Viking Supporters Co-operative
Viking Chat => Viking Chat => Topic started by: Lincoln Rover on July 23, 2025, 06:26:13 pm
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https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0lrrw47
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Always good to hear Gavin speak. £1.7m investment in facilities this summer. Budget there to get us mid table, talk of challenging for the play offs. This was asked for by McCann and Terry agreed and signed it off. Strongly implies we've agreed a new deal for McCann - this is just the same rolling contract as before but with a nice pay bump.
All incredibly positive. Look at the pre season other clubs nearby have had and you realise we're in an incredibly lucky spot.
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If john Ryan had done this interview it would have been about 4 pages long already.
Fantastic interview without the razzmatazz and sales guff.
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Wonder how Danny Schofield would have got on with a mid table L1 budget.
Great that Terry is willing to let the CD funds be invested back into the club and still maintain a healthy budget.
We are not reinventing the wheel though are we, we are improving for spending more money. In the same way we have improved in the past for doing the same.
Love the infrastructure investment, that will make a huge difference long term but we have built the football side of the club through the eyes of Grant McCann. He goes and we are taking quite a few large steps back. Cliff, Glover, Mad Baz are all his men. That’s not only the coaching set up, it’s the recruitment department gone also. We are still operating the boom and bust model in my opinion. We are currently all in. In two or three years things could look very different as the sustainable decision making (football decision making that is) isn’t there.
I know I’m a broken record on this, and I have been for the last 10 or so years! If we do great this season Grant will leave, like he did last time, and like he is perfectly entitled to to see how far he can go in the game. Then what? The next man wants to come in and build the club in his identity? We are Doncaster Rovers FC, not Grant McCann FC, Sean O’D FC, Dave Penney FC, or whoever it may be at the time.
Clubs where the managers have so much control can be great when it’s going good but they are the ones that are so vulnerable.
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Get all that GazLaz, but with the built in assurances assurances we get a “ big lump” if/when someone wants him. We are who we are. I think we should enjoy this ride, a, it’s always a Rovers rollercoaster.
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Wonder how Danny Schofield would have got on with a mid table L1 budget.
Great that Terry is willing to let the CD funds be invested back into the club and still maintain a healthy budget.
We are not reinventing the wheel though are we, we are improving for spending more money. In the same way we have improved in the past for doing the same.
Love the infrastructure investment, that will make a huge difference long term but we have built the football side of the club through the eyes of Grant McCann. He goes and we are taking quite a few large steps back. Cliff, Glover, Mad Baz are all his men. That’s not only the coaching set up, it’s the recruitment department gone also. We are still operating the boom and bust model in my opinion. We are currently all in. In two or three years things could look very different as the sustainable decision making isn’t there.
I know I’m a broken record on this, and I have been for the last 10 or so years! If we do great this season Grant will leave, like he did last time, and like he is perfectly entitled to to see how far he can go in the game. Then what? The next man wants to come in and build the club in his identity? We are Doncaster Rovers FC, not Grant McCann FC, Sean O’D FC, Dave Penney FC, or whoever it may be at the time.
Clubs where the managers have so much control can be great when it’s going good but they are the ones that are so vulnerable.
If you read the interview in the DFP you’ll see that it appears the club are already doing what some would call due diligence for manager replacement and succession plans for TB..
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Very polished performance from Gavin who comes across as sincere, committed and knowledgeable. I think the future is rosy with the way that the club has been re-organised and transformed into a truly professional set up staffed by individuals of high ability and expertise. My only concern is that we remain wholly in Terry's hands and although he is passionately committed to DRFC it would be nice if he was about 20 years younger.
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"know I’m a broken record on this, and I have been for the last 10 or so years! If we do great this season Grant will leave, like he did last time, and like he is perfectly entitled to to see how far he can go in the game. Then what? The next man wants to come in and build the club in his identity? We are Doncaster Rovers FC, not Grant McCann FC, Sean O’D FC, Dave Penney FC, or whoever it may be at the time."
I don't entirely disagree with you but, we could have all the support infrastructure, Director of Football/Head of Recruitment/Talent ID manager etc, etc, it will still matter so much on who's manager and/or head coach. Man U for example. Having the best of best is no guarantee of success or forward momentum. They have totally lost their identity.
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Get all that GazLaz, but with the built in assurances assurances we get a “ big lump” if/when someone wants him. We are who we are. I think we should enjoy this ride, a, it’s always a Rovers rollercoaster.
A few hundred grand doesn’t really mitigate it IMO.
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Will be interesting to see how Brentford survive their manager and best players going this summer. They’ve clearly built a great model but this is a massive test for them.
Feels like we don’t really have a model beyond Terry’s very welcome cash. When we didn’t have that we were terrible.
Given how bad we are at monetising talent and how our attendances will not be troubling the upper echelon of League One, it’s not clear longer term how we can survive at that level without Terry and his cash.
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Will be interesting to see how Brentford survive their manager and best players going this summer. They’ve clearly built a great model but this is a massive test for them.
Feels like we don’t really have a model beyond Terry’s very welcome cash. When we didn’t have that we were terrible.
Given how bad we are at monetising talent and how our attendances will not be troubling the upper echelon of League One, it’s not clear longer term how we can survive at that level without Terry and his cash.
You're right of course. As we've discussed before, it's about getting value for money and we know in the past, alot of our budget has been wasted on the treatment table.
It always comes down to having good people, people who work together well and sing from the same hymnsheet and trust each other. We know in life, people move on and break the chain. Whatever model we choose, it depends on the good people, sometimes new people, who prefer to work with people they know and trust.
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If john Ryan had done this interview it would have been about 4 pages long already.
Fantastic interview without the razzmatazz and sales guff.
How on this earth do you find a way to belittle John Ryan?
Club is on a great trajectory at the moment, can the current regime get us a higher finish than 12th in the second tier of English football?
Possibly, but don’t knock the guy that did it, and in turn gave us the “The Arsenal of the North” tag. Even Millwall applauded Rovers off the pitch.
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If john Ryan had done this interview it would have been about 4 pages long already.
Fantastic interview without the razzmatazz and sales guff.
How on this earth do you find a way to belittle John Ryan?
Club is on a great trajectory at the moment, can the current regime get us a higher finish than 12th in the second tier of English football?
Possibly, but don’t knock the guy that did it, and in turn gave us the “The Arsenal of the North” tag. Even Millwall applauded Rovers off the pitch.
How on earth did you come to the idea that I was knocking john Ryan?
GB has been knocked from pillar to post by some sections of the fan base but this interview has garnered 11 posts on here.
I was simply stating that if JR had done this interview, it would be four pages deep.
Gavin himself said a couple of times that he was the boring one but I found the interview really interesting and could hear his posivity , pride and passion shining through.
Maybe you took the words "razzmatazz and sales guff" a bit too seriously?
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If john Ryan had done this interview it would have been about 4 pages long already.
Fantastic interview without the razzmatazz and sales guff.
How on this earth do you find a way to belittle John Ryan?
Club is on a great trajectory at the moment, can the current regime get us a higher finish than 12th in the second tier of English football?
Possibly, but don’t knock the guy that did it, and in turn gave us the “The Arsenal of the North” tag. Even Millwall applauded Rovers off the pitch.
How on earth did you come to the idea that I was knocking john Ryan?
GB has been knocked from pillar to post by some sections of the fan base but this interview has garnered 11 posts on here.
I was simply stating that if JR had done this interview, it would be four pages deep.
Gavin himself said a couple of times that he was the boring one but I found the interview really interesting and could hear his posivity , pride and passion shining through.
Maybe you took the words "razzmatazz and sales guff" a bit too seriously?
Or possibly he took the tone of your post to be a bit insulting and condescending? That’s the thing with forum posts though i guess, isn’t it.
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Gavin said in his interview with DFP that Terry is still very much committed to getting Rovers into the Championship but should Terry’s ££ suddenly stop they have a plan B in place.
Gavin went on to say he could literally pick up the phone tomorrow & speak to 3 individuals who would be more than happy to pick up the reins, people who Terry knows & trusts would have the best interests of the club at heart but for now Terry wants to be at the helm for the foreseeable future.
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Gavin said in his interview with DFP that Terry is still very much committed to getting Rovers into the Championship but should Terry’s ££ suddenly stop they have a plan B in place.
Gavin went on to say he could literally pick up the phone tomorrow & speak to 3 individuals who would be more than happy to pick up the reins, people who Terry knows & trusts would have the best interests of the club at heart but for now Terry wants to be at the helm for the foreseeable future.
This was one of the most interesting things from the interview for me, I knew that plans would be in place for any and all possible scenarios relating to Terry but the fact that Gavin knows 3 people who he could call to come in and be the new moneyman/women behind the club is very reassuring.
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He also says we have plans to be smarter about managerial changes if and when that’s necessary.
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Gavin said in his interview with DFP that Terry is still very much committed to getting Rovers into the Championship but should Terry’s ££ suddenly stop they have a plan B in place.
Gavin went on to say he could literally pick up the phone tomorrow & speak to 3 individuals who would be more than happy to pick up the reins, people who Terry knows & trusts would have the best interests of the club at heart but for now Terry wants to be at the helm for the foreseeable future.
This was one of the most interesting things from the interview for me, I knew that plans would be in place for any and all possible scenarios relating to Terry but the fact that Gavin knows 3 people who he could call to come in and be the new moneyman/women behind the club is very reassuring.
It makes you wonder if they will get one of them in while Terry is still here to have a kind of handover period for a season or two.
I know business is complicated but imagine the force we could be with Terry and one other, with the other eventually taking the reins.
I’m not saying we need it by the way, unbelievable support from Terry.
Ps I believe that’s the most open response they have given on the subject. Even in the MTO events they have skirted around it by simply reassuring us. So maybe the groundwork is being laid.
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I do think the current trio is unique and also the structure and financial flows between the various entities is seemingly well structured for the future .I do not understand the constraints or opportunities that exist for involving Terry’s legacy financing of Club Doncaster beyond his humanity.
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Wonder how Danny Schofield would have got on with a mid table L1 budget.
Great that Terry is willing to let the CD funds be invested back into the club and still maintain a healthy budget.
We are not reinventing the wheel though are we, we are improving for spending more money. In the same way we have improved in the past for doing the same.
Love the infrastructure investment, that will make a huge difference long term but we have built the football side of the club through the eyes of Grant McCann. He goes and we are taking quite a few large steps back. Cliff, Glover, Mad Baz are all his men. That’s not only the coaching set up, it’s the recruitment department gone also. We are still operating the boom and bust model in my opinion. We are currently all in. In two or three years things could look very different as the sustainable decision making (football decision making that is) isn’t there.
I know I’m a broken record on this, and I have been for the last 10 or so years! If we do great this season Grant will leave, like he did last time, and like he is perfectly entitled to to see how far he can go in the game. Then what? The next man wants to come in and build the club in his identity? We are Doncaster Rovers FC, not Grant McCann FC, Sean O’D FC, Dave Penney FC, or whoever it may be at the time.
Clubs where the managers have so much control can be great when it’s going good but they are the ones that are so vulnerable.
It’s not purely about spending money, we didn’t have the biggest budget or wage bill in league 2 last year yet we won the league.
The signings we make are ones where we can develop and add assets to the club,
Maxwell, Bailey, McGrath, molyneux, Broadbent, etc would all earn the club significant profit if sold tomorrow.
Even if we had a model of director of football/ sta based recruitment, it’s still working with the risk of that person leaving and someone coming in with a different idea.
If McCann did leave I’m pretty certain Baldwin et al would be smart enough to lay out what they want from a manager in the recruitment process and would want it to be linked to how McCann has run the club, it certainly won’t be throw everything down the toilet and start again
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Wonder how Danny Schofield would have got on with a mid table L1 budget.
Great that Terry is willing to let the CD funds be invested back into the club and still maintain a healthy budget.
We are not reinventing the wheel though are we, we are improving for spending more money. In the same way we have improved in the past for doing the same.
Love the infrastructure investment, that will make a huge difference long term but we have built the football side of the club through the eyes of Grant McCann. He goes and we are taking quite a few large steps back. Cliff, Glover, Mad Baz are all his men. That’s not only the coaching set up, it’s the recruitment department gone also. We are still operating the boom and bust model in my opinion. We are currently all in. In two or three years things could look very different as the sustainable decision making (football decision making that is) isn’t there.
I know I’m a broken record on this, and I have been for the last 10 or so years! If we do great this season Grant will leave, like he did last time, and like he is perfectly entitled to to see how far he can go in the game. Then what? The next man wants to come in and build the club in his identity? We are Doncaster Rovers FC, not Grant McCann FC, Sean O’D FC, Dave Penney FC, or whoever it may be at the time.
Clubs where the managers have so much control can be great when it’s going good but they are the ones that are so vulnerable.
It’s not purely about spending money, we didn’t have the biggest budget or wage bill in league 2 last year yet we won the league.
The signings we make are ones where we can develop and add assets to the club,
Maxwell, Bailey, McGrath, molyneux, Broadbent, etc would all earn the club significant profit if sold tomorrow.
Even if we had a model of director of football/ sta based recruitment, it’s still working with the risk of that person leaving and someone coming in with a different idea.
If McCann did leave I’m pretty certain Baldwin et al would be smart enough to lay out what they want from a manager in the recruitment process and would want it to be linked to how McCann has run the club, it certainly won’t be throw everything down the toilet and start again
There's more than one way to run a football club, I completely understand that. I have a picture in my head of how a club should be structured to give best chance of over achieving the sum of the parts and ensuring consistency over a long period of time, even if the parts are swapped in and out. I strongly believe in the strategy I think is optimal.
As ever with these things they play out over time. we do have assets, I completely agree, how we manage these assets going forward will be interesting. How do we value them? How do we recognise when other clubs are overvaluing them? This is in the hands of the manager currently but managers are "focussed on the next game" as they always say. They want to give themselves the best chance of winning games of football in the short to medium term. Could that mean the manager i'snt best placed to make the long term strategy decisions? Possibly.
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I found the talk about succession really reassuring. Good luck to TB as he is obviously enjoying his role, but just like Grant, nothing lasts forever and having a plan in place to stop the "roller coaster" as GB intimated is the best news the club could have.
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Wonder how Danny Schofield would have got on with a mid table L1 budget.
Great that Terry is willing to let the CD funds be invested back into the club and still maintain a healthy budget.
We are not reinventing the wheel though are we, we are improving for spending more money. In the same way we have improved in the past for doing the same.
Love the infrastructure investment, that will make a huge difference long term but we have built the football side of the club through the eyes of Grant McCann. He goes and we are taking quite a few large steps back. Cliff, Glover, Mad Baz are all his men. That’s not only the coaching set up, it’s the recruitment department gone also. We are still operating the boom and bust model in my opinion. We are currently all in. In two or three years things could look very different as the sustainable decision making (football decision making that is) isn’t there.
I know I’m a broken record on this, and I have been for the last 10 or so years! If we do great this season Grant will leave, like he did last time, and like he is perfectly entitled to to see how far he can go in the game. Then what? The next man wants to come in and build the club in his identity? We are Doncaster Rovers FC, not Grant McCann FC, Sean O’D FC, Dave Penney FC, or whoever it may be at the time.
Clubs where the managers have so much control can be great when it’s going good but they are the ones that are so vulnerable.
It’s not purely about spending money, we didn’t have the biggest budget or wage bill in league 2 last year yet we won the league.
The signings we make are ones where we can develop and add assets to the club,
Maxwell, Bailey, McGrath, molyneux, Broadbent, etc would all earn the club significant profit if sold tomorrow.
Even if we had a model of director of football/ sta based recruitment, it’s still working with the risk of that person leaving and someone coming in with a different idea.
If McCann did leave I’m pretty certain Baldwin et al would be smart enough to lay out what they want from a manager in the recruitment process and would want it to be linked to how McCann has run the club, it certainly won’t be throw everything down the toilet and start again
There's more than one way to run a football club, I completely understand that. I have a picture in my head of how a club should be structured to give best chance of over achieving the sum of the parts and ensuring consistency over a long period of time, even if the parts are swapped in and out. I strongly believe in the strategy I think is optimal.
As ever with these things they play out over time. we do have assets, I completely agree, how we manage these assets going forward will be interesting. How do we value them? How do we recognise when other clubs are overvaluing them? This is in the hands of the manager currently but managers are "focussed on the next game" as they always say. They want to give themselves the best chance of winning games of football in the short to medium term. Could that mean the manager i'snt best placed to make the long term strategy decisions? Possibly.
I believe Grant & probably Gavin have stated in recent & past interviews that signing, selling, loaning out, loanee players in, facilities at the training ground, coaching staff appointments are all discussed (& probably a lot more) by the three main men at the club.
The Chairman, the Chief Executive & the manager.
Seems to be working thus far.
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I noted that it would have to be one out one in from here on in, and young Will Flint has gone out on loan to Gateshead - I wonder iif this means we will see another in
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I noted that it would have to be one out one in from here on in, and young Will Flint has gone out on loan to Gateshead - I wonder iif this means we will see another in
I doubt his wages are that significant to have much impact on signing another player. Pretty sure it would be more about development for flint than anything else.
The impact would be a close/westbrooke leaving surely?
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Hurst?
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Hurst?
Again, I doubt his wages are a big financial outlay. But from a purely footballing perspective he probably needs to move on. I think it’s pretty clear he won’t be playing for us again
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Even with TB being very generous and supporting GM with our recruitment aspirations, it's reasonable to insist on a bit of good housekeeping, so as long as GM is being proactive in moving players on, then I'm sure he'll get the ho ahead to improve the squad before the window closes if he feels he needs to. Let's not forget there's also January where some further refining is likely.
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Latest interview GM says he won't stand in a players way if the want out, happy with squad but if a player leaves he might look to bring another in , I assume he means if a senior player left
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I noted that it would have to be one out one in from here on in, and young Will Flint has gone out on loan to Gateshead - I wonder iif this means we will see another in
I don't think that’s what he said. He said that in the past it would have to be one in and one out but now they could go out and recruit what Grant wants and if that was an overspend they would back themselves to bring it back into line.
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Brilliant interview, an insight as to where we are budget wise in this league, open, honest, & very much with supporters at heart. We're in safe hands. Let the fun begin!
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Also loved how it was described as let’s go there and have some fun, no pressure on Grant that he must finish x place, which is a fantastic way to look at it
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I remember not all that long ago Gavin made a very optimistic prediction about what lay ahead for Rovers and when it didn't materialise he said that he had subsequently devoted his efforts primarily to the most profitable side of the business, Club Doncaster, which was effectively subsidising the football losses.
The part that he has played as compared with Grant and Terry in getting us where we are has yet to be proved to me. He was there alongside Blunt and several unsuccessful managers, but it is Terry and Grant who have brought the obviously successful ingredients to the Party.
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I remember not all that long ago Gavin made a very optimistic prediction about what lay ahead for Rovers and when it didn't materialise he said that he had subsequently devoted his efforts primarily to the most profitable side of the business, Club Doncaster, which was effectively subsidising the football losses.
The part that he has played as compared with Grant and Terry in getting us where we are has yet to be proved to me. He was there alongside Blunt and several unsuccessful managers, but it is Terry and Grant who have brought the obviously successful ingredients to the Party.
And what would he have to do to prove his worth to you?
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I remember not all that long ago Gavin made a very optimistic prediction about what lay ahead for Rovers and when it didn't materialise he said that he had subsequently devoted his efforts primarily to the most profitable side of the business, Club Doncaster, which was effectively subsidising the football losses.
The part that he has played as compared with Grant and Terry in getting us where we are has yet to be proved to me. He was there alongside Blunt and several unsuccessful managers, but it is Terry and Grant who have brought the obviously successful ingredients to the Party.
Alternatively, Gavin may simply be a Chief Executive doing the best he can with the tools at his disposal, he's not a millionaire like Blunt and Bramall.
Terry deserves credit for our recent successes, but let’s not forget he stood by while Blunt led us through austerity—his hands aren't entirely clean. As for the managers, Wellens has a track record of success everywhere except at the one club where the budget was slashed but he was still expected to bring in League One quality players. McSheffrey never wanted the top job; he was content as a youth coach. And both of them two, as well as Schofield were operating on a fraction of the budget McCann has had. So it’s impossible to say whether they might have succeeded under different circumstances.
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Or Wellens blew his budget and went back please can I have some more?
Has he had to build a fresh team at all his other clubs?
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If john Ryan had done this interview it would have been about 4 pages long already.
Fantastic interview without the razzmatazz and sales guff.
How on this earth do you find a way to belittle John Ryan?
Club is on a great trajectory at the moment, can the current regime get us a higher finish than 12th in the second tier of English football?
Possibly, but don’t knock the guy that did it, and in turn gave us the “The Arsenal of the North” tag. Even Millwall applauded Rovers off the pitch.
He's not knocking John Ryan, he's knocking those who slavishly hang on his every word as if they've been handed down by God himself. Those who think that the mere mention of Ryan's name in the slightest form of negativity is somehow 'having a go at him', even when it's patently obvious it isn't.
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I remember not all that long ago Gavin made a very optimistic prediction about what lay ahead for Rovers and when it didn't materialise he said that he had subsequently devoted his efforts primarily to the most profitable side of the business, Club Doncaster, which was effectively subsidising the football losses.
The part that he has played as compared with Grant and Terry in getting us where we are has yet to be proved to me. He was there alongside Blunt and several unsuccessful managers, but it is Terry and Grant who have brought the obviously successful ingredients to the Party.
Alternatively, Gavin may simply be a Chief Executive doing the best he can with the tools at his disposal, he's not a millionaire like Blunt and Bramall.
Terry deserves credit for our recent successes, but let’s not forget he stood by while Blunt led us through austerity—his hands aren't entirely clean. As for the managers, Wellens has a track record of success everywhere except at the one club where the budget was slashed but he was still expected to bring in League One quality players. McSheffrey never wanted the top job; he was content as a youth coach. And both of them two, as well as Schofield were operating on a fraction of the budget McCann has had. So it’s impossible to say whether they might have succeeded under different circumstances.
Yes, I’d say Gavin does a great job under whichever regime he has to work. I suppose he’s a ‘Yes’ man in the nicest possible sense, he’ll work hard and maximise the opportunities at the time, but he won’t lead change he’ll support it and build on it though.
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If john Ryan had done this interview it would have been about 4 pages long already.
Fantastic interview without the razzmatazz and sales guff.
How on this earth do you find a way to belittle John Ryan?
Club is on a great trajectory at the moment, can the current regime get us a higher finish than 12th in the second tier of English football?
Possibly, but don’t knock the guy that did it, and in turn gave us the “The Arsenal of the North” tag. Even Millwall applauded Rovers off the pitch.
He's not knocking John Ryan, he's knocking those who slavishly hang on his every word as if they've been handed down by God himself. Those who think that the mere mention of Ryan's name in the slightest form of negativity is somehow 'having a go at him', even when it's patently obvious it isn't.
No, he just said Ryan was full of Razzamatazz and Sales guff, didn’t mention anyone else hanging on to every word…
To me the that statement suggested that Ryan was full of Sh*t. So if I say to you you’re full of razzmatazz and sales guff you’re quite positive it’s a compliment obviously??
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I remember not all that long ago Gavin made a very optimistic prediction about what lay ahead for Rovers and when it didn't materialise he said that he had subsequently devoted his efforts primarily to the most profitable side of the business, Club Doncaster, which was effectively subsidising the football losses.
The part that he has played as compared with Grant and Terry in getting us where we are has yet to be proved to me. He was there alongside Blunt and several unsuccessful managers, but it is Terry and Grant who have brought the obviously successful ingredients to the Party.
When David Blunt was in the chair everything had to go through him. If he said no it didn’t happen. Gavin was the driver of getting GM back once Terry took the reins.
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I can’t believe that some folks seem to be belittling the role Gavin has had in putting our club where it is today. Sure it’s a team effort from TB down, but Gavin deserves much credit.
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Much more than you might think.
There are clubs who would give Gavin a CEO position yesterday!
He stuck with Rovers when every proposal he put forward was knocked back by Blunt unless it saved the club money. Blunts remit was to make the club sustainable. The trouble was he didn’t care if that sustainability came about with Rovers playing non-league football!
Eventually, I don’t know why it took so long, Terry realised this & ‘relieved’ someone who had been a trusted business partner….but not in football.
Gavin then was able (with Terry as Chair) to get the things done he wasn’t able to do under Blunt.
Imagine how frustrating the post Moore days must have been for Gavin. He had to appease supporters whilst every penny the club did generate went to the first team (be it contracts or loans).
This man felt as much, if not more pain than us, because he was on the ‘inside’ watching the ‘decay’ seep through the club day after day.
Gavin Baldwin, he’s ‘one of our own’.
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Much more than you might think.
There are clubs who would give Gavin a CEO position yesterday!
He stuck with Rovers when every proposal he put forward was knocked back by Blunt unless it saved the club money. Blunts remit was to make the club sustainable. The trouble was he didn’t care if that sustainability came about with Rovers playing non-league football!
Eventually, I don’t know why it took so long, Terry realised this & ‘relieved’ someone who had been a trusted business partner….but not in football.
Gavin then was able (with Terry as Chair) to get the things done he wasn’t able to do under Blunt.
Imagine how frustrating the post Moore days must have been for Gavin. He had to appease supporters whilst every penny the club did generate went to the first team (be it contracts or loans).
This man felt as much, if not more pain than us, because he was on the ‘inside’ watching the ‘decay’ seep through the club day after day.
Gavin Baldwin, he’s ‘one of our own’.
I was just about to post something very similar UW.
Gavin is pivotal to the successes we are now enjoying. It’s not just about what he does. He is someone who people respect and trust . His team will run through brick walls to support him……because he also runs through brick walls for his team and this club. No one should ever question his importance to the club, As UW said other clubs would have him as their CEO in a heartbeat.
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Well said Usher.
And during those difficult times when Gavin was working his socks off, he was receiving dog’s abuse from a nasty, ignorant faction of our supporter base. Although I shouldn’t flatter them with the word ‘supporter’.
At its worst, the lady who works on Reception and deals with the mail, was having to open Gavin’s mail and throw into the bin those letters which contained personal abuse towards him, to save him from reading them.
He deserves huge credit for the major part he has played in our recovery and we’re lucky to have him.
Gavin, Terry and Grant are our ‘Golden Triangle’ and we should be very grateful.
Happy Days.
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I remember not all that long ago Gavin made a very optimistic prediction about what lay ahead for Rovers and when it didn't materialise he said that he had subsequently devoted his efforts primarily to the most profitable side of the business, Club Doncaster, which was effectively subsidising the football losses.
The part that he has played as compared with Grant and Terry in getting us where we are has yet to be proved to me. He was there alongside Blunt and several unsuccessful managers, but it is Terry and Grant who have brought the obviously successful ingredients to the Party.
I can't think of a bigger slap in the face than this.
It was due to the perseverance of Gavin and his discussions with the council that granted the club the control of the stadium, and the ability to control our finances stemmed from that decision. I attended those meetings myself, on behalf of the VSC, and it was never a certainty at any point, but because of the tenacity of Gavin we did manage to take out a favourable lease on the stadium.
Fast forward to today and I guarantee that without Gavin there wouldn't be a Terry. Terry has complete and utter faith in Gavin as a CEO, and would not be spending the millions that he has done lately if he wasn't in place. Its because Gavin has a vision for the club that Terry is prepared to do what he does.
And having Grant at the club is also a coup for Gavin. It was Gavin who kept in touch with Grant when he left the club. It was Gavin who followed his career and persuaded him to rejoin when the timing was right. Without Gavin there would be no Grant.
It seems to me that some people just have an axe to grind, and very little understanding how things work inside a football club like ours.
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I don't understand why the club wasn't put up for sale in the Blunt days if they didn't want to invest and it was making the fans miserable.
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I remember not all that long ago Gavin made a very optimistic prediction about what lay ahead for Rovers and when it didn't materialise he said that he had subsequently devoted his efforts primarily to the most profitable side of the business, Club Doncaster, which was effectively subsidising the football losses.
The part that he has played as compared with Grant and Terry in getting us where we are has yet to be proved to me. He was there alongside Blunt and several unsuccessful managers, but it is Terry and Grant who have brought the obviously successful ingredients to the Party.
And what would he have to do to prove his worth to you?
Gavin has the ability to “present”, what’s been achieved and encouraging belief in an optimistic future at a time when this is what people want to hear. He obviously is very successful at this judging from the reaction on here. I hope he is true to his word and provides real added value right across the board in the future. And if things do not go as well as we might hope I would hope that he will not retreat into “concentrating” on Club Doncaster.
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I remember not all that long ago Gavin made a very optimistic prediction about what lay ahead for Rovers and when it didn't materialise he said that he had subsequently devoted his efforts primarily to the most profitable side of the business, Club Doncaster, which was effectively subsidising the football losses.
The part that he has played as compared with Grant and Terry in getting us where we are has yet to be proved to me. He was there alongside Blunt and several unsuccessful managers, but it is Terry and Grant who have brought the obviously successful ingredients to the Party.
And what would he have to do to prove his worth to you?
Gavin has the ability to “present”, what’s been achieved and encouraging belief in an optimistic future at a time when this is what people want to hear. He obviously is very successful at this judging from the reaction on here. I hope he is true to his word and provides real added value right across the board in the future. And if things do not go as well as we might hope I would hope that he will not retreat into “concentrating” on Club Doncaster.
Would that be the Club Doncaster whose income has paid for the medical & new training facilities at Cantley Park to the tune of £700,000?
You hope Gavin “…provides real added value right across the board in future.”
I’ll not regurgitate what Silent Majority has reiterated what Gavin has done during his time at the club, I suggest you go read & digest it.
Make no mistake, without Gavin Baldwin we’d be kicking this new season off in the National League alongside Bedford Town, Solihull Moors & Boreham Wood.
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It would be very difficult to replace someone as passionate and committed as Gavin is, hope he stays here until he retires, top bloke.
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I remember not all that long ago Gavin made a very optimistic prediction about what lay ahead for Rovers and when it didn't materialise he said that he had subsequently devoted his efforts primarily to the most profitable side of the business, Club Doncaster, which was effectively subsidising the football losses.
The part that he has played as compared with Grant and Terry in getting us where we are has yet to be proved to me. He was there alongside Blunt and several unsuccessful managers, but it is Terry and Grant who have brought the obviously successful ingredients to the Party.
And what would he have to do to prove his worth to you?
Gavin has the ability to “present”, what’s been achieved and encouraging belief in an optimistic future at a time when this is what people want to hear. He obviously is very successful at this judging from the reaction on here. I hope he is true to his word and provides real added value right across the board in the future. And if things do not go as well as we might hope I would hope that he will not retreat into “concentrating” on Club Doncaster.
And today’s JCB award goes to…
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I remember not all that long ago Gavin made a very optimistic prediction about what lay ahead for Rovers and when it didn't materialise he said that he had subsequently devoted his efforts primarily to the most profitable side of the business, Club Doncaster, which was effectively subsidising the football losses.
The part that he has played as compared with Grant and Terry in getting us where we are has yet to be proved to me. He was there alongside Blunt and several unsuccessful managers, but it is Terry and Grant who have brought the obviously successful ingredients to the Party.
I can't think of a bigger slap in the face than this.
It was due to the perseverance of Gavin and his discussions with the council that granted the club the control of the stadium, and the ability to control our finances stemmed from that decision. I attended those meetings myself, on behalf of the VSC, and it was never a certainty at any point, but because of the tenacity of Gavin we did manage to take out a favourable lease on the stadium.
Fast forward to today and I guarantee that without Gavin there wouldn't be a Terry. Terry has complete and utter faith in Gavin as a CEO, and would not be spending the millions that he has done lately if he wasn't in place. Its because Gavin has a vision for the club that Terry is prepared to do what he does.
And having Grant at the club is also a coup for Gavin. It was Gavin who kept in touch with Grant when he left the club. It was Gavin who followed his career and persuaded him to rejoin when the timing was right. Without Gavin there would be no Grant.
It seems to me that some people just have an axe to grind, and very little understanding how things work inside a football club like ours.
Really interesting read, and detailing relationships and events I was unaware of. Spread the word as I’m sure many more fans are unaware of GB’s input. Long may the golden triangle rule!!
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If john Ryan had done this interview it would have been about 4 pages long already.
Fantastic interview without the razzmatazz and sales guff.
How on this earth do you find a way to belittle John Ryan?
Club is on a great trajectory at the moment, can the current regime get us a higher finish than 12th in the second tier of English football?
Possibly, but don’t knock the guy that did it, and in turn gave us the “The Arsenal of the North” tag. Even Millwall applauded Rovers off the pitch.
He's not knocking John Ryan, he's knocking those who slavishly hang on his every word as if they've been handed down by God himself. Those who think that the mere mention of Ryan's name in the slightest form of negativity is somehow 'having a go at him', even when it's patently obvious it isn't.
No, he just said Ryan was full of Razzamatazz and Sales guff, didn’t mention anyone else hanging on to every word…
To me the that statement suggested that Ryan was full of Sh*t. So if I say to you you’re full of razzmatazz and sales guff you’re quite positive it’s a compliment obviously??
If you knew me you'd know it would definitely be a compliment to me! It doesn't suggest any false dealing or insincerity to me, just presentational style and technique. A more fascinating question would be why you think that with regards to John Ryan it means he's full of shit. Perhaps it's something on a subconscious level.
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"But let us not forget he stood by while Blunt led us through austerity, his hands aren't entirely clean"
I would say there was potentially a lot more going off behind the scenes than most folk were aware of back then tho and I would hazard a guess that when McCann came back and TB took total control - things had been sorted and Blunt had actually done his job in helping get the club through all that - as was probably his remit.
Pure speculation mind!
And Gavin has been there yonks now , for that Rovers fans everywhere should be grateful.
In my humble opinion - the good times are coming back.
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Jeez , you can’t believe some perceptions ! Gavin is the best CEO we have ever had and will hopefully have him for decades to come .
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Stood by?
What choice did he have other than leaving?
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Stood by?
What choice did he have other than leaving?
He did have that option but he stood by the Club
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Stood by?
What choice did he have other than leaving?
TB brought DB on board, and had the largest wallet, he surely had the largest say and in the end he did say something. The point being why didn't he say something earlier in the 3 years we were sleepwalking to the National League, or even sell his share in the club if they weren't interested at that point in time in financing the club.
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Just on with listening to this interview now.
"We have budgeted for a mid table finish"
Very honest and something we should all get behind as the club looks to progress. I for one would be happy with mid table and we go again.
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About 9mins in and Gavin basically saying Grant came to us with a budget that he thought can attack league one but knowing where the club is at, Terry signed it off.
No blank cheque, but got what he asked for.
Cmon Grant, let's show em!!!!
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Stood by?
What choice did he have other than leaving?
TB brought DB on board, and had the largest wallet, he surely had the largest say and in the end he did say something. The point being why didn't he say something earlier in the 3 years we were sleepwalking to the National League, or even sell his share in the club if they weren't interested at that point in time in financing the club.
Let’s move on, eh. It’s a new book. Blunt was an incredibly influential figure and had been as we are led to believe throughout terry’s businesses. He obviously trusted him to the hilt, perhaps blind faith almost. The fact is he realised he had to go and severed that relationship (business and personal) for the benefit of club.
I think it’s time to move on, don’t you?
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Stood by?
What choice did he have other than leaving?
TB brought DB on board, and had the largest wallet, he surely had the largest say and in the end he did say something. The point being why didn't he say something earlier in the 3 years we were sleepwalking to the National League, or even sell his share in the club if they weren't interested at that point in time in financing the club.
Let’s move on, eh. It’s a new book. Blunt was an incredibly influential figure and had been as we are led to believe throughout terry’s businesses. He obviously trusted him to the hilt, perhaps blind faith almost. The fact is he realised he had to go and severed that relationship (business and personal) for the benefit of club.
I think it’s time to move on, don’t you?
My original post was responding to someone criticising Baldwin, who I defended, and offered the perspective that TB who is getting praised isn't infallible himself. Then I was providing clarification on some people's points later in the thread.
I've praised TBs work over the last couple of years but it's an open forum and if people are criticising Baldwin and other people who worked with their hands tied behind their backs for a few years then I'm free to offer an alternative opinion to that. So just to clarify it wasn't me who brought up the recent years where we were struggling financially.