Note: This blog was
written before the dismissal of Sean O’Driscoll and the appointment of Dean
Saunders. Catch Adam’s views on this matter next week...
Keep the Faith...
So…where do I begin?
Times have looked bleak in this first half of the season for The Rovers, but I
think we can all agree that the trough of our sorrow has been the news that boy
band, ‘One Direction’ have decided to name their book ‘Dare to Dream’, the same
title as our beloved Chairman’s autobiography!
But on a more serious
note, this run of form and the claiming of just 1 point in 9 league games, have
really tested the dedication of our fans and has got a minority questioning the
position of our manager, Sean O’Driscoll.
I have said during
previous seasons when results have not been in our favour that the security of
Sean O’Driscoll’s managerial position is down to our chairman John Ryan.
His faith and trust in
Sean’s managerial quality has never failed to do anything but benefit the
Rovers and has seen us climb from the very depths of the league and finish in a
respectable position by week 46.
Please may I remind
those Rovers fans calling for a managerial change that any other manager that
would have picked up this run of form would surely have been sacked by the
club’s chairman.
It’s a breath of fresh
air for the football league for a club to have faith in a manager.
To think back to our
debut season in the championship, and think back to Boxing Day. Rovers were
rock bottom of the championship, and similar to today, there wasn’t much
optimism amongst Rovers fans.
However, that day, saw
a complete turn around for the Rovers, a 4-2 win at the City Ground saw Rovers
build a huge amount of momentum for the rest of the season and finish 14th. Hopefully the players can reflect on this
season and use it as some kind of inspiration for this season and finally give
Rovers fans a chance of seeing 3 points in the bag in Saturday’s game against
Crystal Palace.
We must ask ourselves
however, why we have found ourselves in the position we are today?
Firstly, injuries, yes the dreaded injury
curse that has cut out almost an entire starting 11 at certain points this
season, and last.
Everything looked
great on day 1 of the season away at the new state of the art AMEX stadium,
Rovers were 1-0 up and then, just after the break, and what you can only call
malicious challenge by Lewis Dunk on Billy Sharp, saw our most important player
sidelined for 2-3 months.
Never have Rovers been
a one-man team, but the absence of Billy has become very clear in the 8 games
previous. Billy spent a large chunk of last season injured after tearing his
hamstring after scoring against his beloved Sheffield United at the Keepmoat Stadium,
but still managed to bag 15 goals, a goal figure which arguably kept Rovers in
the Championship by the skin of our teeth.
Another factor, which
many have questioned, is the quality of the Keepmoat pitch. I had the privilege
to play a Charity Match at the Keepmoat stadium after the end of the season
last term and had first hand what the players had to endure during the course
of the season.
Now, not for one
second am I claiming to be a professional athlete, but the firmness of the
pitch had an intense effect on my body after 60 minutes, never mind after 23
games a season.
Another large factor
is that old chestnut ‘big club, small club’. Rovers are one of the smallest
clubs, in The Championship this term, in terms of attendances and financial investment.
Rovers could never
match the rash spending of clubs like Leicester. This is one, which is proving
to become more of a problem for the Rovers. The economic climate has hit the
nation hard and many people are still suffering from the aftershocks and this
is surely a factor in the lack of attendance at the Keepmoat recently. Rovers
play football at their best, how it should be played, but the money being
invested in the big clubs in the league is becoming dominant as they have a
massive depth, something which Rovers have lacked during the previous seasons.
However amongst this
dip of form, I for one will be staying optimistic and I believe many other
Rovers fans will share my view. Just today we have received some promising news
that Billy Sharp has re-joined the first team in training, something that Rovers
fans have been waiting for. We have also seen two other additions to our strike
force, the extensions of Lalkovic’s contract for another month and the month
loan singing of Jon ‘The Beast’ Parkin, someone who’s size will compliment
Sharp’s style of play, as he will act as a great target man.
Keep the faith, and
continue to show your amazing support for the lads for the rest of the season.
ROVERS ‘TILL I DIE!
Twitter @AM_liveforever
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