By the time relegation arrived it came without any form of surprise, by the time Dave Penney’s disastrous reign had ended the drop had seemingly become an inevitability, Stuart Campbell provided a modicum of hope but it was all too late, the damage had already been done. The post relegation blues weren’t to last long, however, as rumours abounded as to the identity of the new man to take charge of the Gas and, little over a month later, the announcement came, Paul Buckle was the new gaffer, and what a turnaround has occurred.
Paul Trollope’s method of identifying new players was a long, laborious and generally fruitless process, incongruous sums of money were being spent on the likes of Dominic Blizzard, Darryl Duffy and Mark Wright while three year contracts were handed out like free candy. This put players in a comfort zone, their futures were secure no matter how badly they performed on the pitch, but Buckle has come in and changed the mentality of the entire club. The contracts are shorter and the wages are more sensible. We’re yet to see the quality of the signings he has made, though he has had first-hand experience of managing the vast majority of them.
The squad now seems to be more balanced, if not slightly short on numbers, though that will no doubt change in due course. For the first time in years Gasheads will be able to watch a flying winger with seasons of Football League experience behind him and a proper targetman, the first since Rickie Lambert. Forget your Jon Akinde’s, Matt Harrold is a proven threat. The goalkeeper? A monster that was part of Buckle’s Torquay side that marched into the play off final. We have two new central midfielders, both with some verve and fight, as shown when they quite literally went head to head in the 2007 Conference play-off final.
We have also seen the arrival of Adam Virgo, a brute of a central defender that has commanded a fee of £1.5million from Celtic, there has to be something about him, in fact we saw that twice last season as he took charge of the Yeovil back line while also scoring at the Mem and hitting the frame of Conrad Logan’s goal at Huish Park. We can also welcome a new left back to the club who, though inexperienced in the professional game, has had successful spells at Conference Premier clubs, a gap in quality that is gradually decreasing.
With any ins invariably some outs have to occur too and there were some big names finding themselves thrown to the wayside. The biggest of the players to have left Rovers is no doubt last season’s top scorer Will Hoskins, it had been coming. There was no chance that a player of Hoskins clear calibre would be held onto by a club who have found themselves just relegated to the fourth level of English football and his fee, a six figure sum that is likely to be in excess of £500,000, will go some way to aiding Buckle’s revolution. Danny Coles also found himself sold, going to Exeter City while another man who was no doubt a high earner, namely Jeff Hughes, found himself released. This shows further signs that the rot has stopped and that agents will no longer be taking the Gas to the cleaners.
But that’s not the only good news to be making its way out of the corridors of the Memorial Stadium as months of seeming inactivity on the stadium front were blown away by the revealing of the UWE Stadium, a partnership with Bristol’s second university that will provide teaching and other facilities to the educational institution while also giving Rovers a brand new place to call home. No dilapidated higgledy-piggledy stands from which to get wet but 20,000 seats for the modern football fan, facilities that will be enviable to every club in League 2 and the vast majority in the League 1, a real platform for the club to build on. Let’s not jinx it, though, the planning documents haven’t even been handed over yet.
But back to Paul Buckle.
Under Trollope and Campbell the football was noticeably similar, it was defensive, had no width and allowed little flair for the players involved in it. Dave Penney on the other hand seemed intent on filling his team with mercenaries, instilling an abhorrent long ball style that satisfied neither the players or fans, Buckle seems different though, he has a fresh attitude on the pitch as well as in the transfer market. The rumours were already flying before his team started their play-off campaign meaning that Gasheads were watching eagle-eyed as Torquay faced Shrewsbury in the semi final first leg, and they weren’t left disappointed.
Buckle started with four strikers on the pitch and his team took a 2-0 lead into the half time break, dominating a side that were just a point away from automatic promotion and the second half was no different. Though they lost in the final they put up a heck of a fight, hitting the crossbar late on as they unluckily lost out to Stevenage, but the signs were there, the Rovers fans had seen their new chief, now all they needed was his signature, and that came swiftly enough.
What has been most noticeable for a man whose most notable achievement in four years as a manager is a play-off final is Buckle’s ability to sell the club to potential players. He has clearly set his stall out as promotion, and his views on the way he wants his team to get there is making an impression on the new signings, Gill claiming interest from League 1, Mustapha Carayol rumoured to be in talks with Stevenage.
What is clear is that Rovers now have a man who is not only capable to manage a team into the higher reaches of League 2 but is also passionate about the game and confident in his own methods and abilities.
The fans are bursting at the seams with excitement, and one thing’s for sure, it’s time to Buckle up for one hell of a ride.
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