Boring Sag

1 minute ago, Vincent Vega said:

What has the size of the ground got to do with it ? You and your sags use this a lot like a badge of honour, I don't understand it. You twist your poor attendance to fit your mythical huge following , but the fact is you're average at best.

I haven't said any different, and the point is I think it's more embarrassing for a club to have a club with a larger amount of unsold tickets. This doesn't affect my argument and isn't even a point, but if your stadium capacity was 30k, compared to 12k (I know Notts County's is 20k it's just an example, before you say I'm twisting the numbers), wouldn't you prefer your 8k attendance to be in the 12k stadium? Genuine question. 

1 minute ago, wood_red said:

So the same as your man then after an under performing Clarke? Can we at least have stats from a certain date each season please? I said from Feb as we you stated we are on our usual LJ second half season downturn - and up  until then we were wining every week (this season). Are you now quoting periods when it  seems to suits your own little agenda???

A half season downturn occurs halfway through the season, when 23 games have been played. You want us to start from February, which is 29 games into the season. Hence not the halfway point. 

2 minutes ago, Vincent Vega said:

7k is about your average .

8k is our average. But in a 12k capacity stadium. And if your argument was Rovers crowds are awful, and I asked you to name a bigger fanbase from the least-supported club of a two club city with as big a quality gap as Rovers and City, and you name a club who gets less than us. 

3 minutes ago, Vincent Vega said:

Notts County.  Also you don't have a large fan base, it's mediocre at best.

A 20,000 capacity stadium and only take 7k a week? As if 

3 hours ago, Vincent Vega said:

If statistics actually worked with football results, I would win the pools every week. Unfortunately for me and you they don't.

The majority of the time a team is odd-on to win, they win, and they're odds-on because of stats. Hence they do work.

2 hours ago, Gert Mare said:

I’ve seen enough to know how obsessed with City your fans are. Outside of this I have heard your fans more concerned about how “da shit” are getting on rather than care about how their own team is getting on.

I think it probably was born out of your clubs original “City relegation party” threads / Facebook groups. 

This thread has gone on for so long because you belters keep serving us up with gifts aplenty.

I’ll list a few....

Celebrating staying up at Wycombe and going out of the football league the following week.

Being sent down by a guy wearing a Rovers away shirt.

Barrow, Bath, Chesham, Barnet

Horse punching

Thousands locked out

6th richest club in England 

Boob cricket 

Punching Braintree players in the back of the net

Santa’s Grotto

Condemned Pasty Shack

Championship ready sprinklers

Hello! Unlucky the shit.

Watertight Sainsbury’s contract

Evolution not Revolution (These things take time)

Two divorces 

The family club with a horrendous record of banning orders 

Tents 

The colony (Game changer)

White plastic chairs

The pipe dream stadium

Always the victim 

Dean Windass worship

Doncaster United

£10 Million Snake

The list is endless.....

Tinpot bunch of belters. 

3

We're an obsessed fanbase and yet you proceed to mention every single embarrassing thing that's happened to Rovers, on a forum called "one team in Bristol" on a thread that's 3 and a half years long (a lot of the stuff you named was before) about a rival fanbase that's apparently "obsessed with our team." Can't remember the last time I saw a City related thread on Gas Chat, hell, the only thing I've seen City related in weeks was that post about your U23 team, which was shot down by every single Rovers fan who commented. Also, quick question, how is worshipping Dean Windass embarrassing, but making multiple banners about Colin Daniel not?

2 hours ago, Rudolf Hucker said:

So you’ve seen the contract or negotiated it?

Why would any club, selling or buying, agree a clause that was optional? The buying club would just always choose not to pay it, why would they? It makes 0 sense.

2 hours ago, City exile 79 said:

Newcastle 

I missed share a city, a team with as big a quality gap as Rovers and City have that shares a city with their rivals. Minus London of course because of their 8.1 million population.

2 hours ago, Ron Swanson said:

Good grief bodin get a life. Your teams shit, you will be shit for a few years, no one will ever take your club seriously, 

Okay Ron, take care.

2 hours ago, BRIAN WILSON said:

Safe travels to the 97* going to the Gills tonight, I wish you a shit deflating journey home.

*yep I counted them from the pic of the same match last season (AND that was a Saturday)

 

Our away crowds have been awful since Sunderland tbh

1 hour ago, Vincent Vega said:

Portsmouth 

That share a city

1 hour ago, steviestevieneville said:

@bodin 

You don't even need that good of a scouting network, invite a few players down to trial, hell the Nike Academy and V9 have spit out a lot of good players recently.

 

 

 

Really !! This is what I mean about your delusion as a fan base. Our infrastructure has taken years to build and millions to build it. Our scouting network has grown massively over the last few years but it’s taken the infrastructure in place to achieve it.  You think you can just invite a few players ! yeah it’s that easy ain’t it . 

Youre not playing a computer game mate. 

As regards mcgeedy. What I’m trying to get across is you saw him as a really good player to playing at league one level . The step up to championship is that big though that he’s below average to say the least. No disrespect but we do watch championship football regularly so we have a true reflection of how good he really is. 

 

7

The difference is your scouting network spots players from all over Europe. That's why you've got Swedish players and I think at some point an Icelandic player or two. You even have a history of buying strikers from France. Rovers don't need that. If fans like pirate on gaschat (he's got a thread on young non-league players Rovers should target, very educated on the subject) can see a player Rovers should sign from non-league, I can't believe a random guy in his spare time could do a better scouting job than what Rovers are doing. Of course it's not that easy, but trials for non-league players could be a very effective way of trying to find young talent. I just don't see an attacking player whose scored 15 goals in the league over 2 seasons as below average. Ellis Harrison is below average for the Championship. Yes you do watch the Championship, but you're not a Preston/Sunderland fan so besides games against them how well could you really know?

To illustrate my point as I could just be an optimistic gashead and since Rovers are 1 point above the relegation zone they'll still go down. 

Here's two websites that use statistical models to predict as accurately as possible where teams will finish: They give Rovers between 8-15% chance of being relegated. And predict Rovers to finish 15th/16th

https://experimental361.com/2019/03/10/e-ratings-update-league-1-10-mar-2019/

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/soccer-predictions/league-one/

22 hours ago, Rudolf Hucker said:

1. I can’t believe that Ipswich will have agreed to pay any bonus based upon signing a player who has helped them achieve relegation. If you think that you’ll get a penny extra from Ipswich for Harrison then you’re going to be disappointed. 

2. My question was based solely upon your incoherent use of English. I mentioned nothing about your team and FA Cup upsets, numerous though they are. 

The bonus isn't optional, the bonus will be paid for if he scores a certain number of goals whatever league they're in. Hence unless he's sold we'll get the extra £250k

22 hours ago, Ska Junkie said:

To be fair, the Millers tried a couple of years before and were rock bottom all season. They did know what to expect this time around but have done extremely well considering how pathetic they were the last time they were at this level. 

 

They were awful the season they went down, even in League 1 I was surprised they finished so high, we beat them at the Mem.

22 hours ago, Rich said:

As you state, Rovers have been on a good run, that's what happens in football, other teams have been on poor runs, it changes, be watchful not cocky. Your real honeymoon period with the new upgraded coach was December. Narrow defeat in the first match at Sunderland, followed by three wins on the bounce. Honeymoon over and back to a little less dynamic form, still ok but not as good. Next Thirteen games inc cup and you pick up five more wins but, only three were league wins.  In the last ten league games you've averaged 1.4 per game since the start of Jan, with most points coming in this month. I suggest you hope for March results, as opposed to Jan and Feb and games against clubs in turmoil like Blackpool.  Good Luck.

2

Form does change, but our form is showing no signs of changing. Out of those 10 games there's 3 of which Rovers could've got more points, as in, 3 of those games was probably a poor result. Shrewsbury draw 1-1 at home, Wycombe loss 1-0 at home and a draw away at Accrington 0-0. Considering Accrington is our bogey team by far, I'd say that's only 2 poor results. We got 2 draws against teams that were in the top 6, a 4-0 win against Blackpool and haven't lost an away game since Coughlan's first game. We have games against all 4 of the teams that have the highest odds of going down. And if anything Blackpool should've been more fired up as Oyston was out. The fact is, even a 1.4 point per game form (including many tough games) is more than good enough for us to stay up, especially considering the fact that now we seem to have a prolific goalscorer.

22 hours ago, GreedyHarry said:

Do you field a weakened team to ensure an annual FA Cup upset every year then? 

 

 

The majority of the time I believe.

22 hours ago, wood_red said:

So from February in 2016 when appointed we played 16 games and gained 24 points which kept us up. From February 2017 we played 18 games and got 26 points which is consistent to the season before. Now last season after playing a different way with the high pressing game, we had a nightmare as every player was knackered and shot to pieces. We gained 16 points from 17 games. So take last season out and we have not been that far off play off form from February onward in the other 2 seasons.

I think that is correct anyway!

3

Yep, was good in his first spell after he was appointed. Which he should have been given Cotterill was underperforming. In his second season you were in 11th place in gameweek 19. Albeit a bit earlier than the midway point. You then had a spell of 8 losses in a row, 8! Which put you in 20th in gameweek 27, you then collected 8/27 points from your next 9 games. You then picked your form up a lot, but you did have a humilating loss 5-0 to Preston and you finished 17th. And then you had last season

21 hours ago, 54-46 said:

I think you’ll find he’s French. 

Typical racism from a Sag. Disgusting. 

 

The French are not a race to be fair.

21 hours ago, steviestevieneville said:

In the main your fans act like your a big club is what I meant. 

There maybe the odd gem found in non league but you have to have a semi decent scouting network to find them and as you have volunteer coaches I can’t  see that you would  put much money into it. 

Mcgeedy was regarded as a bad apple by many Preston fans and mainly came off the bench for Sunderland . 

In regards to fan base % to population , your average attendance is poor and you can’t use the excuse that not many other teams sell out either as Chernobyl only holds about 11,000 doesn’t it ? 

10

No, I don't think a lot of Rovers fans see us as a big club. But the idiots who do are very vocal. 

You don't even need that good of a scouting network, invite a few players down to trial, hell the Nike Academy and V9 have spit out a lot of good players recently.

McGeady still scored 8 goals for Preston, and 7 for an awful Sunderland team, despite being on the bench.

Name me one team that has a rival who is as considerably better than us as City is to Rovers where the bottom team's fanbase is big.

21 hours ago, Swede said:

sags taking things out of context as usual to suit their own vivid imagination. The Loftus Cheek Man City comment was a sag phoning in to Radio Bristol after Saturday's game. I'd get your facts right.

Where did I take anything out of context? I didn't say it so what's the point, there's plenty of football fans from all clubs who are uneducated on things other than their club. 

 

I know you didn't say it but you used it anyway to try and put over your point and despite my putting you straight, you are still labouring the point.

 

I used it? How? My point was all fanbases have uneducated fans.

20 hours ago, Vincent Vega said:

@bodin You don't own a computer shop do you ?

Unfortunately not

19 hours ago, Red Right Hand said:

What do you mean upset?

Unexpected result

17 hours ago, BS4 on Tour... said:

Good grief.....another verbose and boring post.....why do you bother? 

Is quite fun debating with the fans who aren't going "yur a gazhead yur stoopid."

17 hours ago, 29AR said:

Are we not better than asschat?

@Miah Dennehy is a good and welcome poster and certainly makes me laugh with his self-deprecating posts touched with humour when they are doing alright. 

@bodin also he doesn’t stop short of admitting their shortcomings, he’s bloody volunteered them. He talks about run under coughlin no more than we talk about our winning/unbeaten run under LJ a few weeks back. 

Sorry, not sorry, this will be unpopular but it’s bloody embarrassing the reception these guys are getting. They aren’t idiotic posters or magnanimous, they seem good guys. You all want to moan about reception on ‘aaschat’ but give these guys pelters. @bodin even said bath city have a better ground, he’s not here giving it the big ‘un. I think he does overstate ‘deserve’ a tinge but we all look at our own with Rose-tinted. 

I ain’t driving them to Wembley - cheers Sunderland - but don’t drive them away and then say ‘oh but we can’t talk on asschat’ and then claim some my farts don’t stink attitude. 

4

Thank you. To be honest deserve isn't even a thing anymore since finance now has such a big impact. The majority of clubs deserve to be somewhere else. Whether better or worse

16 hours ago, BS4 on Tour... said:

You came on here, strutted about like you owned the place whilst obviously taking great delight in correcting people on their spelling - then you post ‘Duane Sports’.....good grief....even us ‘teds know it’s Dwane Sports - a company registered in the Channel Islands - which makes a mockery of your fans’ pathetic ‘tax dodger’ insults aimed at Steve Lansdown, a local guy who has contributed more to Bristol, and the local economy, than your entire fanbase added together....perhaps it’s time you just buggered off....

1

Severely misspelling absolute and misspelling Dwane Sports, a Sports company owned by a Jordanian family, are very different. I've never said anything about Lansdown? Your argument is consisting of "a couple Rovers fans said this so you must also think it!" I could only dream of Lansdown as an owner.

6 hours ago, Major Isewater said:

Cling on to the dream my friend, cling on .

 

1

Am desperately

2 hours ago, Gert Mare said:

I have been to the Mem and I have heard it with my own ears. Totally obsessed with City is an understatement when it comes to Rovers tunes. I bet you were “Singing the blues” on Saturday with the other 5 (and 20,000 locked out). 

Perhaps the most memorable one for me was the day you beat Lincoln City 5-2 in the playoff semi final. Your winning chorus was “Are you watching Ashton Gate?”. A mate of mine is completely neutral, a rugger head from Bath and he said he was going to watch the match. He recalled 1 minute 26 seconds into the game before your lot were singing about “da shit”. He thought I was joking about how obsessed Sags are with a City until he saw it with his own eyes and agreed. 

The whole beginning of this Bristol Rovers Dustbin thread came about as a result of Sags obsession with City in the first place. 

If I had to spend my whole time stood up freezing my bollocks off getting drenched with only a bit of canvas above my head then I guess I would have to sing loudly as I could just to stay alive.

I haven’t suggested that the Mem is like Camp Nou, it’s more like Scout Camp. There are enough tents anyway.

1

How many times have you been to the Mem? Because if it's only once or twice, do you think that's anywhere near a suitable sample size for 203 games that we've played since the Lincoln game? It still seems quite ironic considering your forum is called "One team in Bristol" and you have 977 pages on your Bristol Rovers thread in the last 3 and a half years. Around 3/4 of a page on this thread every single day for 3 and a half years?

2 hours ago, CotswoldRed said:

But it isn't 75 points. Nobody goes a season with consistent form throughout. 

This is your good patch. Over a season your manager would also have a bad patch. 

If you want 75 points in a season you need to average well over 2 points a game at certain periods. 

 

3 months seems an awfully long time for a good patch is all i'm saying, and even a bad form under Coughlan in the previous part of the season would see Rovers considerably higher in the table. 

12 minutes ago, Rudolf Hucker said:

 

Harrispn's Ipswich stats ...

CLUB	FROM	TO	FEE	LEAGUE		FA CUP		LGE CUP		OTHER
				APPS	GLS	APPS	GLS	APPS	GLS	APPS	GLS
Ipswich	23 Jul, 18		£750,000	9 (7)	1	0 (1)	0	0 (0)	0	0 (0)	0

So that'll just be £750K you'll receive then, unless Ipswich pay bonuses once a player makes three or more starts?

Ipswich are going down and he'll likely play a lot more given he's a League One level striker, so we'll receive the bonuses then?

8 minutes ago, Rudolf Hucker said:

WTF are you talking about?

You're using a couple of FA Cup upsets to justify that our club should be much lower than it is, which makes no sense. Every club has FA Cup upsets, when Chelsea lost to Bradford did they deserve to be in League 1? The fact is FA Cup upsets occur because they're still professional footballers and with enough passion they can beat teams that field weakened sides. But consistently they can't, hence why they're so poor. Any team can lose to any team because it's 11 v 11. City lost to Wigan last season ffs

3 hours ago, Swede said:

sags taking things out of context as usual to suit their own vivid imagination. The Loftus Cheek Man City comment was a sag phoning in to Radio Bristol after Saturday's game. I'd get your facts right.

Where did I take anything out of context? I didn't say it so what's the point, there's plenty of football fans from all clubs who are uneducated on things other than their club. 

3 hours ago, Vincent Vega said:

@bodin Have you posted on here before,  but used a different name ?

No

3 hours ago, NOTBLUE said:

Boding ,are you coming for da shit or not?

No and I haven't implied anything differently.

2 hours ago, BCFC11 said:

How exactly will they be forced out then? Genuine question.

 

It's simple business, why would Duane Sports want to keep hold on a slowly deteriorating asset. They were hoping we'd get UWE and go up in value but now that won't happen why wouldn't they sell. I don't mean "forced out by the fans," I mean it won't be long before they want to get rid of Rovers.

1 hour ago, Gert Mare said:

Is that the atmosphere where you sing songs continuously about Sheed’eads? Pleased that we give you something to sing about because win or lose the quality of football that you lot pay to watch is truly woeful. I don’t envy you in the slightest.

Rovers worked miracles in 1990 when they didn’t have a pot to piss in, but eventually the bubble burst. 

You might hang around for a few more years, but you will drop down with the club being ran as it is sooner or later.

Sometimes it’s hard being a City fan but at least we have seen progress off the pitch and we are unlikely to suffer the sort of horrific run that we had last season. I’m not the biggest fan of Lee Johnson, but he does seem to be finally giving us some stability now and we won’t be having any last day of the season relegation scares this year.

The Championship is a hard league. League One however is nowhere near the standard of the Championship. Last time we were there we won it at a canter. 

The difference between us and you is that we can compete, all your mob can do is hope.

 

2

I've only ever heard two songs about Bristol City at the Mem, "if you all hate Bristol City clap your hands." And "we're coming for you." Which I heard once when we went up. There's plenty of songs, but even if there weren't how would you know? Or do you visit the Mem frequently?

Our atmosphere is nowhere near that of most Championship clubs and I haven't denied as such, but going up to grounds like Coventry and Fleetwood, two stadiums with awful atmospheres, makes me think subjectively that Rovers' atmosphere is good. And by good, I mean mid-table League 1. I'm not going "da mem is like camp nou" which is what you're implying I'm saying.

I literally haven't said any different, you're a much better run, bigger, better supported and more backed club than us and I haven't said any different. 

32 minutes ago, steviestevieneville said:

No , there’s not lots of great players in non league , that’s why they’re non league . As for young prem players . Most top prem clubs have a strict vetting system . It took a lot for us to gain Chelsea’s trust to sign Tammy etc. Also the charge loan fees which you can’t afford. Unlike your forum where every city fan gets banned instantly, you’re welcome on here but you’re coming across as a typical head buried in the sand kind of gas head so be prepared to be laughed at. 

11

There are a lot of good players in Non-League, i'm not talking about 30 year old Billy Bricknell at Chelmsford, I'm talking about players that were let go maybe a bit too early by top Prem clubs who were signed at non-league level and have made their way up. Look at even us at an example, Taylor was non-league, Bodin was released by Northampton who were mid-table League 2. That's two examples, but there's young players in non-league who more than show that they're worthy of a step up. Sign a couple players and hope we can unearth a gem.

That's because Tammy was literally Chelsea's best young player, why wouldn't they? Sweeney and Telford both performed, so did Bola. Hell, not even the Prem is needed to be honest. Lumley and Bonham were both outstanding signings from the Championship on loan. 

I'm not, I haven't denied my club in the long-term is in a state, but our quality is much better than our league position makes out for imo. If Clarke-Harris keeps performing we'll be fine, and I can't see any reason why not.

19 minutes ago, Ska Junkie said:

Fair comment. I wasn't actually taking the piss by the way. 

The step up between L1 and the Championship is as big as it's ever been IMHO with the resources available to most up here. It's a very difficult division to stay in for any side coming up from L1. 

1

It is but i'm actually quite surprised at how well Rotherham has done, I know they're in the relegation zone but last season they definitely didn't deserve to go up from the 46 game season. I think most predicted them to finish rock bottom.

8 minutes ago, steviestevieneville said:

This is classic gas logic. You deserve to be where you are. No one has a Devine right to be anywhere other than where they finish after 46 games. Villa and forest fans bang on that they should be prem sides because of their history. It’s bollocks and means nothing. You’ve also stated you deserve to be higher because you have the 9th highest average attendance. That is laughable tbh. The way you lot bang on about crowds , you actually think your a big club but can’t even sell out that tip. Coming from a city the size of Bristol your crowds are terrible and apart from a spell in the 1950’s always have been ( ours ain’t great either by the way) 

this is the main reason for this thread and piss taking of you. Your delusions of grandeur are through the roof.  

Ill just add, just in case you thought of responding likewise . 

I don’t know any city fans that think we’re a  big club and most realise we’re a small club at championship level and are punching above our weight in regards to wages. 

Also mcgeedy is shite at championship level. You haven’t been in it for over a quarter of a century but believe me , the gulf between the second and third tier is bigger than ever and getting bigger. 

8

Have I said once we're a big club? I didn't say we had a divine right, but usually bigger crowds means more revenue which means more money to spend which means more quality. Of course no one has an inherent right to it, but all it shows is our board is ineffective and can't do their job. We can't sell out, but yet only 5 clubs in the league given average attendances could. We have a mid-table League 1 fanbase, average attendances show that. Our crowds really aren't terrible for a city as big as Bristol, I can't think of one team who share a city with as big a quality gap as City and Rovers have and the lower team isn't miles off in terms of popularity. Can you?

Have I implied likewise? Genuinely look anywhere, have I implied whatsoever that City aren't miles ahead of Rovers? 

Also McGeady really isn't shit at Championship level, he was great at Preston and Sunderland Championship-level.

3 hours ago, wood_red said:

On that basis I would like to calculate the finishing table of the Championship purely on games played from Boxing Day until 12th February - average of 3 points per game for us, which would equate over 46 games as a record breaking points total that would see us win the League by about 50 points. Easy.

I would be more worried about what funds he is given over the Summer and what infrastructure will be improved, even if you stay up you will more than likely struggle again next season with zero investment and still losing millions per year. You could even be left without a ground if the club isn't sold as it is basically has no equity left in it.

The difference is i've used our form since Coughlan took over. Whereas Johnson has been at City for years and you've picked and chosen. You've also got a history under Johnson of poor spells in the second half of the season. The whole point is I don't think we need a club rebuild we just need a few players here and there, and there will be players of good quality available for limited funds, whether that be free agents, non-league stars of perhaps loanees. The infrastructure is obviously a problem but it's only a matter of time until the Al Qadis are forced out.

3 hours ago, 1960maaan said:

Bournemouth are a funny one. When they went up , they spent a lot of money on wages and had a fine of £7.6m for breaking FFP when they got promoted, nearly £40m lost winning the Championship. On here , I remember a few questions but not the condemnation that Wolves got for doing it a similar way, all be it on another level. 
I do wonder what will happen with them. When they got promoted the Russian part owner (I think it was him) , said they wouldn't redevelop the ground straight away. I think implying they would wait to see if they could maintain Premiership stats. Years on and as far as I know little has changed, although I believe he is now sole owner. Without the high money in the Prem they would be royal screwed , capacity of under 12,000 with no expansion in the near future? Better not get relegated any time soon.

9

They seem to have a great squad and with players like Nathan Ake and David Brooks in their team they could reap high profits in the future on some of their players, hell, Chelsea were willing to bid £50m for Wilson apparently before they went for Higuain.

3 hours ago, East End Old Boy said:

Pleased to see you take such an interest in our performances. Are you a season card (yes, we have modern technology!) holder, or just an occasional visitor, perhaps away as well?

 

I have some mates who are City fans and we talk about performances and what not. 

2 hours ago, Bristol Rob said:

This is a very real problem that a lot of Fewers have yet to question.

A lot of Championship and League One clubs need to loan players to be competitive, especially with the financial restrictions we all have to work with.

We have seen Tammy, Kalas etc come in and do an outstanding job, part of that is down to the facilities we have. If you were head of (for example) Chelsea youth and had some young players who would benefit from playing adult football, would you loan them to a club with training and medical facilities, or to a club where the first thing they have to do when they get to training is to clear fox shit from the pitch.

1

To take it back a few years I remember us getting in a lot of loan players in our first season in League 1. Particularly, Chelsea duo Charlie Colkett and Jake Clarke-Salter. Colkett was a great young player, seem to remember in the Chelsea youth team he was the main player that used to assist Tammy, but he struggled for game time so went back in January. Clarke-Salter was injured the majority of the time and when he finally played he was awful, got turned inside out by Lee Gregory. Somehow he's managed the eredivisie. 

2 hours ago, Gert Mare said:

@bodin  Fair play son. At least you are giving it a right good go at trying to convince us that your club isn’t as Tinpot as it is. I haven’t seen as much effort since Ian Alexander tried to put Dave Smith in hospital twice and then tried to do the same to his replacement Louie Donowa. 

Like @Peter O Hanraha-hanrahan I too believe that you might actually manage to escape the drop this year, because usually (apart from Sir Colin Daniel day) you have always been spawny bastards. 

However, in my opinion you are   well above your weight with no money in a tented shithole. You must be embarrassed at how awful it is. It makes Trumpton look like a palace!

The reality is that Rovers are probably on a par with the likes of Yeovil and Cheltenham these days. Two promotions were a miracle under the dog fiddler which is why you have been struggling at the wrong end of League One since you went up. It’s only a matter of time before you crash back into League Two to increase the gap to where it should be.

I think your fan base are just struggling to come to terms with the fact that your club is dying, and without a serious cash injection and a new ground it won’t be long before you are struggling to hang on to your football league status again at the bottom of League Two.

Your long term future is grim to say the least and the longer you fester the more your faithful and true will start to dwindle.

Your delusion is thinking that you are bigger than you are which is actually what you project onto us as our problem.

I’m just glad you didn’t succeed in stealing our ground back in 1982 and I enjoy the false hopes followed by disaster when it comes to Tinpot Bristol Rovers.

8

The ground is awful, especially the pitch last season which was atrocious. But in all honesty we always seem to have a good atmosphere, well whenever I go at least. Of course that might be mocked by City fans but I think it's true, although not a testament to our supporters really, more down to the standing conditions. But there's plenty of fans who are following clubs who are performing much better in League 1 who have awful fans. Fleetwood springs to mind. I think in the short term the quality in our squad (you may point to our position but that was down to the lack of quality in one area), might save us for a next couple of seasons. But in the long term I am worried, although I don't think we'll be competing at the bottom of League 2 anytime soon, in my opinion. 

2 hours ago, Bar BS3 said:

@bodin bless you for replying to literally every single comment..! 

It’s like you actually think we give a toss what you think, about anything..! 

 

No problem mate, always happy to help. But hit me up next time you want to have an actual footballing debate rather than going "argh his a gazhed yur shite."

2 hours ago, myol'man said:

I know a Notts County fan who still clearly believes that his team has the potential to be the biggest in their city.

"Just you wait until Forest crash and burn, we'll soon be back above them" etc etc

*note, take a look at the bottom of the League 2 table

 

That's completely different though, firstly Nottingham Forest have won 2 European Cups, something Notts County won't ever achieve, and secondly I don't think we've got the potential to be the biggest in our city. 

2 hours ago, Rudolf Hucker said:

Here is further evidence, were it required, of the hyperbole which we are gifted by 15ers so frequently. The fee for Harrison was “a reported £750,000”; you were not offered £1m by Ipswich, (unless you actually were and succeeded only in negotiating them down).

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/44925395

 

https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11707/11446570/bristol-rovers-striker-ellis-harrison-to-have-ipswich-medical-ahead-of-1m-move

"Ipswich are understood to be paying an initial fee of £750,000, rising to £1m with bonuses."

1 hour ago, BanburyRed said:

And there you go, another belting comment - you 'deserve to be around 8th-10th in L1'. Why and based on what exactly? Average attendances don't count. It's based on way more than just the number of people who turn up every other weekend at the Bristol Rovers Tent Show. You've only been a league club for a couple of years having relegated by a team wearing your own kit,  you've knocked around the conference, been knocked out of the FA Cup by more non league teams than is healthy, and yet you seem to think that you deserve and have a right to automatically be around the top ten in L1. Blinding.

You were doing so well with reasoned debate and coming back with points to back up your comments, undone in one silly comment.

#thegift

 

How is losing to a non-league teams more of a justification of where our club should be or deserves to be more than the size of our fanbase? The lack of quality of a team isn't a justification of where a team deserves to be.

1 hour ago, Port Said Red said:

Who is your game in hand against? I mean we have a game in hand on a few of our play off rivals, but as it's against Middlesbrough away,  I don't think many of us are using it in our equations. So how big is your IF? 

1

Doncaster, who although high in the league have lost to Wimbledon and Shrewsbury in recent weeks, and when we play them they'll probably be 7 without a win given they lose to Blackpool tomorrow.

57 minutes ago, Southstandoriginal said:

Even Notts County have a ground that the sags can only dream of!

Even Bath have a ground we can only dream of at this rate.

8 hours ago, 1960maaan said:

Owner bought into Bournemouth in 2011, his worth is in the 100s of millions BTW , they spent a lot of money to get up and are not reliant on crowds. That would probably change with relegation, but they apparently stay with in the FFP rules. My point being, although another club with small crowds, they are another club with a rich owner, and now about £100m from the Prem each year. 

 

My point wasn't we could emulate Bournemouth, my point was Bournemouth have a fanbase who must be in disbelief of where they are now, so I don't think they'd think they deserve better

8 hours ago, Swede said:

Ha ha, just to show the sag knew a lot about football's elite, it said Loftus Cheek of Man City!

Best stick to Wealdstone or Braintree, a level you're more accustomed to.

I didn't say it, and there are uneducated members of every fanbase, City included. I have a mate who supports City and I asked him how Jay DaSilva was, because as a player i've kept watch of him for a couple years, and he said "who?"

8 hours ago, Ska Junkie said:

This thread has taken an interesting turn.

@bodin, do you honestly think your club, given the absolute tip you call home and your losses / lack of revenue / infrastructure, would stand a hope in hell's chance at the level we currently do quite well at?

I'm genuinely interested as myself, like the rest of us, already know the answer but would like to hear your thoughts.

Honestly? Not in a million years. It's exactly what I said when we were sitting around 4thish and on amazing form in League 1 in the 16/17 season, in the short term yes 3 promotions on the bounce great. But in the long term I didn't want us to go up that season, it would have been embarrassing. We still had a Conference squad and needed to take time to build a team.

7 hours ago, Wanderingred said:

That league one table looks incredibly tight. Even Wycombe in 12th place are in a relegation battle, just 5 points off the drop zone.

If I was a saggie, I wouldn't be shouting from the rooftops just yet. They've been on a good run, but so  have many other teams around them. All it would take is a couple of bad results, and they could suddenly find themselves adrift again.

For what it's worth, I think they will probably survive this time around, but then what? No money, no resources, dwindling crowds and pretty much nothing in the way of evidence that things are going to change.

 

 

Whilst I get your point, but there really haven't been a lot of teams around Rovers level who are on good form, in fact the majority are on awful form. The only teams near us that have been on good form from what I can remember are Plymouth and Oxford. And that's only 3 of 13 teams (including Wycombe).

4 hours ago, BS4 on Tour... said:

Good grief, you don’t even know that the game that saw you drop out of the Football League was at home to Mansfield...I’ll jog your memory, they stuffed you whilst wearing one of your own kits...

You’ve come on here and blustered about in a patronising fashion, correcting people’s spelling (which is my job by the way!) and spouting your verbose, and boring, opinions - yet you don’t even know that the biggest game in your history was at home.

You’re lucky you’ve been given a platform to drone on and on because you must be aware that any City fan that dares to have a debate on your forum gets banned immediately from the closed shop of delusion more commonly known as ‘Gas Chat’?!

 

I was at the game, it was a poor choice of words. Nothing more.

Don't think I've seen a City fan on Gas Chat in a long time, but a lot get banned because after a loss they'll be like "mind da gap sags" just as Rovers will go "unlucky da shit, we're coming for you," on otib and probably get banned for it. But I don't run Gas Chat? And if people who genuinely want to debate get banned then that's wrong.

4 hours ago, Peter O Hanraha-hanrahan said:

For what it’s worth, I agree with the new pet Sag about their survival chances. I don’t think they’re getting relegated  unless there is a drastic downturn in form and I can’t see that happening.

Obviously Dopey Darrell wasn’t the managerial genius that they told everyone he was, under him they were undoubtedly heading back to L2. Whether ‘the cock’ can continue this form next season is another matter however he’ll have to do it on a shoestring as the 6th richest owners in the Football League clearly have no intention of backing any manager with decent funds.

Interesting that Saggy has chosen this particular moment to sign up to OTIB after a few defeats for us and a couple of wins for them? 

Whatever happens over the rest of the season, we will be a Championship team at least next year (likely imo) and they will be a L1 club with L2 fans in a Non League ground spunking ‘gifts’ at every opportunity.

I also confidently predict that Ipswich fans will be on BJ list next year. Grubby little star-struck, arse kissers that the Sags are.

”ohh, please tell us that you love us more than da shit, pleeese, I know you haven’t heard of us but aren’t we amazing? Look at our stadium, feel sorry for us pleeese”

 

9

For me I've always thought Darrell Clarke was a great manager, on the same level as someone like Paul Hurst. He just needed backing, think about it, had our board not sold Taylor, Bodin and Harrison, he'd have built one hell of a strike force and we'd probably be competiting for promotion right now. I don't think you can expect any manager to sell their 4 top goalscorers in the space of 18 months and expect him to replace all of them effectively and expect him to improve other positions on the pitch simultaneously with very limited funds. 

I think Clarke would be very successful at say, a Bradford or a Mansfield, someone with a capacity to back their owner.

1 hour ago, cidercity1987 said:

I see this Saggie is falling for Coughlan's claptrap.

As he said on Saturday 'I dont look at the full league table, I just look at the one since I was appointed and I am in a play off place'. Thats alright then, you get em relegated as long as your form is play offs then whats the problem 

 

Whilst I disagree with looking at the bigger picture I do see his point.

1 hour ago, BS2 Red said:

The trouble with taking a limited set of statistics is you do not give the full picture. Sure Coughlan might have “play off” form, but that masks just how badly your club is being run.

If you look at England managers win percentages, Alf Ramsey is third. Behind Fabio Capello in second and Sam Allardyce.

It would ignore reality to take those stats and pretend that Big Sam is the greatest England manager of all time. Just as it ignores reality to argue that Couglan is a play off manager.

 

But win percentages have never been a good measure to analyse a manager's success on imo. Because you'll have the same win percentage if you have 50 wins and 50 losses, as you would if you had 50 wins and 50 draws over your managerial tenure. Yet we all know 50 wins and 50 draws is far superior, although not realistic.

59 minutes ago, Robin Wood said:

They have won 1 game on the trot and now they are world beaters watch out Barcelona

I never said we were world beaters or compared us to Barcelona. I said we're on great form so I expect us to stay up comfortably. 

15 minutes ago, BCFC11 said:

Utterly laughable, why isit you and most of the other Sags think that’s you deserve better?

Isit because you’ve all sat there and got shafted by who’s ever ran your shambles over the years and done nothing about it except starting up a petition up for Wally to bury the differences and speak out to you, and bombarding a Jordanian Banks twitter account voicing your displeasure  

As a fanbase you’ve got the Tinpot shite that you deserve, and it’s only gonna get worse.........

Do you misunderstand me? By "deserve better," I mean around 8-10th in League 1. Around that. And there's evidence for that, specifically the 9th highest average attendance in the league. And the fact we'd have the 2nd highest would be go down. I'm not dumb enough to think we deserve the Championship, maybe that's what you think I'm implying? 

Also that's quite ignorant, just the other day a guy on gaschat started a petition and met up with the board and conducted a 2 hour interview with the board. What else can you do? They're not poor enough for us to boycott. 

10 minutes ago, BanburyRed said:

Well congratulations on CSE maths and CSE assumption. I can do the maths, i choose not because it's irrelevant. Big 'if' having a game in hand, always have points on the board. We have a big 'if' with a game in hand to beat Ipswich but if we don't, the big 'if' won't mean anything. The heady heights of 13th eh? Nose bleed territory. On the flipside, that also means the lower end of the L1 table is incredibly congested and thus any other team can also have the opportunity to jump several places, just like you.

Mocking Scunthorpe & Blackpool? Yeah why not? When you consider how far Blackpool have fallen since their exploits in the Premier League. As well as being poorly run, like you. But if you want to claim that as a major scalp in L1.  Scunthorpe? Jeez. When we see all the words of how big you are (allegedly), hacking around 1 point above the relegation zone, play off form, massive away followimg, thousands locked out every week, 'because it's what you do' etc....surely beating teams in and around you should be well within your capabilities? Without the need to celebrate.

If i were you, i'd be keeping everything crossed that your 1.64 pts per game continues, and hey you never know, you might end up in 5th. Or underneath that dotted line. Best keep up your 'multiple beatings'....must be so exciting for you lot at the minute. Shame you couldn't make Wembly.

Thought you were wondering where I was coming from so I explained it. Well, you should beat Ipswich, so it's not really a big if, I'd expect you to. Just as I'd be hopeful that we won our game in hand. The whole point is 13th is drastically higher than the 24th we would've finished had Clarke stayed. And whilst I see your point, the whole reason that the gap has closed is because the teams above us have been on awful form, which is the whole reason why I think we'll stay up. It's the same with Oxford, who I think will stay up too. And I expect one of Walsall/Accrington to go down. 

I didn't say it was a major scalp in L1. I said it was a good win because they were ahead of us in the league. Same with Blackpool. I don't even understand why you're mentioning that, I've never been under any illusion that City aren't the biggest and most supported team in Bristol? Our away following has been impressive in some instances like Chelsea and Sunderland, but usually it's just average, not massive. I've never said any of those things because i'm not deluded and don't think we've got the capabilities to be a massive club, or even Championship unless some serious changes occur. Both in our finances and in our support.

I will, but given the awful form of teams around us, it should only take a couple more wins until we're comfortably staying up. I think 3/4 of the relegation spots are already guaranteed and I think Rovers will stay up and i'm confident about it. Just as confident as I'd be if I was an Oxford fan because of the poor form of the teams around us. 

19 minutes ago, B1ackbird said:

The odd thing is you sacked your poster boy, Clarke and promoted one of his coaches to replace him..

I get your optimism, be interesting to see where you end up... 

Was really unexpected because when Stewart left I had no clue what we were going to do. And when Coughlan joined I thought he'd be even worse than Clarke, I was a massive advocate for Paul Hurst or Michael Flynn for the job. But Coughlan performed very well and I think he'll keep us up. 

22 minutes ago, 1960maaan said:

Point 1 : So you've won more games since the new manager came in , that is the Wiki description of a honeymoon period

Point 2 : Championship standard, but dropped to Div 2 ? Sounds right 

Point 3 : Very likely , have to take your word , but I wonder were you one of those celebrating at Wycombe ?

Point 4 : So you were a quality side, but just short a big lump up front , and that's why you were struggling OK , sounds a good signing.

Point 5: Mcgeady is 32 and has played about 2/3s Sunderlands games , was good but not Prem standard now. Honeyman seems to divide opinion , and hardly played in the Prem so not sure he's there yet.

Point 6/7 : Leeds weren't that good because we aren't as open as WBA were last week. Not sure about players not caring, they weren't great , but that's a different thing all together. Yes , LJ has a rep for streaks , but the team seems to have evolved a little , and this poor run was likely as we are playing the better sides in this run of fixtures.

Point 8 : Fanbase , funny things. I agree with you saying you don't need big numbers , but Brentford (keeping up your chosen comparison ) have a multi millionaire owner , who is willing and able to put substantial funds into the club. You get 8,000 ? You have an owner who is unwilling or unable to put money in , there is a massive difference between the two clubs. I don't think you would see a team get into the Championship with both a non spending owner and small ground and get anywhere near Brentford's success .

I imagine every teams fans believe they deserve better. Fair play, you're confident you'll stay up (again Wycombe) and you might , but unless the owners find some money growth will be hard, L1 is not a great division and mid table should be easy to achieve if you stay up. Then again the owners could have another fire sale and you start again.

Point 1: A honeymoon period is when in the first couple of games after a new manager takes over a team performs well, but they very quickly drop off after their first blip. I'd have agreed with you had we lost to Wycombe and then gone back to our form under Clarke, but we've experienced several blips (most to Sunderland :laugh:) and we keep performing, hence not a honeymoon period

Point 2: He's dropped to League 1 because teams were afraid to take him because of his injury record. Rovers signed him, gave him time to recover from the injury he received whilst at Portsmouth, and since he's been fantastic. Comfortably better than Lee Brown who's in a promotion-chasing team in Portsmouth

Point 3: No, I didn't celebrate at Wycombe, I knew there was every chance we could still go down given that Wycombe was our first win in 6 games, and we could blow it at Mansfield.So did I celebrate the win? Yes. Did I see it as a guarantee that we were staying up? Definitely not. I knew nothing's ever guaranteed with Rovers, I was more confident that we'd beat Dagenham comfortably and yet it took us until the 93rd minute to do so, made for a phenomenal moment though.

Point 4: Yes that's right. It's why we have drastically better goal different than all the other sides at the bottom of the table, because we weren't getting smacked every week, we were narrowly losing 1-0, 2-1 by not taking our chances. Our xG scored is better than Fleetwood's and they've scored 10 more goals than us. 

Point 5: McGeady is 32, and is 33 in a month. But he did play consistent Championship football, and at a high level. I watched him against us the other night and realised he's far too good to be in this league, maybe Prem standard was a bit far given his Everton tenure, but he's too good for League 1. 

Point 6/7: For me Lee Johnson weirdly mirrors Darrell Clarke in terms of form, we were always awful for the first half of the season and then picked it up around January and performed until the end of the season. Good examples include the late push to the promotion spot in League 2 and in the Conference too, although we bottled it in the Conference, unfortunately.

Point 8:

I'm not sure I agree, I could give a few examples but the strongest is probably Bournemouth, they're leagues above where they've been for the majority of their history and now they're being able to beat some of the best Premier League teams 4-0, when only a decade beforehand they were scraping away from relegation to the Conference and Chelsea were winning the FA Cup and had only just lost the Champions League final a year previously. Also, i'm not too educated on them, but I don't think Luton have large investment and they don't have much bigger attendances than Rovers (I think it's around 9k average for Luton). And I know Brentford and Rovers aren't comparable, they're just the model I would have love this club to follow. And I do doubt that the owners would have a fire sale, I doubt Widdrington and Coughlan would allow it. I know we did the same with Taylor, Bodin and Harrison. But Taylor wasn't optional, Bodin had 6 months left on his contract and Harrison we got offered £1m for, which we saw as great business since we could get Payne for £200k. However, Payne turned out to be shit and Harrison's been very poor for Ipswich so far. So you never knows what will happen. 

21 minutes ago, Banjo Island said:

Give it a rest u absoulete moron

Maybe your argument of me being an "absoulete moron" would've been better had you spelt absolute right.

3 minutes ago, BanburyRed said:

I'm not claiming anything. I think you are though. Play off form you say? You do realise that the play offs are for teams at the other end of the table? Still 1 measly point outside of the relegation zone. Colossal win against the might of Scunthorpe. No wonder you're 'prowed'. Beware the trapdoor......

Since Coughlan took over Rovers have 23 points in 14 games. I'll do the maths, that's 1.64 points per game, over a 46 game season that's 75 points. Last season that would have been enough to finish 5th in League 1, which is a place in the Playoffs. We're 36 games into the season so far, so such form would expect 59 points, which would be enough to be 6th at the moment, also in the playoff spot. Hence since Coughlan took over we've experienced playoff form. 

We're a "1 measly point outside of the relegation zone." Except we have a game in hand and if we win that we go all the way up to 13th, comfortably clear of the relegation zone. Also, if you're mocking the club size of the team we've beat then we beat Blackpool 4-0? So what's your point? And if you're mocking the fact they're a poor team, why wouldn't a team below another team in the league celebrate a win against that team? It's not even a one-off because we've done it multiple times in recent weeks but oh well. 

3 minutes ago, Vincent Vega said:

No, your position is down to the fact you're not very good . The league table never lies and your bang in trouble lad. I'd be very cautious about celebrating too early ( remember Wycombe  )

Our position is down to us being awful in the first half of the season but being great in the second half. To use City as an example, even though you finished 11th you were in the promotion race for the majority of the season, and yet the league table didn't show that. 

3 minutes ago, BanburyRed said:

@bodin, you don't know why you're deluded? That's delusional in itself. Keep taking the medication son.

What's delusional is you claiming this is after 1 win when actually this is after we've been on playoff form since Coughlan joined. 

1 hour ago, BanburyRed said:

@Miah Dennehy, this is precisely why this thread can slip to page 2, because the gift that continues to give coughs up this deluded idiot....dear oh dear.

Deluded how?

1 hour ago, steviestevieneville said:

Wow . This sums up you lot perfectly . You haven’t got a pot to piss in so how are you likely to bring these mythical players in ? 

You cant even pay one of your coaches 

There's a lot of great players in non-league who have the capacity to step up. There's a lot of great young talent in the Premier League too. I didn't suggest that the Al Qadis were going to invest heavily, our transfers don't even need to be high fees. 

2 hours ago, Vincent Vega said:

You're a point above the relegation zone you absolute belter.

Our position is down to the fact we didn't have a goalscorer and now we do.

2 hours ago, Banjo Island said:

One win and your up and running bodin so predictablea it takes  one little thing to get you lot excited on radio bristol last night some chump described one of your players as reminding him of loftus cheek haha give it a rest what a totally futile football club you are

4

It's not one win. We've been great since Coughlan joined. And he possibly meant Clarke-Harris, and that wasn't down to quality, that's down to they look similar.

1 hour ago, Rich said:

That's what happens on the run in to the seasons end. The teams in deep shyte start pulling a few results out of the bag. That's why you're still in the shyte, because others around you are also playing like play off teams now.

Using your theory, if we had a few additions, like a left back, a striker or two and a midfield dynamo, we'd be in the top two. We haven't and we aren't.  Just as you haven't and you aren't.

As for Brentford, their ground's too small for them, they've always been bigger than your lot and are investing properly in their future. The only money spent at the rugby ground is from STs and sponsors, spend a bit on the basics but cut down on the playing staff and management. Your owners haven't got any that they can spare and they're soon to be on an asset stripping agenda. Forced into administration and forced to put the rugby ground up for sale. They've already signed up the chairmen and staff with the experience for that inevitable outcome.

Other than Oxford, not many teams at the bottom have had as good a run as Rovers. Rochdale, Walsall, Bradford, Wimbledon, Accrington and Scunthorpe are all on awful form and they're the teams Rovers are competiting with. We looked certain to go down under Clarke but now we look very likely to stay up under Coughlan. 

I don't think the issue with you is personnel though, I think it's the fact that City always have a massive drop off in the second part of the season. 

1 hour ago, 1960maaan said:

Where to start ??

"If you take the league table since Coughlan took over we're in a playoff spot."  You do get that it's over more than half a dozen games , right?
"Holmes Denis" (who?) .... 7 games and you're thinking he's another £10m player ??  Good luck.
"we could easily be top half of league 1" ......  You have to stay in L1 first , not a certainty 
" just think your fans are laughably optimistic about the lack of quality at Rovers.... you are just above the relegation zone in an average L1, that screams lack of quality ffs.
"a team which is too big for the Championship" Guessing you mean Sunderland, the team was shit for years , support means nothing to where you finish. Currently they are an OK L1 side, no more.
"Plus City are on awful form". Yep , we've lost to the best two teams in the division , one pushing for the play off's and the side that just drew at Chelsea. Not a great run agreed.
 "I'd be shocked if you got a playoff place" I , like many are doubtful we will make it, but we have a chance and I'll be fairly happy if that's true on the last day of the season.
"Brentford only get 9k on average."  They might do, but have a new ground being built , 20 thousand all seater. The owner has apparently invested around £100m , good comparison.

Fair play coming on here defending your side, wonder if we'll see you next week if we win and you lose ?

13

Point 1: Coughlan has been in charge of Rovers for 14 games, with a record of 6 wins, 5 draws and 3 losses. Based on points per game that was enough to get 5th in League 1 last season. I think it's fair to say that's long enough to judge that a honeymoon period hasn't taken place. 

Point 2: Holmes-Dennis. A left-back who replaced Lee Brown, he was Championship standard and was a regular for Huddersfield when they went up. But with injuries and new left-backs he was loaned out to Portsmouth, where he played 1 game and got injured for the season. So he got sold to Rovers in the summer, Rovers were quite smart (for once) to make the fee dependent on appearances, so if he got injured they'd have only played pennies. And honestly, since he's come into the team he's been phenomenal. Quality wise, he's too good for Rovers. I don't think he's worth £10m obviously, but the issue with Taylor and Bodin were Taylor had a release clause and Bodin's contract was very short. Holmes-Dennis has a long contract, the same applies with Jonson Clarke-Harris, I think he's a great player. 5 goals in 6 games since we signed him. Very similar style-wise to Jason Roberts. For the record, having kept track of the most promising young players in England for quite a while, I think exactly the same for Jay DaSilva for you. He'll reap a lot of profit in the future if you choose to sign him permanently. 

Point 3: I disagree. Do I think it's a certainty? No. Of course not, because anything can happen in football. But I think it's very likely that Rovers will stay up. Scunthorpe and Walsall both look to be on awful form, Rochdale and Bradford have new managers. Plus, it's extremely close at the bottom. If Rovers win their game in hand we go up to 13th place. Accrington have been on awful form recently too. Rovers have given me enough good performances against teams a lot better than us to be confident we can beat the much worse ones we still have to play. Rochdale, Wimbledon and Bradford specifically. 

Point 4: Our lack of quality this season has come from our inability to finish chances and score goals. This was our main problem earlier in the season. Our strike force consisted of Stefan Payne, who is a target man who is frankly useless and had a very poor mentality. Gavin Reilly, who misses a lot of sitters and is very inconsistent. Alex Jakubiak, who isn't a goalscorer but is a good workhorse. And Tom Nichols, who has never scored much but this season has been great in terms of providing assists. So we signed Jonson Clarke-Harris and going forward we look a completely different team. He's bringing out the best in Nichols as he has someone to play off of, and he can dominate centre-backs, like he did yesterday against Scunthorpe, even their manager said it. The point is our league position is down to the lack of quality that we didn't have but now we appear to have. 

Point 5: Sunderland have George Honeymoon and Aiden McGeady, two players who not only are too good for League 1, but should probably be playing in the Premier League. And they're not an okay League 1 team, if they win their game in hand they're 1 point off of second place. They're one of the best League 1 teams and it should be expected that the team in 3rd place beat the team that's battling relegation. 

Points 6 and 7: You also lost to Birmingham who are in 11th place, and 3 defeats in 4 games is a huge contrast to the 13 game unbeaten streak you went on. Johnson has a history of poor performances in the second half of the season, I mean after the Manchester United game last season I was shocked because you seemed so poor. And a team that was considered certain promotion candidates finished in 11th place. And the whole point isn't you lost to Leeds, but knowing many City fans Leeds weren't that good and City players seemed not bothered. And that's a lot more worrying than a close 1-0 defeat.

Point 8: My point is you don't need high numbers in attendance levels to be a successful team. I see it every week in here pointing to the 8,000 or so attendance of Rovers fans. And although I completely disagree with the fans who think we're a huge club who should be Championship level. I think our attendance levels and our fanbase is far too big for the standard of football we've competed in in recent years. Our club is too big for League 2, as demonstrated by our average attendance would be the 2nd best in League 2, even in League 1 it's 9th. And it's better than clubs like Doncaster, MK Dons, Burton etc. who have all had sustained periods of time in the Championship. 

I think infrastructure wise we're years behind some other clubs, but I think we deserve better, however much you may disagree. But i'm optimistic, and our recent form tells me we'll stay up and I think we have the capacity to grow next season as we have a very good core of players.

For me, as a Rovers fan, I have to admit that your club and fanbase is much bigger than Rovers. But to claim Rovers are going absolutely nowhere is ridiculous. If you take the league table since Coughlan took over we're in a playoff spot. Clarke-Harris has 5 goals in 6 games. Holmes-Dennis looks to be a player that we could sell in the future for a massive profit. The fact is our problems this season came from Clarke's favourites and a lack of a strikeforce and finishing ability. In terms of expected goals we're much better than the teams around us and are on the same level as a team like Fleetwood in that respect. With a few additions, preferably a RB, a winger or two and a striker to replace Jakubiak (assuming we don't sign Bonham), we could easily be top half of league 1. I just think your fans are laughably optimistic about the lack of quality at Rovers just because we lost to a team which is too big for the Championship, let alone League 1 a couple of times. Plus City are on awful form as Johnson always does in the second half of the season. I'd be shocked if you got a playoff place, and if Johnson leaves then what then? Obviously i'm not denying that in terms of owners and funds and stadiums we're miles behind, but you don't need high attendances to be a successful team. Brentford only get 9k on average.