyone else that the decision-makers are clueless, running around like headless chickens with no committment or strategy and whose sole mission is to please the owners by cost-cutting, downsizing, bring in a bunch of players on short term deals or loans, sell training facility internally to a subsidiary for some "shrewd" accounting purposes, and let Ewood Park rot by not implementing necessary maintenance of it.

Well, I hope people realise by now that David Lowe is not the right guy for head coach. By the looks of it, he seems to wanting to emulate Eustace in terms of both tactics and starting XI but it´s telling that he has no clue in changing his approach when trailing by a goal or two. I firmly believe he managed to win the first two matches simply because the team scored the first goal and they could stick with the same tactics and setup throughout 90 minutes. Today he was tested and couldn't muster a response from the side. Just really tiresome of seeing the same players on the pitch underperforming game after game (Hedges, Dolan, Weimann). Putting in one good performance every four or five matches is not good enough at this level. At least the pressure is back on for the board to make a decision ahead of the Norwich game. They now know full well that hiring Lowe as HC isn't going to sit nicely with the supporters.

Thing is, if the club doesn't appoint a new reputable head coach now and miss out on the playoffs / promotion, then you're looking at a severely decimated team with many players on loan returning to parent clubs and others leaving due to expiring contracts. Our chances of hiring a qualified head coach in the summer will be vastly more difficult in that regard. I just find it really poor for the club to have no contingency plan whatsoever, knowing that the release-clause was set to ~£500 K. Owners/Waggott/Pasha tried to play hardball and it backfired; they never imagined even once that Eustace was prepared to move to a team in the relegation zone.

My bad, I changed it now.

Valerien Ismaël - did well at Barnsley but has fallen off recently with failed spells at WBA and Watford. Would be an underwhelming appointment. Gary O'Neil - did better as caretaking manager at Bournemouth than when he was appointed on a permanent deal. Had a horrendous start this season at Wolves, leading to his sacking. Nothing suggests that he would be an improvement on Eustace. David Lowe - has done well as interim head coach with two wins on the bounce. Lacks experience and not convinced he has what it takes from a man-management perspective or how to change his tactical approach when results go against him. Damien Duff - did well to win the Irish League with Shelbourne but there's a vast difference in terms of quality to go straight into Championship football. Club is not in a position to gamble at this point in my opinion. Pep Lijnders - assistant coach under Klopp in Liverpool for several years. Failed spectacularly at RB Salzburg earlier this year. As with Duff, he doesn't warrant a gamble at this point with the club needing to find an experienced head coach who can guide them to playoffs. Lee Carsley - has done reasonably well with England U21 and his short spell as caretaker manager for England but lacks experience in Championship and managing in club football in general. Would be a gamble like many others in this list. Aitor Karanka - was relevant ten years ago when he guided Middlesbrough to PL. Failed appointments thereafter at Nottingham, Birmingham, Granada and Maccabi Tel Aviv. Would be a disaster of an appointment. Luis Boa Morte - has had assistant manager roles under Marco Silva at both Everton and Fulham. Took up a managerial role this year at national team level (Guinea-Bissau). Just like Lijnders, Boa Morte doesn't warrant a gamble at this point. Raphaël WIcky - won the Swiss League with Young Boys back in 22/23 but got sacked early last year following a string of poor results both domestically and in Europa League. Worth noting that Young Boys is a team who plays on astroturf / artificial grass at home, often giving them an advantage when playing fast-paced football. Wicky would be an underwhelming appointment as well. Rob Edwards - spells at Forest Green and Watford before overtaking Nathan Jones' position as manager for Luton. Guided them to playoff-victory against Coventry and subsequently gaining promotion to PL but got immediately relegated the following year. Had a horrendous start this year, getting sacked with Luton sitting in relegation zone. Would be an underwhelming appointment in my view as his career and way of playing seems to have gone stagnant. Steven Gerrard - best spell at Glasgow Rangers where he won the Scottish League title. Disastrous tenure at Aston Villa before getting sacked and replaced by Unai Emery. Not convinced at all that he has what it takes to be successful at this level. George Boateng - has worked mainly as staff coach in various clubs. Lacks experience in head coach / manager department. Would be a disaster of an appointment.

I would say otherwise if it forces someone to change their profile pic on this forum...

One interesting name that hasn't been mentioned at all is David Wagner. Were at Norwich last year and got sacked following a playoff semifinal defeat against Leeds which I found very harsh. Has experience with Huddersfield when it comes to achieving promotion to PL. Would be a cheap but quite a good appointment in my opinion.