Would you....

Captain Jack Sparrow

Captain Jack Sparrow

Pirate
Forum Moderator
Jan 25, 2011
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Gasland
Rather we stayed up last season on the last day of the season meaning still be in the Football League, playing in League 2 - BUT - be struggling like past seasons near the bottom with the usual type of journeyman players and injury prone players who are on long term contracts. Also witnessing a bad atmosphere most games and witnessing players not giving a damn.

Or

Glad we went down to Non League Conference Prem - BUT - flying in and around the play offs with players who are on short term deals making them prove themselves at our club to warrant a longer deal, witnessing players who actually give a damn, fighting and giving 100% each game, who are desperate to get our club back into the Football League???



I know we all woud rather be in the Football League in League 2 rather than being in Non League. Thats a given. But personally, I do feel surviving last season would have just papered over the cracks. I feel more happier as a gashead being where we are now than the constant struggle at the wrong end of League 2 like recent seasons.

Someone on this forum said pre-season that it may be a blessing in disguise that we got relegated. I couldnt agree more now with that statement. Getting relegated helped us get rid of the dead wood:
*Players not performaning and not caring as they sit on a long term contract.
*Players who are injury prone spending more time in the treatment room than on the pitch while sitting on a long term contract.
*Players who feel playing Non League would dent their careers having 'Non League' on their CV.
*Players who just dont have the fight and bottle for the challenge of the Non League.

Getting relegated enabled us to get rid of these players and have allowed us the chance to get in certain players who will fight every game for the shirt they are wearing. Giving 100% every game is all what we gasheads want from the players. I believe the team we have now would beat the team we had last season! I believe the team we have now would easily survive in League 2 if we were to win promotion. Therefore I feel we are in a better place now.

Of course relegation and especially relegation to Non League was a disaster and was my lowest point ever of being a gashead. And im sure its the same for yourselves too. I do feel very angry towards the board for allowing our club to drop as low as we have. I do want changes in the board room and for someone to pay for what has happened to our club. But playing wise, I feel DC is proving himself and I feel the players is proving themselves. Yes we are not scoring enough but we have signed 2 new strikers and since then we have scored 4 in 2 games which is a massive improvement and should have scored much more. Things will improve further, I have no doubts about that. I am 100% certain we have enough about us to finish in the top 5. Relegation for me is a blessing for our club. New and better players and we may even see a possible shake up in the board room with potential new investment coming in. Even seeing good news with Sainsburys as well.

Is the future bright for us? I think so. But it wouldnt have happened if it wasnt for our relegation.

Whats your thoughts??
 
I think this the best of a bad job.

But the season's going well and I think we will look back on this as a major turning point for the club. Sometimes really good things come from adversity and thanks to a very good manager and his team we've got a great opportunity to moved forward.
 
Agree. Obviously being relegated out of the league is a nightmare, but we have to get on with where we are and deal with it. It's nice to have a season of winning more than we're losing, a rare thing over the last few years, and rebuilding. I see no reason why we can't come close to getting promoted this season, and if you look at what teams that have come up from the Conference in recent seasons have achieved (Luton, Stevenage, Burton, Morecambe etc), they tend to go on to have pretty strong seasons in League 2, so it could be a case of 1 step backwards and 2 forwards. Maybe wishful thinking, but if you can't have hope what else have you got ? Having said that, I've yet to get to a game this season - I'm looking forward to going to Welling in a couple of weeks to see for myself where we are.
 
I too would much rather be in League 2, BUT this has been good for us in lowering the wage bill and forcing us to cut our cloth correctly. When we come out of this dark era we will be better placed financially and with DC at the helm I can honestly say he isn't afraid to make tough decisions regarding players nor will he be held to ransom just because we are Bristol Rovers. That in itself is refreshing and is the way forward by bring in younger players and some cheaper experienced players rather than going for overpriced players who are nearing the twilight of their careers or those who think they are bigger than the club or the sum of its parts. The new code of conduct seems to be working and there seems be be little or no dressing room issues unlike last season. All the big headed over inflated egos have left with their stupidly high demands and bad influences. Clubs that got relegated to the conference have often said when they got back to the league that it was the best thing that could of happened because they come back stronger with a new attitude and lower costs. This is what will happen with Rovers and I just hope, even if we are here for another season or two, that we come back healthier and hungrier as a club and will have players wanting to play for the club and prove themselves.
 
Why either or?

Look at Wycombe - they came within the width of a crossbar to going down last season and look at them now - flying high. Clarke is clearly doing something right down here in the Conference so I think that there's a good chance that we would be 'doing a Wycombe' if we'd managed to stay up. Last season we had a tired team playing for a tired manager - under Clarke we've undergone major changes for the better and I believe we would have been doing well this term if we'd remained in League 2.

Personally, I would rather we'd stayed up - retaining our league status is incredibly important both in terms of club revenue and the football on offer. I hate the fact that we're playing part-time teams who'd normally attract 3-figure attendances.

I hate the bloody Conference!
 
I think we would have been stuck with the dead wood if we had stayed up and nothing much would have changed. We've got our hunger back and players who want to play for the shirt. O'Toole would probably still have been here for a start...
 
baldee, we wouldnt have got rid of the deadwood if we was still in league 2. DC wouldnt have got last seasons players to fight like he has got this seasons players have done. he only won 1 or 2 games when he was manager over the players last season. the players he had last season didnt have the fight or bottle and thats why we went down. DC or any other manager would struggle this season if we were still in league 2 with the same deadwood. we needed a fresh start with player recruitment. we got that due to relegation. we wouldnt have got it if we stayed up. survival would have just papered over the cracks.

regarding what has happened to wycombe, surely a fluke ;)
 
I hope it's a bloody fluke!

Who knows - Clarke May have brought some new blood in and get the best out of the old guard......no-one knows what could've been....
 
Rather have stayed up....no question.
I'm warming to DC (slowly!) and I think he would have still had that
clearout and brought new ones in.
Come off it...we're playing bluddy Welling on Saturday!!!!!
 
pirate49 said:
Rather have stayed up....no question.
I'm warming to DC (slowly!) and I think he would have still had that
clearout and brought new ones in.
Come off it...we're playing bluddy Welling on Saturday!!!!!
Click to expand...

welling is a new experience for us. something new instead of visiting accrington! who are they! exactly :)
 
Stayed up 100%, I still cringe with emarrassment when Bristol Rovers FC are referred to as Non League, even Jeff Stelling had a pop at us last night on the coverage of the Ludogorets / Liverpool spat.
 
There were probably break clauses in the contracts so that the dead wood cold be shipped out if relegated. That probably would not have happened if we had stayed in the league. We have seen some people staying around and drawing their salary just because they can't get anything better. And quite a few of the players who shipped out have not done any better. I honestly thought Eliot Richards would start banging in a few goals, but he's been another disappointment when we've been better off without, sad to say.
 
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