ROVERS FANZ VIEW COLUMN
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Isn't it amazing how things can change so much in just a few days? Last weekend Phil Bater's bedraggled bunch of players went up to gusty Lincolnshire and were blown out by Boston, continuing the up-and-down pattern of our turbulent season. Weighing heavily on their minds was the fact that chairman Geoff Dunford had just made public the intention to bring in Ian Atkins as manager at the end of the campaign, which casts a few doubts over the futures of several players, not to mention Bater himself. A week later and we've got two new managers, half a new team and we nearly had a new chairman as well, had it not been for the unanimous support shown to Dunford by the rest of the board of directors. Talking about that Boston game now seems like a trivial matter in a crazy Rovers week, but the result still stands and it was another match without success as our winless run stretched to ten. Obviously the strong wind played its part, but I cannot understand what we were doing when defending that free-kick that ultimately decided the game. Television pictures seemed to show the wall was only made up of a couple of players, rather than the usual five or six, and Boston's goal-bound shot unsurprisingly went straight through and into the net. With what has been going on off the pitch, I think most people feel sympathy for Phil Bater because he has been treated like a cheap and convenient stop-gap. He is a likeable man who certainly does not hold back when talking about things and undoubtedly he had a positive effect on Ray Graydon's team when he first stepped up into the caretaker role. But even by his own admission, he has not done well enough in terms of picking up points and one triumph in a dozen games is hardly contract-winning form. Therefore it was not so surprising to see the directors bring in more experienced faces last week, although the names in question definitely did raise a few eyebrows. Nobody would have predicted former City man Russell Osman coming in, especially since he has not managed a club for six years, but the appointment of Kevan Broadhurst could be seen as the first signs of Ian Atkins' influence, seeing as Broadhurst was his assistant at Northampton. The pair were no doubt recruited as much for their connections and contacts within the game as their abilities on the training field, what with the transfer deadline passing on Thursday, and their hopes of bringing in at least five new players eventually came to fruition. With goals a major problem for Rovers, first Sean Devine and then Jamie Forrester looked to be the answer before complications set in during the week. Fortunately the 'proven goalscorer' vacancy was finally filled by Bo Henriksen, the instantly recognisable Dane who scored 20 league goals for Kidderminster last season. Whilst he is undoubtedly the best known of the new recruits, key positions were covered elsewhere by defender John Anderson, midfielders Danny Williams and Aaron Lescott, and right-winger Ali Gibb, filling the hole left by Wayne Carlisle. With the Ian Atkins saga still very much unresolved, who knows whether these players will stay on beyond the eight remaining games. Are these signings Atkins-approved? If Henriksen emulates Andy Rammell and bangs in a hat-full, what chance has he of being here next season? As per usual with Rovers, nobody seems to know what's going on.
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