Absolute shit show.

[Reg of the Rovers]

The crap squad and loads of injuries isn't enough mitigation for me. We'll have injuries next year, and even with decent investment will still not have massive quality in all positions. Schofield is playing formations and style without any consideration of the personnel he has available, it's square pegs in round holes and forcing a way of playing that we can't manage. And even with injuries he has to be able to muster more from the team than we're getting currently - a bit of competitiveness, a few more chances, positivity and energy. He's a diabolical manager and we're wasting a transfer window and a quarter or more of next season by leaving him in charge. It's kamikaze stuff from our leadership team.

[danumdon]

They say you make your own luck in life, footballs no different.

When you have nigh on no strings to your bow to be unlucky as well means you are truly blessed.

This guy could not get any luck if they gave it away, there's a reason for that.

If we start next season with him still in situ and he spends TB money and continues to cast the blackest of clouds all over the ECO then i fear for our future, its that simple.

[drfchound]

On the basis of the limited sample of the last 10 games, we are a truly dreadful side. We are unable to accrue points at even a point a game against sides below us in the table. Failing to score in 70 per cent of our games is simply astonishing.

The scoring thing.

Leave out the last 3 games where we haven't had a fit striker whose balls have dropped to select.

Before that, the first match of your 10 game goal drought was at Sutton when, at 0-0, Miller missed an open goal from 3 yards because he refuses to use his left foot.

That would have set us up for our fourth win on the bounce. All against play-off contenders.

A week later, we were fairly comfortably holding a Bradford side in the middle of a run of one defeat in 15 that might well take them to automatic promotion, when Mitchell passed the ball to one of their strikers, then totally misjudged the resulting corner.

On such moments, seasons turn...

Add in the well-fought draw at Stockport the week after and there's a very nearby parallel universe where those stupid individual errors didn't occur and we won 14 points from 6 games against promotion contenders before the current injury crisis ripped the guts out of the side.

That's why I'm agnostic about Schofield. And certainly I'm not drawing any conclusions about a result from a game where he has maybe 2 of the first choice outfield players available.

Now that is lots of whataboutery.
 

[BillyStubbsTears]

This is why I think it’s only reasonable to start again from zero come August. The evidence to date suggests he is an appalling manager, if results and performances in isolation are considered. As soon as you factor in the shit show of a squad he has to pick from, things look a little different. Not to entirely forgive his horrific tenure to date, but enough to allow him a fresh start in August.

On balance, I agree with this.

[tyke1962]

When people say DS needs more time and another crack in August then that comes with some extremely significant criteria .

Pre season is massively important with regards to player recruitment , fitness and tactical work and very often success starts on that training pitch in July .

So it's not just about giving somebody more time it's giving someone more time in probably the most important part of the season when all the crucial work takes place .

[sedwardsdrfc]

Problem is it’s impossible for him to start with a clean slate. His fuse is already 3/4 or at least half burnt. Keep him and start next season poorly and we’re just waiting again to replace him with a mountain to climb.

Everyone will forgive him not getting  playoffs or us been inconsistent but it’s abysmal and the manager hasn’t mitigated it he’s made it worse. You have to earn your opportunities and DS has not earnt the summer to waste.

It’s like we can’t even remember what happened when we gave McSheffery a chance after him showing limited managerial ability.

Thought everyone wanted us to start moving forward off the pitch and start learning

[danumdon]

This is why I think it’s only reasonable to start again from zero come August. The evidence to date suggests he is an appalling manager, if results and performances in isolation are considered. As soon as you factor in the shit show of a squad he has to pick from, things look a little different. Not to entirely forgive his horrific tenure to date, but enough to allow him a fresh start in August.

When you say it’s only reasonable to start again from zero come August you are taking a massive gamble that all things being equal DS uses the additional funds wisely, remember half of this current squad will still be on the books. When you say "as soon as you factor in the shit show of a squad he has to pick from", but is that correct? i don't actually think it is a shit show of a squad, i think its got more to do with the shit show process.

So what assurances do we have that DS is not going to turn more expensive players into another shit show?

All the evidence so far points to him being the common denominator rather than a squad that most of us were saying early in the season should be capable of a promotion challenge.

[ncRover]

This is why would be helpful to hear Coppinger / Schofield discuss what *they think* this squad is missing.

[Beerseller]

I’m torn on this. I’ve been in the Schofield out camp for quite some time because of the appalling lack of entertainment on offer. However, there’s a little niggle in my mind that says if Copps honestly thinks he’s the real deal given a proper squad of his own building then perhaps I should give Copps the benefit of the doubt. He knows more about pro football than I ever will.

The alternative that I’ve tended to agree with, is that we get an experienced manager who can take us out of this league. But what then?  Are we back at square one where we sack that manager for one who can take us into the championship?

I don’t know, I really don’t know. My heart says bin off DS, my head says maybe, just about maybe keep him for the summer recruitment and see what he does then.  But isn’t it a hell of a call to make.

[danumdon]

I’m torn on this. I’ve been in the Schofield out camp for quite some time because of the appalling lack of entertainment on offer. However, there’s a little niggle in my mind that says if Copps honestly thinks he’s the real deal given a proper squad of his own building then perhaps I should give Copps the benefit of the doubt. He knows more about pro football than I ever will.

The alternative that I’ve tended to agree with, is that we get an experienced manager who can take us out of this league. But what then?  Are we back at square one where we sack that manager for one who can take us into the championship?

I don’t know, I really don’t know. My heart says bin off DS, my head says maybe, just about maybe keep him for the summer recruitment and see what he does then.  But isn’t it a hell of a call to make.

See i get the impression that SOD plays a large part in the overall thinking here.

Is Copp's harking back to that golden era as his thought process on trying to achieve this with a new SOD, one DS?

SOD was a vastly experienced manager,

He was starting from a higher point in the league pyramid,

He had a far larger budget than what DS will be trusted with,

He was starting with a better squad,

He was pragmatic and experienced enough to know that when your process doesn't work with the tools at your disposal you amend the process to align with the tools you have,

DS either has none or is getting none of the advantages that SOD had,

Do we still want to take on this massive gamble with our club?

Over to you Mr B.

[sedwardsdrfc]

SOD managed a few hundred games in league football before joining us. I doubt DS will reach one hundred.

It’s far less risky to appoint a new manager than keep DS imo and we really shouldn’t be taking poorly informed risks right now.

[scawsby steve]

On the basis of the limited sample of the last 10 games, we are a truly dreadful side. We are unable to accrue points at even a point a game against sides below us in the table. Failing to score in 70 per cent of our games is simply astonishing.

The scoring thing.

Leave out the last 3 games where we haven't had a fit striker whose balls have dropped to select.

Before that, the first match of your 10 game goal drought was at Sutton when, at 0-0, Miller missed an open goal from 3 yards because he refuses to use his left foot.

That would have set us up for our fourth win on the bounce. All against play-off contenders.

A week later, we were fairly comfortably holding a Bradford side in the middle of a run of one defeat in 15 that might well take them to automatic promotion, when Mitchell passed the ball to one of their strikers, then totally misjudged the resulting corner.

On such moments, seasons turn...

Add in the well-fought draw at Stockport the week after and there's a very nearby parallel universe where those stupid individual errors didn't occur and we won 14 points from 6 games against promotion contenders before the current injury crisis ripped the guts out of the side.

That's why I'm agnostic about Schofield. And certainly I'm not drawing any conclusions about a result from a game where he has maybe 2 of the first choice outfield players available.

BST, you're a man of facts and stats, not a man of "ifs". Where is there a single shred of evidence that DS has the ability to be a successful lower league manager, or can achieve on the same level as people like Coleman, Evans, or so far this season, Simpson?

The managers are out there. Keeping DS is suicidal.

[dickos1]

As billy said up until the Stockport game we were in play off form under schofield.
Everyone of you has ignored that point.
Since then the squad has been decimated,

[Cramby10]

As billy said up until the Stockport game we were in play off form under schofield.
Everyone of you has ignored that point.
Since then the squad has been decimated,

the football was still shit!!!!

[BillyStubbsTears]

SS

I've no axe to grind for Schofield. I simply think that many people have thrown any sense of logic out the window.

Do I think he's done an amazing job with us? No of course I don't.

But I also think he inherited a crock of shite of a squad. A squad that, with nearly every player available, had won 7 points in 8 games before he arrived.

And if Miller hadn't inexplicably missed that chance at Sutton (and you of all people have commented frequently on how it is beyond belief how Miller refuses to use his left foot), the chances our our record under Schofield that night would have been 28 points from 17 games. Clear play-off form.

We certainly weren't playing attractive foitballq under him. But he had found a way of grinding out results from a poor squad. And he was dealing with clearing out some of the dross he'd inherited.

He'd got Maxwell and Biggin's playing far better than under McSheffrey. He'd signed Lakin who was a good addition. We'd even started to keep clean sheets.

My point is that you cannot blame a manager for his centre forward missing literally the easiest chance it is possible to create. Or his goalkeeper, under no pressure, passing the ball to an unmarked opponent 25 yards out. Mistakes like that are the difference between being competitive and not being competitive. And they are not things that managers can affect.

Since then, the wheels have totally come off as we've lost up to a dozen of the first team squad.

And yes, it's grim.

But as I say, Evans wouldn't have scored that goal for Miller at Sutton.

Coleman wouldn't have been able to get a tune out of the players available yesterday.

[BillyStubbsTears]

As billy said up until the Stockport game we were in play off form under schofield.
Everyone of you has ignored that point.
Since then the squad has been decimated,

the football was still shit!!!!

So was the squad...

[tyke1962]

As billy said up until the Stockport game we were in play off form under schofield.
Everyone of you has ignored that point.
Since then the squad has been decimated,

Quite rightly and from what I read on here last summer automatic promotion was the remit with a comfortable play off place the minimum accepted requirement .

You've hovered for a time around the play off positions at best with extremely inconsistent and unconvincing form .

Not only that the league two play off positions cover 7th place , that would be 7th in the bottom tier .

You might accept mediocrity and it seems to me you do given the exchanges we've shared on Southgate and England but many Rovers fans and quite rightly won't have it .

Your Doncaster Rovers not Barrow .

[ncRover]

We have failed to score in 17/40 (43%) of our league games this year. The 2nd worst in the league on that metric and worse than the current bottom 3.

[BillyStubbsTears]

As billy said up until the Stockport game we were in play off form under schofield.
Everyone of you has ignored that point.
Since then the squad has been decimated,

No.

I haven't said that. Because we weren't.

I said but for those two horrific individual errors at Sutton and at home to Bradford, we probably would have been in play off form.

[Cramby10]

As billy said up until the Stockport game we were in play off form under schofield.
Everyone of you has ignored that point.
Since then the squad has been decimated,

the football was still shit!!!!

So was the squad...

the squad that you maintain would beat Penneys red arrows?? Ha ha. You’re funny.

[Rovers91]

I wouldn't trust Schofield to build the blocks on a game of Jenga never mind a succesful football team, he is out of his depth and needs to go. The overall form whilst he has being in charge is relegation battle form.

[Campsall rover]

As billy said up until the Stockport game we were in play off form under schofield.
Everyone of you has ignored that point.
Since then the squad has been decimated,

We won 3 on the trot once. So if you count that as play off form then we were. But come on dickos you really are grasping at straws.

We have been absolutely dire other than in 4 games under DS.
Grimsby, Stevenage ( and we lost that one ) Carlisle and Swindon.  If you think that’s enough to warrant keeping DS then sorry we are on different planets.
Making excuses for injuries is quite frankly unbelievable and imo very naive.
Every club has had injuries.

[Campsall rover]

SS

I've no axe to grind for Schofield. I simply think that many people have thrown any sense of logic out the window.

Do I think he's done an amazing job with us? No of course I don't.

But I also think he inherited a crock of shite of a squad. A squad that, with nearly every player available, had won 7 points in 8 games before he arrived.

And if Miller hadn't inexplicably missed that chance at Sutton (and you of all people have commented frequently on how it is beyond belief how Miller refuses to use his left foot), the chances our our record under Schofield that night would have been 28 points from 17 games. Clear play-off form.

We certainly weren't playing attractive foitballq under him. But he had found a way of grinding out results from a poor squad. And he was dealing with clearing out some of the dross he'd inherited.

He'd got Maxwell and Biggin's playing far better than under McSheffrey. He'd signed Lakin who was a good addition. We'd even started to keep clean sheets.

My point is that you cannot blame a manager for his centre forward missing literally the easiest chance it is possible to create. Or his goalkeeper, under no pressure, passing the ball to an unmarked opponent 25 yards out. Mistakes like that are the difference between being competitive and not being competitive. And they are not things that managers can affect.

Since then, the wheels have totally come off as we've lost up to a dozen of the first team squad.

And yes, it's grim.

But as I say, Evans wouldn't have scored that goal for Miller at Sutton.

Coleman wouldn't have been able to get a tune out of the players available yesterday.

Copps was HoF last summer BST so he must have had the main input into who we signed.
So you’re saying he signed a load of dross.

Miller, Hurst, Molyneux, Maxwell, Biggins.  All cr,p then were they. NO THEY WERE NOT.
They are all very good players for this level of football.
What has happened BST is DS has turned them int players who lack belief and confidence because of the way the team is set up.
That is glaringly obvious.

Hurst obviously has loads of ability and we have seen it in short bursts throughout the season.

Molyneux was one of the best players in League 2 last season in a Hartlepool team that finished
about 16/17th I think.  9 league goals 11/12 in  total i think and about 12 assists.
Jeff Stelling was amazed he only went to a league 2 club when he left Hartlepool.

Biggins is a very decent player for this level but has not been used as he should have been.

Maxwell although raw at first is developing into a very decent full back /wing back.

Miller 9 goals in the first 19 games ( mostly under GmS ) and then goals dried up under DS because again the style of play implemented didn’t give him the scoring opportunities.  His confidence drained and then when he was on the very rare occasion was presented with a chance to score fluffed it.  That’s confidence or lack of it in his case.

So Mitchell, Anderson, Olowu, Knoyle, & Clayton  ( while they were both here ) Rowe, Close, Lakin, Brown, Agard, Lavery & Faulkner are not up to League 2 standard also.

No DS has turned what should have been a squad capable of the top 7 min into a team that will in all probability finish 19th this season.
19th place team is 4 points behind us with a better goal difference so 3 points.

Will we beat any of Grimsby, Harrogate, Stevenage, Newport, Colchester or Walsall? 
3 draws 3 defeats at best. Hope I am wrong but can’t see us scoring more than 4 goals in those 6 games.
Yes that’s how bad this Coach is and what he has turned this group of players into.

He has to go NOW BST. We can’t take the huge risk of keeping him and throwing this summers budget down a big black hole. 

Let’s get a manager in who understands what is required to get promoted and give us some semblance of entertainment.

Saunders /Flynn  team of 2012/13 didn’t bore me. They were a well oiled machine.
Leaders, physically strong and also a team with some considerable flair and ability. Yes a league higher than where we are but a team who new how to win.
We had a manager who knew how to set up a team.

DS is living in some parallel universe because quite simply if he thinks he can get a team promoted playing the way he wants to in League 2 on Planet Earth then he must be an Alien. Maybe it works on another planet in another solar system.

Sorry after watching around 2.200 professional matches in all 4 leagues in England  over the last 61 seasons I can very safely say it won’t work.
I also don’t need any coaching badges to work that one out.

[Donnybax]

I think the club has to be start being more ruthless and stop rewarding failure. Mcsheffrey was given the job after being dreadful in his audition. Anderson has been given yet another new contact and DS is showing all the signs of being a complete failure.

[sedwardsdrfc]

People quick to just blame the players and let DS off the hook is strange. Weren’t we close to the playoffs with a manager we all know wasn’t very good.

To improve on McSheffery was a low bar. The players maybe not great but there’s teams above us with worse players if we look beyond the last few games when injuries came in.

[Campsall rover]

I think the club has to be start being more ruthless and stop rewarding failure. Mcsheffrey was given the job after being dreadful in his audition. Anderson has been given yet another new contact and DS is showing all the signs of being a complete failure.

If Anderson is suspect with regard to long term fitness then to give him another 2 years more after this season seems unbelievably stupid.
Do we as a Club never learn. We continue to make the same mistakes over and over and over again.
Does the injury situation with Taylor not flag up anything at all with Copps.
Seriously a major concern isn’t it.   

[dickos1]

SS

I've no axe to grind for Schofield. I simply think that many people have thrown any sense of logic out the window.

Do I think he's done an amazing job with us? No of course I don't.

But I also think he inherited a crock of shite of a squad. A squad that, with nearly every player available, had won 7 points in 8 games before he arrived.

And if Miller hadn't inexplicably missed that chance at Sutton (and you of all people have commented frequently on how it is beyond belief how Miller refuses to use his left foot), the chances our our record under Schofield that night would have been 28 points from 17 games. Clear play-off form.

We certainly weren't playing attractive foitballq under him. But he had found a way of grinding out results from a poor squad. And he was dealing with clearing out some of the dross he'd inherited.

He'd got Maxwell and Biggin's playing far better than under McSheffrey. He'd signed Lakin who was a good addition. We'd even started to keep clean sheets.

My point is that you cannot blame a manager for his centre forward missing literally the easiest chance it is possible to create. Or his goalkeeper, under no pressure, passing the ball to an unmarked opponent 25 yards out. Mistakes like that are the difference between being competitive and not being competitive. And they are not things that managers can affect.

Since then, the wheels have totally come off as we've lost up to a dozen of the first team squad.

And yes, it's grim.

But as I say, Evans wouldn't have scored that goal for Miller at Sutton.

Coleman wouldn't have been able to get a tune out of the players available yesterday.

Copps was HoF last summer BST so he must have had the main input into who we signed.
So you’re saying he signed a load of dross.

Miller, Hurst, Molyneux, Maxwell, Biggins.  All cr,p then were they. NO THEY WERE NOT.
They are all very good players for this level of football.
What has happened BST is DS has turned them int players who lack belief and confidence because of the way the team is set up.
That is glaringly obvious.

Hurst obviously has loads of ability and we have seen it in short bursts throughout the season.

Molyneux was one of the best players in League 2 last season in a Hartlepool team that finished
about 16/17th I think.  9 league goals 11/12 in  total i think and about 12 assists.
Jeff Stelling was amazed he only went to a league 2 club when he left Hartlepool.

Biggins is a very decent player for this level but has not been used as he should have been.

Maxwell although raw at first is developing into a very decent full back /wing back.

Miller 9 goals in the first 19 games ( mostly under GmS ) and then goals dried up under DS because again the style of play implemented didn’t give him the scoring opportunities.  His confidence drained and then when he was on the very rare occasion was presented with a chance to score fluffed it.  That’s confidence or lack of it in his case.

So Mitchell, Anderson, Olowu, Knoyle, & Clayton  ( while they were both here ) Rowe, Close, Lakin, Brown, Agard, Lavery & Faulkner are not up to League 2 standard also.

No DS has turned what should have been a squad capable of the top 7 min into a team that will in all probability finish 19th this season.
19th place team is 4 points behind us with a better goal difference so 3 points.

Will we beat any of Grimsby, Harrogate, Stevenage, Newport, Colchester or Walsall? 
3 draws 3 defeats at best. Hope I am wrong but can’t see us scoring more than 4 goals in those 6 games.
Yes that’s how bad this Coach is and what he has turned this group of players into.

He has to go NOW BST. We can’t take the huge risk of keeping him and throwing this summers budget down a big black hole. 

Let’s get a manager in who understands what is required to get promoted and give us some semblance of entertainment.

Saunders /Flynn  team of 2012/13 didn’t bore me. They were a well oiled machine.
Leaders, physically strong and also a team with some considerable flair and ability. Yes a league higher than where we are but a team who new how to win.
We had a manager who knew how to set up a team.

DS is living in some parallel universe because quite simply if he thinks he can get a team promoted playing the way he wants to in League 2 on Planet Earth then he must be an Alien. Maybe it works on another planet in another solar system.

Sorry after watching around 2.200 professional matches in all 4 leagues in England  over the last 61 seasons I can very safely say it won’t work.
I also don’t need any coaching badges to work that one out.

These players that you’re saying Danny has turned into dross, we’re also struggling under another manager this season.
Biggins and Maxwell have performed much better under Danny than they did under mcsheffrey,

The point for me is, he took over in October with a squad full of players he might not fancy, he was given hardly any resource in January,
So to keep changing managers when we’re not even letting them sign their own players is just nonsense for me

[Pliskin]

Where has this mythology come from that our squad is complete shit? It isn't a promotion winning squad by any stretch, but it isn't shit. We have plenty of players who have pedigree at least at this level if not higher.

These players will also form the core of the squad we'll have next year. If, as a coach, you can't get a tune out of an XI containing Miller, Molyneux, Rowe, Hurst, Close, Anderson, Olowu, Maxwell, Biggins this season then what's going to magically change to get them firing next season? Because those are the players who'll be playing.

[dickos1]

Where has this mythology come from that our squad is complete shit? It isn't a promotion winning squad by any stretch, but it isn't shit. We have plenty of players who have pedigree at least at this level if not higher.

These players will also form the core of the squad we'll have next year. If, as a coach, you can't get a tune out of an XI containing Miller, Molyneux, Rowe, Hurst, Close, Anderson, Olowu, Maxwell, Biggins this season then what's going to magically change to get them firing next season? Because those are the players who'll be playing.

How many times has he had all those available though?

[sedwardsdrfc]

Where has this mythology come from that our squad is complete shit? It isn't a promotion winning squad by any stretch, but it isn't shit. We have plenty of players who have pedigree at least at this level if not higher.

These players will also form the core of the squad we'll have next year. If, as a coach, you can't get a tune out of an XI containing Miller, Molyneux, Rowe, Hurst, Close, Anderson, Olowu, Maxwell, Biggins this season then what's going to magically change to get them firing next season? Because those are the players who'll be playing.

How many times has he had all those available though?

He’s had most of them available most of the games. It’s only the last few that have been really impacted.

If DS just doesn’t fancy any of the players which means he gets worse performances than GM should Copps have hired him!?

Whole point of HoF is to recruit a manager to fit the players we have and then continue building. The reason everyone wanted a HoF was to stop the massive rebuild every time we change manager.

It’s much easier to replace a manager than a whole squad. Your reasons for defending him only poke holes in hiring him in the 1st place. We were just outside the playoffs. Why sign a manager who would want to rip everything up and write off the season!