ROVERS FANZ VIEW COLUMN
|
When teams like us get stuck in no man's land between the top and bottom of their league and see their seasons peter out, the matches take on less significance and a strange sense of calm often descends as the pressures of promotion or relegation relent for the last few weeks. As we find ourselves in mid-table limbo for the first time in quite a few years, there is now the opportunity for fringe players and youngsters to get some games under their belts. We still have all sorts of opponents to play, with tough trips to automatic promotion chasers Southend and Scunthorpe, clashes with play-off contenders Darlington and Wycombe, battles with struggling Rushden and Chester as well as pedestrian fixtures against similarly placed sides like Notts County. All types are catered for in the run-in and all offer valuable experience to our fledgling squad members like Ryan Clarke, Lewis Haldane and maybe even Scott Sinclair and Chris Lines. It was interesting to hear Ian Atkins talk up the prospects of goalkeeper Clarke after the Bury match last week, when he suggested that the perennial bench-warmer would be thrown back into the team for the rest of the campaign. It sounded as though current incumbent Kevin Miller performed quite well at Gigg Lane but afterwards Atkins paid tribute to his career as a whole in an interview that Geoff Twentyman described as Miller's "last rites". Most Gasheads had wanted Clarke to remain in goal after some impressive displays when Miller was out injured and it seems as though the manager has come round to our way of thinking. It's not so much that the fans don't like Miller, it's just that we would rather a local lad got his chance in a team otherwise full of journeymen. Yes, Miller brings more experience to the defence and is more of an imposing presence between the posts but he has one of the biggest wage packets at the club, if not the division. Is he really worth it? Clarke is more agile, quicker off his line and is only at the start of his career rather than in his twilight, plus the supporters have a lot more patience with him. I don't think there is a great difference between the two in terms of ability and Miller's wages could be better spent on other areas of the squad. Atkins has undoubtedly lost the backing of some fans with his cautious ways this season but one way of winning them back would be to play more Bristol boys. Most of the other clubs at our level promote their youth prospects to the first team and most of them are above Rovers in the table. Why don't we try it? Hopefully the partnership with Filton College will see a few more come up through the ranks but there’s no harm in looking at the local non-league scene either. Something like half of the 1990 Championship winning team were picked up from local sides and they didn’t do too badly, did they? These players are often more streetwise than the well-schooled Academy graduates that emerge from Premiership clubs, and they don’t mind getting stuck in. Some of our problems this season have stemmed from not being physically or mentally tough enough, rather than anything to do with skill, and every successful team needs a few fighters.
|