Our next 10 games

[CusworthRovers]

These next 10 games will take us into mid March and will help shape our destiny for this season. All these teams are not promotion contenders in my opinion and are just also-rans or relegation fodder (although I can't make my mind up on Wigan). I know Brighton are up there in 6th, but they're not good enough against what's also there, and they simply don't look good enough anyway. Wigan could be the tricky one, as they have found form and a manager that's got them playing again. They also have an excellent squad of players. I've seen Rovers against all these 10 teams and I thought we were, or can be as good as these (if not better) with a fully fit squad.

Wigan home. We played really well against these, but in fairness they were also very good. I hope Holt pisses off to Villa. He was a handful. A draw would be good.

Blackpool away. I thought we were as good as these and the score line flattered them. A draw or a win of T Ince buggers off     

Charlton home. Saw the ill fated one and we were excellent. If we re-produce that, we will beat these.

Middlesbrough home. Just need to watch their pace and match their workrate. A win or a draw    

Brighton away. I thought these were poor. A draw or win    

Barnsley home. Poor team and we will win
       
Yeovil away. We must and will win this    

Bournemouth away. We will win this too    

Huddersfield home. Nothing between these 2 teams and we will beat these

Watford home. We should have got something and look to be in on the slide. We will win this.


What I'm trying to say is we do not have anything to fear in these games other than ourselves. Players are coming back nicely and we have the transfer window upon us to possibly improve things.

[One_Matty_Lucas]

Wow we will win 10 in a row....play offs?

I think Holt is out of favour with Rosler so he wont be a threat at Wigan even if he doesnt move on. Powell is their threat, a top top player.

[CusworthRovers]

I appreciate the odds and form will say we won't win a mass amount of games (we've never done that in our first season of the Championship), but it would not surprise me if we never lost of any of those games from what I've seen

[Bristol Red Rover]

I hear there's some cracking ale in the Mallard these days 

Seriously though, I looked at that run and feared the worst, good to have my half empty glass turned upside down... something like that 

[hoolahoop]

I hear there's some cracking ale in the Mallard these days 

Seriously though, I looked at that run and feared the worst, good to have my half empty glass turned upside down... something like that 

Nah the ales alright and I would agree with Cussie's assessment.
Anything less than 20 points from these games and I will be surprised.

[CusworthRovers]

That's the spirit Hoola. You're in my 'reasons to be cheerful' club. Immediate affiliation to the Tufty Club

I'd be prepared to debate with anyone, those that will say all those 10 teams will wipe the floor with us. Like I said, I know we won't stroll through this 10 match period, but it is a period that can help shape our destiny and it is do-able.

The ale is Johns in The Mallard, by the way guys, and they keep it well (even though Johns does give me very loud trouser coughs post supping) 

[Bentley Bullet]

I wish I shared that optimism. I've become a pessimist myself because that way I don't expect owt, so owt we get is a bonus.

Having weaker opponents doesn't fill me with positive thoughts either, considering our performances against them.

Even our better shows against better teams, which suggest we matched them despite narrowly losing, suggest to me that our opponents set out to do 'just enough' to obtain a win.

It hurts me to say this, but the way I see it we desperately need to strengthen if we're to stay up.

I'm not after smarty points, and I hope I'm wrong, but it is time to stop dreaming.

[mrfrostsdad]

So, by that reckoning we will get 22-25 points from the next 10 games?
Get thisen t' bookies mate, you'll get a hell of a price on that!!!

[RedRover45]

15 points and I would take that. Wins against Blackpool, Charlton, Barnsley and Huddersfield. Draws against Middlesboro, Yeovil and Watford and defeats against Wigan, Brighton and Bournemouth.
That would leave us on 36 points from 35 games with our heads just above water and our destiny in our own hands for the run-in. Can't ask for more than that.

[CusworthRovers]

I'm naturally an Optimist and Realist.

I can see why people don't expect us to win. The stats tell us that. At this moment in time, I just try to set my mindset to the first 10-12 games, when we had a fully fit squad and we were holding our own to a point.

I try and take positives out of games. Of late, it's easy to take positives out of QPR and Blackburn.

I really couldn't go to games expecting us to lose. I couldn't go to games unhappy thinking we're not good enough. That would make the whole match experience very shite for me. It would get me down and make me not want to go. I won't let it get to me like that.

The Optimist in me attends games looking for a win and a good performance. I draw positives from anything to think this will happen, and for me that's not to difficult to do. Tempered with that, is much like you say, low expectations. My bench mark in this league is set a lot lower than it was in L1. One has to be a Realist and know who we are, where our place is and who the other teams around us are and where we think there place is.

I think if you know your place, then defeat or under performance is easier to swallow. However, if you know your place and you knock one of the bigger ones off their pedestal, it doesn't half make things extra sweet. The trick is to know your place. I think our place is where we are or there or there abouts. I'm not upset or down about it, as we are where I thought we would be.   

[mrfrostsdad]

Some very decent points there Cussy.
Unfortunately, I've expected us to get beat nearly every match I've been to recently, and I'm general that's been the case.
I expected is to win against the Wendies, and we did!! Of course the games you think we'll get well beat, ie QPR and Leicester, we go and win FFS!!

Yes, it does spoil it a bit. I don't look forward to it like I did. Last season (at home) was nearly as bad, as I expected us to win a lot more than we did.

Anyway, I REALLY, TRULY BELIEVE WE'LL WIN THIS SATURDAY!!!! Why? Cos I'm at work!!

[Dare to dream!]

I share your optimism CusworthRovers. I predicted a very successful January which included a win at Blackburn. Although it didn't happen or snatch the draw the performance further reassured me that would would have a good January.

Jamie McCombe and Keegan got 60 minutes today which increases pool of fit players for Dickov to chose from. Along with those who returned last week Husband, Khumalo and Coppinger we've got nearly a fully fit squad for the first time in a very long time.

Miete is a good signing with plenty of experience who I think is a proper replacement for Jones imo McCullough or Quinn although they did well they are not natural center backs. Dickov has announced his intentions to sign a goalscorer who will hopefully be in before the Wigan game. That strengthens the first team even further and bridges that gap which is what is missing between us and the rest of the teams bottom to outside of the play offs. Any other player PD brings in is a bonus!

[normal rules]

Without a quality striker or two I can't honestly see rovers getting 10 points from 10 games, let alone 20 plus.

[EpsTheMightyReds]

cussy, my early drinking years were in the Mallard. Alas, this was more than 25 years ago and my optimism has wilted (could be because I drunk mild instead of the John's)
I keep trying to be optimistic but am finding it harder by the day.
My last ditch attempt of optimism is that we sign a half decent forward who can play with Browny, Copps finds his legs for the last few months of the season and the new lads in midfield rekindle the memories of the good old days.
A defeat on Saturday with a poor performance, and I'm afraid I can't see anything other than Glanford Park next season. At least it's only 10 minutes away - every cloud and all that

[BobG]

We're not stopping up. Virtually no club stops up with the sort of boardroom crap that we've been going through for months and months now. The club has been in turmoil. Attention has had to be focused on things that are sod all to do with the togger. That might be calming down a bit now, but it sure hasn't gone away. There's still far too much that could go badly wrong for the KM2 to concentrate on footy exclusively. We'd have to sign Premiership players to stand even a chance this season.  As we can't, signing Championship players on Championship wages is a sure fire way to ensure we go bankrupt next season. Unless you think such players would sign a contract for 6 months and then walk away of course. Not.

Why are football supporters so divorced from reality? What happened to realism? I want us to stay up. I'd be ecstatic if we do. But the chances of it happening....

BobG

[dickos1]

We've every chance of staying up, carry on playing like we did at Blackburn and at qpr and we will be well clear come Easter.
Players don't worry about boardroom shite unless they're not getting paid, wellens wouldn't have signed if it was effecting him would he?
You said a lot of what you just did there 2 years ago bob, and it turned out ok, maybe just maybe it will again eh??

[Dare to dream!]

We're not stopping up. Virtually no club stops up with the sort of boardroom crap that we've been going through for months and months now. The club has been in turmoil. Attention has had to be focused on things that are sod all to do with the togger. That might be calming down a bit now, but it sure hasn't gone away. There's still far too much that could go badly wrong for the KM2 to concentrate on footy exclusively. We'd have to sign Premiership players to stand even a chance this season.  As we can't, signing Championship players on Championship wages is a sure fire way to ensure we go bankrupt next season. Unless you think such players would sign a contract for 6 months and then walk away of course. Not.

Why are football supporters so divorced from reality? What happened to realism? I want us to stay up. I'd be ecstatic if we do. But the chances of it happening....

BobG

I don't think there's been that much turmoil within the club, only John Ryan has left but he's not a key figure in the day to day running of the club. It's not like we've been prevented from signing players, struggling to pay the bills or players wanting to leave. I think us the fans have made all this SC and the KM2 situation a lot bigger than what it is

[BobG]

Dickos: why can't we mate? Really. I want to understand why. We've played like turnips often enough so far. Why will the odd flashes of brilliance become more the norm?

Cheers

BobG

PS D2D: that simply shows your lack of experience and knowledge. You have zero grounds for that statement. I have the examples of clubs over the decades and of businesses today. I work in that sort of environment from time to time. This club IS in turmoil. Full stop.

[bpoolrover]

I don't think things are that bad bob,I can't see any of this affecting the players in the slightest

[dickos1]

Oh we certainly could go down bob, and its going to be tight but we've every chance of staying up, up until December we were good, very good at times. We've had a disastrous 6 weeks, injuries and results, but our starting 11 is good again, and I think the next 6 weeks will bring us joy.

[BobG]

Ok. Thanks. I hope you're right and I'm 100% wrong!

Cheers

Bob

[Akinfenwa]

We were only good enough to win 1 of those ten fixtures. The notion that we'll win more than 2 or 3 in the reverse games is utterly mental to me. I just can't comprehend it..

[Dare to dream!]

Dickos: why can't we mate? Really. I want to understand why. We've played like turnips often enough so far. Why will the odd flashes of brilliance become more the norm?

Cheers

BobG

PS D2D: that simply shows your lack of experience and knowledge. You have zero grounds for that statement. I have the examples of clubs over the decades and of businesses today. I work in that sort of environment from time to time. This club IS in turmoil. Full stop.

What do you base your 'experienced' opinion on then?

This club is not it turmoil at all! We've had bad results due to injuries they are coming back and performances are picking up QPR, Blackburn.

Dickov has got funds to go out and buy players and has already made a good acquisition in Meite.

The Club is profitable. The KM2 are happy to continue running the club and have a good relationship with PD.

That is not a club in turmoil. Portsmouth were an example of a club in turmoil.

[RedRover45]

We're not stopping up. Virtually no club stops up with the sort of boardroom crap that we've been going through for months and months now. The club has been in turmoil. Attention has had to be focused on things that are sod all to do with the togger. That might be calming down a bit now, but it sure hasn't gone away. There's still far too much that could go badly wrong for the KM2 to concentrate on footy exclusively. We'd have to sign Premiership players to stand even a chance this season.  As we can't, signing Championship players on Championship wages is a sure fire way to ensure we go bankrupt next season. Unless you think such players would sign a contract for 6 months and then walk away of course. Not.

Why are football supporters so divorced from reality? What happened to realism? I want us to stay up. I'd be ecstatic if we do. But the chances of it happening....

BobG

Bob, you surprise me. Given you and your dads hard work and fighting spirit back in 1998, we survived, just, and lived not only to fight another day, but to win a massive amount of battles as the underdog.
Now I'm not saying that what you suggest might not happen, it very well could. I'd say its a 50/50 coin toss at this moment in time. We are not marooned at the bottom, we are one result away from getting out the bottom three, and trust me there are a few other clubs in just as bad a position as us.
A takeover bid has failed, Bramall and Watson have made sensible money available and now it needs EVERYONE at the club, directors, staff, players and fans to stand strong together and get out of this mess not accept a defeatist attitude like you're portraying. I thought you, and the club, was made of stronger stuff than that...

[bobjimwilly]

PS D2D: that simply shows your lack of experience and knowledge. You have zero grounds for that statement. I have the examples of clubs over the decades and of businesses today. I work in that sort of environment from time to time. This club IS in turmoil. Full stop.

I'm not sure how you've come to that conclusion Bob? We have a team. We have a manager. The owners get on with each other. The CEO gets on with the board. The books are being balanced. What have a missed?

[andysly]

20+ points would see Rovers almost clear of any relegation worries with 10 games to play. I don't see that happening.
I would happily take 13-15 from those 10 matches. Especially as our previous 10 have only yielded 6 I think.

[mrfrostsdad]

No matter how improved our performances were at QPR and Blackburn, we still lost both games. Had we not 'gone for it' at QPR we could have got a point. Keep playing like that, keep losing, and we will go down, simple. Of course, sandwiched in between that was the debacle against Stevenage, who couldn't/can't buy a win.

I hope Bob is wrong. We have to beat Charlton, the Dingles, Wendies, Yeovil in the return games. Lose a couple of those and we're screwed.

[BobG]

I hope I'm wrong too!

Interesting set of responses this.

1) DAre2Dream: what are you on? This club is NOT profitable. It's nowhere near it and it never has been ever since JR came along. Right now it's losing around £3M a year. And that is AFTER the directors have put their hands in their pockets. As for the club not being in turmoil, exactly how would you describe the events of this last few months then? Warfare on the Board. Public sniping emblazoned across the press. Boardroom resignations. Threats of legal action. A would be buyer who won't be told and so continues to take up lots and lots of leadership time. Threats to force the club into administration by the external predator. Not in turmoil? Grow up lad.

2)RedRover: you are quite correct. We could get out of this. I hope we do. My belief is entirely based on history. I can't think of many clubs in our situation who have managed to escape the drop. These things leave huge big hangovers. Perhaps we will be the exception that proves the rule?

3) BobJim - see answer 1) Our directors have got their hands more than full. It's obvious: what happened to In Rovers We Trust? Martin's told us often enough. They don't have time. They can't put all their energies into running the football club. They're fighting a defensive battle - and they still are. Until JR's shares are in friendly hands there is always going to be a potential threat to DRFC. And I don't just mean selling the shares to someone the Board might not like. What about if the shareholdings opposed to the club refuse to give the guarantees about not calling in loans that thew FL require? We're totally screwed then. No Board can allow that situation to fester. It has to be fixed. The sooner the better. Our Boardroom is a Boardroom under severe pressure.

And things like that generally tell in the end. But hey. I hope the magic fairy sprinkles some of her dust around. We could escape. But it's not odds on.

BobG

BobG

[CusworthRovers]

The run of 10 games has started:

1 win obtained
3 points obtained
3 goals and a clean sheet

Returned players getting fitter
Players still returning
A striker to join us imminently perhaps?

As the ref on MTV's celebrity death match says ' Let's get it on'

[RobTheRover]

Are you keeping the stats on this 10 gme mini league, Cussy?  I look forward to your updates