Doncaster Vacancy

"Picture the scene; David Cotterill's stunning goal had given us (Doncaster Rovers) a 1-0 win over Colchester, to send us joint-top of League One. I looked ahead to this meeting, thinking it was going to be a breeze..." John Ryan opened the Rovers Fans Forum with, on Monday evening to an abundance of laughter. But the following forty-eight hours showed, once again, that you can never be sure of anything in football.

When Dean Saunders was appointed manager of Doncaster in September 2011, he was immediately under the cosh. He had replaced Rovers' most successful manager in Sean O'Driscoll, despite having no Football League management expierence. He was forced to work with Willie McKay who's signings divided a dressing already depressed from a huge slump in form, linked with the injury crisis of the previous Spring. Signings like El-Hadji Diouf and Pascal Chimbonda, often under-performed throughout the campaign, as Rovers were relegated following a 4-3 defeat at home to Portsmouth.

With McKay out of the door following relegation with the vast majority of Rovers' first team squad. Diouf, Chimbonda, Beye, Stock, O'Connor and George Friend all departed as Saunders had a task to build a squad from scratch. Of the players still remaining only Martin Woods, Paul Keegan, Tommy Spurr, Kyle Bennett, Chris Brown Gary Woods and James Coppinger had featured for the club prior to Saunders' arrival. Yet with signings such as Cotterill, Rob Jones, Jamie McCombe, Paul Quinn, James Harper, David Syers, Billy Paynter and loanee Iain Hume they had drastically reduced the wage bill, but still recorded a 3-0 away win at Walsall on the opening day; and that was just the start.

Saunders leaves Rovers joint-top of League One and have not suffered an away defeat in eleven matches, allowing for a club record to be beaten if the club avoides defeat post-Saunders at Stevenage on Saturday.

Saunders was somewhat a surprise choice for the Wolverhampton board given his previous brief spell in the Championship, accumulating in the clubs' relegation. But it shows how successful the club has been this season, and Rovers' fans will understand the lure of such a large club would be difficult to turn down.

Rovers must now find themselves a new manager. Chairman John Ryan stated their had been around 50 applicants by Monday Evening, a figure which has surely increased in the days since. Of those 50 he declared "8-10 are first-class". He recalled how when Rovers were relegated from the Football League 15-years-ago, he had to beg a manager to come to Belle Vue.

But in a shiny new home, with average attendances over x5 larger and a potential promotion on the cards for any manager who maintains momentum for a couple of months, it's not difficult to understand why the large amounts of interest in the position.

Here are the contenders (odds as 12:31, 10th Jan 2013):

Mark Robins - 1/3 (StanJames)

A former manager at Rotherham and Barnsley where expectations were met whilst playing attractive football, Robins is now rebuilding Coventry City after a difficult start to the season both on and off the pitch. A dire financial situation at the Ricoh may tempt him to move on, aswell as a South Yorkshire past. However, following hiring of managers who the fans had barely heard of such as Dean Saunders and Sean O'Driscoll, any appointment of Robins would surely be too mainstream for John Ryan's eager-eye? However like SO'D a couple of weeks prior to managerial change, the managers' side beat Rovers convincingly in the League. O'Driscoll's Bournemouth beat Penney's Rovers 5-0 at Dean Court in 2006, whilst Robins' Coventry hit Saunders' high-flyers for four in December 2012.

Paul Dickov - 5/1 (BetVictor)



The former striker is currently managing Oldham amongst a sea of uncertainty. Athletic are currently battling relegation at the foot of League One, but having just lost his backgroom staff, Dickov may too be threatened and the opportunity at Doncaster may catch the eye for the young coach.

Steve Lomas - 9/1 (StanJames)

A relatively unknown manager, Lomas took St Johnstone into the Europa League last season after a good finish, building on the work done by Derek McInnes and Owen Coyle in Perth. Linked with Crystal Palace, Burley and Bournemouth this season, Lomas may be tempted into management in England like his predecessors. His relatively unknown persona to Rovers fans is most likely of the leading candidates to fit John Ryans "who's he, then?" choice.

Owen Coyle - 12/1 (StanJames)

Despite success at Burley, Coyle was relegated with Bolton from the Premier League last season. He may be looking at a Championship club of similar size to Burnley, and Rovers could be six months away from being just that, with the opportunity of a promotion on the way. I suspect Coyle would hold out for an established Championship side however, and his wage demands would not fit with Rovers' offerings.

Glynn Snodin - 12/1 (StanJames)

Regarded as one of the best assistant managers in the game, former Rovers skipper Glynn admitted an interest in the Doncaster managers job on Radio Sheffield last night admitting the club is very close to his heart. Hired by John Ryan as assistant manager to brother Ian in 1998, he went on to Charlton, Southampton, West Ham, Leeds and Northern Ireland. He is currently first-team coach at Huddersfield Town.

Brian Flynn - 20/1 (StanJames)

When Glynn departed Rovers in 1985, Brian Flynn arrived at Belle Vue and shortly after became club captain. Following a spell as scout since the summer, the former Wales and Wrexham manager was installed as caretaker manager following Dean Saunders' exit. Approaching from within would maintain momentum aswell as having respect from the current squad aswell as plenty of expierence. Therefore Flynn would be my choice as the next Rovers manager.

The Season To Forget

Eleven years as a season ticket holder. Three promotions; One league title; One National Cup Win; One League Cup Quarter Final; Two Sheffield Cups; One ‘Great Escape’; Two very successful managers; One Willie McKay, and now, one imminent relegation.

The writing’s been on the wall for a while. Rovers first fell into the drop zone on the 16^th August, and bar two weeks at the start of October have remained there ever since.

The season did change in September however, despite similar results regularly since. Sean O’Driscoll, who established the club in the Championship after winning the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy and League One play-off final, was dismissed with a club on the slide.

No doubt a huge injury crisis that swamped the club last season played it’s part, even as players became fit, form and confidence remained unchangeable, and ‘King Sean’ was dismissed on the 23^rd September, just days after the owner, John Ryan has hailed him ‘the best manager in the Championship’. He didn’t have many fans on his back- with the exception of those fans ‘who wouldn’t be satisfied if we won the European Cup’ (he later proclaimed). But with his earlier statement, it begs the question, was it a dramatic U-turn, or was his hands forced, by difficult directors, who later left the club.

What happened next was equally astounding. Before proven successors could be linked, presumably the likes of Paul Ince and Roy Keane would have been linked, both up-and-coming managers with a fight, and a proven instant impact in the football league in recent years. Who knows what would have happened if the directors had opted for this path. Instead a quite different approach was taken, and the same news bulletin that announced SO’D’s sacking declared Dean Saunders had abandoned Wrexham’s title challenge, to take up a challenge at the opposite end of the table, three tiers higher.

How quickly Saunders was appointed poses suspicious, as does why a man with no football league managerial experience was handed the role at a club desperate for results. Yes, it was a clear, decisive decision that had been made to benefit the club, but was there surely no tapping up? Could a deal have been really done that soon? I trust the club’s judgement as I always have.

Saunders was no stranger to relegation battles, as no fewer than eight times he faced the dreaded drop during his illustrious career, which also saw him feature for Liverpool during the 1990s.

Things started off brightly, Rovers collected seven points from the first three games with impressive wins over Crystal Palace and Peterborough along with a draw with Hull, but things turned ugly when Sky Sports and Leeds United came to town.

Things had changed. It wasn’t just a case of the new manager’s ‘honeymoon period’ was over. It was more than that. Rovers, regarded by many, as a team with very limited finance, had somehow been able to start an England International, in the form of Chris Kirkland, and French International Pascal Chimbonda, famously regarded as a disruptive influence on the bench. That week was the start of the Willie McKay era. That week, many months ago, back in October, was the week the relegated Rovers. As for the Leeds match, the club were embarrassed. They were destroyed 3-0.

That was the start of a bad run of form. A 2-1 defeat to Blackpool, 3-1 to Portsmouth, a 1-1 draw with bottom-of-the-table Coventry City, 3-1 against Middlesbrough, 2-0 at Barnsley, 0-0 with Watford, 3-2 at Millwall were results that followed, only with a rare victory over Ipswich the only glimmer of hope during the autumn.

During this spell results dwindled, from 12,000 down to 8,300. But importantly, there was one more significant viewer. Willie McKay.

His wikipedia, openly states Mr McKay (an ironic contrast to the Porridge character of the same name) as a criminal. Banned by the FA in 2008 for his involvement in the transfer of Benjani. McKay arrived at Doncaster with the ambition to ‘make serious money’ out of the club, through the form of player progression, whilst clearly alienated the club’s supporters.

Under normal circumstances, signings such as El-Hadji Diouf, who made his debut against Middlesbrough on November 1^st may have been praised by supporters, but McKays crazy intention to use our beloved club for his savage, selfish ambitions, as a stepping-stone was met with justified anger. No fewer than an incredible seventeen loans and free transfer have been made by McKay. These clearly disrupted team spirit, with players such as Chimbonda also being played when a better player (James O’Connor) was available. A clear division between the old guard and the egos were formed. Diouf often refused to pass too, stopping Rovers from capitalising on fantastic opportunities.

Prize-asset Billy Sharp was sold, Wales midfielder Brian Stock got injured, John Oster hit a poor run of form and was banished to the bench, all perhaps contributed to a miserable season, but McKay’s scheming is the undoubtedly factor. Having said that, had Habib Beye not formed a magnificent partnership with Sam Hird, the club would have conceded for fun, and presumably been relegated much earlier. This rare discovery was perhaps the highlight of a poor season. We also seemed to improve against higher placed teams, as the experienced Premiership superstars, ouced Southampton and Leicester in December and holding West Ham at Upton Park, a stark contrast to being demolished away at Watford, against Notts County in the cup, and at home to Millwall, the latter a 3-0 thrashing.

Dean Saunders was unfortunate enough to be stuck in the middle. With the lack of job security a managers job was difficult at the best of times, but with a desperate need of a goalscorer and a hard-tackling defensive midfielder, and due to the position of McKay being landed with half a dozen target man unaccustomed to English football instead, he has my dearest sympathy, and I’ve seen enough quality from the Welshman that I’d like to see him stick around. His tactics are often shrewd, his substations (I highlight the West Ham away match as an example) are good. The trouble is, he’s let down by those ‘too big for the club egos’ that show much more willingness to party in Bournemouth instead of produce the goods against Millwall and Barnsley, and as a fan of a club, I find these menaces a disgrace to football, especially my club.

Like I say, I hope Dean Saunders can show more consistency, and be allowed to sign his own players in the positions that need strengthening. We can bounce back, but the next few months are crucial.

Rovers Till I Die.

A slide of the times?

Written 23rd May-2nd June

As the final day of the Premier League once again adds a nervous twist, the tightest relegation scramble in recent history saw Blackburn, Wigan and Wolves, all with their stories of worry throughout the season, before pride prevailed with effective performances and triumph on survival Sunday.

It was not so happy a story at White Heart Lane or Old Trafford for the visiting clubs. West Ham’s sorrow had already been drained, thus their horrendous horror show at home to Sunderland is irrelevant in many senses. It merely ruled Kevin Keen, surely, out of the running to become the new permanent manager at Upton Park. Consequently the biggest question in the country was not a lot to do with the Hammers, but who would join the London club in the Championship. The subjects were unfortunately Blackpool and Birmingham who would subsequently suffer the pains of Millwall, Barnsley and Doncaster next term.

On December 31^st, Blackpool sat in a very comfortable 9^th in the Premier League, with games in hand on all of their opponents, at that point it looked like the Seasiders were more destined for the likes of sunny skies of Portugal and Cyprus in the Europa League, than the West Yorkshire clouds of Huddersfield and Leeds in the Championship. The club had picked up 25 points from their opening 17 games at that point. They went on to claim just 14 more, from their final 21 matches, finishing rocked in 19^th place on 39 points.

Birmingham on-the-other-hand did make it to Europe after beating Arsenal at Wembley on 27^th February. However a fear of relegation had been a threat rather than a certainty for most of the season, as they spent much of the campaign outside the bottom three. However injuries came at a cost, and one win in the clubs last eight games saw the club slip below Wigan and Wolves and into the Championship. And thus, the Championship beckons.

The English top flight, however is not the only league with freefall on the cards, as for Birmingham and Blackpool a trip to Doncaster is due, who themselves saw a drop from 14^th to 21^st since the turn of the year, coupled with just three wins against Scunthorpe, Derby and Burley as the worst injury crisis imaginable hit the South Yorkshire club.

(League Position at the end of each month)

The low point of Rovers’ season was a 6-0 drubbing to Ipswich. The Reds fielded a severely under-strength team, which included a rookie goalkeeper, no established centre backs, a defender in midfield, the absence of their skipper and no fit centre forwards. Perhaps it should have been anticipated that the score line was to be as atrocious as it was.

It could be argued that the 2010-11 season has been on the cards for numerous years, as the club’s strength in depth has been a concern ever since Rovers’ Wembley triumph in 2008, but never has it been exploited to this great a degree.

For me, however, the problem arose last summer. I took the trip to Blackpool in April 2010, with Rovers still having a slim chance of entering the Play-offs. Rovers welcomed back Paul Heffernan who returned from his loan spell at Bristol Rovers. He had only returned to the club the previous morning, but it showed the lack of strength in depth in strikers over a year ago. Blackpool was victorious by two goals to nil, and went on to win promotion. Rovers then released Heffs and Lewis Guy, who joined League One clubs which left Rovers with an ageing James Hayter and injury prone Steve Brooker as the only established strikers at the club.

The two most defining moments of the season arguably happened last summer, as Jason Shackell signed for Barnsley ahead of Rovers, creating a void at centre half that was never properly filled. Also the record signing of Billy Sharp from Sheffield United, although adding to the worryingly low list of strikers, meant that the club had effectively spent its transfer budget.

During the summer of 2009, Rovers had sold two items instrumental to their promotion to the Championship and remaining there in their first full campaign. Richie Wellens departed for Leicester City, and Matthew Mills exited south to Reading. Rovers filled these voids by signing John Oster on a free transfer following his release from Crystal Palace and Shackell on loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers. Both signings were mammoth successes, as the club drove from relegation candidates in their first season to Play-off contenders the next.

Shackell subsequently opted to move to Barnsley last May, and Rovers were forced to shift their attention to a host of replacements. They signed Shelton Martis, Wayne Thomas and George Friend.

At full strength Rovers are a decent acquisition. This was proved when the club’s early season form took them to what looked originally like play-off contention. Rovers’ fans did have their concerns though; in particular George Friend looked a long way off the pace at left back and was subsequently dropped. James Chambers remained sidelined throughout the season, bar unsuccessful spell in the side in January, as Rovers opted to sign Joseph Mills on loan to fill the void, first in October before returning in January.

Rovers were in fact 7^th when they drew with to-be-promoted Swansea City on 20^th November, they went on to record just four more victories in the entire campaign, of which only Derby County were beaten elsewhere than the Keepmoat Stadium. However the start was also less than perfect, with the wins prior to this point merely coming over the three relegated sides, along with Portsmouth and Hull who were still in disarray following relegation from the Premier League, just adding to the small pride of beating Premiership-bound Norwich and Millwall on South Yorkshire turf.

The defensive crisis that followed after Christmas staggers belief. As Thomas and Martis battled with injuries following the victory over Scunthorpe on January 1^st, Rovers switched their attentions to signing Dennis Souza and Matt Killagallon, who were both reported as established championship defenders. Rovers failed to keep a clean sheet with Killgallon in the side as they slumped to 16^th in the Championship table prior to the Burnley tie on 1^st February, as the Middlesbrough defender formed an unstable partnership with Adam Lockwood.

Rovers kept three clean sheets following 2^nd January, at home to Burnley (O’Connor, Hird, Friend, Chambers), away at Nottingham Forest (Martis, Hird, Friend, Mills) and at home to Crystal Palace (Dumbuya, Thomas, Friend, O’Connor). Therefore, as you can see, to a certain extent the revival of George Friend at the heart of Doncaster’s defence paid dividends, with Sam Hird also a key player on occasion as the young defender staked a claim for first team pride when often hope was a lost cause.

It’s hard to judge whether, therefore it was the lack of the settled team or the quality of the team that stumbled upon. I think both need to be blamed unfortunately targeted.

As Rovers therefore switch their attentions to the future the strength in depth of the squad has been thoroughly tested and questioned, and not just in defence.

Rovers’ record in the absence of Billy Sharp is atrocious, with Dean Sheils often deputising. With Rovers claiming only two wins in the record-signing’s absence. Sheils is supposed to be an international footballer, however inadequate displays and this appalling record as the former-Hibernian star has tarnished, unrecognisable undoubtedly to his former followers.

Sharp’s record, does go to show exactly why Ipswich Town made such a substantial bid to lure the former-Sheffield United forward to Portman Road.

It therefore remains key for Rovers, perhaps more than usual this year, that any deadwood is removed from the club, but key, quality players remain, while new players are purchased to push the club back towards the Play-off places & the promises of the Premier League.