The Pub Team are Back!

 

We've finally done it! Many thought it was simply not possible but in the end, it had to happen. I'm talking about being drawn at home for the first league fixture of the season. The last time it happened was 6 years ago in 2007 when Millwall were the opponents in our opening league 1 fixture. Saturday's match is just the second time Rovers have been at home on first day since being promoted back into the football league. The Millwall game ended goalless but the season of course ended in play-off triumph. I'd be happy to take history repeating itself!

At this point in the blog, I normally rabbit on about the last time out but it hardly seems relevant with it being the first game. Then again, it wasn't such a bad last time out from a Rovers point of view was it? Carlsberg don't do season endings but if they did....Anyway, in case anyone missed it, here's my take on 2012/13 with Rovers.

I have to confess that I don't do closed seasons very well. I seriously cannot be bothered with the wild speculation and pure rubbish that is written in the press and on the forums at this time of year. So, until Wednesday I had read very little about the Rovers. I had however gleaned that they had been to Portugal on a pre-season tour.

 

Portugal? Last season it was Cleethorpes! Touring Portugal pre-season actually sounds like something a proper club might do! Could Rovers be becoming a proper club. You know, with money and everything?

 

Fast forward to Wednesday, just 4 days before we are due to kick-off a championship campaign and there's the pub team I know and love. We had just 13 players on the books on Wednesday Morning (let's face it, most pub teams have more). Micky Walker (who no longer even works for the club) deputizes for Paul Dickov at a live "meet the South Yorkshire Managers" radio event and announces to our local rivals that we're shopping at Aldi rather than M&S. At another press event Ryan, Baldwin and Watson attempt to not answer questions on takeover speculation for 15 minutes when a statement would surely have delivered the same meagre information with a little less cringing from the fans. Tommy Spurr walks away from the club to Blackburn because we were too slow with his paperwork. Yeah...the pub team is alive and kicking.

 

Player-wise, we did manage some late signings. We had to! So we start tomorrow not looking in such bad shape. That old adage about it being important to have your team together for the pre-season was forgotten but it was last season too, and that worked out OK. So it's welcome to Ross Turnbull, Mark Duffy, Harry Forrester, Luke McCullough, Marc de Val, Bongani Khumalo and Richie Wellens. We've got to the starting line. It's going to be a long slog to the finish but, yes, we will have the temerity to compete hard for 21st place.

 

And so on to Blackpool. There are a surprising number of parallels between our two clubs. First of all there's the fact that Blackpool also have issues with the fixture computer (or however they work out who is at home for the first game). Blackpool are away on first day for the fifth consecutive season.

 

Then we have the manager, Paul Ince. Ince, like Dickov hasn't had the best of management careers up to date. After winning a league trophy and a League 2 Championship with MK Dons in 2008, Ince's managerial career has been a series of embarrassing failures. At Blackburn, admittedly, one of the worst run clubs in the country, he managed just 3 wins in 17 games in charge and was fired after less six months. After a "nothing" season back at the Dons, he went to Notts County. Again it ended badly with Ince and the club parting company after a record 9 match losing streak. Now starting his first full season in charge at the Seasiders, many think this could be a make or break season for Ince.

 

Ince has by his own admission been frustrated when it has come to building his squad for the season. He has managed to bring five new recruits on board in the form of Bobby Grant, Michael Chopra, Steven Davies, Gary MacKenzie and Jack Robinson but 14 players have left Bloomfield Road. So Blackpool come into the first match of the season with just 13 fit first team players. Pub team?

 

But it's football and its back - Horaay! Perhaps more people will now start writing about things that are happening rather than things they may believe, feel or guess is happening. We can only hope!

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