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Post by BishopstonBRFC on Nov 4, 2014 3:35:02 GMT
In fact, just looking at the football ground guide I'm not sure there's any grounds bar Crawley that we can honestly say ours is better than.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 4, 2014 4:26:10 GMT
I dont think DC will fully win everyone over until he has us near the top of league 2 whatever style of football he plays.
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Post by Mark Ash on Nov 4, 2014 9:30:06 GMT
In fact, just looking at the football ground guide I'm not sure there's any grounds bar Crawley that we can honestly say ours is better than. I'm sure we're all looking at the 12th November with bated breath. |
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Post by Lambert's Right Boot on Nov 4, 2014 15:37:08 GMT
I'm a big fan of Clarke ever since he took over. There's just something about him, he's a likeable guy. Over the summer I was really impressed with what he had to say, especially the interview he did with Geoff Twentyman, he said everything I wanted to hear from him. Not all of that has come to fruitation, like the playing attractive football, personally I think he underestimated how sides would attempt to shut up shop against us.
Our budget was perceived has being the largest or one of the largest in the division. A lot of conference fans still believe it was and is. I don't see it like that at all. We didn't pay a single fee for a player, signing players on a free or loan. With no money to spend of transfer fees it leaves the manager with a much smaller pool of players to chose from. I do believe our squad would look different if he was given money to spend. That said the players he brought in are hardly slouches. The problem with some of them is they are not allowed as much space and time as they were at previous clubs. Taylor for example played 7 games for relegated Chester last season and scored 7 but now he plays for a 'big' side he's not awarded that time and space. Some of his misses have no excuses though. Balanta may be the only head scratcher because of his fitness but we'll see how he performs once he's fit.
We grind out results, most of the time. It might not be pretty football but at the end of the day, for me, that's the least of my concerns. I'm a fan and supporter of Bristol Rovers, not attractive football, if I was I wouldn't be supporting a club in the fifth tier. Don't get me wrong, attractive football and winning would be nice but while we are winning I'm not too concerned in the manner of it. Our lack of scoring has backfired on us only a small amount of times (Dover & FGR at home prime examples) which is something we need to sort out.
I admit I am an optimist, though. Some of the points I highlighted might be seen as negatives to others. I think, no matter what your opinion on Clarke is, it could be worse, we could have some clown like Buckle or McGhee in charge.
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Post by stevek192 on Nov 5, 2014 2:00:39 GMT
Whilst Telford are bottom of the League their current form is not bottom of the League and they won their last game 3-1 at Woking so they are not slouches! Until we get a really creative player and a striker who scores regularly we will have to grind out results and in all honesty most teams in League 1 and 2 as well as the conference would be looking for the same type of player.
Also as regards the type of football played it is not the easiest thing to get the ball on the ground and play when your opponents are more than happy to provide an aerial assault as Telford did. Forest Green were exactly the same and even with 10 men we were still the better side and only poor finishing stopped us from winning.
As regards Clarke I think in the circumstances he has done a good job. Personally as I have said many times I would have sacked John Ward about November last season and got in Martin Allen. However we didn't do that and having decided on Clarke we are now in the position where he has EARNT the right to Manage us until the end of this season at least. Just a point if Martin Allen had been managing us this season and brought in Akinde how would the majority of our fans reacted???
Personally I would have been making a bid for the no 20 of Telford who for long spells dictated the pace of the game and I would also make a bid for Brett Williams of Aldershot but I would also think about trying Matty Taylor in a midfield role and see how he plays there and giving both Brunt and White a chance to impress now. I( am also hoping that Balanta will prove worth the wait.
IMO two good players in and Balanta being succesful and I think we can win this League. I am not saying we will do it but if Clarke did achieve this then we would be fools to say goodbye!!
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Post by markczgas on Nov 5, 2014 23:32:27 GMT
Whilst Telford are bottom of the League their current form is not bottom of the League and they won their last game 3-1 at Woking so they are not slouches! Until we get a really creative player and a striker who scores regularly we will have to grind out results and in all honesty most teams in League 1 and 2 as well as the conference would be looking for the same type of player. Also as regards the type of football played it is not the easiest thing to get the ball on the ground and play when your opponents are more than happy to provide an aerial assault as Telford did. Forest Green were exactly the same and even with 10 men we were still the better side and only poor finishing stopped us from winning. As regards Clarke I think in the circumstances he has done a good job. Personally as I have said many times I would have sacked John Ward about November last season and got in Martin Allen. However we didn't do that and having decided on Clarke we are now in the position where he has EARNT the right to Manage us until the end of this season at least. Just a point if Martin Allen had been managing us this season and brought in Akinde how would the majority of our fans reacted??? Personally I would have been making a bid for the no 20 of Telford who for long spells dictated the pace of the game and I would also make a bid for Brett Williams of Aldershot but I would also think about trying Matty Taylor in a midfield role and see how he plays there and giving both Brunt and White a chance to impress now. I( am also hoping that Balanta will prove worth the wait. IMO two good players in and Balanta being succesful and I think we can win this League. I am not saying we will do it but if Clarke did achieve this then we would be fools to say goodbye!! Steve, I always respect your passion and honesty but I am surprised by a few of your comments here. Telford have conceded 41 goals this season - we managed 2 in 2 games ! I don't think we can claim to bad luck or brilliant keeping for the fact we scored just 2 goals in those games. We don't CREATE very much and we certainly DONT finish our chances effectively. You also say that we were dragged down to the style of Telford ? Do you not believe a manager/coaches can not get teams playing the way they want them to whatever the opposition ? e.g. Woking played a passing game v Rovers, did we drag them down to our level of scintillating football - no we didn't. We also didn't drag Rochdale or Exeter to play hoofball against us last season. I think the quality of football from us is on the slide and that's why the goals are drying up. We don't just need a great signing or two but the manager needs to earn his dosh and realise that the whole team needs to play better - I think if you talk to fellow supporters in the stands/terraces they will tell you this too ! I hope our management team realise this cos loan signings on their own won't help OUR Rovers go up this season ! UTG ! |
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Post by stevek192 on Nov 6, 2014 9:35:37 GMT
I beg to differ but that's what football is about. You interestingly mention Woking as playing football and yet we beat them AND they lost at home to Telford the week before we beat Telford. The problem with playing Football is that you can also go too far the other way and play too much football and I would put Exeter into that category and I tend to recall that we actually beat them at home last season too!!!
You have to earn the right to play football and that is what we didn't do last season- we didn't match our opponents on effort and most of the time on competing and allowed many teams to out power us. The good footballing sides were few and far between - I agree that Rochdale were very good and have been for a few seasons and yes- a joy to watch and I would very much like to watch a Rovers side playing this way HOWEVER at the present time we don't have the players to play that way and the three layers we need to start playing that way will be hard to come by.
We can hope that Balanta will be one of those players but until we can get a player taking the chances we do create then we will always be playing nervously and under pressure. Lincoln away was the best I have seen us play this season and the football was very good and we could have been 4 up but we didn't take the opportunities and allowed them back in the game- telford however we matched them at THEIR game and didn't allow them back in it and won nastily but it still got us 3 points and INO we never really looked in danger of losing.
If we continue to pick up points at the rate we have been we will be in the mix at the end and that, in our first season will be a good season for Daryl Clarke. If we can pick up a good attacking midfielder and a goalscorer I have no doubt we could win this League and again as I have said if we do this we would be foolish to wave Clarke goodbye.
If any of our previous recent Managers had produced the points return that Daryl has achieved so far they would still be here!!
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Post by markczgas on Nov 6, 2014 10:59:57 GMT
I beg to differ but that's what football is about. You interestingly mention Woking as playing football and yet we beat them AND they lost at home to Telford the week before we beat Telford. The problem with playing Football is that you can also go too far the other way and play too much football and I would put Exeter into that category and I tend to recall that we actually beat them at home last season too!!! You have to earn the right to play football and that is what we didn't do last season- we didn't match our opponents on effort and most of the time on competing and allowed many teams to out power us. The good footballing sides were few and far between - I agree that Rochdale were very good and have been for a few seasons and yes- a joy to watch and I would very much like to watch a Rovers side playing this way HOWEVER at the present time we don't have the players to play that way and the three layers we need to start playing that way will be hard to come by. We can hope that Balanta will be one of those players but until we can get a player taking the chances we do create then we will always be playing nervously and under pressure. Lincoln away was the best I have seen us play this season and the football was very good and we could have been 4 up but we didn't take the opportunities and allowed them back in the game- telford however we matched them at THEIR game and didn't allow them back in it and won nastily but it still got us 3 points and INO we never really looked in danger of losing. If we continue to pick up points at the rate we have been we will be in the mix at the end and that, in our first season will be a good season for Daryl Clarke. If we can pick up a good attacking midfielder and a goalscorer I have no doubt we could win this League and again as I have said if we do this we would be foolish to wave Clarke goodbye. If any of our previous recent Managers had produced the points return that Daryl has achieved so far they would still be here!! Disagree with you again about last season - we did match teams when Ward was in charge. In the middle part, particularly at Home. we were strong and fit and beat some good teams. As soon as Gow got injured we had nothing left to offer as an attacking force and then we were content in Ward's ultra defensive tactics to squeeze out draws. You said quite rightly you have to earn the right to play football - but in my eyes we don't do this - not in the last couple of months anyway. We don't look to dictate the play - we sit too deep and our forwards are not causing any problems in open play. As regards results - Woking and Exeter - you can always pick out results here and there - I am trying to make a general point . I would think that you agree with me that our performances have been getting worse for quite a while ? What concerns me is that Clarke has started to adopt a safety first approach with our play (echoes of last season !) and players form has deteriorated - Lockyer for me isn't anywhere near his level last season but doing an ok job at Right back and Ollie Clarke too - doesn't seem to have any confidence with his passing. I hope you are right about signings but bringing in a good forward won't act as a miracle unless DC gets the whole team playing better than they have been lately. Cheers for your views as ever ! |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 6, 2014 13:11:23 GMT
must be a sign of progress when people are moaning about 1-0 wins
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Post by markczgas on Nov 6, 2014 13:46:41 GMT
must be a sign of progress when people are moaning about 1-0 wins It is The Conference and we are playing against several part-time clubs. |
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Post by socrates on Nov 6, 2014 14:54:54 GMT
When Sinclair plays we get the ball down and play more football.
He is the only player in our squad that has that calm look about him when he's in possession.
That's forgivable because we're a non league side but what we really need is at least one more player in the squad who doesn't panick in possession if we're going to start playing some tidy stuff.
We've missed the beard but we are still 4th so I think we've missed him in terms of entertainment as much as anything.
I'd take promotion in any form so I'm not complaining but the more we mix it up and don't just hoof it the better chance we've got if going up I reckon.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 6, 2014 15:16:49 GMT
Couldn't say it better myself. www.bristolpost.co.uk/Bristol-Rovers-boss-Darrell-Clarke-defends/story-24309046-detail/story.htmlBristol Rovers boss Darrell Clarke had leapt to the defence of his players against those who were critical of the way they performed in a scrappy 1-0 victory at AFC Telford United last weekend. Ollie Clarke’s second-half goal proved decisive in a turgid game against the Vanarama Conference’s lowest-ranked side, but the manager said: “I get a bit frustrated that people are expecting us to win three or four nil at Telford. “How did (leaders) Barnet get on at Telford? They drew 2-2; how did (promotion-chasing) Woking get on at Telford? They lost 3-1. It was a great win as far as I am concerned and I have to protect of my players because I think it is unfair that people are expecting them to play these teams off the park every week. “The club has changed and we are where we are. I want us to play better football at times, but when you are up against a packed midfield and space is at a premium you have to earn the right to win football matches first and foremost. ADVERTISEMENT “You have to look at the bigger picture sometimes and I think the players deserve massive credit for the way they are going about their business. It’s us against the world, that’s how I am trying to build it down here. “We don’t really care what people want to write in papers or on forums, we are not interested. We’ll just keep going and we’ll keep focused and that is the way it will be all season whether we are on a good run or a bad run.” Read more: www.bristolpost.co.uk/Bristol-Rovers-boss-Darrell-Clarke-defends/story-24309046-detail/story.html#ixzz3IImPjTuSFollow us: @bristolpost on Twitter | bristolpost on Facebook |
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Post by rocknrollaayatollah on Nov 6, 2014 15:20:44 GMT
Couldn't say it better myself. www.bristolpost.co.uk/Bristol-Rovers-boss-Darrell-Clarke-defends/story-24309046-detail/story.htmlBristol Rovers boss Darrell Clarke had leapt to the defence of his players against those who were critical of the way they performed in a scrappy 1-0 victory at AFC Telford United last weekend. Ollie Clarke’s second-half goal proved decisive in a turgid game against the Vanarama Conference’s lowest-ranked side, but the manager said: “I get a bit frustrated that people are expecting us to win three or four nil at Telford. “How did (leaders) Barnet get on at Telford? They drew 2-2; how did (promotion-chasing) Woking get on at Telford? They lost 3-1. It was a great win as far as I am concerned and I have to protect of my players because I think it is unfair that people are expecting them to play these teams off the park every week. “The club has changed and we are where we are. I want us to play better football at times, but when you are up against a packed midfield and space is at a premium you have to earn the right to win football matches first and foremost. ADVERTISEMENT “You have to look at the bigger picture sometimes and I think the players deserve massive credit for the way they are going about their business. It’s us against the world, that’s how I am trying to build it down here. “We don’t really care what people want to write in papers or on forums, we are not interested. We’ll just keep going and we’ll keep focused and that is the way it will be all season whether we are on a good run or a bad run.” Read more: www.bristolpost.co.uk/Bristol-Rovers-boss-Darrell-Clarke-defends/story-24309046-detail/story.html#ixzz3IImPjTuSFollow us: @bristolpost on Twitter | bristolpost on Facebook Yeah I totally agree. Odds on a critical reply from markczgas? |
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Post by Jon the Stripe on Nov 6, 2014 16:13:00 GMT
Gonna have to swim against the tide here guy's, sorry but that interview is part of the reason i'm still not sure about DC long term. As i've said before i'm right behind him and hope he proves to be our greatest manager ever, but purely in my own opinion still got niggling doubts. UTG
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Post by Deleted on Nov 6, 2014 16:16:52 GMT
Gonna have to swim against the tide here guy's, sorry but that interview is part of the reason i'm still not sure about DC long term. As i've said before i'm right behind him and hope he proves to be our greatest manager ever, but purely in my own opinion still got niggling doubts. UTG What's wrong with what he has said there John? |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 6, 2014 16:18:17 GMT
I think its a massive shame he has had to write it to be honest. We won the game. We are right in the mix.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 6, 2014 16:18:37 GMT
Gonna have to swim against the tide here guy's, sorry but that interview is part of the reason i'm still not sure about DC long term. As i've said before i'm right behind him and hope he proves to be our greatest manager ever, but purely in my own opinion still got niggling doubts. UTG Never apologise for having an opinion! Gotta say though I do love a "Bunker Mentality" in football. Have long appreciated Mourinho for it as it's what he does best, it's also what Ferguson did before him. Not comparing Clarke to the two (he's way better innit) but it's the best way to handle this year I feel. Take the pressure off the players as much as possible by trying to empthasise that people are against you. No better way to motivate than that, in my opinion. |
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Post by Jon the Stripe on Nov 6, 2014 16:28:04 GMT
Guy's i'm not dissing anyone else's opinion and i'm not even dissing DC. I won't go into too much cause Darrells getting results and doing a good job in very difficult circumstances. It's just a worry i have that i hope will go away in time. I don't want to argue on here or appear negative cause anyone who knows me knows i get behind the team and manager fully. I also take every opportunity to meet Darrell and ask tough questions to him and he always answers with dignity and respect.
I repeat though, Darrell's doing a good job, he's doing what i would say "Needs to be done" to get results and hopefully Promotion, which by the way i think we will achieve first time of asking. UTG
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Post by Deleted on Nov 6, 2014 16:40:25 GMT
Guy's i'm not dissing anyone else's opinion and i'm not even dissing DC. I won't go into too much cause Darrells getting results and doing a good job in very difficult circumstances. It's just a worry i have that i hope will go away in time. I don't want to argue on here or appear negative cause anyone who knows me knows i get behind the team and manager fully. I also take every opportunity to meet Darrell and ask tough questions to him and he always answers with dignity and respect. I repeat though, Darrell's doing a good job, he's doing what i would say "Needs to be done" to get results and hopefully Promotion, which by the way i think we will achieve first time of asking. UTG Well, that clears that up.  |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 6, 2014 17:56:22 GMT
Guy's i'm not dissing anyone else's opinion and i'm not even dissing DC. I won't go into too much cause Darrells getting results and doing a good job in very difficult circumstances. It's just a worry i have that i hope will go away in time. I don't want to argue on here or appear negative cause anyone who knows me knows i get behind the team and manager fully. I also take every opportunity to meet Darrell and ask tough questions to him and he always answers with dignity and respect. I repeat though, Darrell's doing a good job, he's doing what i would say "Needs to be done" to get results and hopefully Promotion, which by the way i think we will achieve first time of asking. UTG Actually, even thinking about signing Lee Hughes makes me seriously doubt DC. Which is a shame because I was just starting like him. |
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