It was a remarkable season of two halves. There was a point in the dark days of winter where we all thought relegation to the Blue Square Bet Premier was a real possibility. Bottom of the Football League midway through December going into Christmas, managerless, and conceding goals from all angles. Thankfully, the club was saved by a returning hero John Ward, who guiding a team that had suffered under Mark McGhee to mid-table safety, after a superb run between January and April. Starting at the beginning, McGhee, after helping the team to some impressive results towards the end of 2011/12, made some naïve mistakes during the close season. Mustapha Carayol's departure was not the Scot's fault, but the way he went about recruitment, especially the long pursuit of Oxford striker James Constable, was flawed. Constable has a good, if unspectacular record in League Two, and would have been unlikely to be the crucial factor in winning promotion. Other than Constable, solid defender Garry Kenneth was signed from Dundee United. Beginning the season injured, he became a commanding presence, although prone to the occasional piece of recklessness, before a broken leg ended his campaign in January. Fabian Broghammer, never short of effort, arrived from Germany after being recommended by McGhee's former teammate Felix Magath. David Clarkson reunited with McGhee, crossing the Bristol divide in the process. Young midfielder Oliver Norburn and Seanan Clucas also joined, although McGhee was dealt a blow when signing Rogvi Baldvinsson failed to settle, and had to return to Norway. The season still began with optimism that the club could challenge for promotion, although that never materialised. After losing to Ipswich in the Capital One Cup, the league season began with a toothless display against Oxford, and a 2-0 defeat. A draw at Barnet followed, before a controversial afternoon at Wycombe, where Rovers were leading 3-1 after a double from Eliot Richards. The game was abandoned due to 'adverse weather', and rather than respond to the disappointment with a good run of form, it was exactly the opposite, as Morecambe then Yeovil in the JPT hammered us 3-0, rendering promotion hopes well beyond the realms of possibility. Matt Harrold was injured in a meek 4-0 loss at Gillingham, however after that defeat form improved slightly, with the first win coming away at Exeter (hopefully where the first win comes next season). By then three more players had been added to the squad - Neil Etheridge, Derek Riordan and Tom Eaves. Eaves was impressive throughout his spell in a struggling side. We never saw the best of Riordan, and Etheridge was good, but not excellent. Home wins finally came against Northampton, Torquay and Chesterfield (with our fair share of luck in each), but too often there were poor performances and poor results. The team was still struggling towards the bottom of League Two, and defeats against Wycombe, in the replayed fixture, and Dagenham & Redbridge made our position even worse. McGhee's 11 month tenure came to an end after a shocking capitulation at York, 4-1 down after 33 minutes. Under McGhee the team kept just one clean sheet (one more than City though). It was inevitable. So John Ward was tempted back after some quick business by Nick Higgs, and with Rovers bottom, he acknowledged the difficulty of the task ahead. A draw at Aldershot was followed by victory over Plymouth in front of a massive crowd on New Year's Day. There were debuts for loanees Steve Mildenhall, John-Joe O'Toole and Tom Hitchcock. Mildenhall and O'Toole would go on to make a huge impact. Ryan Brunt followed on a permanent deal, and showed great maturity for a player of 19. The results suddenly arrived, with convincing wins away to Fleetwood and Rotherham before the crunch game with Barnet. The team spirit and the dramatic late winner demonstrated the impact Ward had made, and despite a blip at the end of February, relegation fears were quickly evaporating. The crucial run which secured our safety was victory in each of four home games in two weeks in early March, as high flyers Burton, Exeter and Port Vale were beaten with minimal fuss. Rochdale, not totally safe, destroyed us but we still won thanks to Ellis Harrison, our new emerging talent. That was the first of the performances which became less impressive as the season came towards its end. Rovers still did not lose many, but there was a slight dip. All the Rochdale fans on 16 March must have felt robbed. The 4-2 win at Dagenham was the exception, and it was the last game of O'Toole's superb loan spell from Colchester, which he marked with a goal. The next four games past by before the team went out with a bang at Torquay, gaining a 3-3 draw, with Harrold scoring a late equaliser to cap his return from the sidelines. 14th place was excellent after the first half of the season, and such was the extent of Ward's transformation that there were some (unrealistic) play-off hopes from fans. All in all, 60 points represents a tremendous achievement. Ward will need to improve the squad if it is to mount a sustained promotion challenge in 2013/14, although the togetherness he has brought, recovering the club almost (fans shouting 'we want our Rovers back' prior to his return) could take us a long way. McGhee must not be remembered as a terrible manager, he just made some critical mistakes, which resulted in the team lacking pace and defensive organisation. We are under some pressure to go up, though, with the new stadium on the way. The seats need filling.
a fantastic read i hope this time next season your season review will be about a promotion or a top 6 finish at least!! every signing of wards paid off. tounkara, hitchcock and mcdonald all made impacts when called upon along with brunt, o'toole, mildenhall and mcchrystal. 100% success rate in incoming players for ward so far. ward knew straight away what was needed to save us and that was to sort out the spine of the team. mildenhall, mcchrystal, o'toole and brunt certainly gave us a strong spine. mcghee got it all wrong. i do feel sorry for mcghee in a way as he had some very bad injuries to crucial players which obviously effected his plans. but as you said, he made some critical errors which was his downfall. 1 such error was chasing constable for so long. i hope ward dont make the same mistake chasing after o'toole for so long missing out on other players. great read
I could have added so much more, but that was enough. I forgot to mention McChrystal though. Anyway, thanks for the positive feedback, cjs.
