"They're like birds that have been set free!" Those were the words of Radio Bristol co-commentator Jamie Shore at the final whistle last Saturday, after the Rovers players had just completed their fight-back from 2-0 down to earn a draw at Rochdale, with news of Ray Graydon's departure still fresh in their minds from a few hours earlier. This evident feeling of relief was no doubt mutual for many Rovers fans last week as the shackles of Ray's regime were finally cast off. Initial reports that Steve Cotterill would be filling the vacancy proved unfounded when Phil Bater was handed the reins indefinitely on Monday, and with Cotterill's last two jobs being at Stoke and Sunderland, he would not have come on the cheap. In many ways, the interim appointment of Bater is similar to that of Garry Thompson's two stints as Rovers' caretaker boss, who stepped up from the backroom staff to replace both Ian Holloway and Gerry Francis. Without the funds to pay for a new man to come in just yet, the board have promoted from within again and hopefully we will see a bit more excitement from our team and perhaps a winning run, which can often happen when a new manager is installed. The main advantage is that Bater, an outwardly passionate and aggressive shorts-in-all-weathers man, is a completely different person to Graydon, a withdrawn and inherently defensive suit-and-tie guy. This obvious contrast suggests that we should see a lot of changes in the next few weeks, and for a start the interviews will be a lot more colourful - and that's just Phil's language I'm talking about! Like Thompson with Nathan Ellington two years ago, Bater is inheriting the team at just the right time because key players are returning to fitness. Lee Hodges and Paul Tait were both impressive in the reserves' 4-1 stuffing of Cardiff in the week and the competition for places will be intense. Whether Bater is capable enough to take over full-time is another issue but I just hope we can ride this wave of optimism for a few weeks at least and rack up some decent results. Some people I have spoken to cannot wait to go and watch Bater's Rovers this weekend, which makes a refreshing change to feeling duty-bound to attend only because you've already forked out for your season ticket! I think it is worth noting that the fans never sang Ray Graydon's name during his time as manager here, if my memory serves me right, but then he was rarely seen on the pitch saluting the fans after a (rare) victorious away performance. Appreciation is often a two-way thing and if he couldn't give us a clap, then why should we cheer him? My perception of Ray before he came was that of a cheerful old man in a flat cap and unfashionable sunglasses but instead we found him a difficult character to warm to and there has been little sympathy for him since he left. At least our position in the table is not as precarious as it was last year or the year before that, so Bater is not in need of any miracles at the moment. An improvement is all we ask. © Chris Chappell - Friday 23rd January 2004 Back to Index