Play-offs 2015

[Ciderup]

Alright CU our old pal, where have you been?

I've got to say, I've enjoyed this season. That's not to say I don't desperately want to he out of it, everything can change next year, we could lose a couple of players should we not go up, start losing games and quickly the conference could turn quite miserable.

This season has been refreshing and it's all down to DC. He's completely changed the mentality and feeling around the club. He's signed players on lower wages who actually work hard for the shirt, the complete contrast to the overpaid wasters formally employed by the club. If we go up, that's his third promotion in a relatively short career and there is no doubt that people will start to take notice.

Grimsby will be a tough opponents, it'll be cagey and tight. Don't know which way it'll go at present. Confident in the team but won't write off a Grimsby, they're a good side.

As for the court case, out of sight out of mind for me. I expect nothing in stadium matters so I won't be getting my hopes up.

Watcha Miagsy, hope you are well? I did say we would leave you alone for a while to sort yourselves out and think we have kept to our promise.
DC appears to have come out of all your troubles with alot of kudos and apart from the half pissed pub singing, he doesn't appear to have put a foot wrong so far.
All that said, surely the court case is the pivotal thing now isn't it rather than promotion?

 

[miagsygas]

Watcha Miagsy, hope you are well? I did say we would leave you alone for a while to sort yourselves out and think we have kept to our promise.
DC appears to have come out of all your troubles with alot of kudos and apart from the half pissed pub singing, he doesn't appear to have put a foot wrong so far.
All that said, surely the court case is the pivotal thing now isn't it rather than promotion?

All good pal, the nervousness is beginning to set in now however. I suspect you're feeling well after promotion. Can't knock it, you've had an exceptional season. We've had a few of your colleagues drop in but it's been not bad, should we have lost more it could have been a lot, lot worse I'd imagine.

If the pub incident is the worst thing DC has done, he's done bloody well. He deserved a moments celebration.

I respectfully disagree on the Stadium. My viewpoint has always been I'll believe it when I'm sat in it. If we recieve the go ahead or some compo then okay, get on with whatever happens but get the focus back on the pitch, support Clarke as much as possible. Their are teams with even worse facilities than ours doing a lot, lot better than us.

As for going up, it truly is a massive game. 21,000 stadia will, in my opinion, be rendered completely useless if we're in the Conference. It's not even really important in L2. Perhaps if we ever get back to L1 then yes, to build the club we might need it, but we may never see those days again, particularly if we don't go up. Next season is no certainty if we don't go up this year, we may lose players, lose Clarke, lose finance from the parachute payment, lose the youth structure that has flourished in recent years.

If we stay down and results go badly next year, numbers will drop, fans will stay away, and with your success a potential group of young fans will be lost as who wouldn't rather see league football?

The game is massive, it's tangible and it's completely infront of us. The stadium, well whatever result it'll drag on and on. I only consider it a pipe dream.

 

[miagsygas]

Estimated ticket update: 28,000 Gas, 12,000 Grimsby (around about)

 

[George Reilly's Hairpiece]

I respectfully disagree on the Stadium. My viewpoint has always been I'll believe it when I'm sat in it. If we recieve the go ahead or some compo then okay, get on with whatever happens but get the focus back on the pitch, support Clarke as much as possible. Their are teams with even worse facilities than ours doing a lot, lot better than us.

Isn't the issue with the court case that you could be well and truly screwed if it goes against you? As I mentioned elsewhere, taking out a bridging loan to provide working capital is a clear sign that there are money troubles and it looks like a lot is being pinned on a favourable outcome with Sainsbury's.

 

[miagsygas]

Isn't the issue with the court case that you could be well and truly screwed if it goes against you? As I mentioned elsewhere, taking out a bridging loan to provide working capital is a clear sign that there are money troubles and it looks like a lot is being pinned on a favourable outcome with Sainsbury's.

I'm not sure. Perhaps it could be the case, perhaps not. I think we may be in a bit of trouble if the court case goes against but I believe the loan was more a case to keep the stadium bid running, not to keep the club running. Maybe I'm being naive in that respect but nobody really knows the full facts, particularly with the club having to stay quiet.

 

[George Reilly's Hairpiece]

I'm not sure. Perhaps it could be the case, perhaps not. I think we may be in a bit of trouble if the court case goes against but I believe the loan was more a case to keep the stadium bid running, not to keep the club running. Maybe I'm being naive in that respect but nobody really knows the full facts, particularly with the club having to stay quiet.

The purpose of the loan was disclosed in your company accounts:-

£960k to repay Barclays
£200k to repay Deltavon Developments Limited
remainder "will be used to fund the working capital requirements of the Club for the remainder of the current season and the 2015-2016 season".

Just hope for your sake that you've gone to a decent bridging loan company.

 

[Ciderup]

I can kind of empathise with Miagsy on this TBH. As supporters, there isn't a lot the gas fans can do with relation to the stadium and the finance. Wether their board are clever enough to have played this right is to be seen but the corporate pay day thing would worry me.
On the importance, hear me out.
While promotion doesn't guarantee the stadium, surely the stadium, with all the corporate riches it would bring plus the opportunity to attract better players due to the UWE, would, eventually, guarantee promotion?
I can see why you lot are so cheesed off with the Sainsbury's situation (we've been there don't forget) but I would still say the court case is potentially a bigger deal than Sunday. Let's be honest here, it's a 'when' not' if' you eventually get back up.
It's refreshing to hear that you have found some positives from your time down here. In all honesty, Swindon have tried (with some success) to wind us up but it's not the same as you lot.

 

[ComeOnIrene]

I'm with CU on this, I think the Sainsbury's court case is much more important as it can shape the future of our club for years to come, whereas the play-off final has a much shorter-term impact relatively speaking (promotion to L1 in 2007 didn't last forever, for example, but a 21,700 seater stadium and all the revenue it will produce would do).

Don't get me wrong, the Grimsby game is massive and I desperately want us to win - it's the on-field matters that we can try and influence as supporters, by getting behind the team and doing what we have done all season - but a positive outcome against Sainsbury's eclipses it in my opinion.

There are a lot of ifs and buts here, but if we stayed in the Conference there is no reason why we couldn't get promoted next year or the year after that, whereas if we lose the court case we could suffer from the implications indefinitely (possible administration if some are to be believed). I know people are disillusioned with the stadium saga and would rather have success on the pitch as, right now, that is more tangible than the UWE move (which would still be a few years away from becoming a reality even with a positive conclusion in the court case), but I don't think some realise how much trouble we would be in if Sainsbury's win. For want of a better phrase, 'we would be absolutely ******'.

I genuinely believe we can be successful in both cases, though, and if we are it'll be a defining week in the history of our club. We are in fantastic form and have a great group of players, so for me we have every chance of lifting the trophy on Sunday afternoon. If we are anywhere near our best I think we will win the game, because no side has got anywhere near matching us when we are in top form - Barnet were ripped a new one at our place performance-wise in November after we had settled in to the division, and we deservedly beat Grimsby at their place at the height of our winning run after Christmas. That's not to say it won't be a really tough game, as The Mariners will be bang up for it and are clearly a very decent side, but we have to be confident that we can win and I really am.

The outcome of the court case cannot be predicted so accurately given the lack of information that has been disclosed, but I do think that even though our BoD have shown themselves to be completely incompetent over the years, they wouldn't jeopardise the future of the club unless they were certain we had a damn good chance of winning. I have no inside knowledge and don't want to go over ground that others have discussed to death over the last year or two on this thread, however I am inclined to think that at some point something has to go our way. That is what I am clinging to, anyway.

I eagerly anticipate what will happen in the next 7 days as I am getting more and more nervous with each passing hour. As much as I have grown accustomed to failure and disappointment supporting Rovers, this year has given me hope once again and I see no reason why this can't be the start of better times. Plus, it's always better to be positive than negative, right? Otherwise, what's the point?

 

[Urban]

Plus, it's always better to be positive than negative, right? Otherwise, what's the point?

Nah. Negativity is where it's at bro.

Going to the game with a Grimsby supporting mate. My heart wants them to win, head says Rovers. Think you've got a lot of quality in that team which will just outshine Grimsby. Still, it's a one off game, anything could happen!

If you mess this up, next year will be hard. Loss of parachute payment money is a hard thing to cope with.

 

[rudebwoyben]

I'm not sure that winning with the last touch of the match equates to "ripping Barnet a new one."

 

[Urban]

We definitely did rip them a new one at the Hive though

 

[Gassy]

Nah. Negativity is where it's at bro.

Going to the game with a Grimsby supporting mate. My heart wants them to win, head says Rovers. Think you've got a lot of quality in that team which will just outshine Grimsby. Still, it's a one off game, anything could happen!

If you mess this up, next year will be hard. Loss of parachute payment money is a hard thing to cope with.

Yeah, you proved that this year

 

[ComeOnIrene]

I'm not sure that winning with the last touch of the match equates to "ripping Barnet a new one."

And I think that's why ultimately you won the league, because although we were the better team you somehow found a goal (30 yard free kick!) to equalise against the run of play. You seemed able to score in almost every game even when you weren't on top, which is a quality we didn't have in the first month or two of the season and that cost us.

 

[Urban]

Yeah, you proved that this year

And we had to rip the club down to its barebones to get a skeleton of a squad in, with a manager with connections, bringing in top quality back room staff who worked for free in between jobs. We were lucky with injuries and managed to retain a lot of the team which brought us down here in th first place.

It's not easy.

 

[rudebwoyben]

And I think that's why ultimately you won the league, because although we were the better team you somehow found a goal (30 yard free kick!) to equalise against the run of play. You seemed able to score in almost every game even when you weren't on top, which is a quality we didn't have in the first month or two of the season and that cost us.

A fair and balanced reply.
I have to say that your lot have found a groove which enabled you to push us all the way and that will stand you in good stead, even if you don't prevail on Sunday. I have been on your board and there are some posters who have wanted Clarke out. I'd say that keeping him on is vital.

 

[rudebwoyben]

And we had to rip the club down to its barebones to get a skeleton of a squad in, with a manager with connections, bringing in top quality back room staff who worked for free in between jobs. We were lucky with injuries and managed to retain a lot of the team which brought us down here in th first place.

It's not easy.

We did bloody well to achieve what we did last season. Actually, we did really well to get back into the Football League after 4 seasons in 2005 as well, when things were much worse for us. We seemed to have acquired a knack of getting promoted from the Conference, but I don't want to have to do it again!

 

[BeesKnees]

And I think that's why ultimately you won the league, because although we were the better team you somehow found a goal (30 yard free kick!) to equalise against the run of play. You seemed able to score in almost every game even when you weren't on top, which is a quality we didn't have in the first month or two of the season and that cost us.

What that game showed me was how thin our squad was. Collecting a rookie keeper from a service station on the way to the ground was far from ideal. A good part of the reason you were so dominant for the first 30 minutes was our defence being used to playing a high line and a keeper willing to sweep being replaced by a guy afraid to leave the six yard box.
We've been over this before, but for the second half I thought we sat deeper and neither side looked capable of scoring.

 

[ComeOnIrene]

A fair and balanced reply.
I have to say that your lot have found a groove which enabled you to push us all the way and that will stand you in good stead, even if you don't prevail on Sunday. I have been on your board and there are some posters who have wanted Clarke out. I'd say that keeping him on is vital.

There was a relatively large number of people who opposed Clarke at the beginning, not so much because they didn't lie him but because he had been tarnished with the same brush as everybody else who got us relegated, even though it wasn't his fault. As a result it took some a very long time to put that to one side and appreciate what he was trying to do this year, yet slowly but surely he managed to get everybody on side and I am delighted that he has.

I think he is a terrific young manager and the desire he has to be successful is great to see. I was one of those who backed him from the very start as I was fortunate enough to have a 30 minute chat with him last summer and he outlined his feelings and what he would demand of the players this season, and I bought into it. Whatever happens on Sunday - and God forbid we lose - I would do anything I could to keep him here next season.

 

[GTFC1979]

My tickets have arrived today, ordered 1 adult 1 child, but been sent 2 adult tickets, if i'd known this i would've just ordered 2 kids tickets!

 

[Gassy]

I've always backed Clarke. I've spoken to him on 2 occasions and he just emits the feel that you know him personally. He's a great guy, with a grey football brain. He reminds me of Cotterell a little bit, great when he's winning, but listening to him after a losing streak, I can imagine he's pretty annoying

 

[ComeOnIrene]

I've always backed Clarke. I've spoken to him on 2 occasions and he just emits the feel that you know him personally. He's a great guy, with a grey football brain. He reminds me of Cotterell a little bit, great when he's winning, but listening to him after a losing streak, I can imagine he's pretty annoying

Spot on, Gassy. He always has time for Gasheads and he will speak with you openly and honestly if you ever ask him a question. I think he's very sincere, which is a great quality in a manager and a big part of the reason he has endeared himself to all over the course of the campaign.

 

[les.gtfc]

God, this week is going soooo slow. I can't believe it's only Tuesday.

I know you shouldn't wish your life away but I just want to get there now and get this game played.

17th May - Play-Off Final Bristol Rovers v Grimsby Town
20th May - MRI scan at Hull Royal Infirmary.

No prizes for guessing which one I'm more worried about.

 

[Ciderup]

Good luck with the scan Les (and the final for that matter).
On Clarke, I don't see the comparison with our own Cott's. While DC seems very accessible to the fans, I don't think Cott's is. Don't get me wrong, it's definitely not a criticism and we absolutely love the bloke (even though many didn't want him, myself included. Whoops!) but that's not his remit and although he does what he has to do to keep us onside, you wouldn't see him in the robins after a game as DC did last week. Cott's is fiercely ambitious and appears very 'prickly' after games, even if we win so I don't see the comparison.
I suppose the higher you / we go, the less accessible those in charge become.
On DC, I realise he has came from non league into your club but has he the necessary to manage higher up? Would failure on Sunday mean he could go? Once again, I appreciate the level you are currently at but it's not particularly pretty from the tiny amount of games I've seen on the tele. Maybe we've been spoilt this season.
Have a good day on Sunday all and I couldn't call myself a City fan without saying 'Come on the Mariners'!

 

[Gashead]

Best of luck with the scan Les (but not so much the final )

ciderup, if Clarke goes it would be an absolute disaster. Best person that has been around this club in years, and it definitely feels like there's change happening. Re: can he manage higher, until we actually know I have no idea but I think the main problem with him last season was not bringing him in earlier!! It's clear to see what was being held back under Ward, and as much as I had admiration for Ward after keeping us up in 2012-13, it was there for all to see that his record at previous clubs dramatically deteriorated after the first six months - and I said that when Ward was appointed. Ward lost interest, and I think Higgs was so scared of sacking yet another manager that he 'moved Ward on' too late.

I don't really see the comparison with Cotterill to be honest, but one thing I will say about Cotterill is you can see why any club he is at starts to tumble a bit when they're on a losing streak (i.e. Forest). As you say, even when you lot were winning games his media approach didn't come across as brilliant, I recall one game in particular (losing 3-1 at home to Sheff. Utd?) listening on the radio and the bloke sounded a bit like O'Driscoll did in his final days at City, very hostile etc. I don't think you'll struggle next season (but given the strength of the teams coming down I don't think you'll go up again), but it would be interesting to see Cotterill's approach if you did start losing games. Very reminiscent of Johnson in that he can massively help a team when winning, but hinders a team when they're losing.

 

[Ciderup]

Maybe Gashead, that remains to be seen but being prickly after a loss isn't a bad thing in my book as nobody likes losing. As I said previously he's obviously fiercely ambitious and hasn't done much if anything wrong this season. I don't expect to go up again by the way as it's a brilliant league with some seriously good sides in it. I'm just glad we're back in there with them.
Enough about us, we've long since finished and that's not why we're here. WTGR it's about you and Grimsby as well as Sainsbury's to be honest.
On DC, he had absolutely no chance when given the job, it really was unfair and maybe shows the cut of the mans jib that he's done so well this year.
As an aside, I can see you taking more to North West London than the 6 fingered mongs from the shit hole down the M4. Horrible little club they are!

 

[ComeOnIrene]

For me, DC does have what it takes in the Football League. He is ambitious, confident in his methods and he gets his team playing for each other with maximum effort week in, week out and with his positivity and passion there is no reason why he can't be successful in League Two and beyond.

I do feel as though he is the best thing to have happened to us for a long time and I think we are lucky to have him. The thing that has impressed me is that he truly has invested everything into Rovers and for the good of the cause; other managers we've had certainly haven't and that is part of the reason Gasheads have felt so disillusioned with the club in recent years.

Like you CU I don't get the comparisons with Cotterill. Obviously I don't listen to/watch him every week (thankfully ) but he doesn't strike me as the sort of character who has much time for anything other than his players and the work they do on the training ground. I get the impression - and of course I could be wrong - that everything else is a bit of an unnecessary distraction from his job. DC isn't like that as he really makes an effort to bring the fans and players together, and whilst he had to develop a siege mentality at the start of the season to shield his charges from the unfair criticism they and he were receiving, he constantly reiterates the importance of unity. A lot of managers use that phrase but he makes an effort to show he is genuine, as the pub sing-along shows.

Oh and good luck Les.

 

[Aber gas]

Had a bet with a mate of mine in October . His actual words were " if that cock dc gets us to Wembley il buy all the drinks , it'll never happen " it was actually a bit ruder than that but fucking hell I hope he's been saving .

 

[Luke_ciderhead]

I'm surprised Clarke has Rovers on the verge of bouncing straight back. Look at how many teams have managed it over the years.... Carlisle are the only one I can think of and that was 10 years ago or so. I honestly have to say through gritted teeth that he seems like a fine manager that should do well at a higher level (with Rovers or elsewhere).

Enjoy yourselves on Saturday but like ciderup it has to be a come on the Mariners from me!

 

[Gassy]

All I meant with the comparison is that they're both great to listen to when you're winning, but if you're on a losing streak, I imagine they're both bloody annoying to listen to.

 

[Gladders]

http://www.codalmighty.com/site/ca.php?article=5396

Cod almighty has posted the above and wants all fans at Wembley to sing this on sunday

Cod Almighty‏@codalmighty
You're ripping us off You're ripping us off Oh Football Conference You're ripping us off. Sloop John B 40th min, one for each quid #gtfc #utg