ROVERS FANZ VIEW COLUMN
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What's this new manager like then? Now the talking is over and the real football has started, I can say that the early signs are encouraging. Despite the fact that we have only plundered one point from the first two games, and we've already thrown away more leads than a disgruntled dog owner, Ray Graydon's team seems to be going in the right direction. Down at Torquay we could not have hoped for a better start as the starting eleven, including seven summer signings, looked more like a team than last season's rabble who had played together for three years. Officially Rovers fans accounted for only a third of the crowd, but if you added the pockets of Gasheads on the home terrace on one side, and the pack on the other with a load on top of some portakabins, then it was really about half the gate. Five minutes was all it took for Giuliano Grazioli to poke in the opener, and didn't we all enjoy it, apart from Leroy Rosenior of course. It all turned sour however, when ghosts of corners past came back to haunt us and a free header gave Torquay a perfect lift just before the break. Concentration will come with experience, and at the moment our defence is still quite a young bunch. As for the winner, reports have not even hinted of any controversy about the penalty given to Torquay, but from where I was standing (which was admittedly 100 yards away) Challis clearly got his head to the ball before the onrushing striker collided with him and fell into a heap. To make matters worse, the ref then waved away any claims for a kick at the other end in injury time, when Grazioli latched onto Richards' pass only to be barged off the ball as he shaped to shoot. But without any TV cameras there to give us a second look, I suppose we will never know if the ref was right. Anyway, it was Leroy who had the last laugh. Thankfully there was a Tuesday game to set our minds on, and a big one too against the Division's favourites Hull City. The first forty minutes were absolutely incredible, as Rovers played the Tigers off the park. As my Dad would say, it was 'total football' and Hull didn't know how to deal with it. It looked as though we were witnessing one of those horrible nights when nothing goes in, but after half an hour Grazioli again found himself with just the goalkeeper to beat and he rolled it inside the far stick to make it two goals in two for the season. Barry Hayles was the last to score in his first three Rovers games, so by the time you read this we will already know if Graz has done it too. Just before half-time Hull had a few chances, and the one thorn in our side was undoubtedly their number seven Stuart Elliott on the left. We were hanging on for dear life after the interval, and our first chance of the half was when Paul Tait, much improved from Saturday, forced a save with only about 15 minutes left. Soon after, Tait then ran into the back of one of their defenders, giving him a friendly nudge, and he was swiftly given a right boot on the leg. It was one of the most blatant red cards I've seen for years, and with only ten minutes on the clock that was surely the final nail in Hull's coffin. Perhaps we should not have pushed on for a second, but when we lost the ball with men forward, Elliott pierced the gap and set up the dreaded equaliser, to frustrate us for the second time in four days. Graydon has not had the luck so far, but it must come soon.
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