ROVERS FANZ VIEW COLUMN
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So here we are again, and the big question on everyone's lips is "how
are we going to do this season?" It's anybody's guess. Many of us have taken in a few friendlies, or indeed been devoted enough to travel to all of them, in a bid to see the new signings and get an indication of what our future holds this year. Our pre-season form has been somewhat erratic, with home defeats to Wolves and Preston, the latter by shipping six soft goals at the Mem, interspersed by a couple of promising displays at Ayr (5-0) and in last weekend's 2-0 win at Forest Green. Being consistently inconsistent this coming season would be a major improvement on being consistently bad, and to be honest I just want to see a few more wins this time. Our summer signings are largely well-known and well-regarded players, and in buying Junior Agogo for an eventual £110,000 we have been one of the few clubs to spend any money in this Division. Northampton and Hull (once again) have splashed the cash with a eager eye on automatic promotion, while I fancy Yeovil may do very well given that they have a quality squad of players who have been winning trophies over the past few years. The momentum that a winning mentality can build up should not be underestimated, and erstwhile Conference champions Wycombe, Macclesfield and Barnet all went straight up to Division 2 in their maiden league campaigns. A fair share of teams that come down often perform much better, with Rovers being an obvious exception, and last season it was Wrexham and Bournemouth who returned from whence they came at the first attempt. From the latest crop of relegated clubs, Mansfield should score a lot of goals with Iyseden Christie grabbing 18 in the league last year from just 37 games - quite a haul in a relegated side. Player-manager Keith Curle should know how to shore up his leaky defence, and they could finish quite high in the table. Fellow Division-droppers Cheltenham and Huddersfield have both wielded the axe on their squads and getting a new team to gel takes quite a while (just ask us) and so the play-offs might be the best they can hope for. I reckon Carlisle and Swansea will make vast improvements this season compared to their recent flirtations with the back door of the league. The Cumbrians have an exciting young squad with some decent Irish players in their ranks, and recruited experienced campaigners Steve Livingstone and Paul Simpson over the summer. Swansea added the tricky forward Lee Trundle from promoted Wrexham to partner 15-goal Jamie Thomas, once briefly on loan at Rovers, in a potentially potent attack. Leon Britton and Roberto Martinez have been kept on to pose a dangerous proposition from midfield, and having seen a bit of them on TV where I live in South Wales, I think they could do some damage. Scunthorpe have not failed to finish in the top ten since they returned to Division 3 in 2000 and have improved their position every year, although the loss of top scorer Martin Carruthers could set them back, while Oxford are always a horrible proposition, especially now they have added yet more aerial threat with the signings of Julian Alsop, Mark Rawle and Paul Wanless. I rekcon there must be a minimum height requirement of 6ft to join an Ian Atkins team, and nobody will want to play them this year, that's for sure. As for Rovers, I am hopeful that we can break into the top half, but then I said that twelve months ago. Agogo looks like he can become a class act, but if he misses a few games, the back-up in attack is a bit weak and we may struggle to score goals. The defence has occasionally shown frailties in pre-season, but Ijah Anderson is arguably the best in his position in this league. His left-back role is another that lacks any cover, and we could struggle again if we try to fit square pegs in round holes for any length of time. Unless there is a talented 'leftie' in the youth team, Ray Graydon should bring in a loan signing instead of employing people out of position, if the moment arises.
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