El Hadji Diouf

[Bentley Bullet]

Like I said, I never heard of anyone being against the "experiment" when it was initiated.

Until now!

That doesn't mean there wasn't any, it just means that I don't recall hearing any.

No doubt, those who did object can show me the evidence of their concerns at the time and show me what I missed.

[ForsolongaRover]

I was also against it.
The whole thing seemed like a circus to me; an ill-planned, desperate course of action which seemed totally reliant on McKay.
Common sense seemed to be thrown out of the window in favour of a reckless policy of hiring so-called ‘World Class’ players with absolutely no allegiance to our club.

As for Diouf, I thought he was over-rated, certainly based on his spell with Rovers.
I never shared the adulation which some supporters heaped upon him. I didn’t like him before he joined us and nothing happened to change my view.

Football players don't have any allegiances to any club. They are employees and it is a job to them. The only exception (for DRFC) I could make would be James Coppinger.

And even he did one when Forest came in for him.

To reduce the wage bill not through a desire to leave though

I got the feeling from the outside (which I think was shared) that the club had been hijacked and Copps leaving was not "desertion" but reflected a common disenchantment of attachment which was also a hangover from the heartless dismissal of the ever-loyal SOD after both his two main strikers were crudely taken out by Dunk and Co at Brighton.

[IDM]

I might be wrong but I thought Hayter’s injury was more from over reaching than a foul.??

[LincsRover]

I might be wrong but wasn’t it Billy & Ryan Mason who Dunk assaulted in that game which pretty much destroyed our season??!!

[VivaRovers]

Like I said, I never heard of anyone being against the "experiment" when it was initiated.

Until now!

That doesn't mean there wasn't any, it just means that I don't recall hearing any.

No doubt, those who did object can show me the evidence of their concerns at the time and show me what I missed.

I'd thought it about a 50/50 split for/against... but a look back at some of the posts on here from the time and it turns out (on this forum at least) there was only a handful out and out against it like myself. A fair few more weren't keen, but were willing to see where it went, and more shared your view.

I don't know how representative that was of the wider support – there were a lot of comments in agreement on articles I wrote at the time, but then as I said, I also copped a lot of abuse.

[Bentley Bullet]

Cheers VivaRovers.

I hold my hands up to your foresight of the disaster that occurred following the failed "experiment", but I refuse point blank to have any respect for those who condemned the "experiment" in hindsight.

[SydneyRover]

I remember talking to my cousin about it, as I was thinking, yeah maybe, but he was totally against it and was right as it turned out.

[Bentley Bullet]

The thing is, I was all for Rovers investing huge amounts of money to earn even huger amounts of money by sustaining Championship football.

[Move DRFC]

Ah well, we recovered from it pretty well by winning the league at Brentford just the season after. That was some turnaround really looking back. And in no way in hell should we have gotten relegated in 2014. That turned out to be the real disaster as we haven’t been back since.

[Ian Nimmo]

I was also against it.
The whole thing seemed like a circus to me; an ill-planned, desperate course of action which seemed totally reliant on McKay.
Common sense seemed to be thrown out of the window in favour of a reckless policy of hiring so-called ‘World Class’ players with absolutely no allegiance to our club.

As for Diouf, I thought he was over-rated, certainly based on his spell with Rovers.
I never shared the adulation which some supporters heaped upon him. I didn’t like him before he joined us and nothing happened to change my view.

Football players don't have any allegiances to any club. They are employees and it is a job to them. The only exception (for DRFC) I could make would be James Coppinger.

And even he did one when Forest came in for him.

To reduce the wage bill not through a desire to leave though

Yes it was Ldr, it was a totally incorrect statement by German rover. Copps was forced to leave purely to save money.

[big fat yorkshire pudding]

I didn't mind us trying something different in some ways but it clearly went too far. The real problem was just how big of a change it was including the manager. It became an act of desperation not an attempt at something different.

The habib Beye thing was very odd, but on a match day he was certainly very good and committed. It was that kind of thing that led to it failing though.

[DonnyBazR0ver]

I was broadly in favour being a short term move to keep us up but with concern about what would follow as we would have to get back to more sensible recruitment once the 'stars' moved on. Plus, the less time McKay was associated with us the better.

Perfectly understandable those who opposed it as it didn't sit comfortably. As it happened we got relegated anyway so on the flip side, it would have been interesting to see whether fans would still have been supportive of SO'D had we accepted relegation was inevitable.

[i_ateallthepies]

The thing is, I was all for Rovers investing huge amounts of money to earn even huger amounts of money by sustaining Championship football.

You're struggling with vocabulary there, BB.  You can only get away with calling it investing if it succeeds but regardless of outcome it was GAMBLING... and it failed miserably.

[drfcsteve]

Hindsight's a wonderful thing. I didn't hear of anyone being against the "Experiment" when it was initiated.

Really surprised to read this as I remember plenty of people seeing this for what it was at the time. Genuinely fell out of love with the club for a long time over the sacking of SOD and what followed.

[drfchound]

The thing is, I was all for Rovers investing huge amounts of money to earn even huger amounts of money by sustaining Championship football.

You're struggling with vocabulary there, BB.  You can only get away with calling it investing if it succeeds but regardless of outcome it was GAMBLING... and it failed miserably.

Pies, I’m sure that people can invest money but fail to make gains on it if things go wrong.
I suppose though that any investment which doesn’t return favourably can be regarded as gambling.

[BradwellRover]

Really surprised to read this as I remember plenty of people seeing this for what it was at the time. Genuinely fell out of love with the club for a long time over the sacking of SOD and what followed.
[/quote]

Absolutely correct. I stopped going for the duration as I thought it was an awful idea and undermined everything I thought we stood for.

[i_ateallthepies]

In football, Hound, throwing massive amounts of money around in the hope of getting promotion or in that case avoiding relegation is not investing as you well know... it's gambling.

[Bentley Bullet]

Of course football clubs invest in players! They invest in players with the hope of improving the team's performance, competitiveness, and financial stability.

[i_ateallthepies]

'In the hope of'.  Now I think you're getting it.

[Bentley Bullet]

It's still an investment!

[BobG]

Investment in the club. Gamble with the investors money?

BobG

[Bentley Bullet]

Gambling is betting on a horse. Investing is buying the horse.

[IDM]

Any investment, in any circumstances, where there is a chance of a loss, is a gamble.

Some “investments” are riskier than others.

[BobG]

Investing in gold is a gamble. Investing in a house is.  Like everything else, you win some, you lose some. English football clubs, particularly those outside the PL, are generally speaking, very high risk financially. That equates to my idea of gambling tbh.

BobG

[Bentley Bullet]

That's why clubs like Brentford and Bournemouth invested in reaching the Premier League.

[Usher wide.]

Good footballer in his day but I witnessed his spitting antics. One of the worst things you could do to a person without physically assaulting them from behind.

[ForsolongaRover]

I might be wrong but wasn’t it Billy & Ryan Mason who Dunk assaulted in that game which pretty much destroyed our season??!!

You may well be right and there were two casualties, both of which seriously weakened us.

[BobG]

Lol BB! That is very true. As is the fact that, just in the last year or two Middlesborough, Wednesday, Watford - to name but three - tried the same. And failed. There's plenty more too.

The epitome of a gamble.... You win some, you lose some. With somebody else's money it's easy to say invest innit? If it's  your money it's more often either for love. or it's a gamble.

BobG

[Bentley Bullet]

Investment doesn't guarantee success, but a lack of it certainly guarantees failure.
That's why football clubs have always had wealthy chairmen and board members, because they were willing to invest their money in the hope of success.

Rovers are one of those clubs, however, that didn't always have such willing chairmen. 

Hubert Bates springs to mind.

[DonnyBazR0ver]

I might be wrong but wasn’t it Billy & Ryan Mason who Dunk assaulted in that game which pretty much destroyed our season??!!

You may well be right and there were two casualties, both of which seriously weakened us.

Sharp and Hayter both stretchered off in that game. Ryan Mason got crocked in the very next home match the following Tuesday.