Desire and heart

[Super Colin Cramb]

It is clear that the players aren’t good enough but that’s no excuse for not showing some desire and heart. I’d be happier if we put some big challenges and showed they give a shit! Mansfield on paper is a tough ask to go there and get something, so let’s get amongst them and give the fans something to cling onto. The desire shown by Olowu for there second is not acceptable!

[normal rules]

It is clear that the players aren’t good enough but that’s no excuse for not showing some desire and heart. I’d be happier if we put some big challenges and showed they give a shit! Mansfield on paper is a tough ask to go there and get something, so let’s get amongst them and give the fans something to cling onto. The desire shown by Olowu for there second is not acceptable!

None of them have an interest in drfc. We are nothing to them. They just take the wage. I slate him on here for his HOF contribution ( or lack of), but we need a few players like JC , who play for the shirt. And that’s going to take time. A lot of it.

[Canadian Rover]

It is clear that the players aren’t good enough but that’s no excuse for not showing some desire and heart. I’d be happier if we put some big challenges and showed they give a shit! Mansfield on paper is a tough ask to go there and get something, so let’s get amongst them and give the fans something to cling onto. The desire shown by Olowu for there second is not acceptable!

None of them have an interest in drfc. We are nothing to them. They just take the wage. I slate him on here for his HOF contribution ( or lack of), but we need a few players like JC , who play for the shirt. And that’s going to take time. A lot of it.

In the words of Grant the players are "self employed" very strange.

[Padge_DRFC]

Harsh to include Ironside, Nixon and Bailey with the title of this thread. Anderson has the heart just hasn't produced.

[i_ateallthepies]

It is clear that the players aren’t good enough but that’s no excuse for not showing some desire and heart. I’d be happier if we put some big challenges and showed they give a shit! Mansfield on paper is a tough ask to go there and get something, so let’s get amongst them and give the fans something to cling onto. The desire shown by Olowu for there second is not acceptable!

None of them have an interest in drfc. We are nothing to them. They just take the wage. I slate him on here for his HOF contribution ( or lack of), but we need a few players like JC , who play for the shirt. And that’s going to take time. A lot of it.

In the words of Grant the players are "self employed" very strange.

I guess if you read it in the context of normal rules' view that they have no interest in drfc then it makes sense, they are playing for themselves, hence self employed.  Though in a team game I don't see how it's possible to be successful without at the very least investing emotionally with your team mates.

[Michael Shaw]

The last time I felt real passion in the club was when john John Ryan was chairman. He led from the front and inspired the fans.

Then the businessmen took over and the club became about the academy, Club Doncaster, charity and community work and the likes of Silent Majority said we were doing well financially (even without JR and Dick Watson). And look at where we are now. Barely a league two side. Who is inspiring the club, players or fans any more? Where is the excitement any more?

[BillyStubbsTears]

The last time I felt real passion in the club was when john John Ryan was chairman. He led from the front and inspired the fans.

Then the businessmen took over and the club became about the academy, Club Doncaster, charity and community work and the likes of Silent Majority said we were doing well financially (even without JR and Dick Watson). And look at where we are now. Barely a league two side. Who is inspiring the club, players or fans any more? Where is the excitement any more?

He also took us into The Experiment which left "the businessmen" as you call them picking up a massive bill.

Your desire seems to be for "the businessmen" to subsidise your hobby up to a level that you personally are satisfied by.

Do you get it that "the businessmen" might have an issue with that?

[Michael Shaw]

The Experiment was a gamble that with hindsight didn't work, but had it worked we would have done well. It sounded good at the start.
So great, keep the businessmen happy and let's enjoy dragging our arse in league two or maybe even the National League next season the way we are going. We face another loss in the next game and the "smoke and mirrors" we keep reading is not addressing the issues. Where is the passion, soul and inspiration these days?

[BillyStubbsTears]

The Experiment was a gamble with other people's money as far as I can see.

A gamble that increased our wage bill by £2m and failed miserably. And then someone had to pick up the tab for that.

I'll make the point again. What right do you have to moan about someone not subsidising your hobby to the level that you think is appropriate?

[Bentley Bullet]

If the experiment had been successful, would all of the board have been given credit for it, and not just John Ryan?

Also, had it been successful, would the board have benefitted financially in the long run?

[Donny Exile in York]

The last time I felt real passion in the club was when john John Ryan was chairman. He led from the front and inspired the fans.

Then the businessmen took over and the club became about the academy, Club Doncaster, charity and community work and the likes of Silent Majority said we were doing well financially (even without JR and Dick Watson). And look at where we are now. Barely a league two side. Who is inspiring the club, players or fans any more? Where is the excitement any more?

He also took us into The Experiment which left "the businessmen" as you call them picking up a massive bill.

Your desire seems to be for "the businessmen" to subsidise your hobby up to a level that you personally are satisfied by.

Do you get it that "the businessmen" might have an issue with that?

When you are referring to Businessmen you are including Blunt and a decade of decline, 5 year plans and 100 league defeats in 5 seasons, so are we at a level and position at that level that you are personally satisfied in as  consequence of a strategy of austerity? Personally i am not. This isan't a go at Bramall, he has tried to support the club, and previously with Watson and Ryan took us to dizzy heights and only one year in the league basement in c. 18 seasons, but no one can be impressed with the decline on and off the pitch over the last 4 seasons, with a terrible pamphlet for a programme, and until this season, horrible decline in match day experience in terms of catering, kiosk service, quality of kits etc. Blunt the Businessman oversaw the job lot! So glad he has gone.

I am afraid we are going to have to be patient to see the overhaul by McCann supported by Bramall and Baldwin but let's not dismiss the decline and where we have landed now due to self imposed austerity and poor leadership from the top, rookie managers, terrible player recruitment, a malaise over the club including a joke of a medical department with injuries piling up like the NHS waiting lists over the last decade. I think we have become a soft touch both on the pitch and off it, due to a lack of proper leadership by the so called businessmen referred to above, and i just hope McCann can sort it on the pitch with some good coaching and smart recruitment, and Bramall can oversee an overhaul off the pitch to stop the malaise.

[Michael Shaw]

Yet another thread going off target, well done guys, you always do it. This thread is "Desire and Heart" not "The Experiment".

Who in the club has the passion, soul and inspiration these days? No-one can answer that. And all I say is the last  time was when John Ryan was active in the club and is still the only one trying to generate interest in the fan base.

[Michael Shaw]

The trouble, DEiY, is that fans have been very patient for years now and with every 6 months we just keep seeing further decline. And as we decline the soul has been constantly further sucked out of the club. There is no desire or heart any more and that should be coming down from the top to the organisation, the staff, the players and the fans.

[roversdude]

You do realise that JR brought “the Business men” in and was passionate about that

[Michael Shaw]

So this thread is now "John Ryan" or "The Experiment". "Smoke and mirrors" yet again.
No-one can deny the lack of soul in the club these days or how we address it.

[vaya]

So this thread is now "John Ryan" or "The Experiment". "Smoke and mirrors" yet again.
No-one can deny the lack of soul in the club these days or how we address it.

You're the one who brought JR into this.

[CJK]

Back on topic, I'd keep Ironside, Bailey, Maxwell, Faulkner and Westbrooke, maybe Senior and Nixon out of this current crop. The rest can go for me. I don't include Kuleya, Flint and Goodman in that, they could develop.

I thought Olowu would be a shrewd signing after seeing him at first but it's just not happening. Anderson is done and Wood isn't going to be the saviour either.

Some serious work needed over several transfer windows. Grant is the man.

[normal rules]

The last time I felt real passion in the club was when john John Ryan was chairman. He led from the front and inspired the fans.

Then the businessmen took over and the club became about the academy, Club Doncaster, charity and community work and the likes of Silent Majority said we were doing well financially (even without JR and Dick Watson). And look at where we are now. Barely a league two side. Who is inspiring the club, players or fans any more? Where is the excitement any more?

He also took us into The Experiment which left "the businessmen" as you call them picking up a massive bill.

Your desire seems to be for "the businessmen" to subsidise your hobby up to a level that you personally are satisfied by.

Do you get it that "the businessmen" might have an issue with that?

They were conned by that pillar of the community Mackay.

[BillyStubbsTears]

Yet another thread going off target, well done guys, you always do it. This thread is "Desire and Heart" not "The Experiment".

Who in the club has the passion, soul and inspiration these days? No-one can answer that. And all I say is the last  time was when John Ryan was active in the club and is still the only one trying to generate interest in the fan base.

Was John Ryan at the club when we were a gnat's chuff away from Wembley in 2019? Or when we were the best side in L1 for half of 2020/21?

[andyst79]

Back on topic, I'd keep Ironside, Bailey, Maxwell, Faulkner and Westbrooke, maybe Senior and Nixon out of this current crop. The rest can go for me. I don't include Kuleya, Flint and Goodman in that, they could develop.


I thought Olowu would be a shrewd signing after seeing him at first but it's just not happening. Anderson is done and Wood isn't going to be the saviour either.

Some serious work needed over several transfer windows. Grant is the man.

Can't disagree with most of that , would add Molyneux and Hurst to that, appreciate both can be frustrating at times but should be good at this level with better players around them. Just goes to show how good a player Westbrook is, we all thought he was good but now he's absent it's glaringly obvious he's been holding this shit show together.

[Ronnie Dovers]

Back on topic, I'd keep Ironside, Bailey, Maxwell, Faulkner and Westbrooke, maybe Senior and Nixon out of this current crop. The rest can go for me. I don't include Kuleya, Flint and Goodman in that, they could develop.


I thought Olowu would be a shrewd signing after seeing him at first but it's just not happening. Anderson is done and Wood isn't going to be the saviour either.

Some serious work needed over several transfer windows. Grant is the man.

Can't disagree with most of that , would add Molyneux and Hurst to that, appreciate both can be frustrating at times but should be good at this level with better players around them. Just goes to show how good a player Westbrook is, we all thought he was good but now he's absent it's glaringly obvious he's been holding this shit show together.

I'd highlighted how important a player Westbrooke had become for us a few weeks before he got injured. I was worried at that point, but I certainly didn't expect anything like the drop off we've seen since.

[Bentley Bullet]

Yet another thread going off target, well done guys, you always do it. This thread is "Desire and Heart" not "The Experiment".

Who in the club has the passion, soul and inspiration these days? No-one can answer that. And all I say is the last  time was when John Ryan was active in the club and is still the only one trying to generate interest in the fan base.

Was John Ryan at the club when we were a gnat's chuff away from Wembley in 2019? Or when we were the best side in L1 for half of 2020/21?

No, and if he was we would quite possibly not have been in either of those situations.

 We might have been in the Championship already.

[Donny Exile in York]

Yet another thread going off target, well done guys, you always do it. This thread is "Desire and Heart" not "The Experiment".

Who in the club has the passion, soul and inspiration these days? No-one can answer that. And all I say is the last  time was when John Ryan was active in the club and is still the only one trying to generate interest in the fan base.

Was John Ryan at the club when we were a gnat's chuff away from Wembley in 2019? Or when we were the best side in L1 for half of 2020/21?

He certainly wasn't in 2014 when we got relegated or 2016 when we got relegated or the absolute show since 2020 during our sustainability days.

There are those on here who should be eating alot of humble pie since spring 2021 when a small not silent minority were saying if the board didn't invest in the playing staff substantially we would be in freefall. A number of you on here, you know who you are, arrogantly scoffed the idea. Well unfortunately here we are 3 seasons later and c. 80 defeats, a losing mentality and culture, and how many thrashings and bad performances in that period and all I can say is thankfully the chief architect of our austerity strategy has gone, the one a number of you on here steadfastly supported. I would rather have been eating humble pie and we be in the Championship or top half of league one but we are not. As the Hives once sang.. 'hate to say I told you so'.. a number of you blindly discounted reality with your heads buried in the sand believing our Board could do no wrong.. what absolute experts you all were and are.  I think some of you were so immersed in the spin coming from the club you failed to see reality of how dire things were on the pitch and how poor the club was being run until we languish with the dead men at the bottom of league two! So much for an infallible football hierarchy at the club and some of the would be experts on here.

[wilts rover]

Maybe the people who refuse to move on from the John Ryan era should start a crowdfunder to get him back?

And there may be doubts about Grant McCann's tactical acumen but does anyone really doubt his desire and heart? It's clear from every interview that he wants Rovers to be successful - and hurts as much as anyone when we loose. Which is where the passion should come from, the management team, not the chairman.

John Ryan was a total one off. He's gone. Get over it.

[Donny Exile in York]

McCann has the passion and the pedigree, its the players who don't! Some have been on Easy street too long under the leadership or our ex Chairman, the poor managers appointed prior to McCann and a poor medical team. You don't sort that out overnight. There are alot of players here from previous seasons who have offered poor value for money or have stayed we'll beyond there best performances for the club.

I thinks it's more than just heart and desire and I was pleased to hear McCann allude to it in a recent interview, as a team and squad we lack real attributes, for example physical strength and pace at the back, pace within the team, a commanding keeper, and its no surprise our form has demised with Westbrook injured as technically we miss him in midfield too.

[drfchound]

Maybe the people who refuse to move on from the John Ryan era should start a crowdfunder to get him back?

And there may be doubts about Grant McCann's tactical acumen but does anyone really doubt his desire and heart? It's clear from every interview that he wants Rovers to be successful - and hurts as much as anyone when we loose. Which is where the passion should come from, the management team, not the chairman.

John Ryan was a total one off. He's gone. Get over it.

Wilts, I haven’t seen many doubts expressed about McCanns tactical acumen.

[wilts rover]

Maybe the people who refuse to move on from the John Ryan era should start a crowdfunder to get him back?

And there may be doubts about Grant McCann's tactical acumen but does anyone really doubt his desire and heart? It's clear from every interview that he wants Rovers to be successful - and hurts as much as anyone when we loose. Which is where the passion should come from, the management team, not the chairman.

John Ryan was a total one off. He's gone. Get over it.

Wilts, I haven’t seen many doubts expressed about McCanns tactical acumen.

There's a couple of threads about it hound. Which I haven't contributed too and have no intention on doing so on this one either as it is entitled Desire and Heart. Which Grant McCann has in spades.

[Goole Rover]

It is clear that the players aren’t good enough but that’s no excuse for not showing some desire and heart. I’d be happier if we put some big challenges and showed they give a shit! Mansfield on paper is a tough ask to go there and get something, so let’s get amongst them and give the fans something to cling onto. The desire shown by Olowu for there second is not acceptable!

I think that your post holds value however you can’t paint them all with the same brush regarding heart. Some do lack desire and heart but some don’t have have a footballing brain, can’t communicate, don’t have the required skill, unfortunately these failures jointly are the reason for our current position.
In a nutshell we have recused poorly.

[roversdude]

I’m really hoping that Faulkner gets a run once fit I’d go as far as making him captain unless we get a proven leader in who can compete in every game

[Goole Rover]

It is clear that the players aren’t good enough but that’s no excuse for not showing some desire and heart. I’d be happier if we put some big challenges and showed they give a shit! Mansfield on paper is a tough ask to go there and get something, so let’s get amongst them and give the fans something to cling onto. The desire shown by Olowu for there second is not acceptable!

I think that your post holds value however you can’t paint them all with the same brush regarding heart. Some do lack desire and heart but some don’t have have a footballing brain, can’t communicate, don’t have the required skill, unfortunately these failures jointly are the reason for our current position.
In a nutshell we have recused poorly.

Sorry should have been “recruited poorly”.