Unsung Heroes of Promotion
Jun 13, 2015 11:25:06 GMT
Antonio Fargas, glostergas, and 5 more like this
Post by mehewmagic on Jun 13, 2015 11:25:06 GMT
This will be on the Bristol Post website at some point soon.
G is for Gas blog
Unsung Heroes of Promotion - Part 1
by Martin Bull
Over the next few weeks, amidst a dearth of transfer news and a player exodus to sunny climes
unrivalled since the Israelites several millennia ago, I’ll have a look at some of the (relatively) unsung
heroes of our promotion season.
To hear that Lee Brown, our longest serving senior player (yes, and only 24 years old) is contracted again to
stay for our return to League Two got me scrabbling for the paragraphs I wrote about him this time last
year, when I offered the opinion that Browner staying with the Pirates was the first fragment of
genuinely excellent player news we had had since relegation. When I think of the attributes I want in a
player he ticks all the boxes, including my slightly eccentric one about players not posting fatuous
drivel on twitter or Facebook. Lee has recently signed up to twitter, but his front page photo still may
as well be a picture of tumbleweed rolling across a deserted Mid-West road, and long may that
continue.
Mr. Brown seems to be an increasingly rare example of a young, modern day footballer who shuns the
limelight and silly haircuts and just gets on with the job. No whinging, no bad discipline and silly fouls,
and no salacious rumours about his personal life. Fit, healthy, never injured, properly left footed,
honest, and loyal; what more can a fan want? Lee also has an eye for a goal, can execute excellent
free kicks and corners, and can even take penalties, admittedly with varying success on that front.
Given that he had missed his two previous pens, stepping up to be one the first five takers at
Wembley just about summed up the man’s rock-solid character.
Lee already has almost 200 appearances as a Pirate and has missed only a handful of games since
being brought to us by the much maligned Paul Buckle. His exceptional three year partnership with
Michael Smith suggests Buckle had more of a talent for spotting defenders than he did the splendid
attributes of Bristolians. His first season saw him play 48 games, contribute seven goals and receive
only three yellow cards. His next two seasons contributed 90 games, five goals and only five yellows,
and after loyally staying with us following relegation he managed 47 games last season, two goals, not
a card in sight and a squad leading nine assists. His seven assists for the 2013/14 season were also
the highest in the squad, far more than Michael Smith’s trio from the other side, just like his nine this
season unquestionably outshone Tom Lockyer and Daniel Leadbitter combined on the right hand
flank, with only a brace between them.
Most of us loyal Gasheads, myself included, will never really know how much credit the back-room
staff deserve for last season, but it wouldn’t be a wild stab in the dark to proffer some unsung
accolades in the direction of Steve Yates and Marcus Stewart.
Although Scooter returned to his first love in 2013 as a ‘mere’ kit-man, it always seemed like a
strangely under-whelming job proposal to be able to tempt an ex-Premier League player back from
living abroad, and that maybe something else was bubbling under the surface of his Rovers return. It
was therefore no surprise when he was later given the extra title of ‘Defensive Coach’ and although
we may not know how much influence he had on this promotion team, 39 goals conceded in 52
games is unlikely to be a mere co-incidence.
As a muck about tough tackling centre back myself, forced to develop vision and positional sense to
make up for less pace and height than Wee Jimmy Krankie, Steve Yates would be my role model as a
centre back, the swift footed foil to the craggy solidity of Geoff Twentyman. But given that Yatesy
never scored a goal for Rovers in 238 sublime appearances, it suggests that someone else may need
to take some credit for Rovers’ ever improving attacking ability last season.
If Steve Yates was the most talented defender I’ve ever seen in 26 years of supporting the Gas,
Marco van Stewart was indisputably the most talented attacker. I will never forget his 1991 debut in a
Rovers shirt, seven stone dripping wet, 3-0 down in the second half and up against the Nephilim
defenders of Ipswich Town, the team who by the end of that season had won what is now called the
Championship. Instead of complaining about the rough-house tactics and playing into their hands,
Stewie gave a performance akin to a shooting guard in basketball, going underneath the towering,
lumbering centre backs and bagging his first ever League goal. A swift pair from ‘Bruno’ and Rovers,
in Martin Dobson’s first game as manager, had bravely fought back to 3-3. A star was born that very
day, and his divinity was cemented just six days later when he scored a brace at Prenton Park,
grasping the ball in the absence of Vaughan Jones to take a last minute pressure penalty to gain
another important point.
Whilst Marcus has never been much of a scholar or a talker, Darrell Clarke sent him out to face the
press more than ever before, and it seems rather unlikely that Rovers’ enhanced attacking prowess,
and slicker passing play last season, didn‘t include a large dollop of Stewie‘s glory days within this
recipe for success. Indeed it was always a mystery to Gasheads how our relegation season produced
such blunt, insipid football, when we had Darrell (an attacking midfielder with over 60 career goals)
and Stewie behind the scenes. The only logical conclusion seemed to be that John Ward had forgot
that he himself was a potent striker in his own era, bagging a century of goals in less than 300 games,
and curtailed the attacking sensibilities that oozed behind the scenes, with well over 400 career goals
shared between that trio.
The moral of the story seems to be to let people be good at what they are good at. No rocket
scientists were harmed in the making of this promotion season, but quite a few stars were certainly
born.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Martin Bull became a Gashead in 1989 and immediately fell in love with Twerton Park, standing near
G pillar. In 2006 he wrote, photographed and published the first independent book about the artist
Banksy. Having been exiled for much of his past, away games have always been special for him; so
much so that with 40 other fans has published a new book about them - www.awaythegas.org.uk
G is for Gas blog
Unsung Heroes of Promotion - Part 1
by Martin Bull
Over the next few weeks, amidst a dearth of transfer news and a player exodus to sunny climes
unrivalled since the Israelites several millennia ago, I’ll have a look at some of the (relatively) unsung
heroes of our promotion season.
To hear that Lee Brown, our longest serving senior player (yes, and only 24 years old) is contracted again to
stay for our return to League Two got me scrabbling for the paragraphs I wrote about him this time last
year, when I offered the opinion that Browner staying with the Pirates was the first fragment of
genuinely excellent player news we had had since relegation. When I think of the attributes I want in a
player he ticks all the boxes, including my slightly eccentric one about players not posting fatuous
drivel on twitter or Facebook. Lee has recently signed up to twitter, but his front page photo still may
as well be a picture of tumbleweed rolling across a deserted Mid-West road, and long may that
continue.
Mr. Brown seems to be an increasingly rare example of a young, modern day footballer who shuns the
limelight and silly haircuts and just gets on with the job. No whinging, no bad discipline and silly fouls,
and no salacious rumours about his personal life. Fit, healthy, never injured, properly left footed,
honest, and loyal; what more can a fan want? Lee also has an eye for a goal, can execute excellent
free kicks and corners, and can even take penalties, admittedly with varying success on that front.
Given that he had missed his two previous pens, stepping up to be one the first five takers at
Wembley just about summed up the man’s rock-solid character.
Lee already has almost 200 appearances as a Pirate and has missed only a handful of games since
being brought to us by the much maligned Paul Buckle. His exceptional three year partnership with
Michael Smith suggests Buckle had more of a talent for spotting defenders than he did the splendid
attributes of Bristolians. His first season saw him play 48 games, contribute seven goals and receive
only three yellow cards. His next two seasons contributed 90 games, five goals and only five yellows,
and after loyally staying with us following relegation he managed 47 games last season, two goals, not
a card in sight and a squad leading nine assists. His seven assists for the 2013/14 season were also
the highest in the squad, far more than Michael Smith’s trio from the other side, just like his nine this
season unquestionably outshone Tom Lockyer and Daniel Leadbitter combined on the right hand
flank, with only a brace between them.
Most of us loyal Gasheads, myself included, will never really know how much credit the back-room
staff deserve for last season, but it wouldn’t be a wild stab in the dark to proffer some unsung
accolades in the direction of Steve Yates and Marcus Stewart.
Although Scooter returned to his first love in 2013 as a ‘mere’ kit-man, it always seemed like a
strangely under-whelming job proposal to be able to tempt an ex-Premier League player back from
living abroad, and that maybe something else was bubbling under the surface of his Rovers return. It
was therefore no surprise when he was later given the extra title of ‘Defensive Coach’ and although
we may not know how much influence he had on this promotion team, 39 goals conceded in 52
games is unlikely to be a mere co-incidence.
As a muck about tough tackling centre back myself, forced to develop vision and positional sense to
make up for less pace and height than Wee Jimmy Krankie, Steve Yates would be my role model as a
centre back, the swift footed foil to the craggy solidity of Geoff Twentyman. But given that Yatesy
never scored a goal for Rovers in 238 sublime appearances, it suggests that someone else may need
to take some credit for Rovers’ ever improving attacking ability last season.
If Steve Yates was the most talented defender I’ve ever seen in 26 years of supporting the Gas,
Marco van Stewart was indisputably the most talented attacker. I will never forget his 1991 debut in a
Rovers shirt, seven stone dripping wet, 3-0 down in the second half and up against the Nephilim
defenders of Ipswich Town, the team who by the end of that season had won what is now called the
Championship. Instead of complaining about the rough-house tactics and playing into their hands,
Stewie gave a performance akin to a shooting guard in basketball, going underneath the towering,
lumbering centre backs and bagging his first ever League goal. A swift pair from ‘Bruno’ and Rovers,
in Martin Dobson’s first game as manager, had bravely fought back to 3-3. A star was born that very
day, and his divinity was cemented just six days later when he scored a brace at Prenton Park,
grasping the ball in the absence of Vaughan Jones to take a last minute pressure penalty to gain
another important point.
Whilst Marcus has never been much of a scholar or a talker, Darrell Clarke sent him out to face the
press more than ever before, and it seems rather unlikely that Rovers’ enhanced attacking prowess,
and slicker passing play last season, didn‘t include a large dollop of Stewie‘s glory days within this
recipe for success. Indeed it was always a mystery to Gasheads how our relegation season produced
such blunt, insipid football, when we had Darrell (an attacking midfielder with over 60 career goals)
and Stewie behind the scenes. The only logical conclusion seemed to be that John Ward had forgot
that he himself was a potent striker in his own era, bagging a century of goals in less than 300 games,
and curtailed the attacking sensibilities that oozed behind the scenes, with well over 400 career goals
shared between that trio.
The moral of the story seems to be to let people be good at what they are good at. No rocket
scientists were harmed in the making of this promotion season, but quite a few stars were certainly
born.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Martin Bull became a Gashead in 1989 and immediately fell in love with Twerton Park, standing near
G pillar. In 2006 he wrote, photographed and published the first independent book about the artist
Banksy. Having been exiled for much of his past, away games have always been special for him; so
much so that with 40 other fans has published a new book about them - www.awaythegas.org.uk
