Using the powers of the social networking site Twitter, I decided to ask for YOUR opinions on the goings-on at Doncaster Rovers this season. Plenty of people gave mixed opinions, as I expected.
The first question was: ‘What do you think about Doncaster Rovers’ experiment, and what do you think went wrong?’ Here are a few replies to this:
Jordan Saunders (@jordltfc, Luton Town fan) - “too much 'short term' thinking and no planning for the future. Reckon two seasons or maybe 3 before they get back up”
Adam Cox (@adamcoxdrfc, Rovers fan) - “it's horrendous, players aren't good enough and we're just going to lose money. Saunders and McKay have relegated us”
Sean Buckett (@BuckettRFC, Reading fan) - “You lost Billy Sharp mate. Simple... One man doesn't make a team but I reckon if he was still at Donny you'd have a much better chance of staying up.”
Tony Greenall (@TonyCSGreenall, Rovers fan) - “I disagree with the principle of it. Agents shouldn't be so deeply and directly involved with clubs... Also, despite bringing a few good players like Diouf, it's a collection of individuals rather than building a team.”
The four replies I have chosen are all different, yet similar in a way. Have you noticed anything similar between them all? You probably spotted it straight away, as I did. They all appear to be negative. I don’t recall receiving a single tweet saying anything positive about it. First, let’s take a look at the two fans that support a different team, Jordan and Sean. I agree with both of them, and I think it would be hard not to, as both make a valid point.
Jordan states that there was too much short-term thinking and no plans for the future, which is entirely correct. Once the board had decided that the beginning of the season was simply not good enough, and that if it carried on that way we would get nowhere, they seemed to panic. They appointed Dean Saunders on a three-year contract, and once Willie McKay got in touch, decided that it could be the only chance of survival in the Championship for this season, at least. We continuously brought in players on short-term contracts, ranging from 2 months to 6 months. I remember the Chairman, John Ryan, saying that should we be relegated, the experiment would probably be stopped. But what if we stay up? Would we carry on with it? That remains to be seen.
Now onto Sean, who believes that the departure of Billy Sharp is where it all went wrong. I’m sure many, if not all, football fans would agree with him. We certainly went ‘off the boil’ when he left, and we haven’t had a prolific goal-scorer since!
Diouf being the closest with 6 goals, and Kyle Bennett, who is regularly not in the starting eleven, with 5. Not a very good impression so far, is it?
Adam believes the whole thing is horrendous, and that the involvement of Saunders and McKay has relegated us. I wouldn’t go that far, but the scheme has definitely not won over many fans with the position we are in. In terms of losing money, yes, we would, and quite a lot. As far as I know, if we get relegated, we would lose about £5-6 million in TV revenue. This is a lot of money we’re talking about, and with John Ryan being branded the ‘Last Man Standing’ it’s going to be even harder for us to become financially stable and then maintain the stability.
Tony is worried about just how deeply involved McKay is with the club. He also makes a very good point that we have brought in good individuals, rather than building a good team. Having good players does not necessarily mean that they will be a good team. QPR spring to mind. They have some players of a very high quality, yet are fighting for their lives in the Premier League. That’s certainly the case at Doncaster Rovers too.
My second question was: ‘Also, League 1 seems almost inevitable – how do you think Doncaster Rovers will do?’ Here are a couple of opinions on this:
Mark Donnelly (@markdonncufc, Carlisle United fan) - “Rovers will consolidate next season, not good enough for promotion.”
Matthew Turner (@MattTurnerRTID, Rovers fan) - “We’ll have a similar season to what Scunthorpe have had this season. 3 maybe 4 seasons before we go up again.”
I don’t think we’ll get promoted straight away either. Building a team to adapt to a lower level, and that will play at a lower level, and are able to compete for a promotion push will take time for us. In some ways, we will strengthen. Possibly more chemistry between the players, that ‘team ethic’ and hopefully a goal-scorer! One word I heard mentioned was ‘sacrifice’. Relegation would most certainly mean the loss of players from the experiment, such as Diouf and Chimbonda. But so long as I see a team that has been built up and prepared to play good football next season, I’ll be happy. We will have to see how it all pans out come this summer.
Thanks to those who contributed.
Written by Liam Oliver
Feel free to follow me on twitter (@drfcliam24) and any feedback is appreciated.
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