Saunders is targeting the play-offs....

[RoversAlias]

Why so surprised Frosty?

We've simply allowed you to indulge in your illusion that he's loyal, honourable, Rovers through and through, that he talks great sense and plays wonderful, attractive, attack minded football and the bubble will never burst.

You might find a few more returning to the circus now the chief clown's left the ring.

4 posts this season before Yesterday Bob?

You are correct about returning to the circus however. The biggest clown on this forum has reappeared. Welcome back Bozo. We await more drivel and slapstick comments from you.

Correct...madmick returned yesterday.

[Donnybob]

My dear Wellred, succinct as ever.

You say I have made only 4 posts this season, presumably a ‘FACT’ to use the popular vernacular on here. What does that say? Don’t worry your brain cells unduly, I’m going to tell you anyway.

According to BST, it’s pointless arguing with me (them) because I (we) think ‘Saunders was a c***, so a c*** he shall remain in their eyes’.

Actually Billy that’s not true. You used the wrong tense. Was should read is. Personal opinion, mind, that’s all. It’s okay for you to have a different one. That’s why forums exist.

Perhaps I am alone in feeling a sense of unbridled joy and relief that Rovers can now look forward to a fresh start, completely untainted by anyone or anything that was connected with the catastrophic ‘experiment’, higher management excluded of course.

Then again, perhaps I no longer give a flying f*** because the club I was invisibly bound to for what, 50 years(?), no longer exists. It stopped existing when Saunders was hired to deliver a paradigm shift in fortunes that was frankly laughable. It was the desperate gambler’s last chance saloon, everything on red, double or quits.

I think you’ll find he failed. This is the season JR claimed we’d be aiming for the Premiership, assuming we didn’t sneak up through the play-offs last season. That is an undeniable ‘FACT’ because I heard him broadcast that profound statement on the radio. Didn’t take a genius to see it would all end in tears. Relegation was never mentioned. Indeed Saunders was completely confident: ‘I know what is needed with the team. I know what our faults are. I know I can get a winning team on the pitch. We have got nothing to fear in this league. We have matched every team we have played.’

Really...?

It’s rather like when a new landlord takes over your local. If you don’t like him or perhaps you think his plans for a gastro-pub are a bit pretentious, or you’re upset that he’s swapped your favourite real ale for some gassy foreign lager, you have a choice. You can either give up drinking altogether or drink somewhere else.

As an adult, what you don’t do is write 500 slogans on his wall moaning about the new landlord. Nor do you send a letter to the brewery each day demanding they sack him. You simply say, ‘Fair do’s, it’s your pub, see ya!’ Doesn’t mean you won’t miss the old place. It certainly doesn’t mean you won’t harbour fond memories of the old landlord or the barmaid who put a smile on your face.

But if the pub’s fortunes then dwindle as customers fail to materialise because the fare on offer is rubbish and well-overpriced, and then the landlord does a runner, taking the chef and the sommelier with him, of course you start to show an interest again, if only to learn who the new landlord will be and if he’ll be offering real ale at any time in the near future.

And of course, this is indeed your moment, the one you knew would arrive sooner or later when you get to air your feelings for the departed landlord, ‘Thank f*** he’s gone. I never liked the c***!’

And guess what? You think back to when the previous landlord was evicted and realise that the folks who were happy to pay gastro pub prices for poor quality fayre and gassy lager are still trampling all over his memories and will continue to do so, yet they’ll call you a hypocrite for merely feeling smug.

Which makes the whole situation so much more enjoyable. Make that 5 posts now Wellred. And careful you don’t choke on that lager.

[dickos1]

Bob you said you'd admit you were wrong and apologise if Saunders got us up. As he's left us joint top of the table, don't you think you should keep to your word.
Everything you said in the summer was wrong dean proved you wrong, just admit it, it's ok to be wrong tha knows.

[Donnybob]

Dickos, I didn't realise. Indeed this has to be some kind of record. We must be the very first team in history to be promoted by the first week in January...

[wilts rover]

Donnybob, I have the polar opposite view that you have of Dean Saunders and his tenure here, but fully resepect your point of view and your reasons for saying it, dialogue is always better than resentment.

I firmly believe that Saunders has left us in a much better state than when he took over (and I was unlucky enough to witness that last pathetic performance at Reading) but his leaving does still now mean that Sean O'Driscoll has been the best Rovers manager in my lifetime. The new chap, whoever he is sure will have two hard acts to follow - but he is in a good place to start.

What I do hope is that sometime in the future we are able to thank both Sean and Dean to the KM to thank them for their time here, its always a shame when the landlord leaves without having a party to say goodbye.

[dickos1]

Not promoted but he's left us top of the table. Almost three quarters of the way through.
In the summer you made a mockery of 14 quotes that dean had made, well I reckon all of those quotes he has pulled off now, he has achieved the things he said he would, you went ott with your criticism which has now left you in a position where you can't admit you were wrong.

[Donnybob]

I have those quotes on my desktop. Trust me. He ain't made a mockery of them at all.

[Donnybob]

Following a big and extensive recruitment drive, Saunders now believes Rovers have a plethora of potential match winners in their side

I think Billy will be staying with us until the end of the season - at least I am hoping he will. He’s not going to any of the clubs who have come in for him at the moment

I’m confident we can go anywhere and get a result

We have to make the Keepmoat more of a fortress. It is something we are working on and luckily we have got a lot of games left in the season to put it right

We are four points behind with a game in hand; it is a miles better position than we were in six months ago

I believe we can bounce back and, normally, you would get a reaction to a defeat and I believe that’s what will happen here

Looking back we should have won the last nine games

We will win games but only if they have the drive and determination and if they had packed in I would have been worried but they didn’t so we are getting there

We are in desperate trouble at the bottom of the league and if I can get them in and we can get out of the trouble we are in, and then they move on, that’s all I’m concerned about; not getting relegated

We have got a problem; we are in a relegation battle. Perhaps those results papered over the cracks

We have got eight games left and if we won them all, we would end up with 50 odd points. There is no reason why we can’t win them all

Seven points is retrievable; we have games in hand. We’ve got to win games; it’s as simple as that

If we pick up three points on Saturday it is better than two draws

I quite enjoy being under pressure. There is nothing worse than just floating half way up the league

We need to win six of our last games if we’re going to stay up. We could have been halfway up the table if we’d had a bit of luck

I can’t keep going over the same things with the same players. In the end you have to do something about it as a manager

If I was a Rovers fan, I would be devastated - but all is not lost. Have a look at the table and you can see we can still do it.

If we win all our remaining games that gives us 15 points and who is to say the teams above us are going to win?

We have hit a bad run of results at the wrong time

It is not easy to keep morale up but that’s my job. I have to use my experience and get us over the finishing line

If you don’t score in the Championship, you end up in League One eventually

If we keep defending like that, we will be in League One

I don’t want to get into trouble with the referees, and I don’t normally criticise them

I thought nearly every decision went against us

It sounds like I am making excuses

[MrFrost]

I have those quotes on my desktop. Trust me. He ain't made a mockery of them at all.

What an exciting life you must lead.

[The L J Monk]

I have those quotes on my desktop. Trust me. He ain't made a mockery of them at all.

What an exciting life you must lead.

How many tickets we sold for Leyton Orient Frosty?

[dickos1]

Bob they were quotes in the past nothing he could do about them in July. What about these ones??

Give Saunders A Chance? You mean another chance, surely!

I don't bother posting these days. What's the point? The site's full of happy clappers who prefer to ignore reality and spend most of their lives making excuses for someone who is patently not up to the job in hand, out of his depth and floundering.

Folk on here said give Saunders a chance last season. They said he hadn't had a pre-season. That it wasn't his own team. It's like his underpants are made of teflon and no blame will ever stick.

Well, he was quick enough to hire his gunslingers last year and where did that get him? He was equally quick to give the existing players short shrift and hang them out to dry, not good enough for him, without a second's thought about how the scenario would unfold. And having consigned them to bench warming at best he now can't understand why he's struggling to 'get rid' (if I might borrow the popular venacular on here).

Perhaps it never crossed his mind that creating a shop window for journeymen would mean being stuck with a bunch of antiques in his attic. He's had January and July to do something about that and it would seem without Willie he's clueless.

But I'm not going to criticise Saunders, I was told to f*** off and follow you know who, so he's not my concern anymore. I'm just one of the many thousands who have quietly melted into the woodwork, unlikely to attend the Keepmoat again until he's gone. (Just wait until you see how the gates will be affected)

However, the future is not without optimism, after all Saunders has the answers. He's even said as much on countless occasions. Indeed here are 14 of my favourite quotes from his tenure:

I know what is needed with the team. I know what our faults are

There are all sorts of things wrong with the club that I can put right

I know I can get a winning team on the pitch

I was positive about winning. That’s why sometimes a new manager has an effect on players

If we keep defending like that, we will be in League One

I can’t keep going over the same things with the same players. In the end you have to do something about it as a manager

I know what I need to do

I don’t have to be scrambling around like a lunatic trying to get loads of players in

My job is to change the personnel and get people in who can do their jobs properly

I’m learning in this job all the time, learning something every week and, for a start, it’s about getting our house in order

It is not easy to keep morale up but that’s my job

I quite enjoy being under pressure. There is nothing worse than just floating half way up the league

It sounds like I am making excuses

I will be ready and looking forward to pre-season

I believe in Father Christmas, pixies and the tooth fairy

Actually, I made one of them up but it's difficult to work out which one because they are all so laughingly preposterous.

[Chris]

I have those quotes on my desktop. Trust me. He ain't made a mockery of them at all.

What an exciting life you must lead.

How many tickets we sold for Leyton Orient Frosty?

Hahaha. Do you get this kind of back-and-forth elsewhere? I think not.

[dickos1]

10/11 of those things he said he'd do he's achieved,

[MrFrost]

I have those quotes on my desktop. Trust me. He ain't made a mockery of them at all.

What an exciting life you must lead.

How many tickets we sold for Leyton Orient Frosty?

Have a look on the KMS website.

[Wellred]

Yaaaaaaaawwwwwwnnnnnn

[mjdgreg]

I'd advise all of you Saunders fans not to take Donnybob on. He's obviously the most intelligent poster on this forum (closely followed by myself). He talks a lot of sense and is making you all look daft (something I am also rather good at).

[BillyStubbsTears]

Donnybob

I said it was pointless arguing with you because you had made up your mind and wouldn't be shifted.

It takes a special kind of intransigence to say "I decided that Saunders was a useless manager, a hateful person and a sound bite-spouting gobshite" and to stick resolutely to that belief when the same man reduced our wage bill by 70% and put together a side that has given us the second or third best start to a season for 60 years.

But you've managed it.

I salute that degree of consistency in you. I would not be able to maintain such a firm and unswerving belief in the infallibity of my opinions in the face of overwhelming evidence that I was wrong.

[mjdgreg]

I said it was pointless arguing with you because you had made up your mind and wouldn't be shifted.

It takes a special kind of intransigence to say "I decided that Saunders was a useless manager, a hateful person and a sound bite-spouting gobshite" and to stick resolutely to that belief when the same man reduced our wage bill by 70% and put together a side that has given us the second or third best start to a season for 60 years.

But you've managed it.

I salute that degree of consistency in you. I would not be able to maintain such a firm and unswerving belief in the infallibity of my opinions in the face of overwhelming evidence that I was wrong.

pmsl. You've managed it in every debate I've battered you in.

[MrFrost]

I'd be intrigued to see Donnybob's and Mick's IP addresses.

[MachoMadness]

I doubt they are the same person. Mick's just latched onto someone and is using them as a tool to bait for reactions, as per usual. Donnybob, while I disagree with him, at least seems like he believes what he puts. Mick, I doubt is even a Rovers fan at this point.

[dickos1]

Mick is definitely not a rovers fan.
Bob is a rovers fan but the problem he finds himself in is he was so ott in the things he said about Saunders and his predictions have turned out so wrong. That he now has to continue with this stance in order to not make himself look ridiculous.

[mjdgreg]

I'd be intrigued to see Donnybob's and mjdgreg's IP addresses.

I can confirm that we are indeed 2 different people. I am flattered that you even thought it was a possibility that I was Donnybob.

[Donnybax]

He has to target playoffs what else can he say?

[mjdgreg]

He has to target playoffs what else can he say?

In the case of Wolves I would agree. In our case last season targeting not being relegated would have been the right thing to say. I just find it funny that he is saying the same things as he did when he came to us. It's like he's learned a pre-prepared script for every club he joins.