RedRock

40 minutes ago, Mendip City said:

Agree. Do we have scouts in Europe I wonder? 

Key question: Do we have scouts in England I wonder?

Looking at that photo again. Les Bardsley. Met him in my local in Shaldon. Nicest, most humble chap you could ever wish to meet, and his wife was equally as pleasant too. 

Here’s a picture from a programme of that era. If you are ever in the South Devon area, happy to give you the programme.

Give my regards to Martin, tell him I’m still in contact with a few of the ‘mob’. Bristol Poly Planning Department was never going to be the same after we left. Probably still paying for the damage caused by our year to various establishments in Sheffield (who left the tap on?), the Lake District (the North vs South battle in the hotel lounge) and - what on earth were our lecturers were thinking - the Hotel Cok, Amsterdam (sheets and toilet rolls decorating nearby trees and what did happen to ALL their courtesy pennants and trophies?). 

From my recollection, Martin was part-responsible for elevating our qualification to BA level. So thank him for that, good chap. He also played a hand in my 40 yard chip goal in a college league game at St Mathias which still ranks in my top 10 goals scored (and on which Beckham subsequently based his goal on). 

Just now, Hot Air said:

And precisely how did Mr Baker come to be an authority on Bristol Rovers? 

Simples. Listening to you lot blathering on constantly about how big/good/loved you were on his radio show which, back in the day, was one of the finest national football phone-ins. He no doubt, did a ‘compare and contrast’, between those expressed views and his own visits to both Bristol clubs (and elsewhere) following his beloved Millwall.

1 hour ago, Hot Air said:

What would Danny Baker know about Bristol Rovers? And, more to the point, why would I care? 

He is a Millwall-supporting loudmouth who was sacked by the BBC for tweeting extraordinarily racist material. 

He actually knows an awful lot about Bristol Rovers. He described your supporters on national radio as ‘pathological liars’. 

He had deduced that even before you started inflating the size of your away support, claiming to be the sixth richest Club in the Country, everyone’s second team and prowed owners of a brand new stadium. What next. City never took the Tote? 

1 hour ago, E.G.Red said:

It would be nice if William and/or Kate  could be there at the final. 

Wrong time of year. Too busy blowing grouse out of the sky. 

Sunak and all other politicians unavailable ans they are all in the middle of their 11 month holidays.

Dosser Doris might be interested though to relieve the boredom of her tax payer funded 18 month break. All expenses paid with her own 150 seater flag emblazoned plane for her offspring/relatives. Offer her a place in the House of Lords and she’ll jump at it. 

Winners. Take that Aussies. 

Tremendous performance.

Building into a tournament. Some pretty iffy performances to reach this point, but very accomplished today. 

That Hemp in attack has been outstanding. Some stamina. 

6 minutes ago, TV Tom said:

Haha, is this commentator Alana Partridge? 

‘Foot like a traction engine’ spring to mind. 

Some hit! 

Shows you can substitute brilliant technique for pure muscle power in shooting velocity.

Re-build brick by brick. Sometimes, when you’re not strong , stay still and even if it’s just two bricks that’s progress. 

You’ve already started. An absolute brilliant ‘reach out’ on a sub-forum full of people who you don’t know but who care, many no doubt having experienced life lows. You are not alone. 

24 minutes ago, OneCity said:

Proof of plasticity comes in the shape of Man U tops dominating 20 years ago. Saw kids all over the place proudly wearing their kit. Now it's Man City. They're the big boys now. So naturally saw a kid outside the chippy the other night decked out in full Man City colours, shorts and socks included. I see those sky-blues colours frequently now.

As Russel85 said, I'd rather see a Rovers top than Man City, Arsenal, or Chelsea.

Easy mistake to make.

The sky blue colour is ours now.  Jon Lansdown told me. 
 

It was probably Lee Johnson in the training kit. 

Can remember a couple of years back driving down Queen Street, Newton Abbot as the schools came out and a youngster was wearing a City shirt alongside his mates. Good lad. 

Torquay has good representation, shirt wise, around South Devon, more Exeter east of the Exe.  Certainly seems with the youngsters down here a greater affinity with the local sides.

The very few Gas clown shirts I’ve spotted down here are associated with old fossils on coach day trips from their Bristol care homes.

36 minutes ago, Barrs Court Red said:

I said something along similar to my wife yesterday.  
 

Great as it is for England to be beating farmers teams like Belgium 6-1 with a clear technical superiority, it’s noticeable that Nigeria and Columbia had an edge in pace, power and physicality.
 

Watching the game evolve rapidly will see different approaches, and think these physical traits are traits that will be increasingly sought after. 

Yep, if we use a lightweight, high-skill midfield we need to play a high tempo game. Move the ball fast, quick feet, accurate passing and create spaces. We didn’t do that, so largely stifled. 

We were lucky to win that game. Bar China, a pretty spluttering show from the us so far in this competition. Need to get back to what we do best for the Aussies.

This tournament has been an odd one quality wise. Think the top teams have plateaued out, if not declined in quality, with the previous ‘fodder’ teams improving and near catching them up. 

Personally, find it enjoyable, with some skills - close control, passing, trickery and shooting - on a par, if not better than the men’s game. The one aspect that has improved throughout is the keepers, with gaffs now a rarity. On the downside, the play acting that used to be absent is creeping in unfortunately.

Thought Columbia were a very solid, physical, technically proficient side. If they’d really given it a go and had taken the shackles off they could easily have won that match.

Better team lost imo.

First half.

Colombia solid and resilient. England lightweight and fragile.

3 minutes ago, ChippenhamRed said:

Reminded me of this.

 

Ha. Like minds and all that.

Is that David Seaman in goal?

13 minutes ago, JoeAman08 said:

Feels like next season every season. He is right we have the squad, the performance centre, the stadium and while I am not always convinced, the manager who built that squad.
 

Why would you not give him the resources to be successful this season? 
 

If he doesn’t like NP and was always going to sell Scott, why not get rid of NP and get a new man in? The cost wouldn’t be crazy with NP having a year left. 
 

I just don’t get SL. Gets bit by one regime. Gets a decent one in and restricts them because he was bit. Few years go by and backs wrong regime and gets bit again. Whats he do? Restricts the better one again. Never fault him for letting city push ffp and spending his money but he is seriously a poor decision maker. Think the club may need s change from the top to every really succeed. 

I think they both admit not seeing eye-to-eye on occasions. 

Suspect one of those occasions would have been signing Danny Simpson … and I fully understand that.

Think the football side is now Nige’s, with little interference from Steve. Nige  doesn’t get involved in the financials. Clearly there is an interface, such as transfers, where Steve has the trump card. Think that would have been explained to Nige at his appointment. 

Nige’s brief is to build a squad that can take us to the Prem, which I believe he is more than capable of doing, with the occasional star player loss to fund running costs and the purchase of squad players with potential. The subtle and crucial difference from previous regimes - that player must be one that Nige believes will enhance the squad and fit HIS player template - ie not just a random speculative ‘hit’, hoping for player profit.

Fair do’s. 

Must have read my OTIB post from yesterday. 

Caveat would be, occasionally need to take a calculated risk and, of course, these things take time. In our case, a very long time… but to be fair to Nige, it’s only a couple of years.
 

3 hours ago, MarcusX said:

We have at AG, in the east end after it was re-opened, and the millwall fans tried to get across the netting and some spilled down to the pitch to get round if I remember correctly

Millwall regularly ‘shared’ stands, normally on an unauthorised basis, back in the day!

Rather amusingly they tied to ‘share’ The Dolman, while some of ours tried to ‘share’ the away pen in the Park End at a match in the early 80’s. Didn’t end well for either. 

 

Nice write up. Thanks.

Just one inaccuracy. The Sags took more than anyone to Wembley and also filled the car park. So they must have the attendance record.

Hope it all goes well tomorrow.  Admit, given the history between our two clubs, putting us together in one stand on such an important occasion for you does seem a bit of a risk. That said, let’s hope both sides show respect.

40 minutes ago, Slack Bladder said:

I thought the whole idea of the academy was to produce players of our own, making us less reliant on buying players in. Especially journeymen

I believe this formula would work even better if we actually kept those products and build a team around them.

Anybody remember Man Us class of '92? Beckham, Scholes, Keane, Nevilles, Sharpe and so on. Good things can happen when you keep these kids together.

Yes, agree but it’s very easy when you are top of the football food chain. We aren’t. 

We haven’t a real choice - unless we offer Prem wages to our top youngsters - but to be a selling Club. We all know what happened when we offered long contracts and big wages the last time! Massive gamble.

Have a plan, stick to it and build slow and sustainably is the best way.
 

Think we are opting for the lower risk ‘get all your ducks in alignment’ approach to an assault on promotion ie. we are building a team of 11 players of similar ‘average’ ability that together become a force. This, opposed to 3-4 individual stars with infill support of players of lesser ability.

Arguably, this is more tricky as it depends on everyone gelling and each being at the top of their game. However, given how football works at Championship level for non-parachute payment teams it’s the only the realistic way. The alternative is high risk with at least an equal chance of crashing and burning as getting promotion. 

Hopefully, Nige when appointed understood and accepted the context in which he was working. Personally, think he is the man who can deliver adopting the ‘team’ approach. Understand the frustrations of it taking time, but he walked into a complete mess of a Club and had to completely rebuild from the bottom up.

Progress is steady, with a few blips, and within 2 years I think we will be a force in this division based, this time, on solid and sustainable foundations.