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Division Four 2015/16 - The Rovers Return

J

JTG

Angry about not being able to be an astronaut.
So hello again. Did you all miss us? We tried not to be strangers too long

Today's Wembley drama saw Southend equalise in injury time of extra time, then win the penalty shoot out, with some Shrimpers fans having to leg it back down Wembley Way after losing faith that little bit too early. Wycombe meanwhile will start next season at square one after being in an automatic promotion spot for seven months.

New arrivals are Notts County, Crawley, Orient and Yeovil from the higher division and ourselves and Barnet on the up. Orient blew a huge budget in achieving relegation last season whilst Yeovil suffered a second successive relegation.

Lots of southern based teams for us to look forward to going to and a few needle matches too. We've been having a weird 'thing' with Wycombe for a couple of years now which is bound to be heightened after the last week's games at Wembley, Yeovil lorded it over us as we took off in opposite directions and get to see us again a lot sooner than they expected and our on/off rivalry with Notts County has been around for 25 years now. We renewed our derby matches with Newport two seasons ago before we had our relegation mishap and I think we're both looking forward to the games this time around. Then there's Exeter and Gargoyles to look forward to as well while Oxford seem to get some of our younger fans excited, though they don't do much for me tbh...

Pompey will be hoping to end their spell of basement dwelling, Luton also have to be looking to move on again and Orient could go either way with their unique blend of money and chaos.

Us? Darrell Clarke's talking about pushing for promotion again and we certainly have a united, hard working squad with the post-promotion feel good factor. This lot wouldn't have taken us down and I reckon with a couple of additions (get Chris Lines here NOW) we'll be a match for anyone.

This term's runners and riders:

Accrington Stanley
AFC Wimbledon
Barnet
Bristol Rovers
Cambridge United
Carlisle United
Crawley Town
Dagenham & Redbridge
Exeter City
Hartlepool United
Leyton Orient
Luton Town
Mansfield Town
Morecambe
Newport Country
Northampton Town
Notts County
Oxford United
Plymouth Argyle
Portsmouth
Stevenage
Wycombe
Yeovil Town
York City

Roll on August, can't wait to get stuck in :cool:
 
We have signed James Clarke, a defender, on a free transfer from Woking.

Nope, me neither. Sure he's great mind
 
Not going to lie I can see about ten teams all pushing for promotion and the rest fighting for relegation this year, dropping points here could be the difference between going up and staying down big time (2 losses in a row mid season could affect everything)

Definitely keeping my eye out this year, who knows really
 
Yeovil were probably batting above their natural league even before they went up to the second tier. They'd been in the Conference, with a few dips below, for donkey's years before Gary Johnson took them into the League for the first time twelve years ago. Their trip into the Championship was one of the good recent romantic stories in our more and more static football pyramid these days, but it was highly unlikely to last. Hopefully they'll at least tread water next season.
 
Home to Northampton first up. John-Joe O'Toole sure to be given a warm welcome if he plays, the arrogant piss taking lazy twat. Yeovil away after that, which will be interesting. Luton, Barnet, Orient... nice homely fixture list to compare with the foreign looking one of last year

Birmingham in the League Cup. Bit meh, but we're even glad to be looking forward to another tame first round exit from that competition :D

Hartlepool away is on a Tuesday night and followed by a trip to Morecambe on the Saturday :rolleyes: This is topped for outright genius however by Carlisle's trip to Plymouth on a Tuesday night in August :eek: The return? Sat 2nd January...
 
stavros said:
Their trip into the Championship was one of the good recent romantic stories in our more and more static football pyramid these days,
Click to expand...
:confused:

Swansea, Hull, Blackpool, Doncaster, Stevenage, Crawley, Fleetwood, Newport, Bournemouth and Burton all have good news stories to report over the last ten years or so. Blackpool (again), Rovers, Stockport, Luton and others haven't had such a great time. Some financially boosted, others just well run. I wouldn't say that the pyramid is all that static below the top handful
 
Nah, it's easy to think that what with the age of Watford, Wimbledon etc blazing up the leagues and frightening the big boys long gone. Forest coming up and winning the league first time out and that.

On a lesser scale though, the dream's still alive
 
So far we have waved goodbye to Angelo Balanta (Carlisle) and Andy Monkhouse (Grimsby). We have signed Jamie Clarke (Woking), Chris Lines (Vale) and Christian Montano (America de Cali(!))

Lines is a huge boost. We all knew he wanted to come home and were waiting on Vale to sign sufficient replacements to allow him to do so.

Montano... been playing in Colombia since he got off spot fixing and rape charges in 2012 while he was at Oldham. Oldham sacked him while the fixing investigation was still ongoing. To say he has a huge amount of baggage is understating it somewhat.

Meanwhile we await the High Court's verdict on our case against Sainsburys and there are rumours flying around of a takeover by a US hedge fund.

Saturday we play in Salisbury FC's first ever fixture.
 
JTG said:
Nah, it's easy to think that what with the age of Watford, Wimbledon etc blazing up the leagues and frightening the big boys long gone. Forest coming up and winning the league first time out and that.

On a lesser scale though, the dream's still alive
Click to expand...
Hmm. Its a bit like getting to your dream holiday destination, seeing a swimming pool running like crazy, jumping and banging your head on the ceiling then crashing into the water, flailing hopelessly for air for a bit then drowning whilst the life guard refuses to help and in fact starts to throttle you just to make sure....

Oh, that was just us.

Actually, in some ways I'm hoping for us to freefall further then we can reboot the club in non league and get as far away from the top as possible. I think the further you are away, the more the dream still seems like a dream.

Anyway, c'mon Morecambe! Tom Barkhuisuin is potentially a star. Did great for us whenever he had a chance but inexplicably played at right back by Lee Clark. Should do well for the shrimps and I think he'll suit div 4 well. He's not daft, fast and has a good shot.
 
Well, well, well. Orient top the table after 4 wins from 4.

Thought I'd sign up here and ease myself in gently on the football forum, as there's an apparent dearth of E10's finest supporters about.

Flattered by the margin of the home wins against Barnet & Stevenage (still dont get why they dropped the Borough suffix but retained the Boro nickname), but we took our chances and got better as the games progressed. Our 2nd goal v Stevenage was a counter-attacking beauty - well worth a superlative or 2. Reportedly we battered Daggers at their place, which is always pleasing against that Frankenstein club, and nicked it 3-2 at Newport on Saturday. It'll be interesting to see how we cope with going behind and have to chase the game, but the new gaffer seems to have tactical plan Bs when the starting diamond formation isnt working.

Ian Hendon has made a good start as manager and, after last season's circus, money-wasting & money-wasting, shipped out/sidelined the wage thieves and bought decently and cheaply from WHU rejects and non-league to assemble a decent 1st team that's clicking.

Not much depth in the squad at the moment, though, as rumours circulate our Chairman of dubious Albanian "waste mgmt" fortunes wants a more balanced budget this season (not a bad thing). Well worth keeping a beady eye on his activities. Let's see if we buy/loan some more to give us a cushion for when the suspensions/injuries kick in. Early days, but it's nice to have some good vibes again.
 
After winning the first 5 (a couple somewhat luckily) Orient have subsequently taken 6 points from the last 7 games. We've still been creating chances, but only Jay Simpson up top is sticking them away.

But we've been found out at the back, with a stubborn use of a starting diamond formation leaving our full-backs exposed too often. The tiny squad is also showing its limitations to change tactics, with loans only been used minimally to cover injuries.

Gaffer Hendon's honeymoon period is over, and now we'll see if he can cope under pressure from a poor run of form. Finances have been tightened considerably after last years excesses, but we still have overpaid wage thief Jobi MacAnuff on the books & twiddling his thumbs away from the squad whilst negotiations roll on about paying him off.

Next up is Oxford, who's fans will be hoping for revenge after a last-gasp, last day winner back in 2006 saw us promoted & them relegated to non-league for a few years. Our fans celebrating on their pitch whilst they cried in the Stands has not been forgotten, understandably. On current form you'd expect them to take the points home together with a degree of satisfaction from turning us over.

The current Div 4 top 3: Plymouth, Pompey and Oxford, look equipped to stay there or thereabouts, with only Wycombe & Luton likely to seriously challenge them. I'd take higher mid-table for Orient right now and a bit of stability after last seasons fiasco.
 
Orient continued their back-peddling advance to mid-table nobodies yesterday, drawing 1-1 at home with a very limited Yeovil.

Yet another absolute cackfest between two poor sides. One moment of individual class aside, that got our equaliser from inexplicably benched Jobi McAnuff, we were clueless: slowly passing it side to side at the back before launching long lobs to no one in particular. A comedy of errors at the back gifted The Glovers their goal.

The smartphone torches were being waved about in all Stands, accompanied by a chant of "we're f*cking bored" and then "Hendon Out!". That, plus a squirrel on the pitch whose energy shamed some players efforts, were the highlights.

Almost halfway through now, and the promotion contenders are becoming clearer, with Pompey, Plymouth & Oxford remaining the most consistent. Only real surprises are Northampton doing so well considering their well-reported off-field problems and dodgy money-disappearing acts from the just-ousted former owner, and (now sacked) John Still's Luton stuttering along in the pack.

At the bottom, the two trapdoor places at the moment looks like a 4 way fight between Daggers, York, Yeovil & H'pool now Newport seem to have found some form & fight.
 
Orient were abysmal yesterday, and stressed/tactically clueless gaffer Hendon paid the price for the 3-1 home loss to Exeter. Apparently the decision was made by mad chairman Frankie "Kick Up The Arse" Becchetti after one of the worst first half performances you'll ever see.

Short-term loanee defender M'Voto was said to have quit in the dressing room at half time, describing the club with uncanny accuracy as a "madhouse", but his efforts on the pitch today & recently suggested he'd given up a while before that.

Other rumours doing the rounds are that Hendon handed the "board" a list of loans/transfer he wanted to pursue, but all were turned down. And that £500 a week is the top salary on offer for newbies. No wonder, with some big & stupidly overpaid earners from last year still at the club, if it's hard to get a harmonious dressing room or seriously interested candidates with that sort of imbalance.

Looks like Hessenthaler The Thug gets to step up. The E10 Circus continues.
 
Obviously the other 22 teams fuck it up, but there's a nice beginning-of-the-season feel to Yeovil and York occupying the bottom two spots. If Accrington were top it'd almost be perfect.
 
Orient confirm appointment of ex-WHU captain Kevin Nolan as player manager today. Believe Wally Downes coming on board with him. No idea if Hessenthaler & any other current coaching staff staying or leaving yet.

Also signed a much needed defensive midfield player from Pompey (Nigel Atangana) for an undisclosed fee, with at least one other expected by the weekend game at Wycombe.

None of this will have come cheap, including paying off Ian Hendon. At least that scotches the rumours/concerns about Mad Chairman Becchetti's immediate financing after a period of purse tightening. We may be rubbish on the pitch, but it certainly isn't dull off it in E10.
 
orient slacker said:
Orient confirm appointment of ex-WHU captain Kevin Nolan as player manager today. Believe Wally Downes coming on board with him. No idea if Hessenthaler & any other current coaching staff staying or leaving yet.

Also signed a much needed defensive midfield player from Pompey (Nigel Atangana) for an undisclosed fee, with at least one other expected by the weekend game at Wycombe.

None of this will have come cheap, including paying off Ian Hendon. At least that scotches the rumours/concerns about Mad Chairman Becchetti's immediate financing after a period of purse tightening. We may be rubbish on the pitch, but it certainly isn't dull off it in E10.
Click to expand...
Nolan is a good signing player wise - decent premier player - no idea how he will work out as a manager but I can imagine him banging in some goals which should keep his job as manager.
 
Orient P 2 W 2 under Nolan, and back up to 6th. He's addressed the defensive shambles we'd become pretty quickly, so there's been 2 very welcome clean sheets and just a couple of chances for the opposition over the 2 games. Our forwards have been a bit isolated by the changes to a standard 4-4-2 with the CMs sitting deeper, but it makes sense to deal with the issues at the back first.

The majority-owner has injected some more funds to buy/loan a few new faces and address our major deficiencies in midfield. Fruitloop President Becchetti clearly got to the point where he wasn't going to back a floundering Hendon any more with cash.

Early days, of course, and we hardly deserved much more than a point against Newport on Tuesday - relying on a late soft pen for our goal - but a decent start for the new player/manager.
 
Orient took a 4-0 pumping at home yesterday. Mind you, we weren't that bad at all and opponents Northampton showed why they are topping the table and favourites to stay there.

The top 3 all won & consolidated their auto-chances. Still all to play for, for the play-off slots.
 
Ooo! Looks like Div 3 beckons the Gas - well done to all the faithful

JTG - awaiting your comment
 
Great work Rovers. Left it to the 92nd minute of the last game to clinch promotion. Gloucester Road full of lots of happy (pissed) Gasheads tonight.
 
Well seeing as you asked...

We only went and did back to back promotions!

At the start of yesterday we knew what we had to do - win and hope Oxford or Accrington dropped points. The game against Dagenham had been sold out for weeks, we'd even sold the usual away terrace to our own fans. Atmosphere was absolutely electric. Even an early goal for Daggers was greeted by the North Terrace cranking up the volume.

Billy Bodin('s on fire...) did a passable imitation of Ricky Villa, slaloming round the Daggers' defence to equalise. Noise levels up even more.

Spent the rest of the game throwing the kitchen sink at them. They played out of their skins, the goalie had the game of his life to stop us from scoring. We hit the bar. The noise levels never dropped. 88 minutes in and Matty Taylor - the leading scorer in English football - had a glorious chance. Put it just past the post. Everyone thought that was it - that was the chance.

Four minutes' injury time. We were still pouring forward. Two minutes into that, Chris Lines surges forward, plays it to Jermaine Easter. Easter passes to Taylor who has almost the same chance again as he'd missed moments earlier. He beats the keeper - did he get a fingertip to it? - it hits the inside of the post. Groans. The ball rebounds across the six yard box and past four Dagenham defenders. Lee Brown - loyal Browner who could have left when we went down two years ago but stayed to put things right, who has played every single minute of every single game this season - STROLLS towards the ball with an open goal in front of him. Time slows down. I can still see it now. Left footed left back Browner has the ball coming on to his right foot. Coolest man in the ground, he passes the ball into the net with his instep.

And we have lift off.

Limbs. Limbs everywhere. I took a dive off my step of the North Terrace and end up several feet further forward in a tangle of bodies with my brother and our mates. Browner has his shirt off and ends up in front of us at the bottom of a piley on of players, substitutes, fans and even the boss Darrell Clarke, who has sprinted down the touchline to join in. The roof nearly came off the North Terrace, the sides are going mad and even the posh seats have lost all sense of dignity and are giving it LOADS.

I realise I have no idea what's going on in the other games because until we were in front it didn't matter. I'm told that Accrington are still 0-0. We have 90 seconds of the season left. The ref apologetically books Browner for taking his shirt off. He realises that he's lost his shirt and plays the game out in Cristian Montano's top instead. The final whistle goes and half the terraces empty onto the pitch while the rest of us stay where we are frantically refreshing the scores on our phones. Accrington have played 90+4 minutes. 90+5. How much injury time do they fucking want up there anyway ffs?!

I never saw official confirmation of the final score up there but when everyone suddenly started going berserk I took that as good enough for me. On the pitch with the rest of them. Two years after being relegated into the Conference by a goal scored with 20 minutes of the season remaining, we're in Division Three thanks to a goal scored two minutes from time.

Gloucester Road (the A38 main road into town) was closed by an impromptu street party. Buses diverted, the lot. Thousands of Gasheads headed out for the ultimate Gloucester Road pub crawl. The players and owner Wael Al Qadi went down the Queen Vic with Lee Brown and Wael being carried on the shoulders of fans. Leicester's owner left by helicopter yesterday - ours went down the pub. As the evening turned into night, every single pub on the Gloucester Road was full of singing, pissed up Rovers fans lapping up the most ridiculously dramatic promotion moment anyone could ever see. Met people I'd not seen for years down there. Called it a night around midnight, fell asleep on the bus, had to walk two miles home. Didn't care.

Two years after hitting rock bottom and fearing for the survival of our club, we're now flying on the back of two promotions, a manager who is bloody brilliant, a squad who are the dog's bollocks, a fanbase which is united, positive and happy at long last, debt free and finally looking to build the new stadium. They're even making positive noises about safe standing.

We've won the last nine home games in a row. We've won a club record equalling eleven away games. We have the country's leading goalscorer, who has scored more goals than Aston Villa have managed all season.

We won promotion with nearly the last kick of the season.

You fucking beauties



To top it all off, we booted the mayor out as well and I've just seen that Bishopston Green and opponent of Rovers' plans to sell the Mem Daniella Radice has lost her council seat to Labour. Oh happy days :D
 
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