Ricky and Tom chat all things DRFC
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00:00Hello and welcome along to the latest episode of our Rovers chat, our semi-regular discussion
00:06on all things Doncaster Rovers. I'm joined as ever by Tom. Tom, how are we doing?
00:11Very well, thank you, Ricky. Thanks for having me on.
00:14Very well. Yeah, so let's get down to it then. So, last time we spoke, I think, was just
00:19after the New Year, kind of preceding that whole game, I think, once it was in the Cup
00:23and in the midst of that, or at the start of that, you know, that nice little run of
00:28wins that they got. Flip it on its head, kind of, you know, right now, it's three losses
00:33on the spin in all comps. So, you know, you have to kind of take the Palace one with a
00:39bit of a, you know, pinch of salt, I guess, in terms of the context of it. But it's still
00:44back-to-back league defeats, which we've not seen this season, have we? Obviously, before
00:48Saturday's loss to Grimsby.
00:50Yeah, the Palace game, I thought Rovers could have done without. I'm not sure that anything
00:58positive came out of that. It was good to get lots of punters through the door but shunted
01:05behind, you know, the red button on a Monday night, with very slim possibility of winning
01:13and not a favourable tie had they beaten Crystal Palace. And then to suffer two, three injuries
01:23to the likes of Maxwell, Ennis as well. I'm sure there was another one in there. Obviously,
01:30Sterry went off with his concussion but played at the weekend. Rovers just could have done
01:34without it. It was another game in the legs and especially off the back of that Chesterfield
01:42defeat. Yes, you want to focus your energies into a performance but I think, you know,
01:49they could have done without it, all told. But neither performance, either side of that
01:55game, has been favourable. They're far too open at Chesterfield. Grant said about having
02:05to learn lessons and quickly. You'd hope that you're not needing to say that as a manager
02:14two-thirds of the way into a season, particularly when you hope for the title.
02:20It was a different sort of game against Grimsby. As soon as they went a goal down,
02:26Grimsby controlled it very well for an hour, I thought. A few of the dark arts resurfaced.
02:33But I looked at their away record. It's incredible, Grimsby. They're the top three in the
02:37division. So, perhaps, in retrospect, it shouldn't have been a surprise. It's been a
02:44bruising week for Rovers. I've listened to Grant's thoughts ahead of Morecambe tomorrow night.
02:51It's kind of been a refocusing of the mind of all the staff and all the players as to how near
03:00or far they feel they are from their objectives.
03:03Yes. I thought it was quite interesting when he mentioned that. Getting the entire,
03:07not just the team, the first team, but all the kit men, tea ladies, whatever,
03:13behind-the-scenes staff you want to think of. That can work, can't it? Hopefully, it does work.
03:22But, like you said earlier, two-thirds of the way through the season,
03:26supporters do have understandable concerns. I don't think it's just a few.
03:31We've said before that when Grant came out, I'm not knocking him for it at all because I love his
03:36attitude, love his honesty. Sometimes he's probably too honest and I think he'd admit that. But,
03:41going for the title, saying that, that's put pressure on him. I'm the players as well.
03:50We all know the aim now. I'm not saying they're going to be considered a failure if they finish
03:55second or third. Far from it. But, that's always been there, hasn't it? That yardstick
04:03that you've got to be marking yourself against. At the minute, like you said, the gap to Walsall
04:09kind of gone away a bit after this last week or so. But, yes, it's been an odd season,
04:16very odd season. There's been no continuity, really, as then, in terms of
04:21team selection, patterns of play. But, at the same time, there's still a couple of points off
04:28the top three. Yes, and to be fair, since the last time we spoke, when they started
04:34grinding out the wins against Gillingham's, Harrogate's, MK Don's, I thought, here we go.
04:42This is Rovers. They're into the stride. Not necessarily saying that they're going to win
04:49every game or go on a 10-game run like they did last season. Grant was kind of,
04:54it's a blessing and a curse what happened last season. It proves what him and his side are
04:58capable of. But, people will always expect him to pull a rabbit out of the hat. Yes.
05:04And football doesn't quite work like that. But, I've had a couple of conversations. I remember
05:11asking Jamie Sterry on Saturday, did you see the result coming? By that, I didn't mean
05:17necessarily getting beat. But, when everything is going well, I'd be glad to believe on the
05:23training part, then for them to suffer a couple of defeats, it's not happened before this season.
05:30So, it's really a test. And I'm sure we've seen that every time they've got beat, they've bounced
05:36back. Yes. So, to not be able to do that, they're going to be questioned. I was going into that
05:43Chesterfield game, I know I'm flitting about with the kind of time frames and everything.
05:48Looking at that, Rovers are 8-9 wins here from promotion. They still are 8-9 wins from promotion.
05:57But, there's just two less games in which to try and do it.
06:01That's it, exactly. And brings us on nicely to the next two. And I think I had my eye on these
06:06two games, as soon as they were kind of paired together, because obviously Morecambe got shifted
06:11from, I think it was the weekend of the Palace game, wasn't it? So, suddenly, you're kind of
06:17going into these, Morecambe away and Accrington are probably as, like it says on the graphic
06:23there, archetypal, late to 23rd and 21st, I think, if I'm right, in the table. And you look
06:30at it and you think, right, second bottom, fourth bottom, and they've got six wins between them at
06:34home all season. But, it's still, you've got to go there, dig in, and these are the kind of
06:41windmills. I think we'll find a lot out about this group, won't we? Yeah, absolutely. They are
06:47tough places to go, notoriously. I don't think there'll be much favourable weather or conditions.
06:56It will be backs to the wall sort of stuff. I'm still haunted, as I'm sure many people who watch
07:02this will be, by the Morecambe game of a couple of years ago, Robles were 3-0 up at half-time
07:09and got beat 4-3 under Gary McSheffery. And that was a tough one to take. People still talk to me
07:16about it, even now. So, for those going on Tuesday, even at 3-0 up, don't count your
07:22chickens. But Robles weren't there, that was part of the run last season, wasn't it? And both are
07:28against the backdrop of uncertainty. I think Accrington aren't the force that they were a
07:34couple of seasons ago, but they have got a similar home record, I'm sure, already, to Robles,
07:40actually. So, they're quite hard to beat. It's not an easy place to go at the Crown Ground. If Robles
07:46can come away with, it's got to be four, hasn't it? It's got to be at least four points, you would
07:51think. But this is the easier run of fixtures that they've got. They're not going to face a
08:00table-topper or anyone in around them for a few weeks yet. That's it, absolutely. I agree. I think
08:06four points would be a good return. Obviously, six would be ideal. I think if they could get the
08:11six to move into that, because very shortly we'll be getting to single-digit figures in terms of
08:18games left. It's coming into its last furlong now, isn't it, the season? We all know what they did
08:26this time last year. I know McCann said it's a different group and stuff, but they can use that,
08:31can't they? Because there's still a lot of players involved with that, and I know it's a different
08:36context and the group's different to an extent, but there's still a lot of players
08:40within that squad that know what that felt like.
08:44Yes, I see similarities in terms of there are players who can
08:51cotton on to that. You think of the players, though, who finished last season in form,
08:56and it was the Loneys, it was the Craigs and the Delecans and the TLT. A lot of people hung their
09:03hats on them. Now, whether that's going to say to you, Rob Streets and players like that, look,
09:10this is what happened last year. You can go out there and, I mean, we've not really singled out
09:15anyone in particular, but I think he's taken to football at League Two level like a duck to water,
09:21actually, Rob Street. I think he's potentially in contention for a start through the middle.
09:28But yes, there's plenty of players who've been there, seen it, done it and experienced last
09:33season and that they'll hope to replicate or go on better. I think Grant was on about the fact
09:40that the club have not been promoted for eight or nine years. That will be under Fergie out of
09:45League Two and how he wants this group to replicate that. But when you're in the final furlong,
09:52as you've put it up on screen, you have to stop talking about it and start doing.
10:00I'll be honest, I thought that was going to be the case on Saturday against Grimsby, but
10:06just thwarted on that occasion. I think, maybe I'm making more of it than it is, but
10:14when Rovers have gone behind this season in the league, they've not won. So, as soon as that
10:21happened at the weekend against Grimsby, you're kind of always thinking, well, unless something
10:26changes, it's going to be a point unless something different happened. I think they
10:32need to shake out of that. Ideally, they'd go on that run again of nil-nils and one-nils that
10:39I so desperately crave, but we shall see. Not an ideal time for Jamie McGrath to be struck down.
10:47Yes, exactly. I don't think he gave an update today on McGrath. I know he said
10:52on Friday that he'd mind touch and go for this one, but hopefully, if not tomorrow,
10:57Accrington. This is the thing as well, injuries. There wasn't any 10 days ago,
11:05and now all of a sudden they're creeping in, aren't they? They're nowhere near what they
11:07were last year, but Maxwell potentially got a broken little toe, McGrath's injured. Obviously,
11:13Wood's been out a while. The little niggles and knocks that weren't happening.
11:19Yeah, Ennis as well. So, yeah, could do without that. You kind of do out that.
11:27Your talismanic players, your Molyneuxs and your Sharps stay fit. Bailey's a linchpin in that
11:36midfield. I thought he was quite good, actually, on Saturday. Since the turn of the year,
11:41there's been an improvement in Owen Bailey. I don't know whether it's combined with Charlie
11:48Crewe kind of sitting there alongside him, or what it may be, but I think he was always onto
11:54a bit of a loser, trying to replicate the hikes of last season, and a few fans were disgruntled.
12:00But, yeah, he's still not necessarily captain fantastic, but I think he does lead by example.
12:08And maybe he can use that, what we say from last year, to get into a few people and say,
12:15no, come on, we can be better than this. And it is there for the taking. Let's not forget,
12:20you know, the fact that Rovers have lost back-to-back games and we're putting up on
12:23screen mini blip and points dropped and this, that and the other. They're still three points
12:30off second. And if you go into the last game of the season and you're within touching distance of
12:35that, I think everyone will be happy with that. Absolutely. Yeah, just a little side note on
12:40Bailey. He's, well, I presume he'll play, he always plays, doesn't he? He'll play tomorrow,
12:45and if he plays Saturday, there'll be his hundredth outing for Donny, which just tells you,
12:51and that is probably, I don't think he's missed a single game, has he? Off the top of my head.
12:57No, I think he's started every game.
12:59Yeah, not this season, I don't think he has. I think he might have, but he's definitely featured
13:03in, like I said, 98 today from the start of last season, which is, which says it all, I guess.
13:10We'll just finish then on, because we didn't have time, well, we didn't speak about it at all,
13:14didn't go on the last one because it was still very much mid-Jan. How do you look at the business?
13:20We'll talk outgoings first of all, because obviously, excuse me, Brandon Fleming,
13:25Efrem Yeboah went, which we're kind of, you know, nobody was really surprised about that.
13:31It's interesting to see where they have gone, you know, I don't know what your thoughts are on
13:36Dunfermline and Forest Green as new destinations for them to…
13:41Pretty far apart.
13:45Geographically, or?
13:47Yeah, yeah, I don't know. They were never out-and-out first-team regulars, were they?
13:56Definitely not Yeboah, yeah.
13:58And then obviously, Lewis Jones and Josh Emanuel, I think they've just kind of trimmed the squad,
14:03haven't they? Which we spoke before, didn't we? Ben Close as well, let's not forget. So,
14:08you know, those are the kind of major ones from the last couple of weeks of the window.
14:13And Kyle Hurst. They're all over him.
14:15Yeah, I'm forgetting all of these players that they've, yeah, allowed to go. Hurst was a,
14:21I think if there's any of those what we've just listed, Hurst's the one that
14:25divided opinion, probably. I mean, again, Queen's Park's a bit of a left-field one,
14:29isn't it? But debuting at Ibrox, Cup win, you know, different experiences for him.
14:37Yeah, I'd have been in the first-team camp. Personally, if you're asking me to nail my
14:44colours to the mask, I always thought that I would have had him in my squad.
14:49I thought he has the ability to change a game off the bench and that's invaluable. But Grant
14:57obviously has seen differently and that's what he's paid to do. And Hurst can go and try and
15:04prove himself in Scottish football and come back a stronger player. Notable that Rovers
15:11extended his contract, it was agreed to extend his contract as well. Obviously, Ben Close,
15:18we'll have another year once he returns from Eastleigh in the summer. But those two returns
15:27seem a long, long way away. And it's very up in the air as to where Rovers will be.
15:34So, go on then, you forgot a few who went out. I forgot a few who came in. Street and Ennis were
15:41two. Ennis and Crew, yeah, since those three arrivals. All London as well, yeah.
15:48Yeah, you made it to the three, obviously we've talked about Street, but Crew.
15:54Gillingham, I thought, wasn't convinced that first half. I thought chucking him straight in,
15:59but to be fair, the game after, remind me which one that was, home game, wasn't it?
16:04I thought he looked confident. Yeah, possibly. Yeah, it was definitely a home game and I thought,
16:11he's got a bit about him. Yeah, I think most of the lonely lads, I've got something there.
16:20They're all fairly young, aren't they? They're 22, 23 and under.
16:26Street's the oldest, yeah, the rest are 21 or under, yeah.
16:30So, they're having to adapt accordingly. And what an introduction to men's senior football,
16:38this is for quite a lot of them. As I alluded to earlier, I think Rob Street, who's probably the
16:44most experienced of the bunch, has acquitted himself very well. I like the way he's quite
16:52physical, gets about, etc, etc. So, there's options on the left. No one's really nailed
17:00that starting berth on the left flank this season. We have seen Street and Ennis and Hurst and Gibson
17:08could be any of them. Well, obviously not Hurst anymore. So, yeah, no, crew, agree with, looks
17:16a tidy, tidy player. Don't think that some of the League Two pitchers are doing him much favours,
17:25to be honest, but he does show that air of composure and looks like he's been playing
17:31probably a lot longer than he has. Yeah, absolutely, yeah. So, obviously, the last time
17:36we did this was, I think it was early Jan. So, if we try and aim to do another one early to mid-March,
17:42where are you saying Rovers are at by then? So, they've got, obviously, Morecambe and Atherton
17:47away, Newport at home and Bromley away. So, three of the next four away. Like we said earlier,
17:53they're not easy places to go. Yeah, no, that's why Saturday's defeat kind of took on an extra
18:02significance. I looked at the fixture and thought there's quite a lot of away games coming up here.
18:06Rovers are going to have to do this the hard way. Don't know, might just be a bit of a road show
18:12and they might go and go to a few people's backyards and steal the three points and run away.
18:19But you'd hope that in a month's time that they are, if not in a similar position,
18:26within touching distance of the automatics and, I mean, within a win of. So, we shall see,
18:33because that'll set it up for a bumper kind of April and Easter period, won't it?
18:39Hopefully, they'll be full of the joys of spring, as you are always, Thomas. Nice joining us, Tom.
18:45Yeah, like I say, if you've missed any of the show, you can obviously rewind and catch it on demand.
18:50And as I've mentioned, we'll try and do another one of these, hopefully, early to mid-March when
18:56Tom's prediction will hopefully have come true. But yeah, thanks for joining and we'll see you next time.