ROVERS FANZ VIEW COLUMN
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By the time we return to work after Easter, there will only be two games left. Two more remaining in this torrid season, and maybe the final two in our league history. Our squad is more decorated than most others in Division 3, yet still we are one of the worst. Three are full internationals, seven have turned out in the top flight of English football and nine of them have played significant roles in promotion winning teams. Perhaps there is some invisible force at work somewhere in the skies over Horfield that renders half-decent players with a mild physical defect which hinders their ability to kick a ball. I thought the Millennium Bug was only supposed to affect computers, but since the start of 2000 it seems as though Rovers are the ones who have become victims of this virus. The turn of a new century has indeed turned us into a bunch of lemons on the pitch. But what can we do to exorcise the curse of the Mem? The fans who come onto the turf for the huddle should instead go and urinate in the corners, or we could paint a Phoenix in the 'unlucky' home dressing room. Another option could be to make Ray Graydon wear an even more outrageous hat on matchdays, like a sombrero or a samurai helmet, in a bid to change our fortunes. It appears that a separate spell has been cast over the Racecourse Ground up at Wrexham because every time we go there, Rovers lose by a single goal. Most of us were certain that we had finally cracked it when Chris Llewellyn found the net for a second time with just a few minutes to go, but we should have known better. The faces may change, but the outcome is always the same. Credit must go to the lads for fighting back from 2-0 down, as I don't think many of us believed we were capable until we actually equalised, especially in the wake of a rampant Wrexham assault in the twenty minutes leading up to half-time. They scored twice and battered the woodwork a couple of times too, and it could easily have been all over by the time Llewellyn threaded a shot into the far corner on the whistle. Andy Rammell is looking sharper all the time and offered our only real threat in the first period, making himself two clear shooting opportunities which were both blocked well by the goalkeeper. Throughout in the game he was popping up all over the pitch, acting as a third centre-back on occasions, and sometimes picking up the ball deep in midfield. He said on his arrival that he hoped to stay on the shoulder of the last defender and let the younger ones around him "do all the running for me," but last Saturday it was he who was doing the running around, and more so than anyone else. It seems strange that when we finally bring in a striker who thrives on crosses, the two decent wingers we have at our disposal find themselves on the bench. Wayne Carlisle and Lee Hodges transformed the match when they came on with twenty minutes left, as we suddenly had players who could pose problems for their defenders - exactly what Wrexham's Paul and Carlos Edwards were doing to us all game. Hodges in particular sprayed passes about better than the central midfielders and made the equaliser all on his own after running at two defenders and scooping the ball onto the far post, where Llewellyn finished the job. We must play these players and go all out to win the last few points. Shrewsbury are doing all they can to help us stay in the league, having thrown away points in the 90th minute of three of their last four home games. We must take advantage.
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