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.

If the club weren't prepared to offer Eustace an improved contract, what makes people think that we'll offer big wages to anyone else despite it being on a short term until the end of season? On that basis, I would rule us out on getting an ex-Premier League manager (Dyche, O'Neil, Cooper, Martin etc.). We will go for a cheap option, i.e. someone who's been out of work for some time. That's how the club operates nowadays. Lowe will continue as long as the team keeps picking up points; it makes it more justifiable from the board's perspective to wait on making a decision, sadly.

Really poor if Forshaw starts just because he has some knowledge about the Plymouth players. Either way, that lineup is quite uninspiring. Bench is looking a stronger than it has been for the last couple of weeks, though.

What a mess all of this has been. All you can do is speculate on what is going on behind the scenes and that's it. Lack of commitment seems to be the wider issue at the club coming from multiple parties. Any new head coach will be very cautious or simply unaware of the financial situation before accepting the position. Don't want to see a revolving door of head coaches coming and going every year because it absolutely destroys any sense of long-term vision and strategy for the team and the players.

Well, that may be true if they are that stubborn to keep hold of a football club they have not shown any interest in for 10+ years. Otherwise we may just hope that the new Football Governance Bill is quickly passed in Parliament and that the IFR finds the owners unfit, subsequently forcing them to sell up. But with all the current amendments proposed to the bill, that might take years before it gets passed and implemented.

1. Fundraise to make some large banners, place them around the stadium and then leave the stadium empty with only away supporters left for the upcoming home games. Will be particularly effective for any televised matches. 2. Organize protests outside the stadium and put it up on social media. 3. Stop buying season tickets, matchday tickets, merchandise etc. Stop funding the owners until revenue drops so bad that Suhail Pasha is forced to ask owners to send money over. 4. If revenue is kept low for a sustainable period, say a couple of months or even up to 1-2 years, owners will then be forced to make a business decision as to whether they will want to continue making substantial losses or cut them altogether and put the club up for sale. From an asset perspective, squad value will drop significantly over the next 18 months if no contracts are renewed and no permanent signings are made so the club is unlikely to rely on player sales for the coming seasons to fund the day-to-day operations. I would argue that the language of money speaks louder than the language of dissent in the eyes of the owners. They need to realise that they messed up our PL position all those years ago, that the accumulated internal debt is solely due to their incompetence and that the only way back to PL is to make proper reinvestments. But they have showed time and time again that they're only interested in cost-cutting so I advice the fans to respond in the very same fashion to get rid of them. I know this will hurt a lot of people in the short term who are working with the club, are passionate and wanting for it to succeed, but until the owners are gone we will never be able to support a functioning club again.

Yes, I do believe he asked for a pay-rise/improved contract and whether they would be willing to match Derby's offer or go one better. The very least the club could do was to match their offer and provide some reassurances about players' contracts that expires within the next 6-18 months. They decided that Eustace was not worth it. How do you feel about that, seeing a head coach seemingly looking helpless and depressed from his post-match reactions in his last couple of games? How do you feel about the club not rewarding a head coach that helped the team survive relegation last season and now has the team around playoff spots? Do you think he deserves to be treated like this? Is it worth getting rid of a head coach who's been working with the team for the last year and has made them achieve results that are above expectation for a couple more thousands in salary raise?

And I believe Eustace simply decided that enough is enough around January 25th (as per @jim mk2 's opening post in this thread), and told his agent to let other Championship clubs know that he's willing to listen to any offers that comes his way. Hence why Derby knew about the release-clause and has (probably) already agreed on contract length and wages before making an official approach to Rovers. Despite that, he was still willing to listen to the club one last time and let them explain what their future plans are, if they could provide any sort of guarantees regarding renewal of contracts & transfer budget and whether they were willing to reward him for the team's progress this season. He has been screaming for reinforcements throughout the entire January window and they didn't do anything until the very last minute when they spent a rather meagre sum of one million. And today they refused his requests yet again, which basically left him with no other choice but to leave. Trust me, this isn't primarily about a pay-raise, it's about ambition, proper communication with the owners, and getting backed when needed. He's just sick of all the lies and being let down over and over again. They have failed him, the team and the fans during this window when injuries started piling up and the team were forced to have youngsters on the bench (who were nowhere near ready for senior football). They have failed in their ownership since day one and that will not change until they leave.

So you're pinning the blame entirely on Eustace and his "quest" to earn a bit more money? You don't even mention the sheer absence or owner ambition or the limitations being placed upon the team financially throughout the season, despite us being in good shape regarding P&S rules / FFP? The owners are about to mess up another golden opportunity to reach the playoffs because they absolutely refuse to budge on their annual budget being set for club at the start of season. They are all liars; Waggott is a yes-man collecting a paycheque until he retires and Suhail Pasha is the evil gatekeeper who keeps telling the owners that everything is fine, that money has been recovered from player sales and that the club is able to run its operations throughout the season without any further money being needed to be sent over. Just ask yourself as to why a struggling club like Derby is showing more ambition than us by offering higher wages and we can't even match their offer or provide any guarantees regarding renewal of player contracts or future transfer budget? Their childish statement on the Rovers website should give you all the evidence you need as to how poorly the club is being run. It's time for fans to stop having their head buried in the sand and start realizing that there's a fundamental issue with how the club is conducting its businesses and how they are portraying themselves in the media. The management/owners need to stop acting like babies, stop playing the victim card and take some f*ing responsibility for once. They have treated the club like garbage for the past 15 years; many fans have already sussed them out some time ago but aparently there are plenty more who needs to wake up.

Steve Cooper is probably the best fit given how he managed to drag Forest from relegation zone to achieving promotion a few years ago. His style is kinda similar to Eustace in that he likes his team to sit in a mid/low block and hit opponents on the counter. Will he be interested in coming here? No idea. Will we be offering him a contract? Not likely since he'll probably demand high wages. But yeah, in an ideal situation the club should move to get him on a short-term contract until the end of season, offer a resonably high wage (100 K/ month?) and just pray that we manage to clinch the last playoff-spot and then somehow get promoted because next season is looking really dark right now if that doesn't happen.

Yeah right. A "Significant" investment totalling one million pound for an unproven player, three loans and two freebies. "Extremely disappointed" when Eustace himself offered to stay if given guarantees for next season. I'm so disgusted with all the lies coming from these people. People on here bashing the head coach for leaving mid-season fail to see how badly the owners, CEO and COO have been treating him and the team this entire season. Having to cope without an adequate replacement for Szmodics, having to deal with a depleted squad for the entirety of January which is a critical period in Championship, and having no strikers signed until the very last days of the window. It all reeks of absolute bullsh*t. I really hope this gains nationwide attention as to how poorly this club is being treated and I sincerly hope this reaches India so that the owners receives negative publicism and pushback from the locals. I hope people start protesting, put up banners inside the stadium and make their voices heard. Only way for the owners to go is to make them suffer financially; this means sadly hurting the club in the short term but it's the only way out from this toxic relationship.

A club being run in a professional manner would do the following: - Realise Eustace has done a good job by offering him an improved contract meaning a better salary, larger buy-out clause and a role as manager instead of head coach. - Give assurances regarding renewal of key players' contracts within the next 2-3 months (Hyam, Travis, Tronstad, Brittain etc.). - Give assurances regarding transfer budget in the summer. Don't think 5 million pounds is too much to ask for given recent player sales. A club being run in an unprofessional manner would do the following: - Allow the manager to speak to a rival Championship club sitting second from bottom in the table when we are still fighting for a playoff-spot. - Not apologizing for their slow/late activity in the latest transfer window, costing the team valuable points during January. - Not replacing John Park with another head of recruitment ahead of said transfer window. - Owners not adjusting their annual budget for the club irrespective of outcome on the pitch. - Owners not taking any interest in the club whatsoever and continues to have limited knowledge about the team itself, who they are competing against and the kind of investment it takes to get out of the league.

If there's a release clause, then it's probably Eustace himself who wanted it as an "insurance" to even sign a contract in the first place should things turn sour later on (which it now has, seemingly). From his point of view, it's a fairly good move to insert that clause. Look, he's given the club a fair amount of chances to show that they're serious about backing him but they have failed on their part. He has done a great job in saving the club from relegation last season and now getting the club around the playoff-spots with limited resources so there's no reason why they shouldn't trust him to progress the team further. What have they done to repay him for his work and effort? Close to nothing. They have not replaced Szmodics adequately, they only spent £1 million this winter and several players have contracts expiring within the next 6-18 months. Can't blame him for wanting to move on if the owners or CEO can't provide any assurances as to how they will tie players down on improved terms/longer contracts and if there will be a transfer budget to be spent in summer.

Interesting post-match comments from Eustace. Looks like he will give the club one final chance to make assurances for the upcoming season or he will leave. If the club is not giving any guarantees regarding summer transfer budget or contract extensions for basically half of the entire squad, then he sees no future for himself here (and rightly so). Obviously he's been extremely disappointed and felt let down with how slow the club has acted in this transfer window, leading to many valuable points lost due to all the injuries with an already thin squad.

Yeah, no chance Rovers will win this one if Wolves' players turn up and put in a standard performance. Their starting XI is as strong as it gets bar their GK and Ait-Nouri on the left wingback position. Predict an embarassment here, 0-5 or something similar.

Go on then, prove your footballing skills. What's your rating of our transfer activity this window? Do you find it acceptable that we only spent £1 million in total on six signings, whereby three on loan and two on a free? Do you acknowledge the fact that the club now has not spent more than £1 million in a single window during the last six winter transfer windows? Do you know anything about Kargbo that we don't? I'm trying to be realistic in my judgement but some posters on here seem to be happy to cheer the club on regardless of what is happening.

Sanderson 4/10 - decent backup but it's a loan spot wasted in my opinion. Should've signed a center-back on a permanent deal. Forshaw 0/10 - not even good enough as a backup. A downgrade to Baker. Kargbo 5/10 - a gamble since he's unproven at this level. Could be good, could be bad. Ribeiro 4/10 - again, decent backup like Sanderson. Not likely to get ahead of Beck in the pecking order, though. Dennis 7/10 - good signing. Will need a couple of matches to gain match fitness but possess much-needed pace that has been lacking for some time in this team. Woodrow 3/10 - questionable signing. Was out of favour in Luton. Not convinced at all. Overall rating: 4/10 - Only Dennis can be seen as a good signing this window as he will improve starting XI. Ribeiro, Sanderson and Woodrow are, at best, decent backups. Kargbo is a real gamble, can't imagine the recruitment team are fully convinced on this one but time will tell. Forshaw is just a horrible one.

If they somehow effed up the Dennis signing, I honestly hope Cantwell tells his former Rangers buddy Ryan Kent to send his pet crocodile to Waggott's office. You know, to keep him company in this 'difficult' January market.

Would be funny as hell if they somehow were to cancel Forshaws' contract to make space for Dennis and Woodrow...

Might as well try to convince Siggy to cancel the contract if Leonard is injured and can't be sent on loan. Siggy won't play again this season, pretty sure of that. Not betting on that the club is willing to take a financial hit on it, however.