One reflection

[Chris Black come back]

Quite interesting thinking about what a fantastic job McCann has done twice now and the plaudits he has rightly got. SOD also gets the garlands of getting and keeping us in the Championship.

Few people give Dave Penney much airtime though. When was last manager before him who managed to get us not only up two consecutive leagues but to do it in two consecutive seasons? Has anyone ever matched that for us? Throw in the Carling Cup run as an aside and Penney has an exceptionally strong record.

[Bessie Red]

Still probably my favourite time watching Rovers was when Penney was manager. I loved the way we played with absolutely no fear of any opponent even Premier League teams.

[drfcsteve]

I remember it always being exciting under Penny regardless of the result. I think John Ryan was right that Penny had taken us as far as he could and I think that was proved right with how we moved forward with SOD, but I’m surprised Penny didn’t have more success in management after he left us.

[pib]

He did a great job for us and I'll always fondly remember his time in charge.

I think perhaps JR came to the realisation (and he may have been right) that Penney was struggling to take us to the next level.

Up until the 2005/06 season Penney generally relied on free transfers and relatively inexpensive buys like Coppinger. From 2005 we started to spend a bit more money on players (in terms of transfer fees at least) and despite a slow start only missed out on the play-offs by 2 points, and had the League Cup run as well.

We then invested again in the squad before the 06/07 season but had another slow start which led to his sacking. I do wonder what would've happened if Penney had been given longer that season. He'd turned around a slow start the previous season, and was equipped with better players. Maybe we'd have gone one better than 05/06 and challenged in the end?

I remember the feeling at the time that he had run out of steam and had gone as far as he could with us, but it might have been interesting to see how it had played out if he'd stayed. Not that we should regret SOD coming in and delivering what he did.

IIRC Penney was regarded as quite sought after by other clubs in around 2004, and as above it was a bit of a surprise he didn't go on to do much else, other than a couple of decent seasons with Darlo in L2. Perhaps the game left him behind a bit.

[Mike_F]

I think your last sentence sums it up there, Pib. He was great at getting the most out of a set of grafters complemented with a sprinkling of genius from the likes of McIndoe and Copps but I believe his management style was very much like his playing style i.e. give it 100% commitment and take no prisoners which was ideal for the Conference and Div 3 as it was back then. When we needed a bit more tact and nuance he started to bang his head against the ceiling of his ability.

All that said, the Division Three title winning season goes down as one of the most enjoyable seasons I've ever witnessed. We really tore a few teams apart by playing with an almost arrogant swagger. When JJ Melligan stood on the ball and mimed looking across the pitch to pick a pass (against Cambridge?) that summed up the season in a moment.

[MachoMadness]

I think a few of the personal issues in the squad didn't help, either. Our house didn't have internet at the time, so I didn't hear any rumours about ill feeling in the squad - I'd just wake up one morning, flip on teletext, and find Steve Foster or Tim Ryan had suddenly been shipped out. Can't imagine losing McIndoe for relative peanuts as a result of said issues enamoured him to the club hierarchy at the time.

But Penney is without doubt a Rovers legend, arguably our most important manager ever for digging us out of non league, dominating Division 3, and then establishing us as a competitive L1 club in successive seasons. The pub team having a laugh era, good times.

[keyser_soze]

It was a key time to get it right and he was a real fluke find initially as player manager, with no suggestion there was ever a plan for him to ascend to management. We were starting to languish in the conference after a couple of poor managers in Snodin and Wignall, spending money but with little to show for it. Can you imagine a league where only the champions get promoted too? Madness and a total bottleneck at the top that meant teams that got promoted usually flew straight through League Two as well.

I never heard the full story behind Foster and Ryan, but there was booze involved? Foster moving brought in Graeme Lee as a great replacement

I just caught the season 04/05 full season review on Youtube last night, a great watch, Fortune-West, Doolan (30 yard screamer and a w**ker sign at Paul Hart) and McIndoe key additions to the side that came up from the conference. McIndoe ripped those leagues to shreds. Guy Ipoua less so and a first (of at least three) signing of Mark Wilson on loan from Middlesboro. Coppinger showing flashes of what he would eventually bring when he could get in the side for Jocky McSporran. 5-0 demolition by Bournemouth with Hayter getting two and Eddie Howe another was a glimpse of what we would morph into a few years later.

[Pancho Regan]

In 2017 I had a chat with Dave Penney at a Guiseley match, when he was 'assistant' to Adam Lockwood.

I asked Dave, in view of all the brilliant signings he'd made whilst at Rovers. which one did he consider his best signing?

With only a moment's hesitation, DP replied "Steve Foster".

[NickDRFC]

Loved that Division 3 (pretty sure it was still Division 3 back then?!) title winning team. Warrington in goal was solid as a rock behind 2 robust centre halves in Foster and the Sarge and full backs who were solid defensively but an eye for a spectacular goal in Ryan & Mulligan. One central midfielder who would run a marathon every game, Greeny, and another who was more of a ball player, Doolan. A solid and unspectacular winger* on one side in Melligan and the best player in the league on the other in Macca. Classic big man/little man combo up from in Leo & Blundell. Plus notable contributions from Browny, Akinfenwa, Marples, Ravenhill, Dangerous Dave, Jamie Price and I’m sure a few others that I’m missing.

*this is maybe a bit unfair, but always thought JJ was the weak link (albeit still a strong one) and it was a shame that we didn’t get to see the best of Sir Francis Tierney or Copps terrorising the opposition full back in the same way that Macca would on the other wing.

[NickDRFC]

In 2017 I had a chat with Dave Penney at a Guiseley match, when he was 'assistant' to Adam Lockwood.

I asked Dave, in view of all the brilliant signings he'd made whilst at Rovers. which one did he consider his best signing?

With only a moment's hesitation, DP replied "Steve Foster".

Clearly loved him - even after the fallout and contract cancellation he ended up signing him at Darlo a couple of years later and making him club captain.

[karldew]

For a second I thought the first band at a rovers fake festival had been announced.