Watford away 21/10/20

[champs95]

You are the only Rovers fan I've seen (except the half-dozen on the Telegraph site who would criticise a ten-nil Mowbray win for not being 11-0!) who found that game "painful to watch"! Look at the BBC report of the game. Their reporter watched the same one as me!
Who was in the "wrong" position in the starting line-up? Do tell us?
And I did not say - and never have - "It's all down to luck". I have always argued, however, that luck is a significant factor. If Foster had dived the other way, Armstrong's penalty would have looked like a "good" one. This is an indisputable fact of football - and utterly outside the manager's control
The fact is, we lost a game that we dominated for about 80 of the 90 minutes, against a team just down from the PL.
Almost everyone accepts that the squad is still gelling.
You are in despair. All hope is lost.
I'm quite excited by what I've seen and by our prospects for the season.

Youd be happy if they finished 4th from bottom.

[AucklandRover]

I just don't go along with this long-term prediction stuff. I have enough problem trying to get one individual result in six right.
The other thing I don't go along with is generalising from one match. How would that even work this season?
Which game would we use as the base for forecasting the whole season, given that they've all been different?
All I know is that in four of the games, we've played some dynamic, exciting football. although we've lost two of those.
The third thing I just don't accept is that a particular man in charge makes all the difference. If that WAS the case, there would be nowhere near as many examples of managers who've been really successful with one club or in one season, but have failed dismally elsewhere or a year later.
Doing anything except taking it one game at a time is just a recipe for frustration.
Bristol City lost for the first time this season, mid-week, but my cousin who supports them moaned about the manager in his latest email. It's just insane!
Most teams in this Division are very evenly matched, so it's even hard to work out what's a surprise these days.
It may still take a while for the individual parts to come together for Rovers, but I think we are in for a lot of exciting games. I genuinely have no clue about where we will finish. If you twisted my arm, on the evidence so far, I'd guess 6th to 12th.
Anyway, bed now. I've set the clock for 2.45.

[robinrover]

Before the transfer deadline day,I was very much settling for a 10th-12th place finish.
The signings on that day have raised expectations to a top 6 finish minimum and even Tony mowbray has talked of a top 6 finish.
This team needs to manage expectations and reach that finish,if they dont I can see a change next season.

[seventwo]

I'd be more than happy bouncing along in the Championship
BUT
We have near £200m of debt and Venkys have to pull the plug eventually.

To survive we must get promoted, take the cash and run.

Then, hopefully, we can find decent owners who will better manage financies and expectations

[AucklandRover]

Do those kinds of owners exist in the current situation?
Perhaps the rich ARE still getting richer, but I should think even the super-wealthy are playing a waiting game at the moment.

[robinrover]

I'm not sure I want new owners to be honest.
Venkys are still putting their own cash in and seem to be with us for the long haul.
We could get new owners and have the same problems we had in the early years of venkys reign.
Better the devil you know.

[AucklandRover]

Agreed.

[seventwo]

New owners or not our current ones will want their money back

[AucklandRover]

New owners or not our current ones will want their money back

Seventwo - I just keep saying to myself, "Well, we're such a small part of their empire, they can probably afford to write the debt off!"

[seventwo]

They've shrewd business people