How Seven Days Ruined the Reputation of Doncaster

[donnygreenjeans]

By the way, i didn't write this, taken from the viva rovers site, some very interesting points brought up in the piece.

Little more than a year ago, aboard a Belgrade bound train at Bijelo-Polje on the Serbian-Montenegrin border. Hungover, sleep-deprived and nurturing an ill-thought-out late-breakfast beer, in the company of three fellow Wales and the loudest buffet car operator this side of the Caucasus’. After some time waiting the border guard appeared; he looked over my passport, smirked, and as he handed it back to me said “Ah, Doncaster… good football”.

A decade or so previously Doncaster Rovers would have barely registered on the conscience of many in the town itself, but here we were known and acknowledged 1,700 miles away on one of the world’s newest frontiers. I doubt I will ever be prouder of my club than I was at that moment. Of course there will always be a significant amount of pride in support of your home-town club, you’re backing the place of your birth against the rest of the world. Whether the rest of the world be represented by Barcelona, Brighton or Barrow, it is always a case of us against them. However, there is an even greater pride to be held in your club when it is looked on favourably by neutrals, by those who have no passing interest. There is great honour and gratification to be taken when your club appears unto others as something more substantial than another town on the League table.

In 1997-98 Doncaster Rovers had that distinction for all the wrong reasons. They were the club being ground into the dust at the behest of one-man’s inconceivable will. But, against the odds, Rovers survived and from the moment the following season began we have stood apart from the rest, able to carve out an individual identity for ourselves and be proud of what we were doing.

From 1998 to 2003 our identity was that of a club and support hard done by attempting to regain what we had taken from us; our place in the Football League. From the moment (Sir) Francis Tierney’s golden goal hit the back of the net to the moment Dave Penney departed we were exorcising the demons of Ken Richardson and all he stood for. We were the pub team having a laugh. We won a Championship when we had been favourites for relegation. We asserted ourselves as a comfortable third tier side. We came within seconds of a League Cup semi-final. And then came Sean O’Driscoll, and the assertion that football, even on a budget, even in unfashionable northern towns, could be played the right way, and doing so could bring success.

Rovers, our Rovers, reached the second tier five years after they had been a non-league club, playing to the same principles of those clubs regarded as the best in Europe. We were mentioned in the same breath as Arsenal, as Barcelona, as Ajax, and yes I realise that much of the time this was done with tongue firmly in cheek, but as a club it still set us apart and gave us a definable identity. We were not just a team from Doncaster, we were a side that played “good football”. Tearing Millwall apart at The Den with 31 (yes, 31!) efforts on goal. Playing keep ball to frustrate Derby and amaze pundits on our Championship debut. Stringing 21 passes together in the build up to Martin Woods’ chip at the City Ground. Skipping through Sheffield Wednesday as if they were not there… twice. Silencing Fratton Park, bell and all. All things I didn’t expect to see, all things that drew us edifying praise from outside, for playing the game the right way.

And there was further pride to be taken off the field too, in a club run with refreshing pragmatism. In November 2008, with Rovers rock bottom of the Championship Chief Executive David Morris told the press; “We set budgets prior to the start of the season. The directors put in £3million and that figure is sure to be more by the end of the season, in order to keep the club afloat. We don’t want to have to see this club start with minus 10 or minus 17 or minus 30 points and I would sooner see us in the division below. The way to end up with those minus figures is to keep throwing money at something in the hope that it will come right.” We had learned from the examples of our county neighbours heading in the opposite direction and were choosing an alternate path.

There was a caring homeliness too, as shown in the story of Robbie Clark, released from the club’s playing staff, only to be brought back in as a coach with the players chipping in to help pay his wages. Which other club’s players would be so giving as to make this gesture, or as to spend their close season trekking through Peru to raise money for charity. These things set us apart from other clubs, drawing plaudits from their supporters in the process, and gave us an identity to be proud of.

The observant amongst you will have noticed the past tense in which the preceding paragraphs are written. A lot has changed in the past week. So much so that I cannot keep up with rumour and counter rumour. In the space of seven days the club has not simply changed manager, or its on field tactics, it has changed its whole ethos and I’m struggling to get my head round it. I raised questions about this switch in approach via Twitter this week and received the reply “Are you a Rovers supporter or just SO’D?” Could I no longer be both?

It is increasingly the way of the world, there is a lessening acceptance of grey areas. You’re one thing or the other. You’re for it or against it. We’ve no time to digest the considered middle ground, so for ease you’ll be neatly pigeon-holed as positive or negative, pro or anti. But, things are not that definable, nor that simplistic at Rovers at the moment. For the record, I am a huge admirer of Sean O’Driscoll, but this goes much deeper than that. Indeed I share the view of fellow supporter Stu Leyland who told me recently that he “could sort of begrudgingly accept getting rid of Sean if it was purely down to footballing reasons.”

As it goes O’Driscoll was shown the door, and press coverage would suggest with no great kindness either; with the Yorkshire Post reporting that one of the club’s greatest managers was sacked via text message. The manager’s placement on gardening leave coming within twenty four hours of the Chairman fully backing his man in the local press with the now infamous words; “For the people shouting for the manager’s head, I ask you the questions who would you replace him with? Who is better? I can’t think of any manager that is better equipped for the job, and those clubs who sack managers willy nilly end up relegated. The board and I are not going down that path.”

Ryan and his directors could not think of anyone on Thursday morning. By Thursday night they had thought of Dean Saunders. By Friday morning Saunders had been appointed, on a three year deal. In a press conference Friday afternoon Saunders said “It came as a bit of a shock to me, I heard about the opportunity last night,” which would have been around eight hours before Sean O’Driscoll heard of the opportunity. There may be truth in the ‘text message dismissal’ story, there may not be, but it is clear that Dean Saunders knew he was Doncaster Rovers’ manager before Sean O’Driscoll knew he wasn’t.

In his column in today’s Doncaster Free Press John Ryan responded to questions regarding his apparent U-turn; “[Last week’s Free Press] would have been all set for printing when things started to move and a new manager was proposed to me and my fellow shareholders”. Proposed ‘to’, not ‘by’, you notice. So if Saunders, as he claims, knew nothing about the opportunity until late Thursday, who made the proposal? The answer we can presume, was in the looming presence of a big man, ear perpetually glued to a phone, in the background of all last Friday’s media footage. Football agent Willie McKay.

Doncaster-based McKay is the agent of Dean Saunders. He’s also the agent of El Hadj Djouf who was rumoured to be joining the club on Tuesday, the agent of Pascal Chimbonda, who did join the club on Wednesday, and Herold Goulon who was expected to sign for Rovers today. There is also a story doing the rounds that another of McKay’s clients, James McFadden, was sat in the Keepmoat Stadium stands on Tuesday night. This sudden significant influence of a man with whom Rovers have had no previous dealings concerns me. McKay will have made money from Saunders appointment. He will make further money from the recruitment of his other clients. That one man with much to gain personally, and no previous ties to the club, can suddenly be the most significant figure in the organisation’s dealings makes me uneasy. The only thing that makes me more uneasy, is that large numbers of our support are welcoming this complete reversal in club operating philosophy no questions asked.

McKay’s involvement may of course be completely innocent, but even as agents go, he is a man with a shadowy past. Just whacking his name into Google brings forth articles such as this, not to mention a petition trying to get him banned from football, several links to criminal investigations into football corruption. That’s just the stuff that’s out in the public domain; I don’t like to think about what else might be lurking beneath the surface.

The involvement of McKay is not the only change in approach taken by Rovers in the past seven days. On Tuesday night, on the BBC Radio Sheffield programme Football Heaven John Ryan made it known that the club would be looking to sign players with Premier League experience and looking across the continent for new additions. He also intoned that funds would be made available for Saunders to do this. But where has this money come from?

Of the Rovers board contains some very rich men in Dick Watson and Terry Bramall, but as mentioned earlier in this piece, the club’s approach up to now has not been to delve into the personal funds of the board members, but to run Rovers prudently to a long term strategy. Within a week it seems this has completely changed. The sudden about turn in Rovers’ approach to the transfer market, gave forth to rumours that McKay’s involvement was even more significant, with suggestions on messageboards that he had purchased a significant stake in the club. Rumours, which are not true, not least because they would compromise his availability to act as a football agent, and as his involvement in Joey Barton’s transfer suggests, there is much more money to be made in that field than there is in owning a football club.

If the money has come from the pockets of those on the board then, whilst it is frustrating that it was not made available to Sean O’Driscoll, that’s their prerogative. It is their money, and if they want to chuck money at a football club in the short-term then that is their choice. But, and this is a huge, and for me the most significant but, this significant investment – and it is a relatively significant investment given the new recruits both managerially and playing-wise, the club has made – comes just over a month after the same board was asking supporters to dig deep and donate their money to help fund the signing of a loan striker.

With Billy Sharp, James Hayter and Ryan Mason injured in the first week of the season the Viking Supporters’ Co-operative launched their ‘Loan Star Appeal’ asking fans to donate money to help the club afford to bring in a replacement forward.  Gareth Thomas, the VSC Director pushed the appeal on the Co-operative’s forum with the words “The directors (apart from John Ryan and Dick Watson) are not putting in any more cash… JR wants a bit of support from the fans, he has made funds available, but would like a show of support from the fans”. For the club, just a month later to be prepared to splash the cash for the new manager without acknowledging where it has come from makes a mockery of the VSC and completely undermines the organisation and those who run it. If the money was there all along, then Rovers have completely mis-led supporters into the state of their finances. If it wasn’t then where has it come from? And why has it only become available now the new man is at the helm?

There are other rumours and conspiracy theories doing the rounds, and there will continue to be so until the club sees fit to offer some sort of clarity to the situation. In today’s Free Press, the theory of McKay’s part ownership was rebuffed by the club whilst Dick Watson made a rare appearance in the same paper to rubbish reports of a split in the boardroom. “I can assure you one hundred percent we were all behind the decision [to change managers],” says Watson, but here lies the problem. With John Ryan having made such a complete and significant u-turn in the press last week, for whatever reason, how can we trust anything the current board tells us? Ryan has done so much for this club, and I so dearly want to be able trust his words, but after last week how can I and others be expected to do so?

A week ago I wrote a piece for this site in which I said how refreshing it was “to hear a Chairman put his faith in the man in the dugout after such a barren spell”. It was another aspect that stood us apart from other clubs. Who else would go 19 games without a win and back the manager? Indeed, that we could go on such a barren run and the disposal of O’Driscoll could still come as a shock to many involved with the game spoke volumes of the reputation the club had built up.

That reputation has been blown apart inside seven days. The footballing approach has changed, to the extent that the pitch has been both shortened and narrowed; Saunders may not advocate kick and rush, but he is certainly not adverse to it. The board have gone back on their own word and also their own ethos to the point at which they cannot truly be trusted in their statements. The club has a whole has shown a disdain for its supporters, by undermining those who earnestly gave their own money for its betterment five weeks ago. Even if new funds have been found, not acknowledging or explaining them is frankly insulting to the VSC and those who donated to its appeal.

We are no longer a source of envy from supporters of other clubs. We no longer sit apart. We’re just another football club. One that dismisses managers ungraciously, that places its future in the hands of agents of ill-reputation. One that subscribes to the notion that above all else it’s “a results business”. I still support the team of course, as it is my home town club and as such part of my make-up, but the last week has lessened my pride, and taken away much of the positive reputation Rovers had built to get to their current position. There are those who will shrug in the face of all this and say “well, that’s football,” perhaps, but for the last decade, Doncaster Rovers showed that it didn’t need to be.

[Standanista]

Just because it's a long post doesn't mean it's right, as someone more learned than I has said on here this week already.

And while you (the author, not DGJ) were on a train in ex-Yugoslavia, I was on a base in Antarctica (I lie not).  Where does that leave your \"Continentahl, Rodney\" travelw**kerism now???

SOD's gone, Deano's in, new system, same JR: get used to it, get over it and get on with it.  Onwards and upwards, get behind the lads on Saturday, RTID.

[benaldo]

It's full of more clap trap than 99% of even my own poorly thought out posts on here!

Where's the evidence Mackay has anything more to do with the club than as a contact via Saunders?

How do you sack an underperforming manager \"graciously\"? Send Morris round to massage him while humming gently in his ear \"I lurve you Sean, I'll still lurve you into eternity, but we're going to part ways into the starry night my lurvveee\"??!! Then announce 5 weeks of official mourning while new candidates are publicly flogged and made to pass their 11+ exams again, while swearing on alick Jeffreys old jock strap, before they are allowed into the Rovers managers office??

If I were a multi millionaire on Rovers board, I wouldn't want to give SOD any more of my money either, especially as he has wasted a lot of it, and allegedly turned down more.

It is common practice for the foreign bus conductors, policemen, soldiers, rabbi's, street cleaners, to say \"good football, bobby charlton, very good\" on finding out where you live. I was in Marrakesh a few years ago and a snake charmer, on finding out I lived in Yorkshire said \"Leeds very good sir\", while waving a 10 foot cobra in my face at the top of a very large and dangerous waterfall!

The article smacks of \"We've always been poor, I like Rovers being poor, how dare you buy good players for the club just as we got on a really good losing streak under the best manager in recent memory!\".

An amazing load of tripe about Rovers footballing prowess was also drawn upon. Who cares how many passes Rovers string together....3....34....423542354, it doesn't matter if you lose does it? No-one congratulates man u on playing a fast direct, winning style of football and then says \"But I'd prefer it if you could make more of an effort passing the ball a bit more to each other before knocking it in the net\", do they?! People don't care, I don't, if you can't win a game. I'd much rather Rovers punted up front from time to time than failed to win a game for 8 months.

Perhaps the author wants to hark back to a time where he stood at a crumbling belle vue and watched part time plumbers and firemen getting tonked every week, while he bit into a rancid burger and pissed up against a wall infested with a type of fungus unknown to modern science? I prefer to look to the future, to something a little better.

Like I've said before, you either trust JR on this or you don't. And if you don't, what are you doing supporting Rovers after all that man did for you?

[Viking Don]

Envy - aarrgghh one of the seven deadly sins innit? I don't want anyone looking over my fence and fancying mi million quid carp, and I don't wanna be proud that mi neighbour wants it (I'm using carp, insert yer own)

Pride - same again.

Football however, it's a game.

[DonnyBazR0ver]

Very well written and I'm sure that reflects many of our concerns and. however philosophical we can be, there can't be many that are entirely comfortable with what lies ahead for DRFC.

We managed to establish a 'brand' albeit that recent results and performances were not supporting the brand. Perhaps a change was necessary and may be a change is as good as a rest.

You can't take away SOD's philosophy on how the game should be played and not more than an hour ago, I have had the same debate with friends about how much richer the England coaching set up would be with SOD's influence.

It comes down to players and management of players. No reason to believe up to and beyond our promotion to the Championship that SOD's management wasn't getting the desired results. Was it down to SOD we lost key players in Green, Wellens and Mills? Was it down to SOD we didn't sign adequate long term replacements?

From that period, we have been on a downward spiral both on and off the pitch and maybe, just maybe, with JR admitting he has been told some home truths about the club, it's clear key decisions and key investment was not made available to SOD when it was most needed. The Jason Shackell situation was the catalyst which perhaps made JR more determined to get Billy on board, but by then the error had already been made.

May be now JR and the board are making up for that shortsightedness that has ultimately led to SOD's departure. Perhaps SOD should have been more assertive and insisted on certain signings back then, who knows.

One thing I hope and expect is JR will not compromise the brand any further and will insist we play the game in the right way.

Off the field, there should also be a new beginning and right now JR should be reflecting on what he asked of the supporters/VSC and how that can be squared up.

Time will tell if all the home truths will be addressed.

[DonnyBazR0ver]

PS. The pitch has not been downsized.

[RobTheRover]

Jeez, Benaldo.  I must be going soft or summat, but I'm liking the u-turn in your moaning.  No longer at the club, now counter-moaning the moaners.  \"I'll see your Morrisey-esque \"woe is me\" hand-wringing claptrap, and raise you a open your eyes and get behind the new manager and the board\"!

Great fun.

Anyway, onto Glen's essay.  God knows I was SOD's biggest fan, still am I guess.  I was one of the few who never said \"Sean who?\" when he was appointed, and only once thought he had lost the plot (the inept display v Yeovil back in January 2008) and wavered on the \"SOD in or out\" question.  Aside from those few moments, I've been a SOD-in man through and through, and gutted is the only word that sums up how I felt last Friday.

Now though, with the benefit of hindsight, I can see why he had to go.  This is the man who took us to the Millennium stadium and Wembley, and I will thank him forever for those achievements, but the performances of his team, and, possibly more importantly, his tactics in recent games were a pale shadow of those glorious days.  Of course, there is an argument that the side we put out at Wembley was actually a stronger one than we have today, and in some ways that is valid - Mills and Wellens were never replaced properly, Stocky and Copps were on fire, but we have got Billy now, of course.  Swings and roundabouts?  quite possibly.  The fringe players SOD has signed are simply not good enough, and dare I say it some of our star players are now a little long in the tooth.  The bottom line is that even allowing for the terrible injuries we suffered, we should have been able to win at least once in Sean's last 19 games with the fit remainder of the 33 players on the club's books, and the fact we didnt told us all we needed to know about our strength in depth.

Sean had a favourite little saying he used to trot out.  \"If you stand still, you go backwards\".  I'm afraid he stood still (and I'm being generous there).

The valid question is the one about the Loan Star fund, but this has already been identified as a question to put to JR, and communicated as such yesterday.  Why insinuate that the VSC are dodging asking the question or should be \"a mockery\"?  Let us find out the answer first.

[Viking Don]

In a few years from now no one will be questioning the 'loan star'.

I predict that we'll be just be very glad that ML played for us at some point. I think the lad has immense talent. Watch him go.

[Viking Don]

Can't seem to edit that, never mind yer get the drift.

With ya on the other points too.

Weird - I can edit this one....

[ditch_drfc]

Just because it's a long post doesn't mean it's right, as someone more learned than I has said on here this week already.

Nonetheless, while you (the author, not DGJ) were on a train in ex-Yugoslavia, I was on a base in Antarctica (I lie not).  Where does that leave your \"Continentahl, Rodney\" travelw**kerism now???

SOD's gone, Deano's in, new system, same JR: get used to it, get over it and get on with it.  Onwards and upwards, get behind the lads on Saturday, RTID.

Simply stating that a new era has begun is just papering over the cracks. We all know we've got a new system, and I'd like to think that the vast majority of fans are now fully behind DS. But it doesn't stop us trying to make sense of what's happened over the last week.

Viva's article raises some really good points. The idea that one of our most successful managers - ever - was sacked by a text (or a call following a text) at 6AM in the morning, no discussion, certainly merits an explanation. Is that really the way we want our club to do it's business?

[Viking Don]

Being relieved of your duty, or getting the sack, is never going to be a pleasant experience for any parties involved. But it happens every day in every walk of life. It's done, dusted, gone.

[drfcsteve]

It's now starting to become very clear that Willie McKay is behind everything that's happened in the last few days, in all likelihood he said to the board \"Look, if you sack Sean O'Driscoll, I'll get one of my guys in and I'll let you have a load of my players on loan\". The board got all exited and made the decision, however given that there are plenty of people who would prefer McKay was banned from football completely I think it's right for the fans to be concerned that this is now how we operate.

[Viking Don]

Does seem to be a big change, is it just how the 'football world' operates now? It's not something many of us will be familiar with being Donny fans, but as you get closer to the top things are bound to change. I guess we're not little old donny anymore. JR has guided DRFC into this position and maybe it's been a bit of an eye-opener for him too. We do have a 'brand' now, and that was always going to be an attraction...

Yes I see the concerns, but with the best will in the world, if you want successs, then this is what happens.

Hold tight folks.

[Standanista]

The idea that one of our most successful managers - ever - was sacked by a text (or a call following a text) at 6AM in the morning, no discussion, certainly merits an explanation. Is that really the way we want our club to do it's business?

I can't find the *facepalm* emoticon.

JR has already explained the text/timing etc in several forums.  As for \"no discussion\", it's been reported that there was plenty of that between JR and DW before the final decision was made.  It's not general practice when sacking someone to discuss the decision with the person themselves prior to actually doing it, funnily enough, though JR has said that he explained the decision to SOD afterwards and SOD said that he understood.  As Don says, getting the sack is never going to be a pleasant experience for any parties involved but it happens every day in every walk of life.

Anyone who finds 6 a.m. no time to be working/doing business should go back to being a student.

[philsky]

Quite frankly Ive woken up in the few days.

Ive liked to be liked; good old Donny; play in right, work with what theyve got, in for the long haul - everyones favourite pub team.

Assuming that the club isnt spending what we havent got, then a different (maybe Premiership) approach is probably due.

I dont know this fella but I do know that the list of players being linked with us, and with the prosects of the odd one joining us, is pretty exciting.

Dean Saunders feels like a genuinely compelling prospect; one of the new generation maybe. Good values, clear passion and obviously no mug on the pitch.

A change was overdue, the players seem to be reacting, there are exciting noises surrounding the club, and for the first time is ages im really pi$$ed off that I cant get the the match tomorrow.

Its not dull being a Rovers fan right now. But, it was dull and shite for my first 30 years (1968 - 1998).

RTID

[Wellred]

Just to add my two pennies worth.

I have been more excited with 90 minutes of football under Dean Saunders (Yes the two first halfs in each game were dire) than I had been under the previous Manager in the last 12 months.

I never bought into this fantastic football when it was played in one half of the pitch with no end product. I want my team to win games and attack the opposition to try to get a result.

We have seen a manager make substitutions bringing on forwards or midfield players to win games where the previous manager would bring a defender on to try to waste time or hang on for a point.

Thank you Sean for my fantastic days out at The Millenium Stadium and Wembley. I never dreamed I would get to either but now is the time to move on.

Well done JR and the rest of the board for making the only decision they could. As to how that decision was made and was implemented.There is no easy or nice way to tell someone he has lost his job.

No matter how you want to try and blame the board it  is almost always an unpleasant experience.

Now it is time to move on.

[bobjimwilly]

Anyone who finds 6 a.m. no time to be working/doing business should go back to being a student.

If my boss rang me at 6am I think I'd say somet I'd regret!

[bobjimwilly]

I can't find the *facepalm* emoticon.

 There ya go

[GazLaz]

I don't think McKay is Goulons agent. The original post is just a joke based on no facts at all.

[bobjimwilly]

Just to add my two pennies worth.

I have been more excited with 90 minutes of football under Dean Saunders (Yes the two first halfs in each game were dire) than I had been under the previous Manager in the last 12 months.

I never bought into this fantastic football when it was played in one half of the pitch with no end product. I want my team to win games and attack the opposition to try to get a result.

We have seen a manager make substitutions bringing on forwards or midfield players to win games where the previous manager would bring a defender on to try to waste time or hang on for a point.

Thank you Sean for my fantastic days out at The Millenium Stadium and Wembley. I never dreamed I would get to either but now is the time to move on.

Well done JR and the rest of the board for making the only decision they could. As to how that decision was made and was implemented.There is no easy or nice way to tell someone he has lost his job.

No matter how you want to try and blame the board it  is almost always an unpleasant experience.

Now it is time to move on.

You keep saying its time to move on, but I think your missing the point people are trying to make? People are obviously concerned about the way things have been done over the last few days, and seemingly come \"out of the blue\" now Wille McKay is involved, and there concerns are of things going forward. So how can you move on from things that haven't happened yet?

[markusparkus75]

I usually like Glen's stuff, but I have to say, he is totally wrong on this.

Frankly, I don't give a stuff what other fans think of us.  And to say we have ruined our reputation by changing mananger for the second time in eleven years is frankly nonsense.

SOD's gone. Get over it and move on.  He isn't coming back.

[benaldo]

What I can't fathom is that when Penney was sacked it was also \"out of the blue\". You could have had all the arguments people are having now, then, but no-one did. I can't see what's changed?

Man performs poorly at being a football manager = man sacked


I don't know what some of you expected - A written warning to him first? A chance to write about it to each one of us personally? Making an \"Apprentice\" tv programme to select th enew manager, just so all of us numptys can see the whole process?

Let sleeping dogs lie. Especially if you've just kicked them and they have long memories.

[keyser_soze]

I usually agree with Glenn's stuff but i think this piece was a bit too nostalgic, retrospective and hand-wringing. In reality, they haven't played fantastic football for getting on for a whole season now, and we were in danger of losing that identity anyway. So many new/loan players last season and the injury to Stock killed it off. The bit about sacking by text message have been confirmed as nonsense. The pitch size thing too, was initiated by some random on here getting confused about seeing the pitch from a different angle!

We will never know how long that losing run would have gone on for, and 1 point from 7 compared to 4 points from 2 doesn't lie. It's unfair and a shame that O'Driscoll wasn't given one more week to see if the Billy factor would make a difference, as the doubters will still say that 3 of those 4 points (1 draw converted to a win and 1 loss converted into a draw) were won with Billy on the pitch.

I loved the O'Driscoll ethos and identity while it lasted, and was proud of how our club did it differently, right up until waking up to a text with the news around 7am last Friday morning. We felt different, I saw us giving O'Driscoll as long as Wenger at Arsenal, and felt like I didn't mind him being in charge of my team forever, no matter what league we bounce between. Now we feel like just another club, that's my biggest regret.

[Wellred]

Just to add my two pennies worth.

I have been more excited with 90 minutes of football under Dean Saunders (Yes the two first halfs in each game were dire) than I had been under the previous Manager in the last 12 months.

I never bought into this fantastic football when it was played in one half of the pitch with no end product. I want my team to win games and attack the opposition to try to get a result.

We have seen a manager make substitutions bringing on forwards or midfield players to win games where the previous manager would bring a defender on to try to waste time or hang on for a point.

Thank you Sean for my fantastic days out at The Millenium Stadium and Wembley. I never dreamed I would get to either but now is the time to move on.

Well done JR and the rest of the board for making the only decision they could. As to how that decision was made and was implemented.There is no easy or nice way to tell someone he has lost his job.

No matter how you want to try and blame the board it  is almost always an unpleasant experience.

Now it is time to move on.

You keep saying its time to move on, but I think your missing the point people are trying to make? People are obviously concerned about the way things have been done over the last few days, and seemingly come \"out of the blue\" now Wille McKay is involved, and there concerns are of things going forward. So how can you move on from things that haven't happened yet?

You like many others on here are creating concerns when maybe there are no issues to be concerned about.
1. We have sacked a manager who hadn't won a game for a long long time. Is that unusual? It would have happened a long time ago at many other clubs.
2. We have signed a player on a short term contract. Hopefully a very good player who will benefit the club.
3. Willie McKay is involved because he is the players agent. Nothing wrong in that.

You say \"How can you move on from things that haven't happened yet\"
If you think about it that has to be the most ludicrous statement ever.

[The Red Baron]

I seem to recall there were some upset posters on here when Penney went. However, the bigger argument then was over his successor- as it was assumed we were getting a \"big name,\" possibly Kevin Keegan. So then we got the \"Sean Who?\" business when SO'D was appointed.

This time the Board avoided all the speculation over the next manager by their speedy appointment of Saunders. So inevitably the focus has been on contradictory public statements and on whether SO'D was given the best opportunity to turn things round.

As I've said elsewhere, we wouldn't be having so many of these discussions if JR hadn't made the \"hotheads\" statement a few hours before changing managers.

[The Red Baron]

Incidentally, the reputation for playing good football will probably survive for some time- in the same way that people talk about \"the Vauxhall Conference\" when the car-makers have had nothing to do with non-League football for over a decade.

If nothing else, SO'D deserves our undying gratitude for removing our previous reputation as \"the club with the dodgy owner who tried to burn down the ground.\"

[bobjimwilly]

You say \"How can you move on from things that haven't happened yet\"
If you think about it that has to be the most ludicrous statement ever.

Erm, not really? I'm not the one telling people to move on, even though their concerns aren't to do with the past, but the future of the club and the ways things are being done.

[SiBo]

Thank you bobjimwilly - that is exactly the point I'm trying to make.

[Wellred]

Thank you bobjimwilly - that is exactly the point I'm trying to make.

But it is pure speculation being fuelled by rumours and innuendoes from posters like yourself.

[SiBo]

So the speed and timing of events last week, the massive public U-turn by JR and the huge shift in approach seen over the past week sits comfortably with you as 'just football'? Forgive me if remain cynical for just a while longer.