Bristol Rovers Appointment - The Penny Drops

Former Doncaster Rovers, Darlington and Oldham boss Dave Penney has taken on the job of managing Rovers following Paul Trollope's sacking in December. Penney guided Doncaster back into league football and also won the League Two title the following season. He spent six years as Donny before moving on to Darlington and Oldham Athletic, but left his Latics role in May last year.

Penney told the local media: "It is nice to get back in and straight down to it, which is just what I need. I made a conscious effort when I left Oldham to try and choose the right football club and I have been in a fortunate position to wait a bit.


This felt right when I had the interview. The club has great tradition and I don't think it is in the position it should be. I have watched the team and there are certainly things to build on. It is an exciting time for myself and something for me to get my teeth into. When you get the club moving in the right direction, the fans will be right behind you.

There is half the season left and plenty of time to turn things around. We need to get the players back at it and with a couple of additions we'll be a lot stronger. First and foremost we need to make sure we are in this division next season. Long-term the aim is to build on what we started."

The Bristol Evening Post (link below) carried the following on its website: "We are delighted to welcome Dave to the club," said Rovers' chairman Nick Higgs. "There were over 60 applications for the job and Dave quickly emerged as the top candidate. The interview process took slightly longer than anticipated as a number of candidates were in employment and we had to seek permission to talk to them.


During his interview Dave showed an understanding of what we need to do as a club to move forward, and an extensive knowledge of the lower divisions and lower league players. We believe we have a nucleus of good players, but the aim is to sign two or three new faces before the end of the transfer window."

More news to follow as it comes out of the Memorial Ground, but I've been told to get along there tomorrow evening to cover the relegation clash against Walsall ... who still haven't got a boss since Chris Hutchings recent sacking.

http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/sport/Penney-takes-charge-Bristol-Rovers/article-3082212-detail/article.html

Bristol City 0 Sheffield Wednesday 3 - Video Nasty

Bristol City allowed Wednesday back into this Cup tie after dominating the first half in which they had several shots on goal and even saw diminutive Owls midfielder James O’Conner head the ball off the line.

My clipping from today's paper

City boss Keith Millen was fuming and kept his players locked in the dressing room for thirty minutes after the game before saying:

“I have sent all of my players home with a DVD of the match and will be looking for a response from them at our next training session. We were weak mentally after falling behind and the dressing room was too quiet afterwards.

We looked a bad side in the second half and it showed we still have a lot of work to do over the rest of the season. It was a damaging result financially for the club and just how bad we will only know when we see who Wednesday draw in the next round.”

Well they ended up with a home tie against either Wycombe or Hereford (depending on the outcome of tomorrow’s delayed third round tie) and so while the Yorkshire boys won’t be exactly salivating at the prospect of that one, at least it's at Hillsborough and gives them an opportunity of 5th round Cup glory against one of the big boys.

Winger Gary Teale, 32, started the demolition job on City with rare header in the 48th minute for his 4th of the campaign and admitted:

“The work rate was there in the first half, but we weren’t showing quality that we can do. In the second half we played off the front foot and created a lot of chances and luckily enough we managed to put a few of them in.

That’s the way the manager wants us to play and it suits us. Obviously in some games it doesn’t work out that way, but hopefully on the back of this result we can kick on. We’ve just been lacking a wee bit of consistency.

You know we’re not going to win the Cup, but winning games breeds confidence especially when we perform like we did today away from home. If anything that’s been our downfall this season and so hopefully we can now kick on and add some consistency.

Teams in the league look at us as a big scalp. We’ve maybe let ourselves down a bit away from home, but hopefully with this result we can build on it and add some consistency.”

Preston loan striker Mellor, 28, nodded in his 13th goal in the 55th minute and the Sheffield born former Liverpool star said:

“It was good result. We believe that we’ve got a squad full of Championship players and so when you come to a place like this it’s important to try and prove that point and I think that we proved we can play against a Championship team, but we’ve got to do the same in the tough games in League One because we’ve got players capable of playing at this level. We can’t afford too many more slip ups in League One though.

I really enjoy it here, I really do. The manager and Chairman both want us to get promoted and the whole point of coming here was to gain promotion. We’re all pushing in the same direction. It’s a huge club and anything’s possible and so I’m hoping it takes off here. I’m still only 28 and I still have ambitions. I don’t want to be playing in League One. I want to get promoted to the Championship and then one day play in the Premier League with Sheffield Wednesday. It’s a long term ambition, but there’s no reason why it couldn’t happen. Smaller clubs have made it into the Premier League.

It’s such a fanatical club. Every away game we take three or four thousand with us. There’s a lot of passion in the city and if we can get it going they’ll be right behind us as they have been so far this season.

My targets are to stay in the side, score goals and get promoted. And of course enjoy my football and it’s no secret that I’m enjoying myself.

I really enjoy playing alongside Clinton. He’s got loads of experience and brings so much to the training ground and on match days. He has so much enthusiasm.

We know though that if we don’t keep running for 90 minutes the gaffer will drag us off. So far we’ve had a good understanding and we’re both scoring goals and so long may it continue.

He’s the best coach I’ve ever worked for. I just love his training sessions and if you’re doing that you can take it into the matches.”

Clinton Morrison, 31, wrapped things up and slid in score the third goal from 4 yards in the 65th minutes after winger and was in a positive mood afterwards when he said:

“To get balls like we were getting into the box was brilliant in the second half. We haven’t been doing that recently and so it was great. That’s what Neil and I like to feed off as strikers and that’s how we get our goals.

I got to the quarter finals last year with Coventry and we played Chelsea at the Ricoh and they brought their big guns, John Terry, Lampard and Drogba. It was a good experience and to go on a good Cup run would be a great experience, but first and foremost our aim is to get promotion.

Cup runs help to breed confidence. In terms of fan base and stature of the club this is a big one, but the reality is that we’re in League One and our aim has to be to get back into the Championship. I said to the lads after the game that we’ve just beaten a side that are flying in the Championship at the moment. They’ve just beaten Cardiff and drawn away at QPR and even though they’re on a high at the moment we’ve battered them in the second half. We can’t go backwards now. We’ve got to go back to League One and play teams there and play the same way. I think it will happen because the gaffer’s strengthening the squad which will put everyone on their toes and mean you’ve got to fight for your position.

I’ve scored eight goals now this season, but I’m looking to get nearer to twenty so hopefully I can keep going. I should’ve scored more to be fair. I’ve created a lot for others, but should’ve scored more. My New Year’s resolution is to be more greedy and not pass anymore. Neil’s just going to have to deal with it.

Brighton have got a ten point lead over us, but I guarantee we’ll catch them. They’re bound to have a little slip up and we can kick on and catch them.

The gaffer’s said that a team will go on a roll this season and get up there and win the league and hopefully that will be us.”

Wednesday manager Alan Irvine was delighted with his team’s performance and said:

“I told the players at half time that they were better than they were showing. We gave the ball away too much and did not show enough self belief. The second half performance was tremendous. Goals change games and by the end everyone wanted the ball and every player was showing composure on it.

The goals we got were terrific and we could have had some more. We were aware of the threats from Bristol City. The two wide players have been in very good form so we were conscious of the danger that they posed down the sides, but in actual fact we probably created more than they managed to do.

I was delighted with the clean sheets and delighted with the debuts. I thought the two lads did very well. A couple of things early on in the game where people were maybe unfamiliar with each other, but I thought that they grew into it.

We know Reda can head the ball and head it a long way – probably further than I can kick it now! He’s a real threat in the air in their box and defends well in the air in our box and we hardly lost a header today.

Clearly our priority is the league without any question and that’s what well be judged on at the end of the season.

I’ve been told that it’s ten years since we’ve been this far in the Cup which was a huge surprise to be honest. You expect a club like this to have been beyond this round and so

If anyone asks if it’s a distraction I’d say no, it’s a fantastic competition. I said to the lads before the game that this is one of the special days in the English football calendar and it was a day that was important to me important to our fans, important to Milan and the players showed it was important to them as well.”

As far as Wednesday were concerned the general mood seemed to be one of pleasure at a job well done and a good result against a decent side from the league above, but they know that the main aim is to gain promotion and so the Cup is of secondary importance.

The tie against either Wycombe or Hereford won’t change that attitude and should they get through to the 5th round it will be interesting to see how much of a help or a hindrance the Cup becomes.

City meanwhile need to look at this result as a huge kick up the backside. Losing to a club of Wednesday’s size isn’t a major Cup shock (ask the Newcastle and Sunderland fans about Cup upsets), but Millen was right in saying it has cost them financially and after seeing the 4th round draw they’ll see it as am wasted opportunity. It’s time for them to get back to basics in the league – once they’ve watched the video nasty Millen gave them!

Bristol City v Sheffield Wednesday - My Cup

City are still in the bottom half of the Championship table, but Wednesday should be wary. In my view it's a false position going on the performances I've seen and they are in the middle of a little purple patch at the moment.

Last weekend saw the Robins take a point from promotion favourites QPR in west London and in the previous fixture they trashed another hotly fancied club, in Cardiff, by three goals.

Manager Keith Millen is certainly up for the Cup and said: "It`s a massive game for us, I think it`s our biggest game of the season. We want a cup run because for the finances of the club it can be a massive boost, but the supporters deserve an exciting cup run too."

But the Christmas fixtures took their toll on Millen;'s squad with several players picking up injuries and knocks and he said: "I gave the players two days off because they needed it on the back of their recent exerts," said Millen. "A few have been feeling knocks and strains but hopefully the time off will see those ease. It's also important to maintain the momentum we have built up over the last couple of games. We have another home game against Middlesbrough next week and I don't want the lads to let things slip. We have back-to-back games at Ashton Gate and, if we can win both, then we will be heading in the right direction.


We'll make sure the players are all fully focussed and I'll put out the strongest possible team available to me. We'll have to wait and see who those players are but, hopefully, we'll have a few more available than over the last couple of weeks."

Wednesday currently occupy the final play off spot in League One, but are only four points off the second automatic promotion place. However they have lost three of their last four games and shipped ten goals in the last four. The only positive result they have had in this time was a 6-2 drubbing of Bristol Rovers.

I watched the Owls once this season in their away defeat at the County Ground where goals from Charlie Austin and former player Jon-Paul McGovern settled things and have to say that they were unlucky to head back to Yorkshire with nothing to show for their efforts.

Wednesday today signed defender Michael Morrison, 22,  from Leicester for an undisclosed fee on a three-and-a-half year deal and he is the second player to arrive during the transfer window after Reda Johnson.

Morrison will go straight into the Owls' squad for their FA Cup clash at Bristol City - as will Johnson - and manager Alan Irvine said: "He's a player I've known for a long time. He's a good age at 22 and has a lot of experience for a young player. Michael has played mainly as a centre-back but also at right-back. He's a good defender, who attacks the ball well, he's aggressive and mobile and a player who has excellent all-round potential."

Irvine seems to be doing a decent job at Hillsborough and I suspect that - while they would love a money spinning Cup run - promotion back to the Championship is all that really matters.

Irvine is highly respected within the game and a thoroughly decent guy as well and I'm sure that he will be bringing Wednesday back to Ashton Gate again next seasn fo a league tussle.

On this occasion though I think that the Robins will see the Owls off and progress into the next round. The feelgood factor is growing in the red half of Bristol and, while it would be unfair on the Yorkshire boys to say City want it more, they have a chance take a little glory from the season (promotion to the Premier League being unlikely) with a decent Cup run and some luctrative draws in future rounds. It'll be tight though and if I'm wrong (as I often am) it won't be viewed as a giant killing.

Over paid and pampered footballers? – No Money

As a fan I’m as prone as anyone else to getting on my high horse in the local boozer and moaning about the extortionate wages being paid to footballers, but I was reminded at Bristol Rovers on Tuesday night that the majority of professional players aren’t actually paid a great deal … and in Plymouth Argyle’s case, nowt!

The Argyle lads haven’t been paid what they are entitled to for two months now and the PFA have even stepped in to help them out.

Most of these players will never reach the dizzy heights of the Premier League and – with a career likely to be over by the time they reach their mid-thirties if they’re lucky – any money they pick up now is very important.

I wonder how many of us would show the same loyalty to our companies as the Argyle boys showed in a spirited display against Rovers.

Two goals down at half time, two key players sold already in the transfer window to pay club debts, six other decent players out on loan to cut costs, a Football League transfer embargo in place, hovering just above the relegation zone in League One – these fellas could have been forgiven for texting their agents (if they could afford one) from the dressing room or feigning injury in order to protect themselves while sorting out a move to a financially secure Conference club, but they didn’t.

In a display that had manager Peter Reid rightly singing their praises after the game, they came out fighting and showed a great deal of professional pride to score three goals and win it.

True, Rovers imploded to a certain extent, but credit where it is due, the Argyle lads were a real credit to their club and their profession.

Anyone who has ever visited Home Park knows that Plymouth is a real sleeping giant of a club and the fact that they made the short list for proposed venues in England’s failed 2018 World Cup bid is no accident. The passion of the football fans on the south coast is up there with the best of them and their team is doing them proud in difficult circumstances.

Of course it’s not just Argyle who are teetering on the brink at the moment, but their players deserve every plaudit going for doing their bit to ensure the situation doesn’t get any worse.

Reid should also be applauded as he has walked into a fiscal nightmare, but is standing shoulder to shoulder with his players to turn things around when he could probably afford to walk away.

It should also be noted that the backroom and office staff at Plymouth aren’t getting their full whack either and so also spare a thought for them if they can’t find your pre-paid ticket or don’t put onions on your burger down at Home Park.

Bristol Rovers 2 Plymouth Argyle 3 - Stunned and Amazed

I was sitting next to a local Plymouth reporter for last night’s encounter at the Memorial Ground and at the break he was bemoaning the fact that Mikkel Andersen had made a superb save low to his left to ensure Rovers went in for their half time oranges two Will Hoskins’s goals to the good.

Even though the home side were head and shoulders above Argyle for most of the first 45 minutes I told the journo that if they scored before Rovers got a third, panic would set in and that’s exactly what happened.

My clipping from today's paper

Bradley Wright-Phillips pulled one back in the 58th minute and then co-striker Joe Mason prodded home an equaliser eleven minutes later as the Gas deflated and imploded.

Midfielder Stephane Zubar stole all three points in the 81st minute poking home from about four yards after team mate had pumped a 45 yard free kick forward to the unmarked Frenchman.

The ‘oles’ that greeted Rovers passing game in the first half we replaced with jeers of derision as the game wore on and the only round of applause was saved for keeper Mikkel Andersen who appeared to be saying goodbye before returning to parent club Reading as his loan deal has now expired.

I left the ground with Mikkel and while he wouldn’t be drawn as to what his plans were, he did say:

“I want to be playing regularly and will be hoping to start against West Brom in the Cup on Saturday.”

It appears he now has is eyes focused on making a claim for involvement at Reading, but he did see some positives for Rovers.

“There are some very good younger players here,” he said “And I thought Elliot Richards was great tonight. In fact a lot quicker than I thought.”

Rovers caretaker boss Darren Patterson saw his own career path fade before his eyes in the second half and groaned:

“We are obviously very disappointed. From probably playing the best football we have done all season we gifted the game away. That’s what we did, absolutely gift it away.

We had to work pretty hard for our goals, but we simply don’t do the ugly side of the game very well and it’s simply killing us.

We have lots of technically gifted players at the club, but maybe we need people who can do the horrible things when we need to protect a two goal lead.”

Patterson understandably refused to even discuss the vacant manager’s position given the result and - after the first question on the subject – made a point of telling the rest of the assembled reporters not to ask it again.

If the players did want him to take on the job full time I’m afraid that they really didn’t do him any favours at all with their second half collapse and with 81% of readers in a local paper stating that they do NOT want him as manager, any interview the board grant him now will be given as a mere courtesy.

Why the board sacked Paul Trollope with no fallback position though remains a key question. With no game this weekend, the board better sort out an acceptable replacement in the next few days before the Gas faithful turn their frustration on them.

Argyle’s players haven’t received their wages from the club now for two months, the club is under a football league transfer embargo and it is selling key squad members to clear debts and so manager Peter Reid praised their fighting spirit after the game.

"The players deserve every bit of credit," said the Argyle boss. "Away from home, 2-0 down and then to get a result speaks for itself. We started slowly. They dominated us early on and we could not get out of our half. But towards the end of the first half we were threatening and I felt if we could get one goal, a foothold, we would be back in it and I was right. It was fantastic. The second half was so exciting.

It’s a balancing act at the moment. We have to sell players to pay off our debts so that we can get the transfer embargo lifted and then try and bring in loan players, but it is what it is and we just have to get on with it and the players have shown a great spirit after what they’ve been through.”

Chris Hutchings - Sacked

Walsall Chairman Jeff Bonser has removed manager Chris Hutchings and assistant Martin O'Connor from the club told the website: "Their preparation and professionalism has been second to none but we are in a results business."

He added: "Chris and Martin have both worked extremely hard during their time at the club.

"They have both been professional throughout and conducted themselves with great dignity in what have been difficult times.

The duo have been relieved of their duties with immediate effect and Head of Youth, Dean Smith, will take temporary charge of first-team affairs as The Saddlers begin the search for a new manager."

The only time I have seen Walsall this season was in the 'lucky' FA Cup win over Fleetwood Town and I must be honest and say that Hutchings was just as lucky to have survived this long going on that performance ... and given the hostile abuse aimed at the directors that evening.

Goalkeeper Jimmy Walker as his replacement anyone? Wacker is a firm favourite at the Bescot and I suspect would be thinking about moving into management.

Having said that, there are now quite a few experienced lower league heads on the market and Phil Parkinson's name has just been added to that list following his dismissal from Charlton.

Bristol Rovers v Plymouth Argyle - At Last

I can’t remember the last time I covered three games on consecutive days, but this is what will happen when I visit the Memorial Ground this evening … assuming it isn’t postponed of course!

I have missed out on several trips to see Rovers play in the last month due to the weather and so it will be good to see how – or if – they are reacting to caretaker boss Darren Patterson.

I have seen quotes from Patterson stating that the club need to bring in three players as soon as possible and should have done so three months ago. A little barbed comment aimed at the board from someone who knows he’s on borrowed time I wonder?

Or an attack on former boss Paul Trollope. I strongly doubt it.

As football directors at this level hate forking out for new players, I suspect that a new appointment is imminent.

Wycombe Wanderers 1 Gillingham 0 - Catch Up

This game was a real war of attrition between two form sides of League Two and the fact that it was settled by Dave Winfield’s goal was no real surprise.

The groundsmen were working until two in the morning to ensure the surface was acceptable following Wasps rugby fixture the day before, but the lack of goal mouth action had little to do with the pitch and everything to do with the fact that the two teams were so evenly matched.

My clipping from today's paper

Wycombe boss Gary Waddock rested his veteran skipper and talisman Gareth Ainsworth and resisted the temptation to bring him off the bench to shake things up and he was rewarded for the faith he showed in midfielders Matt Bloomfield and Stuart Lewis. Both midfielders worked tirelessly for the cause without ever inspiring in the same way that 37 year old Ainsworth does, but they got their reward when Winfield nodded home the winner.

Swindon Town 1 Bournemouth 2 - Catch Up

Charlie Austin cut quite a forlorn figure in the tunnel after the game and he was obviously as frustrated at the way things are going at the County Ground.

My clipping from the paper

Equally, Danny Wilson alluded to the fact that maybe the pressure would ease away from home as the Robins fans become increasingly annoyed. He looked to be proved right by yesterday’s amazing 4-1 win at Charlton and watching Austin score two goals against the Addicks, you could tell that he hadn’t let the Bournemouth defeat eat away at him for too long.

To Bournemouth’s credit though they are a decent side and might well surprise a few people this season and take one of the promotion spots. If that happens, they will find it difficult to hold on to 33 year old manager Eddie Howe in the summer … assuming he doesn’t leave in the next couple of weeks for Burnley, Bristol Rovers or one of the many other vacancies available.

Both of the Cherries goalscorers – skipper Jason Pearce and winger Marc Pugh – told me after the game that they were desperate for Howe to stay and you could feel the camaraderie in the squad – a major asset for a club of this size and with so few resources.

I would bet that Howe will see the campaign through to the end of the season on the south coast and then make his next career move.

Then again, after this performance I would have put money on Swindon slipping towards the trap door at a rate of knots and – as the win against Charlton showed – they have no intention of letting that happen.

Mind you, to ensure League One football next season they are going to have to hold on to Austin as without him it is difficult to see who can weigh in with twenty-plus goals.

Matt Ritchie pulled one back for Swindon before Pearce’s 80th minute overhead winner and even though he also found the net against Charlton – he’s no Charlie Austin.

Austin suffered a very bad injury before his career had even started belatedly fifteen months ago and so knows how fickle this game can be. Would he turn down a move this month to a Championship club? I doubt it and wouldn’t blame him. Could the club turn down an offer of £1 million plus having invested peanuts in acquiring him last year? I doubt that either.

I also doubt that Danny Wilson would be happy with the decision or that he’d survive until the end of the season if the board sold his star striker.

And the News of the World clipping

Bristol City 1 Crystal Palace 1 - Catch Up

Following a couple of weeks of bad weather, man-flu, Christmas celebrations and not a little alcohol abuse, I will attempt to catch up on the couple of games I managed to attend over the festive season.

First up was the Championship clash between the Robins and Palace.

My clipping from the paper

I saw the same game last season when Palace had a perfectly good goal ruled out after the referee failed to spot the ball hit the frame in the back of the net and bounce back into play – assuming it had hit an advertising hoarding behind the goal.

In this game Palace had the right to feel aggrieved as well after Brett Pitman equalized from the spot in the 94th minute.

Neil Danns had opened the scoring in the 2nd minute and was a class apart in midfield as Lee Johnson and Marvin Elliott failed to cope with him.

On wag in the press box wondered aloud whether there was any chance of Palace swapping number eights during the transfer window and while this might have been a little harsh on Johnson, the fact that Danns is out of contract in the summer must see him packing his bags for a final career move at some point soon.

Keith Millen’s side rode their luck in this one, but to their credit, they never gave up and so for guts and determination alone, they probably deserved something out of it, although Palace will beg to differ.

To their credit, Palace played with a passion that belied their position in the relegation zone and they certainly didn’t look as though they were a team who wanted rid of their manager. Surprising then that George Burley found himself out of a job only a few days later when Millwall stuffed them by three goals.

Talking of Millwall; one of the south London press lads took a call from a colleague in the first half and was in stitches after ending it. It turns out his colleague was down for the Millwall game that afternoon, but had been told the game kicked off at five o’clock and so was desperately trying to get to the New Den before the final whistle!