Far from wallowing in the glow of a tremendous result last weekend, Rovers instead spent this past week under a rather different spotlight as revelations of Junior Agogo's alleged actions in a Doncaster hotel room came to light. While one striker was in the dock, another was on his way to Swansea in midweek as Lee Thorpe became the first of the big earners to be jettisoned from our hefty wage bill. Although he was a useful player on his day, Thorpe never commanded a regular place in the team and with so many other forwards waiting for a chance, I don't think he will be missed too much. Richard Walker was Thorpe's main competitor for the target man role in the side and he has returned from the wilderness to score in both of Rovers' last two games, at Oxford and home to Grimsby last Saturday. In fact Walker has notched goals in his last three appearances, it's just that the first of that trio was against Carlisle in the FA Cup in mid-November. In the meantime, he has been sat on the bench for ten games without seeing any action. Walker's deft lob for Rovers' third before half-time last week was a tidy finish to follow the top-corner specials from James Hunt and Ryan Williams. Crowd favourite Williams was fortunate to be on the pitch due to Paul Trollope coming off early through illness, and the winger seized his chance by hitting an absolute screamer for 2-0. Everyone was expecting him to trap the ball when it came across to him on the left, but he smacked it first time to give ex-loan keeper Tony Williams no chance. Having arrived from Hull City, little Ryan is unlikely to be on a cut-price salary and must sit among the top earners like John Anderson (another Hull recruit) and former Premiership players Stuart Campbell, Steve Elliott and Kevin Miller. Even after Lee Thorpe's departure, the wage bill is still too high to sustain and either deals are renegotiated, as in the case of Anderson's current contract talks or we must ship some of them out. Miller's return to fitness prompted many fans to fear for Ryan Clarke's place in goal last week but the young Bristolian got the nod to continue between the posts and he turned in a sizzling display to earn his first clean sheet of the season. The scoreline suggested a stroll in the park for Rovers with little to do at the back but remarkably it was Grimsby who seemed to have more chances on the day. Clarke was unanimously voted man of the match thanks to a string of spectacular saves and his performance was an emphatic answer to any doubts Ian Atkins may have had in persevering with youth over experience. If he continues like that, Miller cannot possibly get back in. © Chris Chappell - Friday 11th February 2005 Back to Index