Reasons for optimism?

[scarjo]

I couldn't help but smile at the overly optimistic viewpoint suggested in the title of the report of yesterday’s away match at Barnsley (official Rovers site) : « Rovers suffer their first defeat away from home since October as a late goal for Barnsley seals the victory at Oakwell ». The truth of the matter is we’ve lost 5 and drawn 2 of the last 7 games, and we’re firmly entrenched in the battle to stave off relégation (3 points off the bottom 4). But then again, if we win all the remaining games, there's just an outside chance we'll been in the play-offs come the merry month of May...

[SilverTop60]

One way or another we have offloaded Jones, Wellens, Forrester, Main, Whitehouse, MacKenzie, Jack and Paul McKay since the season started and left us with a team that doesn't care anyway judging by recent performance in the last 6 league games. And N'Guessan may be next.

Any injuries now and Fergie will be playing in defence as we sink back towards the relegation zone, as we already are! I admit to being one of the people who laughed out loud when Ferguson mentioned promotion at the recent "meet the owners" evening at the Keepmoat. It was worth the drive from Sheffield to the Keepmoat for that laugh alone and Ferguson's shock.

It is clear we are no longer looking at promotion but how far we can stay away from the drop zone. The excitement we had when Ferguson settled in was short lived, and credit where it was due, was helped by wonderboy Keshi Anderson.

[roverkenco]

I really expected much more from a Darren Ferguson side , I hope he is looking to the future with young , talented and spirited young players with grit and pace . But firstly he must stay in this division , it is not looking promising at the moment , hopefully experienced James Coppinger can provide the midfield through balls to the likes of Williams and Tyson to score enough goals to keep us in..... fingers crossed ... attack as always been the best form of defence

[Waldron40]

So one match later and we are two places lower in the table and only two points off the drop zone.
I fear that the board's financial constraints mean that Ferguson will be restricted to young and cheap players. We can only hope that their talent and enthusiasm will pull us through, but that is certainly being optimistic.

[SilverTop60]

The Star says Fergie vows to drag the team ‘over the line’. Really!!. So what about the last 8 games? Did they not matter? Nothing significant has changed so I don't see where we are going to get up the table against clubs that are performing better than we are and will be as desperate as we are to survive in league One. Talk is cheap. Decent players are not, and the board is clearly saving on players we have offloaded and not wanting to spend even for our survival. Riccardo Calder alone can't do enough.
We are approaching three dismal years and the only glimmer of hope was in November and December only to see it all fritter away again. No matter how optimistic we try to be the reality is that we are in big trouble.

[Waldron40]

Ah well. Another match, no points, and one place above the drop zone. How much worse can it get. We keep hearing about a youthful, energetic side, but where are the goals?

[SilverTop60]

Looking at the club, the board are the millionaires that own the club and there is nothing anyone can do about it. Without the passion for the game that we had with John Ryan the club is just a business. A financially viable one, to be fair, but one where the owners protect their investment at the cost of the success of the club and the negative impact it has on the fans when we are in a relegation battle. One that we may not survive. It’s short sighted to think we will be safe and not playing in League Two next season. Even at the “Meet The Owners” Ferguson would not accept we could be in trouble without the investment we needed at Christmas. We are in our third year of misery.

I’m no football manager, but I can analyse statistics.
We had a short spell this season when we were doing well. Why? Because Williams and Tyson were scoring.
Let’s look at today’s game against Shrewsbury and analyse what happened.
15 shots sound good, but who were taking the shots? 3 defenders (Butler,

[scarjo]

Favourites for relegation ? - Yes, I think I can see everybody’s point - despite all the ‘brave’ talking , we’re in serious trouble and have been since the beginning of January. I’m beginning to wonder (aren’t we all ?) where the next point (never mind 3) is coming from…. There must be a pretty depressing atmosphere in the dressing room (manager, players, Donny Dog and tea lady alike), which I imagine is getting more and more difficult to shake off. One or two other questions have crossed my mind : Is Ferguson any better than ****ov ? Why did we let Forrester (not to mention certain others) go ? After all Jones and Wellens did for the club, how come they had such an ‘uncomfortable’ ‘leaving party’ ? And what’s all this talk about non-league recruitment policy ? At least ****ov had a strategy for bringing on home-grown players…. Anyway, as we’re clearly in Dire Straits, I think I’ll close my eyes and listen to « Money for nothing » - the title seems particularly appropriate at the momen

[Waldron40]

I agree entirely with the previous two posters. I did my own analysis of yesterdays match and wondered why we bother with Forwards at all, when Defenders are more likely to score. Our two key Forwards, Tyson and Wiliams, only had one shot each, and neither was even on target. Clearly they need more practice.

I had high hopes when Ferguson was appointed, but apart from the first few weeks I have been very disappointed. There is something wrong with a team when a Defender has the most shots at goal (Butler = 4). And it has happened in previous matches also.

I suspect the reason we let players go is the usual one - finances. From various comments in the press I get the impression that Ferguson has been told to cut back on his budget. Hence older (more expensive) players had to go and younger (cheaper) players are the only alternative. I also wonder whether there might have been a personality clash between the "old" (players) and the "new" (manager), especially those who left in unc

[SilverTop60]

Is it just me who finds it hard to get up any enthusiasm for Rovers these days with so many losses/draws in a row? Anyone think we are NOT in a relegation battle when Oldham have 2 games in hand?

Bradford just beat Burton 2-0 and we are up next. We couldn't even get 1 on target against Scunny. God help us.