Parkinson Looks Forward To 'Special Occasion'

Much of the focus on Bristol Rovers trip to Bradford City will be on new Bantams boss Phil Parkinson and his first game at Valley Parade, the Gas will be looking to slip under the radar.

The former Charlton boss made his first appearance in a Bradford dugout a week ago at Morecambe, taking his first point in the process thanks to a 93rd minute Ross Hannah goal. The fact that City needed to appoint a new manager so early in the new season was a surprise in itself as Peter Jackson, a former player at Valley Parade, tendered his resignation to the Bradford board after a below par start to the season that had seen his side lose three of their first four League 2 games. Following his departure the Bantams picked up their first win of the campaign, beating Barnet 4-2, in front of a crowd just short of the 10,000 mark.

Parkinson cut his managerial teeth at Colchester, saving the club from relegation before turning them into promotion winners two seasons later. Success in Essex lead Parkinson to Hull City, though he eventually left in December 2006 after a dreadful start that wore on over the following months had seen the Tigers drop into the relegation zone. After nearly two years as assistant manager to Alan Pardew at Charlton he was given the chance to manage once again with the Addicks, getting the job permanently after two months in caretaker charge. He was unable to save Charlton from the drop but had a tilt at the League 1 play-offs the next season, losing out to Swindon. Parkinson was relieved of his duties in January after a poor run in December.

While Bradford have started at a snails pace Rovers can claim to be only marginally better. It has been three league games since Paul Buckle's team last overcame an opponent, throw two cup defeats into the mix and you will find a side lacking in form. There was a highly commendable display against Watford in the first round of the Carling Cup, Rovers winning through on penalties, but the last time they won in ninety minutes was an August 16th game against Northampton. Despite the adverse results the squad remain in a confident and jovial mood ahead of the long journey up to Yorkshire.

It will be the first meeting between Rovers and Bradford for twelve seasons and also represents the first time the clubs will have met outside of the third tier. The history books have Saturday's visitors down with the favourable record, Rovers having won twelve of the eighteen clashes compared to the Bantams three. Five of the nine games at Valley Parade have ended with an away win.

The home side will be without defenders Simon Ramsden and Steve Williams who are both suffering with calf injuries. Two midfielders, David Syers (knee) and Lee Bullock (hip), are also set to miss out, as is striker Nialle Rodney (ankle). Forward Ross Hannah is pushing for a starting berth having netted the late equaliser against Morecambe as well as scoring a hat-trick for the reserves in midweek.

Rovers will be bouyed by the return to training of defenders Gary Sawyer, Adam Virgo and Cian Bolger and winger Joe Anyinsah who may play some part in the game. Chris Zebroski looks set to miss out after he picked up a knock against Crawley last Saturday.

With Saturday approaching Parkinson was eagerly anticipating taking his Valley Parade bow.

"Saturday will obviously be a special occasion, there's no doubt about that," said the new City boss.

"Your first game at home is always something extra special - I have friends and family coming - but I just want to focus on what I have to do with the team.

"I am really looking forward to the day, but we have to try and ensure that it ends on a happy note for us."

Paul Buckle was much more focussed on his sides own build up and was pleased with the availability of previously injured squad members.

"We have not been able to put our best team on to the field, you want to have your full quota of players to chose from, we have not had that yet, but hopefully we will have that soon.

"It has been tough; Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday, Tuesday, but that is life. We are not getting the rub of the green at the moment, but hopefully we will get it soon, and get it for the rest of the season.

"This is a big job, to try and get this football club back where it belongs."

The Other Side Of Paul Buckle

After the classy display against Mangotsfield on Wednesday Bristol Rovers fans were eager to see how their players would perform against a stiffer set of competitors and with the visit to Bath City on Friday night they were given that very chance.

It wasn't the dominance that was seen in the pre-seasons opening fixture, against a side who had finished 10th in their first year back in the conference last term it was never going to be, but on a pitch more conducive to playing neat, technical passing football fans were sent away with their hopes once again raised after goals in each half from Joe Anyinsah and Wayne Brown gave the Gas a comfortable 2-0 victory over their Conference Premier opposition.

Summer signings Anyinsah, Scott Bevan and Mustapha Carayol got their chances to make an impression on fans as they made their first appearances in Rovers shirts, each of them performing admirably. Admittedly Bevan wasn't fully fit, Lee Brown was handed the goalkick duties while much of the 6'6" goalkeeper's distribution was done from his hands. He did, however, find the composure to make a fine double save as Rovers were slow out of the traps in the first half, getting down twice in quick succession, but the more game time Bevan gets to marshal the selection of defenders in front of him the better, the first half especially saw a back four that many see as the first choice unit for the coming season.

Anyinsah was arguably the player who made the best impact of anyone on the pitch, the ex-Bristol City man getting on the score sheet after rounding his defender before neatly slipping the ball in off the far post with the outside of his right boot. He continued to run and run, as per Paul Buckle's instructions in a system that seems far away from the rigid, defensive formations that were seen under Messrs Trollope, Penney and Campbell, not that it didn't leave Gasheads just as bemused.

When tongues were wagging and rumours were flying about Paul Buckle's purported interest in the Rovers job fans and potential suitors were watching eagerly as his side lined up to face Shrewsbury in their play-off semi-final first leg and they saw a quirky pre-match line up handed in. The announced team included four strikers, namely Chris Zebroski, Gavin Tomlin, Billy Kee and Jake Robinson, as Torquay's attacking force put the Shrews to the sword and tonight in Bath it seemed that the birth of a similarly attacking system was taking place.

In the first half at Twerton Park the unit of four came in the shape of Anyinsah, Zebroski, Scott McGleish and Ben Swallow and each of them performed a variety of roles across the front line in a seemingly free-form formation. Anyinsah began the game partnering McGleish up top with Zebroski on the right, a position from which he got the opening goal, but as the half drew on Anyinsah began to drift out to the left, thus allowing Ben Swallow to play just off Scott McGleish in the centre. That wasn't the end of it though.

The quadruplet continued to chop and change amongst themselves, an act that must have been confusing for the Bath defence, but it wasn't just about their positioning, it was the runs they were making as well. When the ball was coming across the halfway line there were generally two runners looking to put themselves in behind the home back four while one remained short centrally and the other gave a deeper option in a wider position, attempting to pull about the Red Shirts about. It wasn't perfect, this was only the second match of the pre-season so legs were still rusty and the team are yet to gel meaning this system is still in its infancy, but it nonetheless makes for interesting viewing and if everything goes to plan then Rovers will no doubt be one of the teams to watch in League 2.

In the second half the two central midfielders were Stuart Campbell and youth team player Darren Jeffries. With the aging Campbell having been deployed as a battling defensive midfielder in seasons of late and Jeffries inexperienced much of the feeding of the front four slowed down, though their deployment also became rather more static. Mustapha Carayol came onto the left wing at half time and with fifteen minutes to go trialist Andrew Yiadom stepped into the fray on the right, both proving to give great pace as they continually looked to take their full backs on the outside as opposed to cutting inside, a great option to have in the squad should the need for direct attack persist.

Another of the nights top performers was Wayne Brown who played on the right before moving into the centre after the addition of Yiadom, a position from which he was able to pull strings, once again looking dangerous and giving Paul Buckle a conundrum to deal with as he also has a number of other options in both the centre of midfield and out wide. Indeed, one of the keys to Rovers success could lie with the use of the diminutive midfielder who impressed at the back end of last season as well as the start of this.

This game gave fans a look into the other side of Paul Buckle, he has talked the talk with the signings he has made and the interviews he has given but against a team that proved a stern test for Rovers he gave an indication that he may too be able to walk the walk.