ROVERS FANZ VIEW COLUMN
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I didn't really mind how the Rochdale game went last week. That fact is that I passed my driving test on the morning of the match and I was on a high all day. So when Clive Platt put us behind once again after only a couple of minutes, the usual outburst of frustration was refreshingly absent. Another thing was on my mind which gave me yet more unerring calm. History seemed to be repeating itself in the FA Cup as Rovers had scraped a draw with non-leaguers before beating them in a replay, like Aldershot last season, and then drawn a useful side from our own division. Last year it was Plymouth, when we had fought back from a goal down to earn a rematch, and this time we were to do it again. Graham Hyde looked a class act in the midfield anchor role, but with Rob Quinn sitting in there with him, we looked a bit too defensive and indeed pedestrian in the centre. With fresh impetus badly needed midway through the second half, on came the lively Kevin Gall, and within seconds we had sparked into action. The first thing he did was run half the length of the pitch to chase one of those lost causes, where the ball was being shepherded out for a goal kick. For Gall though, this cause was not lost and his searing pace caught up the defender and his challenge won an unlikely corner out of nothing. Then when Danny Boxall got forward to deliver a low cross, Gall again got on the end and his blocked shot fell straight to fellow substitute Bradley Allen to score his first Rovers goal. The Merthyr man's introduction was a glaring instance of one of those 'super sub' moments, and Ray Graydon definitely called this one right. It reminded me of a match at Stoke when Ian Holloway withdrew Robbie Pethick and sent on Trevor Challis, switching Mark Walters to the other flank - Rovers came back from one-down to win 2-1 and go third with our fifth successive win. But if I thought the déjà vu was to continue in Sunday's Third Round draw, the dream of another Premiership tie was soon extinguished when we were pulled out with Preston. Sadly both Drew Shore and Rob Scott were told last week that their six-month deals will not be renewed, and they will now have to go in search of a new club. It was particularly unfortunate for Shore, seeing as he looked quite promising in his ten starts last year, and many fans were calling for him to be given a chance just a few weeks ago. As we know all too well, left-footers like him are at a premium, and I just hope that we don't live to regret releasing him. There was some much bigger news off the pitch this week as the Football Club announced the long-awaited share issue with Rovers' Supporters' Club. I own about five of the old shares (which I think have mutated into several more now) and while this previously allowed me to attend shareholders' meetings and cast a vote on certain things, on my own however I was not in a position to veto building new stands or such like. By pooling all of our investment together under the banner of the Supporters' Club, we therefore gain a collective power and influence at the head table where the big decisions are made. In turn we then own a chunk of the club and the ground, and as fans we now have some control over the football club's destiny. And for those of us who put results ahead of everything else, including being on a sound financial footing, the package stipulates that 20% of our money will go towards the team, meaning that we may be able to afford more Bradley Allens in the future as well as having a club to employ them in the first place.
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