Gary Rowett

[Foxin_Mad]

On 21/03/2026 at 19:24, CL Fox said:

"Definitely would have stayed up it they'd appointed him earlier"

 

How?

By not giving Shituentes more time to inflict his utter rot tactics, style, fitness and morale demolition on the squad. He should have been got rid of after Sheff Utd, it was evident he was a first rate clown, out of his depth, despite the issues at the club, hes made it worse 

[Uncle Monty]

15 hours ago, turtmcfly said:

 

This 'Fofana, prince of football' meme is pretty irritating.

 

Lovely to watch with the ball at his feet but in terms of 'defending' (in a sense that means anything to me) he was distinctly average. 

 

Oof that's a hot take mate. He was immense for us. He's a proper nob, but I don't think you can argue that he was anything other than class when playing for us.

[ClaphamFox]

5 hours ago, Fox92 said:

 

That's why stats are pointless in this context. He had been here about 2 days before his first game. In his 7 games we've played away at Ipswich, Middlesbrough and Watford. His first home game was against the most in form team this calendar year. 

 

The only result that is actually terrible is QPR.

 

We've also picked up 2 clean sheets in these 7 games.

 

I believe we will stay up. 

I agree. Stats are a useful way to look at longer term trends but they don't effectively capture short-term patterns. I think our underlying trajectory under Rowett is positive. We haven't lost away from home since he joined and have won our first home game since early January. In our last three games we've kept two clean sheets. Progress isn't always linear, especially when a new manager is trying to turn around a horribly dysfunctional dressing room. An improving team can still have bad games. But Saturday was our best performance under Rowett and one of the only 90-min performances we've turned in all season. I think this upward momentum will continue and we'll be safe before the final game.

Edited 23 March by ClaphamFox

[Les-TA-Jon]

12 minutes ago, ClaphamFox said:

I agree. Stats are a useful way to look at longer term trends but they don't effectively capture short-term patterns. I think our underlying trajectory under Rowett is positive. We haven't lost away from home since he joined and have won our first home game since early January. In our last three games we've kept three clean sheets. Progress isn't always linear, especially when a new manager is trying to turn around a horribly dysfunctional team. But Saturday was our best performance under Rowett and one of the only 90-min performances we've turned in all season. I think this upward momentum will continue and we'll be safe before the final game.

Come again? 

[ClaphamFox]

12 minutes ago, Les-TA-Jon said:

Come again? 

Ha! For some reason I seem to have wiped the memory of the last 50mins v QPR from my mind. I obviously meant two. 

[Foxin_Mad]

50 minutes ago, ClaphamFox said:

I agree. Stats are a useful way to look at longer term trends but they don't effectively capture short-term patterns. I think our underlying trajectory under Rowett is positive. We haven't lost away from home since he joined and have won our first home game since early January. In our last three games we've kept two clean sheets. Progress isn't always linear, especially when a new manager is trying to turn around a horribly dysfunctional team. But Saturday was our best performance under Rowett and one of the only 90-min performances we've turned in all season. I think this upward momentum will continue and we'll be safe before the final game.

Im hoping the break can give a bit of time to get them fully up to the levels he expects for the next games. It would be nice maybe if we could  play maybe Ramsey upfront? go to be worth a go. If we can Keep it tight and keep Jemal fit, maybe with Vestergaard back too. I hope you are correct, it would be nice to try and build up a bit of momentum. 

[CosbehFox]

1 hour ago, Foxin_Mad said:

Fitness isn’t something you can improve overnight.

 

The biggest hilarity is that some people try to make a justification for keeping Shituentes on when he’s probably been one of these shitest managers we ever had. Not one player or one stat go better under that clown

No but the fitness was done by King, that was my point. He was in charge of pre-season for the first two to three weeks. He's the key reason the players are unfit now.  Ciufentes wasn't there to shape the hard running side of pre-season. Saying the early good form was because of King is nonsense because his caretaker spell was a disaster and the fitness he was in charge of during pre-season is now falling apart. 

 

If you want a fact, Ciufentes record is better PPG than Rowett. From Rowett's games we have 7 points, from the same opposition earlier in the season we have 11 points. 

 

 

Edited 23 March by CosbehFox

[Samilktray]

Time to dish out instant bans for anyone caught using “Shituentes” 

 

@mods ?

[CosbehFox]

1 hour ago, ClaphamFox said:

I agree. Stats are a useful way to look at longer term trends but they don't effectively capture short-term patterns. I think our underlying trajectory under Rowett is positive. We haven't lost away from home since he joined and have won our first home game since early January. In our last three games we've kept two clean sheets. Progress isn't always linear, especially when a new manager is trying to turn around a horribly dysfunctional team. But Saturday was our best performance under Rowett and one of the only 90-min performances we've turned in all season. I think this upward momentum will continue and we'll be safe before the final game.

Devil's advocate here though - we've gone to a goal a game compared 1.375 goals per game. 

 

The defensive solidarity is a trade off for attacking ability of this team. 

 

Largely cos of the midfield is a ****ing mess. 

[Foxin_Mad]

1 minute ago, CosbehFox said:

No but the fitness was done by King, that was my point. He was in charge of pre-season for the first two to three weeks. He's the key reason the players are unfit now. That's a fact. Ciufentes wasn't there to shape the hard running side of pre-season. 

 

If you want a fact, Ciufentes record is better PPG than Rowett. From Rowett's games we have 7 points, from the same opposition earlier in the season we have 11 points. 

 

 

This is my point though we started off more strongly because of the work King did preseason, as Shituentes got his feet under the table we became worse game on game, month on month. Again the PPG he benefited from us not being 'as shit' at the start than we were after several months of his shit tactics, shit 'coaching' and general shitness churning out the same interviews. What was his PPG towards the end of his shit tenure?

 

He was a useless shit, there is nothing that can prove anything other than that. He was way out of his depth, he will be the reason we go down and he rightfully should be considered one of the worst managers we have ever had. He did not improve one little thing during his time here, not one. 

[CosbehFox]

7 minutes ago, Foxin_Mad said:

This is my point though we started off more strongly because of the work King did preseason, as Shituentes got his feet under the table we became worse game on game, month on month. Again the PPG he benefited from us not being 'as shit' at the start than we were after several months of his shit tactics, shit 'coaching' and general shitness churning out the same interviews. What was his PPG towards the end of his shit tenure?

 

He was a useless shit, there is nothing that can prove anything other than that. He was way out of his depth, he will be the reason we go down and he rightfully should be considered one of the worst managers we have ever had. He did not improve one little thing during his time here, not one. 

If your theory is right, explain King's caretaker spell then.  

 

Explain why the team's fitness is now gassed because that was under King's management in the summer. 

 

The point I made regards Rowett's 7 points to Cifuenties 11 - the games which mirror were all played around November/December. We had a spell of form in December. That's nothing to do with pre-season. 

 

I am no fan of Cifuenties. I am just making the point that Rowett isn't really any better and the idea that King is the reason we started the season well is so far off the mark. 

Edited 23 March by CosbehFox

[Foxin_Mad]

1 hour ago, CosbehFox said:

If your theory is right, explain King's caretaker spell then.  

 

Explain why the team's fitness is now gassed because that was under King's management in the summer. 

 

The point I made regards Rowett's 7 points to Cifuenties 11 - the games which mirror were all played around November/December. We had a spell of form in December. 

 

I am no fan of Cifuenties. I am just making the point that Rowett isn't really any better.  

its fairly straight forward, King took pre-season, we had a few games where we looked reasonable in pre-season. The useless fellow came in, started to implement his regime as you would expect, fitness began to drop off, game by game we got worse, our running stats got worse, everything got worse under him, to the point at which Oxford outclassed us at home. It was only going one way from there, he had no ability to change that. He had no ability to stop us getting thumped at Sheff Utd or QPR away either. The home game against Sheff Utd was also atrocious. In fact under him we probably actually deserved to win 1 maybe 2 games at best, the rest he was bailed out by excellence from James or Abdul. Constant passing out from the back with a keeper whos confidence was shot, to defenders who's confidence was shot, it wasn't working. If he had had the full pre-season we would have been in the bottom 3 long before now IMO

 

This team needs a lot of work to pull it back to the required levels and get it on track, I think King started that with the first half performance against Saints. Rowett already got 2 clean sheets. The game against Watford is probably the first game in a while where I have felt we probably deserved more that the result we got. Rowett isn't the best manager, probably would never have been my choice, but we are where we are and this is our level. I think I would much rather have him over that Marti fraud, he wasn't a football manager that should ever have been given a job here, and he most certainly needed to go, probably long before he did. .  

 

 

Edited 23 March by Foxin_Mad

[CL Fox]

3 hours ago, Foxin_Mad said:

By not giving Shituentes more time to inflict his utter rot tactics, style, fitness and morale demolition on the squad. He should have been got rid of after Sheff Utd, it was evident he was a first rate clown, out of his depth, despite the issues at the club, hes made it worse 

Rowett, a bloke who had oxford in the bottom 3 would have made it all better then?

 

Oh right.

[filbertway]

Enjoyed King Rowett so far, doing a decent job in arresting the decline and getting a semblance of a performance out of this group.

 

Not sure how anyone can look at the difference between before he joined and now and not think there's been improvement and have some cause for hope. Obviously the team have shown they're still quite capable of collapse, but he's put the fundamentals in place that have seen us look plenty competitive and deserving of points.

 

 

[CornwallFox]

2 hours ago, CosbehFox said:

If your theory is right, explain King's caretaker spell then.  

 

Explain why the team's fitness is now gassed because that was under King's management in the summer. 

 

The point I made regards Rowett's 7 points to Cifuenties 11 - the games which mirror were all played around November/December. We had a spell of form in December. That's nothing to do with pre-season. 

 

I am no fan of Cifuenties. I am just making the point that Rowett isn't really any better and the idea that King is the reason we started the season well is so far off the mark. 

I'm struggling to see how anybody can claim our form under rowett hasn't improved. we can suddenly keep clean sheets and not lose every game. What happened months ago is irrelevant. We were conceding and losing every game and now we're not. If we had a striker we're also getting forward more quickly and with more purpose. 

[Muzzy_no7]

If we had an average championship striker like Mcburnie and an average LB like DaSilva or Bryan we would be in the top half, no doubt.

[CL Fox]

21 minutes ago, CornwallFox said:

I'm struggling to see how anybody can claim our form under rowett hasn't improved. we can suddenly keep clean sheets and not lose every game. What happened months ago is irrelevant. We were conceding and losing every game and now we're not. If we had a striker we're also getting forward more quickly and with more purpose. 

We didn't lose every game under Marti....

[J.Lisemore]

I’m sure he’ll admit that this is the hardest managerial role he’s had to date, and he’s not doing too bad is he. Any manager that has to put 10 men out without a striker, and still go unbeaten in 4 away games, deserves credit. 

[murphy]

I think he has done as well as could be expected with this group of dossers. 

[CosbehFox]

1 hour ago, CornwallFox said:

I'm struggling to see how anybody can claim our form under rowett hasn't improved. we can suddenly keep clean sheets and not lose every game. What happened months ago is irrelevant. We were conceding and losing every game and now we're not. If we had a striker we're also getting forward more quickly and with more purpose. 

We’ve failed to beat three teams we’d already beaten this season. 
 

When he joined we were:-

3 points off Blackburn (now four)

2 points off West Brom (now four)

4 points head of Oxford (now level).

 

It’s only Pompey we’ve made points on. 
 

In amongst that we’ve had some fortune that really haven’t taken advantage of. 
 

There’s huge amount of pressure on the two Easter games and the failure to collect all six. I’d say it’s not been a great time for Rowett. 
 

Truly hope it isn’t though. 
 

 

[ClaphamFox]

22 minutes ago, CosbehFox said:

We’ve failed to beat three teams we’d already beaten this season. 
 

When he joined we were:-

3 points off Blackburn (now four)

2 points off West Brom (now four)

4 points head of Oxford (now level).

 

It’s only Pompey we’ve made points on. 
 

In amongst that we’ve had some fortune that really haven’t taken advantage of. 
 

There’s huge amount of pressure on the two Easter games and the failure to collect all six. I’d say it’s not been a great time for Rowett. 
 

Truly hope it isn’t though. 
 

 

This is one way to look at it. The other is that we’d played eight league games in 2026 before Rowett joined and had lost six of them, including four consecutive losses just before he was appointed. Our form was in sharp decline and we were freefalling down the table. I agree that all he’s done so far is steady the ship rather than fully change course, but he had to start somewhere. He now has seven games to build on that and start racking up the wins. 

[HankMarvin]

3 hours ago, CornwallFox said:

We were conceding and losing every game and now we're not. If we had a striker we're also getting forward more quickly and with more purpose. 

Let’s not rewrite history King had a big effect or than period, before Marti was sacked the team was in 14th just off mid table, he earned 7 points from 6 games, not to dissimilar to now, go back a few more games and there wins against Derby and Ipswich.

If we had the striker you mention that would’ve also helped his results.

Kings results shouldn’t be taken into account, because he had no experience and didn’t want the job.

 

Rowett has managed 30 games this season in the championship and is averaging less that a point a game, I hope our numbers improve but it’s a bit worrying that our points per game are very similar to the Oxford numbers from earlier in the season that resulted him getting the sack.

Edited 24 March by HankMarvin

[LCFCCKEANO]

6 hours ago, CosbehFox said:

No but the fitness was done by King, that was my point. He was in charge of pre-season for the first two to three weeks. He's the key reason the players are unfit now.  Ciufentes wasn't there to shape the hard running side of pre-season. Saying the early good form was because of King is nonsense because his caretaker spell was a disaster and the fitness he was in charge of during pre-season is now falling apart. 

 

If you want a fact, Ciufentes record is better PPG than Rowett. From Rowett's games we have 7 points, from the same opposition earlier in the season we have 11 points. 

 

 

Don’t think the comparison points wise is worth anything. Different games with different form, confidence and players will throw up different results. At the end with Marti we were absolutely hopeless and that is what Rowatt has had to fix, two clean sheets after none since late summer (?) and a ridiculous run of form. Marti took over a newly relegated side who probably expected to go straight back up, and with a chunk of pre season, if he didn’t do better it would be astonishing comparing the two circumstances 

[Foxin_Mad]

13 hours ago, CL Fox said:

Rowett, a bloke who had oxford in the bottom 3 would have made it all better then?

 

Oh right.

Seriously look at the resources difference between us and Oxford, they have been punching above their weight in reality, they will struggle. They still outclassed us at home under Cifuentes . He was utter crap, dogshit, the biggest clown ever to manage this club. 

[Tomo260]

Ayew and Daka are both proven useless 

 

Gary should give that Richards a go or even Mukasa up front, it literally can't get worse 

Edited 24 March by Tomo260