SOD'S 'Structures'

[Bentley Bullet]

Now I was fan of O'Driscoll and this isn't aimed at undermining him, it is more to show support to Saunders regarding the difficult task he's had since taking over.

It has been suggested to me that SO'D over budgeted so much to build his first team that there was no money left for back-up players capable at Championship level. This could be evident in his decision to disband the reserve side, despite different reasons being given for its withdrawal. I tend to think this could be true.

Perhaps this is why JR decided on the quick-fix experiment as a cheap temporary measure until Saunders gets a reserve and under 21 side up and running, and proper foundations are laid down to replace SOD'S 'structures'.

I reckon Saunders should be given time to do this.

[DonnyNoel]

I don't think theres any doubt that at most points under SOD our bench was inferior to most of the opponents we played (I remember that night we beat Boro and they had Kris Boyd on the bench, barring David Healey he would have been on more than our other 6 subs combined).

Before I counter your points though I want to be clear I agree totally that Saunders needs time, the deadwood needs to go. Both SODs and McKays. I'm not convinced by your point re SOD and budgeting though. Firstly, he had to get together a team good enough to stay up. I'm a big beliver in strength in depth but if you've got 25 average players then you're going to struggle. Keep in mind we'd only just been promoted to this level after 50+ years and were everyones favourites to go down.

Secondly, think about the logic and logistics of a squad. You play your best players and your next best are on the bench. Then take someone like Coppinger or JOC or even Heffs. For the second half of the 08/09 season these guys were amongst the best players in the Championship. Probably on circa £5k p/w each. So to have a squad as good as the team you need players around 80-90% as good as them to be happy on the bench for Doncaster Rovers for £3-4k p/w when in reality at that time if you were nearly as good as Copps you could probably go and play for Derby for £6k per week due to other clubs financial muscle. You say SOD overstretched the budget on his best players and he probably did, but at the time that was the right thing to do whilst he could keep players fit.

His problem cam when the injuries hit the \"A-rated\" players and the budget dictated we didn't have any \"B-rated\" players, just the D/E/F rated likes of Souza and Webster. Looking at the \"Best Championship 11\" thread to me highlights what a tough job it was always going to be at this level. \"If only\" we could have got all those players together for one season at the same time but how realistic (and costly) would that have been? It was nigh on impossible to build a competitive squad when our best players wages could be doubled on a whim by some mid-table outfit like Derby/Barnsley/Ipswich etc.

[Bentley Bullet]

Yes I more or less agree with what you say DonnyNoel and reiterate I wasn't knocking SO'D.

SO'Ds over budgeting on the first team was successful in that it kept us in the Championship for more seasons than expected. But it couldn't go on for ever, and as important players like Wellens, Mills, and Shackell left, we never had the funds to replace them with similar quality.

This structure then inevitably failed because it was built on no foundations.

That's why I for one welcomed Mckay and Saunders because I couldn't, and still can't see an alternative way of attempting to survive at this level.

[SiBo]

Bentley Bullett all your points make sense but you are making a sweeping assumption that SOD was solely responsible for over-budgeting? I think the net needs to be cast a little wider before you simply point the finger at one man and state that's where the problems lay. I've said it before, it was always John who was so reluctant to be seen to be selling our bigger name players, SOD's standard line on everything was we needed to cut our cloth accordingly. SOD's standard line just doesn't fit with him being the one going around offering contracts we couldn't afford to players. John and the board arguably had much more to lose from the supporters accusing him and the board of lack of ambitionby letting all our top players go. Remember for six months we have heard and continue to hear just one side of the story, and the people perpetuating that 'story' have got a significant vested interest in us believing that they are devoid of any responsibility for where the club is now. For the best part of five years SOD did nothing but right by our football club, I just think he deserves an awful lot more respect than people, aided by whatever comes out of JR and DS's mouths, jumping to over-simplified conclusions.

[The Red Baron]

SiBo- I remain a huge admirer of SO'D and I don't think we'd have achieved what we have over the past few years without him. However, I do wonder whether he was too loyal to certain \"squad\" players who were either past their best or not really good enough for this level. At the end of last season I was expecting a much bigger clear-out than eventually happened.

I think you're right about the wage bill though. Some time after 2009 that really escalated and we will have a tough job to get it down to manageable levels.