Bristol Rovers v Sheffield Wednesday

I'm off to the Memorial Ground tomorrow for my last fixture of the season. A trip to the USA for the final weekend of the Championship and Football League fixtures rules me out and so hopefully Rovers will send me on my way with a smile on my face.

Like all of the side I cover, I wish them all well and, so following Swindon's relegation last Monday, it's time for a little good news.

They will certainly need some luck on their side though and I suspect that most home fans will be keeping an eye - or an ear - on other results as well. Dagenham host Carlisle, Walsall entertain Charlton and Exeter will be taking on Plymouth. It's possible that Daggers, Carlisle and the Pilgrims could also get out of trouble at this stage and Notts County now look fairly safe. So three from four sides will go down.

I know that several players read this garbage and so: Good luck boys.

Bristol Rovers captain Will Hoskins has said:


"Results haven't gone our way in the last couple of games but we're still in high spirits and looking forward to the last two games. We need this win on Saturday more than anything so it gives us a bit of breathing space for the last game of the season, if it all goes to plan."

Bristol Rovers defender David McCracken will miss the rest of the season after his red card against Charlton.

Midfielder Charlie Clough has been recalled from a loan spell with Batch City as The Gas look to everyone to help them stay up. The 20-year-old joined Bath at the start of March and scored two goals during his time at Twerton Park - Rovers former home.
Midfielder Jeff Hughes (wrist) and defenders James Tunnicliffe (ankle) and Danny Coles (Achilles) all remain doubtful for the match.

Sheffield Wednesday striker Gary Madine has been struggling with a calf problem and remains doubtful.

On-loan defender Danny Batth has been suffering with illness, so Reda Johnson should keep his place in the side.

Thanks to everyone who has followed this blog through the season and - even though I hope to continue updating it each day with news from the clubs I cover - enjoy the summer break.

Hart link broken

Swindon Chairman Jeremy Wray has announced that manager Paul Hart and assistant, Ian McParland, have left the club.

He said: "Paul Hart and Ian McParland inherited a very difficult position and while ultimately the club was unsuccessful in its fight against relegation, I have no doubt that Paul and Ian made every effort to preserve Swindon Town’s League One status. The board would like to place on record its gratitude for all the energy and efforts expended by Paul and Ian during their time with the club.We have appointed Paul Bodin as caretaker manager until the end of the 2010/11 season. The search for a new manager begins immediately."

Hart said: "I would like to thank the board, the supporters and most of all the players for their support over the last seven weeks.  I feel sure that Swindon Town Football Club will be back in its rightful position very soon."

As readers will no doubt be aware, I rated Hart very highly and felt he was let down by just about everyone at the County Ground.

I wish Paul Bodin well and - who knows - this might be a great opportunity for him. At the very least, his son, striker Billy, should now get a game!

Swindon boss Fitton quits

Swindon Chairman Andrew Fitton has done the decent thing following the club's relegation and has fallen on his sword.

Fitton will remain with the club, but Jeremy Wray will take on the role of Chairman until a full time appointment is made. Fitton said:

"When I became chairman of the club in 2008, I laid down the objective of Championship football at The County Ground within three to five years, however, after the 'highs' of last season's Play-Off Final appearance we have now experienced the 'lows' of relegation and I feel a weight of responsibility for our under performance this season.

I am hugely disappointed with our relegation to League 2. I feel that the time is therefore right for me to step away from my role as chairman, to draw a line under the frustrations of this season and to recharge my own batteries."

Wray added: "As a board, we have a number of important decisions to make over the coming weeks and I am pleased that I shall be able draw on Andrew's experience as we prepare for next season."

Have a Hart

At the moment many of the Swindon faithful will feel like lashing out at anyone and everyone at the club following their relegation at the hands of Sheffield Wednesday on Monday. There is no doubt that numerous people at the club need to take their share of the blame, but by choosing manager Paul Hart to vent their collective frustration, I think they are wide of the mark.

Skipper Jonathan Douglas owned up on behalf of the players and Andrew Fitton has accepted blame on behalf of the board, but Hart? Really?

Let's think about this. He came into a club that were in the bottom four after 33 games with their confidence shot away, they were leaking goals like the proverbial sieve and he couldn't change the squad try to motivate a fairly battered and bruised bunch into doing the right things.

In the eleven games before his arrival, Swindon had conceded 20 goals. In the following eleven games, they shipped 13 goals - and three of these came in the last match when they were - for all intents and purposes - already down. It was merely confirmed at the final whistle.

What he failed to do was inspire them to score goals at the other end, but let's not forget what he had to work with. Of the goal poachers last season, Charlie Austin had already been sold to keep Burnley's bench warm and Billy Paynter's contract was allowed to run down and so he left for nowt to Leeds.

Thomas Dossevi was never a prolific scorer of goals and is more of a foil for the main striker. His attitude and commitment appear to be in question as well and it was no surprise to see him as the first person to be shown the door this week.

Calvin Andrew is on loan from Palace and may well develop into a very good striker, but at this stage of his career he is by no means the finished article and has taken time (as happens with many new players) to get into his stride. This was time Swindon didn't have of course.

Elliot Benyon is another youngster who was scoring goals for fun for Torquay, but the step up to League One was never going to be easy and Town fans may well see him shine in League Two as he finds his feet.

Mike Grella whinged about not having enough opportunities despite starting six games and coming on as a sub in one in the eight matches available to him. He scored one goal in that time and then threw his toys out of the pram. Not a great signing, I grant you, but hardly Hart's fault.

Vincent Pericard has been injured recently (and picked up niggling injuries earlier in the season), but I know for a fact that he is the type of player who reacts well to an arm around the shoulder and not the abuse that was thrown at him when things weren't going well.

In the close season the manager will have a chance to rebuild the squad. Twelve of the current crop are out of contract and with his contacts and good reputation within the game, Hart could be just the person to turn things around. After the "disgraceful" abuse he received following the home defeat to Notts County on Saturday though, I wonder whether he really needs the hassle.

I've been reading some of the messageboards and there is a call for a big name manager from the fans. Who exactly would they main contenders be though? I fear Sir Alex, Arsene and the Special One are rather tied up with other commitments at present.

If Hart does stay though despite the vitriol he has been subjected to, what sort of message does that send out? To me it says: I'm a big enough man to fight for this club and turn things around and all credit to him.

Bristol City 2 Nottingham Forest 3

This game was all about Forest, although the City players did need to raise their game after a shoddy shift at the weekend - and they responded well to manager Keith Millen's dressing room dressing down.

My clipping from this morning's copy of The Sun

Two Kris Boyd goals gave the visitors the lead at half time and the Scotland striker (on loan from Boro) has now scored four goals in six starts for the play-off chasers as he rediscovers the sort of form that saw him score 101 goal in just over 140 appearances for Rangers.

David James was culpable for the opener in the 4th minute when he spilled a powerful, low free kick from Lewis McGugan straight to Boyd six yards outand when City skipper Louis Carey tripped McGugan just before the break, the hitman drilled the penalty home.

James mistake was unforgivable really, but to be fair to Carey, it was his first game since fracturing his skull against Scunthorpe at the end of February. Should he have been playing? Some on the Press Box thought not as he was clearly off the pace, but as City have little to play for, perhaps it was a good game for him to have a run out and build up a little match fitness.

In the second half City bounced back.

Four minutes after the break winger Jamal Campbell-Ryce teed up Marvin Elliott at the back post to nod home and on the hour West Ham loanee Jordan Spence crossed the ball for Jon Stead to do the same and he said aftwards:

"We knew that, if we got at them in the second half and got the next goal, they would be under pressure because of the position they are in. I thought we went from strength to strength and, at 2-2 with half-an-hour to go, we were the side looking to go on and win the game. After being booed off at half-time, we needed to get the crowd behind us and we did that.

Our performance was much better than in the first half at Sheffield United, but then lose the game is just so frustrating."

But Forest grabbed the win in the 72nd minute when Luke Chambers jumped to nod home (off the back of Spence) and keep his side firmly in the play-off places.

The points did nothing for Forest manager Billy Davies's mood though and he admitted to "having a right go at them" for allowing City back into the game.

Millen though was merely relieved he wasn't called upon to give the same lecture as he did on Saturday. If he had, he joked: "I'd have lost my voice by now!" This time he was happy to pint to his teams "commitment and desire".

It will be interesting to see what Millen is able to do in the summer in terms of strengthening the squad. The word is that Nicky Maynard isn't looking for a move and is happy at Ashton Gate, although he is being linked with a host of Premier League clubs.

I suspect that David James will be shown the door and that should free up some money to spend elsewhere.

But whatever happens in the summer, Millen needs the financial support of the board and if he gets it the Robins could well be in Forest's position this time next season. The former coach has turned things around for the club this season and coped with enormous pressure in the early stages of his managerial career after Steve Coppell walked out. Those fans who remember the turmoil at Ashton Gate - and how close they came to facing a relegation scrap - will always be grateful to Millen for digging them out of a hole.

Bristol City v Nottingham Forest

My last visit of the season to Ashton Gate today and so I will have seen both Nottingham Clubs in the space of a few days.

Unlike County though, Forest are on the up.

Nicky Maynard’s horrendous season has come to an end. The striker was sent off in the 42nd minute of Saturday`s 3-2 defeat to Sheffield United and, thus, will be suspended for the rest of the season of which he missed the majority with a knee injury.

City hope that club captain Louis Carey may play some part in today’ game. It will be his first outing since he fractured his skull against Scunthorpe at the end of February.

Billy Davies has a good squad of players and they are in pole position to nick one of the play-off places.

American Robbie Findley finally took part in a game on Friday when Forest beat Leicester. The pacy striker came off the bench in his first appearance since he moved to the club in January … and then tore a thigh muscle in his first training session!

City boss Keith Millen was furious after Saturday’s defeat to strugglers Sheffield United and claimed he would have subbed all eleven players at half time if he could have done. Keith’s a nice guy, but has an edge to him that all good managers need and I suspect that the smarter players in the squad will realise that they need to put in much more of an effort if they wish to be City players in August.

Mr. Roger East from Wiltshire is the man in the middle and has shown an incredible 112 yellow cards and four reds this season so far – you’d better be on your best behaviour boys!

Swindon Town 1 Notts county 2

Skipper Jonathan Douglas said: “Players, managers, board – we all made mistakes this season and we’re paying for it now.”
Spot on Jonathan, but you missed out one other culpable group – the fans that come along to jeer rather than support the team.

I know it’s a bug bear of mine and every club has then, but players are only human and when their own supporters turn on them, I wonder how much that really motivates them to bust a gut?

Paul Hart called some of the behavior “disgraceful” after the game and frankly I think he was being kind. One guy sitting just in front of the Press Box was hurling abuse when Swindon were winning! Once Alan Judge equalized Matt Ritchie’s opener the vitriol got worse. When Lee Hughes grabbed the winner I thought the fella was going to spontaneously combust (okay, so I was hoping).

I’m sure that he felt chanting “Paul Hart’s a w*nker” over and over again would stimulate the team into rousing finish and put them on the road to League One safety, but I couldn’t see it myself. I wonder if the two young lads he was with (presumably his sons) were impressed with his antics? If so, Swindon’s moron element is good for another generation.

As Hart pointed out, he arrived when the club was already in the bottom four after thirty-three games. Hardly all his fault.

My clipping from this morning's copy of The Sun

At least Douglas shared the blame around and took some of the responsibility and I bumped into Jon-Paul McGovern after the game who looked totally crestfallen. I’ve been a critic of Douglas this season, but he gave his all for the cause on Saturday and Martin Allen admitted that if his rasping volley hadn’t hit the bar, the game would’ve gone the other way. Allen described it as the “best strike I have ever seen in football”. Scant consolation for Douglas.

McGovern again worked hard as he always does and he has the trickery to g with it. His overhead cross for Ritchie’s three yard tap in was sublime, but by the time I spoke to him it didn’t matter and so he just shrugged it off. The winger topped League One’s assist chart last season and so questions need to be asked as to why he was played out of position so often earlier this term.

We were told that the Chairman, Andrew Fitton, was meeting (by my watch) with Hart after the match (for about ninety minutes by my watch) to discuss the former Pompey manager’s long-term future. Paul is a decent football man and deserves better than to be abused the way he was and if he’s got any sense he’ll go off for his summer break and only ever return to Swindon when he’s visiting with another team.

Normally I’m done and dusted by about six o’clock on a Saturday, but this weekend – give Hart’s lengthy chat with Fitton – I didn’t get away until about seven. Strangely, despite being there that late, I didn’t see the Chairman either. I say “strange” because he used to be so visible when things were going well.

Swindon now need to re-group and get ready for life in the bottom division. With twelve players out of contract the team should get a complete overhaul, I suspect that a new manager will be appointed and the fans will need to get behind the team and ‘support’ it while drowning out the yobs who do it no favours at all. League Two contains many sides smaller than Swindon, but they are hardened to life in the division. The Robins shouldn’t expect the likes of Hereford, Macclesfield and Morecambe to roll over for them because they won’t. And the bigger clubs in the division like Bradford and – dare I say it – Oxford will be pushing for promotion themselves.

Douglas was right and next season players, managers and board can’t afford to make the same mistakes because if they do, the Blue Square awaits them. Impossible? Just ask Oxford.

The clipping from thwe News of the World

Swindon V Notts County - Mad Dod

A draw is no good to either team in this one - and a win still might be enough, but where there's a will ...

Martin 'Mad Dog' Allen brings the Magpies to the County Ground following his first win win (against Tranmere) since switching from League Two relegation strugglers Barnet. The first two games were defeats as County concluded a run of nine straight loses.

Swindon have now only won one in twenty games themselves and so confidence should be low in both camps, but - love him or hate him - Allen has man management skills that might just see County to safety.

Midfielder Ricky Ravenhill - who only recently returned from a two-match ban - was sent off again during the victory over Tranmere in midweek and has now been hit with a four-game suspension which will rule him out for the rest of the campaign. Alan Judge – who has just returned from a broken foot – could take Ravenhill’s place in tomorrow’s game. Defender Krystian Pearce is also expected to be included in the squad after recovering from a head injury he suffered last month.

Allen has also shown he is not taking any, er, messing about from anyone in County’s bid for survival and has terminated the contract of former Wolves winger Lewis Gobern. The County manager spoke to the local press and explained:

"I've spoken with Lewis Gobern and agreed to terminate his contract with immediate effect. I haven't yet met him or seen him as he hasn't had to come in to training. So I wish him the best of luck." Says it all really!

Swindon chief Paul Hart recently had a similar experience with Leeds loanee Mike Grella who was dispatched back to Yorkshire after throwing his toys out of the pram. At times like this everyone needs to pull in the same direction and put the team ahead of themselves. I've no doubt that the attitudes of Messers Grella and Gobern will have been noted by others in the game.

Allen has made 34 year old striker Lee Hughes (ten goals this term) his skipper and Hughes lines up alongside Craig Westcarr who is the club’s leading scorer with twelve.

Let’s not make any bones about it – it’s now going to be very tough for Swindon to stay in this division.

They have the players to get the four wins they will definitely need, but some of the football they played last weekend smacked of desperation. Too many long balls forward to Calvin Andrew from a side that can be quite dangerous when they keep the ball on the ground.

It's going to be a day for cool heads and in Paul Hart and Allen you have tow experienced men who will earn their corn if they can keep their players from panicking.

And all eyes (from everyone connected with both clubs) will be on the Dagenham v Plymouth game today. A win for Daggers would see them pull four points clear of the relegation zone and so I suspect that both Swindon and County would like to see Plymouth win. It'll leave Swindon bottom, but keeps seven teams in the mix.

I'm predicting a County win ... in the hope that I'm wrong as usual!

N.B. I last saw Martin Allen at an Oxford game earlier in the season when he was doing some radio work. We had a chat at half time and he mentioned that he'd been shooting at a Sporting Chance charity event organised by Joey Barton the day before. Now, if you're going to hand anyone in football a loaded shotgun, I ask you, would it be Joey Barton and Martin Allen?

The C word

No, there’s no need to avert your sensitive eyes or engage the Internet Explorer child protection filter – the word I’m referring to is ‘cheat’.

It’s one of those words that is rarely used by people in the beautiful game. It is football’s equivalent of burning the Koran – no-one (aside from the fans) calls anyone else a cheat. It’s an unwritten law.

But do players cheat?

The outraged reaction of Newcastle’s Danny Simpson to the dive of Javier Hernandez in the dying minutes of Tuesday night’s game would suggest that the brilliant little Mexican assassin had, in fact, stumbled over his own shadow and played for a penalty – in other words, cheated.

Not that the Toon’s full back would come out accuse him of such a heinous footballing crime publicly.

If Hernandez had given him a swift kick I the knackers, Simpson – as a professional footballer – would have found that more palatable. And I’m sure that in those circumstances he would have made a mental note to exact some form of physical revenge in a future game. That's the honorable way of doing things in football.

But footballing people don’t like to be called cheats – or be cheated against. And so it’s odd then that so many of them are at it.

I’m not talking so much about the lower leagues necessarily (of course it happens in those divisions too, but I;'ve found it's generally more honest). And I’m not for one minute calling all Premier League players cheats, because of course they’re not. But shirt pulling, feigning injury to get an opposition player sent off and diving to gain an unfair advantage are all basically forms of cheating.

As much as referees are criticized by managers (usually as a way of diverting attention away from their own team’s shortcomings), I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times I’ve heard them labeled cheats – in over forty years of watching football. Not even the man in the middle cheats in football ... even if no-one really likes him!

But, then again, how easy is it for a referee to judge when a player is fouled or diving to gain an advantage (cheating)?

How happy would Sir Alex have been if Nani had won an unfair penalty for his own dive in the area during the first half of the same fixture on Tuesday?

If Manchester United had won by that single converted penalty, would Sir Alex have come out and condemned Nani for cheating with the same ferocity that he verbally attacks officials for incompetence – and gets banned to the stands?

No, of course not. Which, presumably, would mean that Sir Alex (as well as many other managers) see cheating as acceptable while making an honest mistake, or merely thinking someone has made an mistake, is the worse crime.

Frankly, when I talk to friends about inconsistent refereeing and the conning of referees by players, they seem equally as annoyed by both.

Most fans are cheesed off when their team loses, no matter what. But to lose to a cheat is really hard to take (and you don’t get as much satisfaction from winning by cheating either) and, ultimately, it all makes you question; why is it exactly that we bother paying for the privilege of being deceived?

League One Round Up

Follwing yesterday’s League Two round up here is one for the teams I regularly cover in League One and the Championship. I will try to maintain this as we go through the summer so fans can kept abreast of major developments (transfers, etc) at the clubs on my patch.

Walsall’s hopes of staying in League One took a dent yesterday when it was announced that defender Clayton McDonald, 22, has been ruled out for the rest of the season with a shoulder injury. The team slipped back into the bottom four following Notts County’s win over fellow strugglers Tranmere (Martin Allen’s first victory as the boss of the Magpies), but they still have it all to play for.

Swindon face County on Saturday and will have been dismayed to see some of ‘Mad Dog’ Allen’s magic starting to rub off. The Robins need to win all of their remaining games to have any realistic chance of staying up, but experienced midfield David Prutton has become the first player to openly question (if not criticise) the way the club has been run this season and told the Swindon Advertiser:

“I think in certain respects we could have benefited from keeping a few more players together, but it is the chairman and the board’s prerogative to run the club soundly and prudently.”

The interview with David can be seen here: http://www.thisisswindontownfc.co.uk/news/8983030.Club_failed_to_act_quickly_enough_to_glaring_problems___Prutton/

Bristol Rovers’s coach Craig Hinton has told the local press that he hopes leading scorer Will Hoskins will be available for the run-in. He said:

"We want to make sure we get him 100 per cent right first. There are still four games to go and we want him for those four games if we can. But if it means him missing Saturday or another game and we have him for the other three, that's the important thing.

He is a big player for us and a big personality on and off the pitch. We would obviously like to have him back, but we will have to see how it goes. He went out for a light bit of running while the rest of the players were doing some ball work and he wanted to join in. We had to tell him to calm down! Hopefully, he will be back on Saturday, but we will have to see how he progresses over the next couple of days."

See the online article here: http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/sport/Craig-Hinton-knows-Bristol-Rovers-won-t-easy-ride-matches/article-3466580-detail/article.html

Meanwhile Bristol City are secure in the Championship, but Keith Millen will be wanting to finish on a high so that he can attract some quality players in the summer (and retain the likes of Nicky Maynard). In this respect the preparations have already started and Tunisian midfield Nabil Taider, 27, has been on trial with the Robins. Taider has got four caps, but also played for the French U-21s and was recently plying his trade out in Turkey.

Notes on the League Two clubs

I have been penciled in for three more games this season; Swindon on Saturday, Bristol City on Monday and Bristol Rovers the following weekend. I then miss the final weekend’s fixtures as I’m away in the USA and so I started to give some thought as to how I could fill the blog in the summer.

I’ve decided to try and put together a daily round up from the clubs on my patch and expect them to look a little like this ….

It would appear that Wycombe are desperate for promotion in more ways than one. The club apparently made a £1.17m loss last season and so will be hoping that promotion this season and an increase in revenues in League One next term will keep the bank manager and shareholders happy.

And skipper Gareth Ainsworth will be hoping to play his part in the run in having missed the last two outings with a hamstring problem. He told me after the draw at Oxford that he was on the mend and the backroom staff were trying to make sure he was fit and ready for the Easter fixtures. Boss Gary Waddock has now said the 37 year old has a realistic chance of being involved which will come as a relief to the Chairboys given Ainsworth’s influence on the team.

Oxford full back Damien Batt has joined Ainsworth in the PFA’s League Two team of the year, so congratulations to them both. Batt is an attacking defender and has done well to make the step up from Grays in 2009.

Meanwhile Oxford loanee Ryan Burge, 22, has been recalled by his parent club Doncaster.

Northampton striker Shaun Harrad has dismissed concerns over the side’s run of 16 games without a win that has left them three points from the relegation zone and he said:

"I honestly believe we can beat anybody in this league. We were 5 to 1 to get a win on Saturday but we were fired up and ready to go.

"There's a good togetherness in the squad, we're communicating with each other well, and I think that showed in our performance on Saturday."

Hereford have now not lost in four games, but boss Jamie Pitman isn’t getting carried away until the team are mathematically safe from relegation and said:

"I`m not going to let the players think that (they are out of the woods) and we`re not going to think that as a group of staff because if we do that then it could come and bite us on the backside."

Cheltenham are already looking forward to next season and have announced their season ticket packages for 2011/12. They are also hosting a family fun day at Whaddon Road this Saturday when they host Macclesfield and having seen something similar at the club earlier in the campaign, I can vouch for the atmosphere.

N.B. If you have any information about your club that you’d like to share, feel free to e-mail it to me.

Swindon Town 0 MK Dons 2 - Hopeful

Matt Ritchie is a positive and optimistic guy who has been giving his all to keep Swindon in League One, but I fear that he and his team mates won’t be rewarded for their efforts.

Swindon have now won only one game in twenty and need to win their four remaining fixtures to have any chance of staying up … an even then it may not be enough.

My piece in this morning's paper

Winger Ritchie and manager Paul Hart both indicated they were still hopeful after this defeat against play-off chasing MK Dons, but they became increasingly desperate as the game wore on and pumped numerous long balls forward to striker Calvin Andrew. The visiting defence – including former Town skipper Sean O’Hanlon who scored the 17th minute winner – just lapped it up and never really looked too worried.

Even if Andrew had converted a first time injury time effort from 4 yards instead of striking the woodwork, I felt the Dons could have moved up a gear and re-taken the lead if they had wanted.

As much as it pains me to write this, Swindon are down and have the rest of the season to try and salvage some pride.

Hart has got them putting in the effort, but once they cross the white line it’s down to them and I’m afraid there aren’t enough cool heads out there at the moment.

Worryingly for the Swindon faithful, life in League Two may not be any easier.

Thirteen players will be out of contract at the end of this season and you would think that many of them will be off rather than taking a cut in wages and while some Robins fans might be thinking “good riddance to them”, they also need to start wondering about the quality of their replacements and whether they’ll be good enough to go for promotion in what will be a very competitive division with the likes of Plymouth, Bradford and dare I say, Oxford, also going for promotion.

Key to success will of course be the appointment of the manager.

Paul Hart is currently in pole position, but may well be tainted by relegation – although arguably he had a thankless task on his hands.

Another name doing the rounds is that of Paul Trollope who was sacked by Bristol Rovers earlier in the season, but did guide the Gasheads to promotion from League Two and – along with his connections to the club. Trolls started out at Swindon, although never made the first team while his dad John made 770 appearances for the club over twenty year period and is still highly regarded there.

It’s going to be a summer of change at the County Ground, but who would have predicted it last summer when the side turned out at Wembley and were pipped to a Championship place by Millwall?

The clipping from yesterday's News of the World

Swindon v MK Dons - Tension

The County Ground will be full of tension and nerve-jangling expectation tomorrow afternoon when I turn up for Swindon’s game against MK Dons. Nothing to do with my presence you understand, but with Swindon needing a win to give themselves hope of surviving in League One and MK Dons trying to secure a play-off spot, it’s all to play for.

Swindon notched up their first win in nineteen games against Brentford last weekend and boss Paul Hart will hope that the victory gives his players the self-belief they have clearly been lacking for much of the season.

There’s no doubt in my mind that they have the players they need to get out of this jam, although they will very keen to hear the other results come the final whistle as they probably need a couple of snookers.

But if you take a look at my (very) contrived predictions yesterday, you’ll see it’s possible!

If MK Dons were in Swindon’s position I don’t think many football fans would really care. In fact if they went down and AFC Wimbledon went up, that would be the fixture a lot of neutrals would be looking when they are released this summer … with everyone outside of Milton Keynes willing the Wombles on.

But there is no chance of that fantasy coming true for at least another season.

The Dons under Karl Robinson have played well this season and, while you wouldn’t put money on them for automatic promotion with Southampton in pole position, would you bet against any team when the play-offs start?

The Dons squad is a good mixture of youth and experience and they’ve even got a player called Pele on the books – true he’s a 32 year old defender and he has only started one League Cup game for them (a win over Dagenham), but hey, he’s from Portugal and so speaks the lingo!

Sam Baldock leads the Dons goal scoring charts with eleven while midfielders Peter Leven and Daniel Powell have weighed in with eight and nine goals respectively and so the Swindon defence will need to be on their toes.

It’s going to be a very interesting afternoon and the Robins fans will need to get behind their team for the full ninety minutes rather than on their backs as some of them did in the last fixture I saw against Hartlepool.

League One – Endgame

I’m assuming that Yeovil are now safe from the drop in League One and can now concentrate on their holiday plans or scrumpy drinking exploits, but there are seven other teams at the bottom of the table who are all in danger of being relegated. I thought I’d take some time out to look at each of their run-ins and predict the final table.
This is just for fun … unless you are a fan of one of the sides I predict to stay up because, given my track record, that means you’re probably doomed! I’ve checked the maths, but …

The league table currently looks like this:

Tranmere kick off their six remaining fixtures with a home game against Dagenham and I’m going for a draw (1pt). Then it’s home Notts County and I can see the Martin Allen effect kicking in with an away win (0pts). Next up, they are away at Hartlepool where I expect them to draw (1pt). Back at home to face Exeter next and another draw (1pt). Down to east London to lose at Orient (0pt) and finally a home fixture against Swindon which, I predict, they will lose in a last day nail-biter(0pt). Currently on 46 points, final tally 49. Let’s face it, it’s been coming for a few seasons now.

Dagenham’s five games: Away at Tranmere (1pt); home against Plymouth (1pt); away to Huddersfield (0pt); home with Carlisle (1pt); away to Peterborough (0pt). Currently on 44 points, final tally 47. Been a breath of fresh air in this division. Fond farewells though.

Walsall’s five games: Away to Brighton (1pt); home to Sheffield Wednesday (3pts); away to Oldham (3pts); home to Charlton (1pt); away to Southampton (0pts). Currently on 43 points, final tally 51. Certs to go down under Chris Hutchings, but Dean Smith saves the Saddlers and James Walker signs a five year deal – and joins the coaching team.

Bristol Rovers five games: Away at Southampton (1pt); home to Charlton (3pts); away to Bournemouth (0pts); home to Sheffield Wednesday (1pt); Colchester (3pts). Currently on 43 points, final tally 51. Followed by Stuart Campbell being given the keys to half of the city.

Notts County’s six games: Home against Bournemouth (0pts); away at Tranmere (3pts); away at Swindon (0pts); home against Brentford (1pt); away against MK Dons (1pt); home against Brighton (0pts). Currently on 42 points, final tally 47. Mad dog couldn’t work his magic - Barnet stay up in League Two and send him their heart-felt commiserations.

Swindon’s five games: Home against MK Dons (3pts); home against Notts County (3pts); away at Sheff Wednesday (1pt); home against Oldham (3pts); away at Tranmere (3pts). Currently on 38 points, final tally 51. Four wins in five games – an amazing escape act!

Plymouth’s six games: Away at Peterborough (0pts); away to Dagenham (1pt); home against MK Dons (3pts); away at Exeter (1pt); home against Southampton (0pt); home against Orient 3pts). Currently on 36 points, final tally 44. Without the FA’s ten point deduction they would have been safe.

So my prediction for the final table is:

Of course I’m not risking any of my ‘hard earned’ on the above predictions and suggest that you don’t either :-)

Walsall 3 Brentford 2 - That's Entertainment!

Brentford dominated this encounter for thirty minutes and then it turned into one of the most entertaining games I’ve seen this season and could’ve gone either way.

My clipping from this morning's paper

The Bees took a deserved lead via a diving header from eight yards by Dutch defender Pim Balkestein, but this only served to wake up the home side and ten minutes later they were level.

Keeper Jimmy Walker – making his 500th appearance for the club in his second spell at the Bescot – punted the ball up field, Darren Byfield nodded the ball down and former Manchester City striker Jon Macken volleyed in his seventh of the season from 25 yards with the outside of his right boot. It was a stunner and seemed to sting the Bees (sorry).

The Saddlers came out after the break and appeared to take control. Winger Jordan Cook scored his first goal on his full debut for the club to put Walsall ahead, but this just seemed to wake the visitors up again.

Adam Reed played a sweet pass to Lewis Grabban that split the home defence and the striker rounded Walker to knock the ball in from about six yards in the 63rd minute.

Given the precarious relegation position Walsall are in they could have been forgiven for folding, but they immediately bounced back and – as spectacular as his opener was – Macken tapped in from close range in the 64th minute to make sure of the points and lift his side out of the drop zone – albeit on goal difference from Bristol Rovers.

Brentford didn’t play like a team of players who already have the Thomas Cook brochures out and caretaker player-boss Nicky Forster made the right noises about not giving up on the play-offs quite yet, but realistically they haven’t got anything to play for now – apart from giving Forster the chance of the job on a permanent basis and securing their own futures of course!

I remember talking to Bees Chairman Greg Dyke in the game before Andy Scott was given the manager’s job and there was no doubt he was influenced by how much the players were giving their all for Scott.

So how will Walsall fare this season?

Well, it’s not all over by any means. The results went for them last night when Daggers and Notts County lost again, but with Rovers putting together some decent results and Swindon having won a game after not tasting victory in the previous eighteen, who knows what’s going to happen.

It’s going to be on hell of an end to the season in League One.

I’ve now seen Rovers, Swindon and Walsall in recent weeks and not one of these teams looks like they are giving up and so the sides just above them must be bricking it.

Tranmere face Dagenham and County in their next two fixtures and four points should see them safe.

Dagenham have then got Plymouth and while the Devon club looks doomed, they are still playing with pride. The ten point deduction wasn’t their fault.

Notts County have a tough home game against play-off chasing Bournemouth on Saturday and Martin Allen’s arrival hasn’t worked the same sort miracles that Barnet saw after his appointment there.

Walsall entertain Brighton on Saturday and after manager Dean Smith found out about the Seagulls promotion last night he said:

“With a bit of luck they’ll spend the next three nights partying.”

Nice thought if you’re a Saddlers fan, but I suspect Gus Poyet will still have the seasiders focused and so it’s going to be another tough game.

Swindon have also got a difficult fixture against MK Dons who are going for a play-off spot while Rovers have a tricky away game at Southampton who are looking to join Brighton as one of the two automatically promoted sides.

All in all it will make for an interesting and very tense Saturday afternoon. In fact my nerves are already on edge and I’m wondering whether I’ll be able to face eating those nice prawn sandwiches in the Press Room at the County Ground! Well, maybe I’ll be able to hold down one or two.

Walsall v Brentford - 500

I’ve been asked to go to the Bescott for tonight’s clash with Brentford and – looking at recent results – I expect to find a very different Walsall team from the one I saw on my last visit.
At that time Chris Hutchings was in charge and the Saddlers just managed to squeak past Fleetwood in an FA Cup replay. Jimmy Walker was the man of the match that night and the minnows from the north-west could have been four up at half time if it hadn’t been for the keeper who will make his 500th appearance for the club is if he’s selected tonight.

Things appeared to have changed under new boss Dean Smith. Walsall started scrapping for their lives after former player and youth team manager Smith was made caretaker manager until the end of the season back in January. Walsall’s last home game saw them spank Hartlepool 5-2 and in the 19 games Smith has been in charge they have won five, drawn eight and lost the remaining six.

Smith was rewarded with a two year contract on April 1st and the Saddlers promptly lost their next game away to fellow strugglers Plymouth, but victory tonight would see his team move out of the relegation zone – on goal difference. It’s so tight at the bottom now that goal difference may well be very important in May. Aside from the stuffing meted out to the monkey hangers, Smith’s boys have also put six past Bristol Rovers.

The season is all, but over for the Bees. There is still an outside chance of a play-off place, but player-manager Nicky Forster has done an excellent job steadying the ship following the departure of Andy Scott in early February.

Like Smith, Forster was offered the job on a permanent basis in March, although only until the end of the season. His record is impressive though and he has overseen eight wins, two draws and five defeats including the final of the JP Trophy against Carlisle.

Jon-Paul Pittman - Substitute

Some quotes from J-P Pittman who grabbed the leveller against Oxford on Saturday:

"Yeah I’m happy with my goal - it came at the right time. I was hoping we would kick on and go for a winner but that didn’t happen. It was a good time to score and I’m happy with it.

I think a lot of it is all about being in the right place at the right time. I made a couple of good runs and luckily the lads found me so it gave me the chance to make an impression on the game straight away.

It’s just part of being professional in this job (being a sub), there are only 11 places up for grabs so everyone’s got to be patient and wait their turn to wait for it to come and I think I took my chance today.

It’s definitely frustrating because you want to be out there. You want to be out there in the mix of the action and enjoying winning games, but when you’re on the bench and out of the squad you don’t get that same feel. But I got it today.

It sends out a message to the manager and to my team as well that I’m here, I’m ready when I’m called upon. Hopefully I can get a little run in the team.

I think Oxford is a hard place to come. They’ve got a good squad. We messed up and gave away a couple of sloppy goals but we showed our character I know it’s a cliche but we genuinely showed our character because we’re genuinely a strong bunch of lads in getting the two goals back and pushing on for a winner. I think that speaks volumes about the squad that we’ve got.

The team as a whole feel they could get back from being two down - I certainly did. It’s one of those things that’s infectious. If you see someone closing down a ball or working that extra bit hard, anything small like that, it triggers off the rest of the guys and more people than not had that thought in their head today.

Yeah we were (trying to get the winner) but we’ve warned about that before. A point is decent here - away from home with a tough crowd. You’ve got to take a point sometimes. At the same time you want to win the game but you don’t want to throw it away either.

We’re just going to keep playing, trying to take it a game at a time. But you are always looking at other results. We’ve been advised to keep looking forward, not to look at the teams behind us and that’s the way to do it.

It would be devastating (if Wycombe didn’t go up). We’ve not even thought about not getting promoted. The mindset has always been that it’s going to happen but we need to keep performing like that if we want it to happen.

With five games left if I can get a few more goals that contribute towards our season that would be great."

Oxford United 2 Wycombe Wanderers 2 – All Over Now

Alfie Potter was very possibly the most miserable looking footballer I have seen this season when he was interviewed after the game.

Winger Potter scored one and forced central defender to turn the ball past his own keeper for Oxford’s second, but Wycombe’s fight back earned them a draw and another valuable promotion point.

Potter ran out the usual “while it’s still mathematically possible” line, but you could tell that he knew the game was up as far as this season was concerned.

He’s an honest lad though and pointed out that even though there is very little league experience in the Oxford squad, he felt that they should’ve done better this season. And he also told me that he felt the team would perform a lot better next term because of the experience and I have to agree with him.

My clipping from this morning’s copy of The Sun

Chris Wilder was left fuming about the first time penalty decision that went against his team after James Constable was hauled down in the box and I’ve got to say that I agree with him. Constable was still seething at the break and muttering pleasantries into the referee’s ear.

The manager also had the good grace to admit that he had probably made a mistake taking Constable off in the second half, but to be fair to Chris, he’s also on a bit of a learning curve this season and once the dust settles in mid-May, I think most Oxford fans will want to see how he fares next season. Personally I think they’d be crazy to drop the pilot at this stage. They’ve chopped and changed managers before at the Kassam and it resulted in non-league football.

Meanwhile, the Wycombe players and management were in great spirits.

Boss Gary Waddock is still “talking each game as it comes”, but must have the taste of the promotion champagne in his mouth by now. There’s still a bit to do, but keeper Nikki Bull (who was my man of the match) told me that “three more wins should do it”.

And Scott Rendell, who scored the Chairboys first goal, pointed to the excellent spirit in the camp when he revealed:

“We had 23 players in the dressing room geeing us on before the game. Some of them obviously knew they weren’t playing, but they were still there for us and that speaks volumes. J-P (Jon-Paul Pittman) himself hasn’t played a lot this season because of injuries, but he was ready to come on and got the equalizer.”

It was a shame that Gareth Ainsworth didn’t make an appearance on Saturday. Wycombe’s 37 year old winger/skipper told me that he had felt his hamstring tighten up after the midweek fixture against Hartlepool and so, with the Easter fixtures coming up, it had been decided to rest him for the Oxford game.

This was a great game to watch from a neutral’s perspective and while I can well imagine the frustration Oxford fans are feeling now, it hasn’t been a disastrous season, just another step in the right direction. Not as big a step as some would like, sure, but not a backward one like so many taken in recent years.

Wayne Rooney - Disgrace

Okay, so who is eventually going to have the balls to tell Wayne Rooney that his behavior is no longer acceptable? The Manchester United and England striker doesn’t seem to be able to work out for himself where the line between right and wrong is and no-one appears to have the guts or influence to get through to him.

His off-field exploits are regularly documented by the press and media as a whole and following last weekend’s foul mouthed outburst in front (or at) of the Sky TV cameras, the Man Utd damage limitation machine is in full swing.

Rio Ferdinand is defending him and has been reported as saying:

“We should follow him as a footballer rather than keep lynching him for a lot of the stuff that goes on. I wouldn't say he is innocent in a lot of the stuff that has happened, but sometimes because of the player he is and who he is the reaction can be over the top.

Wayne Rooney swearing on TV, as much as I don't condone it, is not front page news. There are bigger things going on in the world. I don't condone it but because it is him everyone goes over the top. I don't feel sorry for him. He thrives off the attention. But he thrives off football attention rather than the stuff on the outside. He loves playing football.

That's what he wants to be judged on and talked about."

Fair enough Rio. If that’s the case though he should stop drawing attention to himself by doing stupid things or setting himself up by taking money from, sponsors, magazines for photo shoots, etc., and just concentrate on his football.

There are hundreds of top flight players who never find themselves on the front pages and will (or are) be remembered for their ability on the pitch. Rooney is letting them down too. He’s letting good pros down Rio and I’d happily class you as one of them.

How often was Alan Shearer photographed taking a leak as he staggered home drunk from a nightclub? Gary Lineker? Thierry Henry? Paul Scholes? Ryan Giggs? The Neville brothers? There are many, many more decent footballers out there (past and present) who just get on with their jobs and are grateful that they have been lucky enough to make their fortunes doing something they love. They realise that with the money and wonderful lifestyle comes responsibility and they take it seriously.

Now Sir Alex Ferguson has dragged poor old ref Lee mason into the rumpus as well in what is presumably an attempt to deflect attention away from the player.

Ferguson said:

"Mason has now put himself in the spotlight. If he doesn't send a player off for swearing the question will be, has he got double standards?"

No Sir Alex not at all. First of all how was Mason supposed to know what Rooney said into the TV camera? He could only react after the event. Mason has said he will send a player off in future for a similar incident if he sees it happening. If he doesn’t see it, but it is brought to his attention later, he’ll follow the same process as he did with Rooney.

And has he really put himself in the spotlight Sir Alex? Or are you doing that for him to try and shift some of the glare from your player.

And then not content with that he questions Mason’s career path because of the incident – an incident (lest we forget) that started with the England striker’s inability to engage his brain before his mouth.

"It is a very difficult position the lad is in. I feel for him. I really do. I don't know where his career is going to go now. “

Well if it goes the way of Rooney’s career when he makes mistakes, he’ll probably be on £250k a week this time next year, eh Alex?

I can’t believe that fans of the most successful team in this country will ultimately hold memories of Rooney in the same affection as Best, Law, Charlton, Beckham, Cantona, Scholes, et al., once he has hung up his boots. And if Sir Alex has any sense he’ll sell him to the highest bidder this summer – which would, coincidentally, repay him for his own apparent disloyalty at the start of this season. Something the fans haven’t forgotten.

Whether he likes it or not Rooney is a role model. It comes with the big money, the endorsements and the multimillionaire lifestyle. If he doesn’t like it he should pack in the professional game and go and play park football on a Sunday morning. He’s probably made enough money to do so by now.

One of Rooney’s sponsors – Coca Cola – have reportedly decided not to use his services anymore following last Saturday’s outburst and good on them.

But what about his paymasters?

No, I don’t mean Manchester United, I mean Sky.

Sky money underwrites the English Premier League. Without it, the players wouldn’t receive a fraction of what they currently earn. Why haven’t they come out and made a bigger fuss? After all it is their subscribers who had to suffer Rooney’s foul mouthed tirade last Saturday. It was their subscribers who had to explain to their young kids why they couldn’t watch the lunchtime game anymore.

I would have thought it was in Sky’s interests to lay the law down in a way that the feeble FA cannot seem to do. If Sky penalised Manchester United by refusing to show one or two of their fixtures next season, then I suspect that they would do a little more to ensure that one of their players acted like a true professional and not a brainless yob.

Oxford v Wycombe – I Walk on Gilded Splinters

A tasty ‘derby’ fixture tomorrow for yours truly.
Okay, so Oxford fans will see Swindon as the big derby game, but they will have to wait until next season – at the earliest – before that one comes around and so the Chairboys are probably the next best thing.

As usual I’ll have blisters in my bum from sitting on the fence for this one as I wish both sides well.

With six games to go Wycombe must fancy their chances of automatic promotion as they currently sit second in the table, although they can’t afford to get over-excited as the gap between them and the play-off places is only three points and the end-of-season knock out fixtures are a real lottery.

I’ve detected a little bit of negativity creeping in from some of my Oxford supporting friends, but it’s still possible for the Us to make the play-offs themselves. A decent run from now until the end of the season and they could still be heading to Old Trafford in May.

I’ll admit though that defeat would pretty much kill off any lingering hopes they still have. While defeat for Wycombe is something they can still bounce back from.

You often hear the cliché: “Anyone could beat anyone in this league” trotted out by players, but in League Two it really is the case. Oxford can’t afford to underestimate any of the sides they have yet to play, but as far as I can see Chesterfield at home is the only really dangerous looking fixture.

Chris Wilder has done a great job this season and fans shouldn’t forget what he did last season (and also the state of the club before he arrived). Sadly, when your team drops out of the football league, there is diminishing interest shown in it by the media the longer you’re out in the wilderness. This was the case with Oxford before Wilder got hold of them.

The manager will have learned lessons this season in much the same way as the players and, if Oxford stick with him, I believe the club will be in pole position for promotion this time next year if they don’t manage it this season.

On the other hand, if they dump Wilder they may well slip back into the turmoil that took them out of the league several years ago.

Wycombe’s talisman is evergreen, long haired skipper Gareth Ainsworth one of the few players widely respected by fans of most clubs – just because they’d love to have someone of his work rate and vision in their own side. Gareth is now 37 years old, but without him it’s arguable that they wouldn’t be sitting where they are in the league.

Ainsworth has weighed in with nine league goals this season, but it’s the work he does for his team mates that impresses. I’d love to hear what Oxford fans think on Monday morning.

From what I’ve seen of Oxford this season, an Ainsworth type figure is just what they’ve been missing. Who knows though, if Wycombe gain promotion and dump him at the end of the season, maybe Oxford could pick use him next term as I know for a fact that he wants to keep playing.

Wycombe haven’t lost in their last four away games and are undefeated in five.

Oxford, meanwhile, have won three and lost three of their last six matches, but have also won the last two at the Kassam.

So who do I think will win? Excuse me while I remove this large shard of timber.

Hereford United – Rough Justice

What is the Football Association playing at? Two clubs in the bottom tier of English football made an error by not filing the transfer deadline paperwork on time for two new players – Hereford’s Rob Purdie and Torquay’s Jake Robinson.
It appears that both Hereford and Torquay made a genuine error, alerted the FA to their mistakes immediately, but now face a three and one point deduction respectively.

Fortunately the only game affected by the two ineligible players was fought out the day after deadline day between … Hereford and Torquay. Therefore no other club was involved. Neither of the two clubs benefited from the error on the pitch and so the other twenty two league clubs didn’t suffer.

So, as lower league football becomes increasingly cash strapped, the FA have stepped in to possibly prevent one team from winning promotion – Torquay – while it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that Hereford could well slip out of the league altogether. Two 'possible' financially crippling scenarios.

I’m not saying that clubs, players and officials shouldn’t be punished for flaunting the game’s rules. They should. But the FA needs to be sensible and realistic about the punishment they hand out.

In this case, a simple slap on the wrist consisting of a hefty suspended fine would have been sufficient. What about £20,000 for two years? That would focus the attention of the office staff every deadline day.

But the people FA don’t think like that. It’s an organisation in turmoil. It doesn’t really have a great say in what goes on in the top flight of English football anymore. It lost nearly all credibility in the build up to the World Cup bid and then lost more during the bidding process and vote.

The friendly international fixtures it (and UEFA) arranges are coming in for criticism from clubs, players, pundits and fans.

And wasn’t Benjani’s transfer to Manchester City and then a couple of years later to Sunderland, completed a day (or even days in the first case) after the transfer deadline had closed? Who sanctioned these moves? The FA must have done.

It appears to me that FA is scared stiff of the Premier League who pay merely pay lip service to the rules and fines as they laid down by the European and World governing bodies. But is the FA strong enough to take on the bigger clubs and wield a big stick when neither they nor their players step out of line? Doubtful, but it is much easier to get heavy with the smaller clubs who haven’t got the power or resources to fight back.

But what happens when the rich clubs finally say enough is enough and cut their ties with FIFA and UEFA and set up a new governing body? Some people say that it will never happen, but why not? The Premier League (Premiership) clubs of the early 1990s effectively changed the way the English game was being run and wrestled a good deal of power and finance from the FA.

Maybe at that point the smaller clubs will fall in behind their richer counterparts and the FA will be left with what it deserves … the Wembley debt and little else.

But I digress a little.

I don’t know too much about Torquay, but I can’t imagine that they are too dissimilar from Hereford which is a club run by decent people and who have many journeyman professionals earning a fraction of the sums their colleagues in the two top divisions enjoy.

Hereford and Torquay have small, but extremely loyal fan bases that must be shaking their collective heads in bemusement at this decision.

Finally, another question that needs answering is; why Torquay were docked only one point and Hereford three for what was effectively the same ‘crime’? Maybe the suits at the FA are taking lessons in consistency from some of their referees.

Bristol Rovers 1 AFC Bournemouth 0 - Oh What a Night

Wow what a night!

My clipping from this morning's paper

Rovers had their collective backs to the wall as Bournemouth battered them, but the home side clung on for three vital points and moved out of the relegation zone.

Before discussing Rovers, I think it’s only fair to take a look at the Cherries.

The south coast club have now not won in six games as things hot up at the top end of the table, but thy really did deserve something out of this fixture.

Danny Ings must have left for home wondering what he had to do to beat Conrad Logan in the Rovers goal. The Irishman – on loan from Leicester City – stopped everything the Bournemouth striker threw at him and used his hands, legs and, on two occasions, his chest to thwart his opponent.

The one time Logan was beaten, central defender James Tunnicliffe covered for him to head a Danny Hollands drive off the line.

Bournemouth will no doubt have felt aggrieved at their lack of luck, but get another bite at the cherry (no pun intended) when Rovers visit in a few weeks time.

Manager Lee Bradbury complained that they did everything they could, but “the ball just wouldn’t drop for us.” He was also decent enough to give credit where it was most certainly due – to the Rovers defence.

And Bradbury isn’t fazed about the fight ahead. He said:

“The pack are closing in behind us in the battle for play-off places but I wouldn't swap places with any of them and we still have it in our hands to secure a top-six finish."

Rovers have now won four of the six games since Stuart Campbell took on the role of player-boss after Dave Penney was sacked and this result sees them get out of the relegation places for the first time this year.

When you listen to Campbell speak about his side you can feel his genuine pride. In fact he said:

"I'm immensely proud of them and their effort, desire and commitment. From front to back, they all put their bodies on the line and were phenomenal. It was a fantastic performance from everyone and I couldn't have asked for any more. The lads are fighting for their lives and it showed in their performance."

Although he’s no mug and with games against Southampton and Brighton coming up (as well as the Cherries reverse fixture when you can be guaranteed they’ll be looking to set the record straight) he admitted:

"The job's not done yet. We've been in the bottom four for far too long. We'll enjoy this result but then we have to prepare for Saturday's game.”

All of the other results at the bottom went in Rovers favour last night and even though they have played a game more than most of their rivals, Notts County, Tranmere and Dagenham all seem to be playing like Rovers were at the turn of the year and are dropping like stones. In fact even the Swindon players must be thinking survival is possible … assuming they can win a game or two in the very near future.

The saddest sight of the night came only 15 minutes into the game when Will Hoskins appeared to twist his ankle and hobbled off. At half time he needed to be supported by two of the backroom staff as he hopped across the Mem towards the dressing room.

Rovers showed that they could win a game without him last night, but there’s no doubting he will be sorely missed in the run in if his injury is as bad as it looked.

Maybe the Rovers board should have loaned him to Brighton (if rumours are to be believed) on deadline day with a view to a £1 million summer move, but then again, hindsight is always a wonderful thing.

Rovers v Bournemouth – Cherries

I turned up for the original Rovers versus Bournemouth fixture at 6.15pm in the evening at just about the same time that the game was called off due to a water-logged pitch.

As I switched off my car’s engine in the car park, the Bournemouth team was getting word of the cancellation via their goal-keeping coach’s mum – not great communication skills from the powers that be.

That evening as the Cherries squad stood by the pitch looking bemused at the decision - and furious in equal measure - one of the backroom staff told me that they would come back and batter Rovers. At that time I couldn’t argue a defence for the Gas, but that was before Campbell-mania took hold.

Rovers have picked up ten points in the five games since midfielder Stuart Campbell took over from Dave Penney and confidence is building with each match.

I was talking to another club’s scout before the Swindon game on Saturday who told me that the word in the ‘game’ was that Rovers had given up and were down. Campbell doesn’t want the job, he said. And top scorer Will Hoskins was down in Brighton on loan deadline day taking a medical in anticipation of a move to the Champions-elect. The Rovers board had, allegedly, accepted a bid in the region of £1 million for Hoskins’s services and Plymouth striker Rory Fallon was being lined up as his replacement, but terms couldn’t be agreed with the financially strapped Pilgrims.

Now, how true any of this is I don’t know and it might well just be rumour, but having seen quite a bit of Rovers recently, I can say for certain that they haven’t given up.

Whether Hoskins was strolling along the sea-front eating candy floss or not, I don’t know either, but he sure wasn’t playing like someone who didn’t care before deadline day and hasn’t played like that since. Without his goals, they would already be down. He’s a skipper leading by example.

Who knows whether Stuart Campbell wants the job long term? Whatever his ambitions are, I can say for certain that he is busting a gut to keep Rovers in League One. If he manages that feat, he will find it bloody difficult not to accept the inevitable job offer that comes his way. He was already highly regarded by Gasheads for his playing ability and work ethic - survival will see him achieve God-like status in the blue half of the city.

If Dagenham lose to Peterborough tonight and Rovers manage to turn over play-off hopefuls Bournemouth, then the Gas will move out of the relegation zone and the resulting euphoria and self-belief from within the squad might just see them beat the drop in their final few games.

You have to feel for the Cherries though. Had that original fixture taken place, they were riding high and bankers for the win. However, they have now not won in five games as the nerves start to jangle and their promotion hopes seemingly slip away.

I have a lot of time for Bournemouth. The club has effectively been saved by the fans, they play good football and they don’t deserve to miss out on promotion.

Swindon Town 1 Hartlepool United 1 - Struggle

I've never been a ticket buying fan of any of the teams I cover on a regular basis, but I want each of them to do as well as possible because frankly I want to write fun and uplifting pieces for the papers - I hate the negative stuff.

My clipping from this morning's paper

Unfortunately it's impossible to put a positive spin on Swindon's current predicament. It looks very much as if they will be heading for League Two in May.
Poor Phil Smith - a decent man - was at fault for the Hartlepool opener (after 37 minutes and so there was still plenty of time to rescue the situation and get the win) on Saturday and to his credit he 'fronted up' after the game, although he looked as crestfallen as I have ever seen him.
But his boss, Paul Hart, was spot on when he said: "He obviously didn't mean to do it and the man who hasn't made a mistake hasn't been born."
And anyone getting on Smith's back is missing the point - the season started last August and the responsibility for the situation needs sharing about amongst the other players, the manager(s), coaches, and finally the directors who let two strikers leave the club for peanuts, or in Billy Paynter's case, nothing.
Swindon have suffered a dire run of 18 games without a win and I'm afraid that, even if they did string a few wins together, it could be too little, too late.
Earlier this season, I had a dig at Bristol Rovers fans for jeering their own team at half time. On Saturday Swindon's fans were at it. Surely their priority is to help the team get them out of the mess they're in not to compound the misery of the players. Swindon's players worked hard on Saturday and deserved better support.
There are now seven teams in relegation trouble in my opinion. From the bottom of the table; Plymouth, Swindon, Bristol Rovers, Walsall, Dagenham, Notts County and Tranmere.
Plymouth are down, but fighting.
Swindon have played at least one game more than the other six and are five points adrift of the team above them.
Bristols Rovers have now won three games and drawn one of the five since Stuart Campbell took over. They have a tough run in, but look up for the scrap.
Walsall haven't given up hope yet either and Dean Smith has just been given the job on a permanent deal - so he must be doing something right.
Dagenham have only won one in five games, have lost the last two and so could very well get sucked into the bottom four spots.
Notts County have just ditched Paul Ince and that move might go one of two ways for the club. They've lost the last five games and so the rot may have already set in or, alternatively, Ince's replacement might lift the gloom around the club ...  but he'll need to be quick.
Tranmere seem to be struggling too, but to a lesser degree - they're not out of the mire though.
I'm afraid that none of this gives me any great hope for Swindon and their survival chances. In my opinion they are 'down', but then again this is written by someone who has made so many bad predictions this season - and hopes he's making just one more.