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Post by mehewmagic on May 22, 2015 15:18:58 GMT
Forgive my un-Rovers’ like positivity but I don’t understand some of the negativity surrounding our manager and our new players. Whether you call it cabin fever, sun stroke, or the continued depression from four dreadful seasons at Rovers; I call most of it plain unhelpful. Maybe it is too Utopian of me, but wouldn’t it be lovely if we could peacefully welcome new players with open arms and judge them when they actually step on a blade of grass, rather than via a quick foray onto Wikipedia?
I can appreciate that some feel the managerial vacancy should have been put out to tender, but Darrell Clarke is the boss now so it would be rational to give the guy a fair chance. Darrell achieved two promotions in three seasons as a player-manager with Salisbury City, and did very well in several Cup competitions, so I’ve been surprised to see this labelled a tin pot achievement by some, with the logic presented being that they were a relatively big fish in a little pond. Yes, but success is never a gimme at any level of the football pyramid and numerous experienced managers and/or big budgets have failed to get ‘big’ teams promoted. Darrell may ‘only’ have four years managerial experience, but apart from the memory that ‘Ollie had zero and Gerry Francis only one disastrous season at Exeter, surely what really matters is that he DID actually achieve this success, and that many of the managerial responsibilities he obviously coped with well at The Whites, such as recruitment, contracts, training sessions, tactics, fitness, motivation, research, human dynamics, and his own relationship with his Board of Directors, will, to some degree, be similar at any level of football. A winner is a winner at any altitude.
In fact, when analysing those three seasons, gaining promotion through the play-offs both times showed immense character and a winning mentality. His team, which he was physically at the heart of, could handle pressure and never gave up. They weren’t the best team in the league for either season but still dragged themselves over the finish line. In 2010/11 Clarke and Mikey Harris were thrown in the deep end after the clubs financial problems and double relegation. The Whites suffered a poor finish to the league season, yet still won the play-offs, against teams in better form than them, both of whom had already beaten them during the regular season. 2012/13 saw the opposite mode of pressure, as they had long dominated 2nd spot and a weight of expectation hung around their necks.
On the pitch at Rovers there simply isn’t enough evidence to have any strong opinion on him yet. Having just eight games, after the transfer window had closed, plus a suspension and injuries, was not enough to begin to judge him. Blaming Clarke for relegation is like holding Gerald Ford responsible for the Vietnam war.
Off the pitch Darrell’s quest for human and financial discipline, and the pursuit of hungry non-league players, is admirable for our present state. In 2011 we temporarily had a gruff Northerner as a manager who was going to shake the club up after the gluttonous conclusion of Paul Trollope‘s reign. If the Board hadn’t lost their bottle by sacking Dave Penney two months into the job, we probably wouldn’t be where we are today. The only thing worse in life than not having any morals and discipline, is discovering some and then chucking them out of the window at the first sign of tribulation. Even if we had still gone down under Penney that season I suspect he could still have shook the club out of its ineffective slumber off the pitch and at least laid some groundwork for a brighter future on the pitch. Dare I even offer up a prospective comparison to Ian Atkins at this point? A man often viewed as dislikeable, but a manager who stopped the rot of the early Noughties and whose squad became the backbone of the wondrous double finalists of the 2006/07 season.
‘Player power’ famously helped oust Martin Dobson in 1991 and also Penney two decades later, propelling them both into the record books as the two shortest lived permanent Rovers managers ever (merely 12 and 13 games respectively). I dearly hope that this dubious honour is never allowed to transpire again.
I’m not suggesting that Penney, or Clarke, are the best managers since sliced bread, but at least they are individuals who could leave a lasting legacy of human and financial discipline within the club, rather than all the other managers who left us with the futile status quo intact. After saying ‘thank you very much’ when offered a fat budget and minimal interference, they proceeded to bring in crocks, and hand out lardy 3 year contracts to 30 year old also-rans and 19 year old kids who’d had a couple of good games. This method was known as ’here’s a gold plated spade, now go and dig a big hole with it’, and it needlessly kept alive the unhealthy reputation Rovers had of offering big salaries with scant performance related clauses, coupled with a poor fitness and injury record, and spineless internal discipline.
I am therefore rather exasperated with unhealthy criticism of ROVERS players who most people have never even seen kick a ball. Most Gasheads asked for some younger, hungrier, attack minded players and we seem to have signed several of those, and they all appear genuinely motivated to be here. That enthusiasm should not be taken for granted. If you’ve ever had a job you don’t really like, you’ll know how harmful it can be on your performance. Many wanted a few old heads down the spine of the team, and surely we potentially have that with the ‘M’ team; Mildenhall, McChrystal, Mansell & Monkhouse.
I’m not a ‘happy clapper’. I realise this disciplined approach may not result in an immediately competitive squad for the Conference. BUT I will try to be patient and I will let our players do their talking on the pitch, and at least when I’m asked who I support I can now look a person in the eyes and say, ok, we may be down in the dumps for the time being, but we’ve found a bit of backbone and aren’t a pushover for washed up players or indifferent managers anymore.
Now, if only we can bring about world peace as well…
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 22, 2015 15:33:48 GMT
Forgive my un-Rovers’ like positivity but I don’t understand some of the negativity surrounding our manager and our new players. Whether you call it cabin fever, sun stroke, or the continued depression from four dreadful seasons at Rovers; I call most of it plain unhelpful. Maybe it is too Utopian of me, but wouldn’t it be lovely if we could peacefully welcome new players with open arms and judge them when they actually step on a blade of grass, rather than via a quick foray onto Wikipedia? I can appreciate that some feel the managerial vacancy should have been put out to tender, but Darrell Clarke is the boss now so it would be rational to give the guy a fair chance. Darrell achieved two promotions in three seasons as a player-manager with Salisbury City, and did very well in several Cup competitions, so I’ve been surprised to see this labelled a tin pot achievement by some, with the logic presented being that they were a relatively big fish in a little pond. Yes, but success is never a gimme at any level of the football pyramid and numerous experienced managers and/or big budgets have failed to get ‘big’ teams promoted. Darrell may ‘only’ have four years managerial experience, but apart from the memory that ‘Ollie had zero and Gerry Francis only one disastrous season at Exeter, surely what really matters is that he DID actually achieve this success, and that many of the managerial responsibilities he obviously coped with well at The Whites, such as recruitment, contracts, training sessions, tactics, fitness, motivation, research, human dynamics, and his own relationship with his Board of Directors, will, to some degree, be similar at any level of football. A winner is a winner at any altitude. In fact, when analysing those three seasons, gaining promotion through the play-offs both times showed immense character and a winning mentality. His team, which he was physically at the heart of, could handle pressure and never gave up. They weren’t the best team in the league for either season but still dragged themselves over the finish line. In 2010/11 Clarke and Mikey Harris were thrown in the deep end after the clubs financial problems and double relegation. The Whites suffered a poor finish to the league season, yet still won the play-offs, against teams in better form than them, both of whom had already beaten them during the regular season. 2012/13 saw the opposite mode of pressure, as they had long dominated 2nd spot and a weight of expectation hung around their necks. On the pitch at Rovers there simply isn’t enough evidence to have any strong opinion on him yet. Having just eight games, after the transfer window had closed, plus a suspension and injuries, was not enough to begin to judge him. Blaming Clarke for relegation is like holding Gerald Ford responsible for the Vietnam war. Off the pitch Darrell’s quest for human and financial discipline, and the pursuit of hungry non-league players, is admirable for our present state. In 2011 we temporarily had a gruff Northerner as a manager who was going to shake the club up after the gluttonous conclusion of Paul Trollope‘s reign. If the Board hadn’t lost their bottle by sacking Dave Penney two months into the job, we probably wouldn’t be where we are today. The only thing worse in life than not having any morals and discipline, is discovering some and then chucking them out of the window at the first sign of tribulation. Even if we had still gone down under Penney that season I suspect he could still have shook the club out of its ineffective slumber off the pitch and at least laid some groundwork for a brighter future on the pitch. Dare I even offer up a prospective comparison to Ian Atkins at this point? A man often viewed as dislikeable, but a manager who stopped the rot of the early Noughties and whose squad became the backbone of the wondrous double finalists of the 2006/07 season. ‘Player power’ famously helped oust Martin Dobson in 1991 and also Penney two decades later, propelling them both into the record books as the two shortest lived permanent Rovers managers ever (merely 12 and 13 games respectively). I dearly hope that this dubious honour is never allowed to transpire again. I’m not suggesting that Penney, or Clarke, are the best managers since sliced bread, but at least they are individuals who could leave a lasting legacy of human and financial discipline within the club, rather than all the other managers who left us with the futile status quo intact. After saying ‘thank you very much’ when offered a fat budget and minimal interference, they proceeded to bring in crocks, and hand out lardy 3 year contracts to 30 year old also-rans and 19 year old kids who’d had a couple of good games. This method was known as ’here’s a gold plated spade, now go and dig a big hole with it’, and it needlessly kept alive the unhealthy reputation Rovers had of offering big salaries with scant performance related clauses, coupled with a poor fitness and injury record, and spineless internal discipline. I am therefore rather exasperated with unhealthy criticism of ROVERS players who most people have never even seen kick a ball. Most Gasheads asked for some younger, hungrier, attack minded players and we seem to have signed several of those, and they all appear genuinely motivated to be here. That enthusiasm should not be taken for granted. If you’ve ever had a job you don’t really like, you’ll know how harmful it can be on your performance. Many wanted a few old heads down the spine of the team, and surely we potentially have that with the ‘M’ team; Mildenhall, McChrystal, Mansell & Monkhouse. I’m not a ‘happy clapper’. I realise this disciplined approach may not result in an immediately competitive squad for the Conference. BUT I will try to be patient and I will let our players do their talking on the pitch, and at least when I’m asked who I support I can now look a person in the eyes and say, ok, we may be down in the dumps for the time being, but we’ve found a bit of backbone and aren’t a pushover for washed up players or indifferent managers anymore. Now, if only we can bring about world peace as well… Am I in some sort of timewarp or
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 22, 2015 15:45:14 GMT
Quantum Leap!
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Post by Antonio Fargas on May 22, 2015 15:47:58 GMT
Forgive my un-Rovers’ like positivity but I don’t understand some of the negativity surrounding our manager and our new players. Whether you call it cabin fever, sun stroke, or the continued depression from four dreadful seasons at Rovers; I call most of it plain unhelpful. Maybe it is too Utopian of me, but wouldn’t it be lovely if we could peacefully welcome new players with open arms and judge them when they actually step on a blade of grass, rather than via a quick foray onto Wikipedia?
I can appreciate that some feel the managerial vacancy should have been put out to tender, but Darrell Clarke is the boss now so it would be rational to give the guy a fair chance. Darrell achieved two promotions in three seasons as a player-manager with Salisbury City, and did very well in several Cup competitions, so I’ve been surprised to see this labelled a tin pot achievement by some, with the logic presented being that they were a relatively big fish in a little pond. Yes, but success is never a gimme at any level of the football pyramid and numerous experienced managers and/or big budgets have failed to get ‘big’ teams promoted.
Darrell may ‘only’ have four years managerial experience, but apart from the memory that ‘Ollie had zero and Gerry Francis only one disastrous season at Exeter, surely what really matters is that he DID actually achieve this success, and that many of the managerial responsibilities he obviously coped with well at The Whites, such as recruitment, contracts, training sessions, tactics, fitness, motivation, research, human dynamics, and his own relationship with his Board of Directors, will, to some degree, be similar at any level of football. A winner is a winner at any altitude.
In fact, when analysing those three seasons, gaining promotion through the play-offs both times showed immense character and a winning mentality. His team, which he was physically at the heart of, could handle pressure and never gave up. They weren’t the best team in the league for either season but still dragged themselves over the finish line. In 2010/11 Clarke and Mikey Harris were thrown in the deep end after the clubs financial problems and double relegation. The Whites suffered a poor finish to the league season, yet still won the play-offs, against teams in better form than them, both of whom had already beaten them during the regular season. 2012/13 saw the opposite mode of pressure, as they had long dominated 2nd spot and a weight of expectation hung around their necks.
On the pitch at Rovers there simply isn’t enough evidence to have any strong opinion on him yet. Having just eight games, after the transfer window had closed, plus a suspension and injuries, was not enough to begin to judge him. Blaming Clarke for relegation is like holding Gerald Ford responsible for the Vietnam war.
Off the pitch Darrell’s quest for human and financial discipline, and the pursuit of hungry non-league players, is admirable for our present state. In 2011 we temporarily had a gruff Northerner as a manager who was going to shake the club up after the gluttonous conclusion of Paul Trollope‘s reign. If the Board hadn’t lost their bottle by sacking Dave Penney two months into the job, we probably wouldn’t be where we are today. The only thing worse in life than not having any morals and discipline, is discovering some and then chucking them out of the window at the first sign of tribulation. Even if we had still gone down under Penney that season I suspect he could still have shook the club out of its ineffective slumber off the pitch and at least laid some groundwork for a brighter future on the pitch. Dare I even offer up a prospective comparison to Ian Atkins at this point? A man often viewed as dislikeable, but a manager who stopped the rot of the early Noughties and whose squad became the backbone of the wondrous double finalists of the 2006/07 season.
‘Player power’ famously helped oust Martin Dobson in 1991 and also Penney two decades later, propelling them both into the record books as the two shortest lived permanent Rovers managers ever (merely 12 and 13 games respectively). I dearly hope that this dubious honour is never allowed to transpire again.
I’m not suggesting that Penney, or Clarke, are the best managers since sliced bread, but at least they are individuals who could leave a lasting legacy of human and financial discipline within the club, rather than all the other managers who left us with the futile status quo intact. After saying ‘thank you very much’ when offered a fat budget and minimal interference, they proceeded to bring in crocks, and hand out lardy 3 year contracts to 30 year old also-rans and 19 year old kids who’d had a couple of good games. This method was known as ’here’s a gold plated spade, now go and dig a big hole with it’, and it needlessly kept alive the unhealthy reputation Rovers had of offering big salaries with scant performance related clauses, coupled with a poor fitness and injury record, and spineless internal discipline.
I am therefore rather exasperated with unhealthy criticism of ROVERS players who most people have never even seen kick a ball. Most Gasheads asked for some younger, hungrier, attack minded players and we seem to have signed several of those, and they all appear genuinely motivated to be here. That enthusiasm should not be taken for granted. If you’ve ever had a job you don’t really like, you’ll know how harmful it can be on your performance. Many wanted a few old heads down the spine of the team, and surely we potentially have that with the ‘M’ team; Mildenhall, McChrystal, Mansell & Monkhouse.
I’m not a ‘happy clapper’. I realise this disciplined approach may not result in an immediately competitive squad for the Conference. BUT I will try to be patient and I will let our players do their talking on the pitch, and at least when I’m asked who I support I can now look a person in the eyes and say, ok, we may be down in the dumps for the time being, but we’ve found a bit of backbone and aren’t a pushover for washed up players or indifferent managers anymore.
Now, if only we can bring about world peace as well…
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on May 22, 2015 16:06:01 GMT
Somewhere in Wiltshire .....
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Post by tumshie on May 22, 2015 17:11:51 GMT
Get in there Mansell you beauty!
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Post by Jon the Stripe on May 22, 2015 17:45:07 GMT
Somewhere in Wiltshire ..... It works......Just seen Mehew Magic, you are not gonna believe this
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Post by billygas on May 22, 2015 17:58:45 GMT
Somewhere in Wiltshire ..... It works......Just seen Mehew Magic, you are not gonna believe this LOVE IT JON
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Post by mehewmagic on May 22, 2015 18:22:53 GMT
Has anyone got a spare mansfield ticket?
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Post by RD on May 23, 2015 10:51:37 GMT
When will tier 2 be opened?
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Post by mehewmagic on May 23, 2015 15:14:52 GMT
Forgive my un-Rovers’ like positivity but... Am I in some sort of timewarp or Yes. July 2014 timewarp.
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