Fan's View - Bristol Rovers away

I always enjoy your reports Paul, whether I've been there or not, and this one was no exception.

Thanks, also, for your words regarding what we do at OxVox. Good to know we're appreciated by some, if not all, of the fanbase.
 
Thank you Paul, always good to have your perspective on my, usually tainted, opinion of the days entertainment!

Our pre-match activities involved another visit to "Grounded" a cafe with some very pretentious ambition to being a trendy eatery. (I really don't know why we bothered after last season!) As the driver I look forward to having a good greasy spoon type all day breakfast to compensate the lack of alcohol, you can imagine the look on Mrs Lounger's face when my panini with bacon, brie and cranberry arrived! She had a bacon sandwich (brown bread, thin sliced) so my choice of refreshment left her somewhat perplexed. (not that the bacon sandwich was much better)
It was an omen of what was to come. Nothing was quite right, the defence was not conceding but didn't look right. (who decided that Dickie played well?) Mackie was fortunate to be still on the pitch after his theatricals and constant whingeing. And, as you said, our midfield had decided that this was not the day to be prominent. I'm not sure we deserved a point as more Brizzle decided that we could have one given their recent form. The stewards in front of the seats were telling us that the first half was the best they'd seen from the home team in some time, the second half must have had them in rapture!
OxVox, yes, no easy task. However, the recent silence on the part of the committee has annoyed me. Yes, no news is good news but no communication at all from a fan's organisation is negligence in my opinion. By all means tell us that you cannot tell us but do not remain incommunicado.
 
Great read as always.

A few points . While do not understand vitriol towards our owners I like some others do have a large amount of distrust. I have no idea just what their long term plans are and what they are trying to do with regards to their own motivations). I do worry with what these people did at Reading and after so many rough times I am distrustful of nearly all our owners. My worry is this a property deal for them or do they genuinely want a successful football club (if so I am not sure they are paying enough attention to on field matters). Rome wasn't built in a day, but are these guys even building Rome?

As for the KR and the result of this game. I am still very concerned. A good point or 2 points dropped? Given or point total and what we now need to survive a single point here might be no use to us at all. I still struggle to see where the required 40 points are coming from. I still think we need a very good Jan windows reach comfortable mid table, and I am not convinced we will have it, or maybe can afford it. I hope I'm wrong and we start picking up the wins we need.

As for the current injuries are some of them so much a surprise? Hall I think we saw coming. Holmes has struggled for a while (otherwise why is out on loan). Obika is very unlucky but his time here and where he was previously was also blighted by injury. We have been unlucky with Eastwood , Baptiste etc, but are we so much worse than other teams. Have we relied way too much on injury prone players? Are there any failings in our training routine or medical staff? We don't know but I think there is a little more than just bad luck.
 
Great read as always.

A few points . While do not understand vitriol towards our owners I like some others do have a large amount of distrust. I have no idea just what their long term plans are and what they are trying to do with regards to their own motivations). I do worry with what these people did at Reading and after so many rough times I am distrustful of nearly all our owners. My worry is this a property deal for them or do they genuinely want a successful football club (if so I am not sure they are paying enough attention to on field matters). Rome wasn't built in a day, but are these guys even building Rome?

As for the KR and the result of this game. I am still very concerned. A good point or 2 points dropped? Given or point total and what we now need to survive a single point here might be no use to us at all. I still struggle to see where the required 40 points are coming from. I still think we need a very good Jan windows reach comfortable mid table, and I am not convinced we will have it, or maybe can afford it. I hope I'm wrong and we start picking up the wins we need.

As for the current injuries are some of them so much a surprise? Hall I think we saw coming. Holmes has struggled for a while (otherwise why is out on loan). Obika is very unlucky but his time here and where he was previously was also blighted by injury. We have been unlucky with Eastwood , Baptiste etc, but are we so much worse than other teams. Have we relied way too much on injury prone players? Are there any failings in our training routine or medical staff? We don't know but I think there is a little more than just bad luck.

I agree with everything you've said there.
 
Great read as always.

A few points . While do not understand vitriol towards our owners I like some others do have a large amount of distrust. I have no idea just what their long term plans are and what they are trying to do with regards to their own motivations). I do worry with what these people did at Reading and after so many rough times I am distrustful of nearly all our owners. My worry is this a property deal for them or do they genuinely want a successful football club (if so I am not sure they are paying enough attention to on field matters). Rome wasn't built in a day, but are these guys even building Rome?

As for the KR and the result of this game. I am still very concerned. A good point or 2 points dropped? Given or point total and what we now need to survive a single point here might be no use to us at all. I still struggle to see where the required 40 points are coming from. I still think we need a very good Jan windows reach comfortable mid table, and I am not convinced we will have it, or maybe can afford it. I hope I'm wrong and we start picking up the wins we need.

As for the current injuries are some of them so much a surprise? Hall I think we saw coming. Holmes has struggled for a while (otherwise why is out on loan). Obika is very unlucky but his time here and where he was previously was also blighted by injury. We have been unlucky with Eastwood , Baptiste etc, but are we so much worse than other teams. Have we relied way too much on injury prone players? Are there any failings in our training routine or medical staff? We don't know but I think there is a little more than just bad luck.

Only bit I dissagree with is the ' required 40 points' i think it is 50 in this league.
 
Very good as usual Paul.
With so many equally poor teams this season it could well be more than 50. Baptiste could be out for 6 months so may miss the rest of the season & Ricky Holmes' "mystery" back problems are not helpful. I do suspect that parent clubs have a big say as to when & for how long 'their' player plays.
 
I agree with everything you've said there.
Good post. I can’t help feeling that Saturday, after the feel good factor of sorts after Plymouth, was a bit of a step back. Especially the second half. From the moment Robinson took Browne off for Hanson it was obvious he’d set his stall out to sneak a point and get out. Any breaks we had after that had no conviction or belief to them and they just fizzled out. It was tedious at best and always a dangerous tactic. Mackie was dead on his feet for the last half hour he was on. We had the look of a team of walking wounded by the end. I was also really disappointed with what I saw from Carruthers, I know he’s probably rusty and needs time but I expected more from him. I thought Rovers looked a poor team and there for the taking against a decent team. I came away from the game more worried about our prospects than I was before the game started
 
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Very good as usual Paul.
With so many equally poor teams this season it could well be more than 50. Baptiste could be out for 6 months so may miss the rest of the season & Ricky Holmes' "mystery" back problems are not helpful. I do suspect that parent clubs have a big say as to when & for how long 'their' player plays.
No way is it likely to be more than 50.
With equally poor teams it could be less.
50 points will normally keep you up and I would be surprised if it didn't this season.
Where do you get Baptiste out for the season from?
 
No way is it likely to be more than 50.
With equally poor teams it could be less.
50 points will normally keep you up and I would be surprised if it didn't this season.
Where do you get Baptiste out for the season from?

I was wondering the same thing.
 
Good post. I can’t help feeling that Saturday, after the feel good factor of sorts after Plymouth, was a bit of a step back. Especially the second half. From the moment Robinson took Browne off for Hanson it was obvious he’d set his stall out to sneak a point and get out. Any breaks we had after that had no conviction or belief to them and they just fizzled out. It was tedious at best and always a dangerous tactic. Mackie was dead on his feet for the last half hour he was on. We had the look of a team of walking wounded by the end. I was also really disappointed with what I saw from Carruthers, I know he’s probably rusty and needs time but I expected more from him. I thought Rovers looked a poor team and there for the taking against a decent team. I came away from the game more worried about our prospects than I was before the game started

That was really my feeling too. And on further reflection have concluded it is even more so than I thought at the time.
 
I'm afraid that 10 points from a possible 42 with a team whose confidence is at best fragile, is not going to get any better without the correct changes being made now.
New management team please.
 
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