As I write this the finals few minutes of Bristol Rovers torrid season are winding down and the last nail is finally going into the coffin, we are down, and this is all new to me.
My first Rovers game came in the 2002/03 season, a dour 0-0 draw with Bournemouth in the swirling wind and rain shouldn't have made me come away begging my parents to take me back to the Mem but they do say every Gashead is a little bit barmy.
That point helped edge Rovers towards safety that season and ever since there have been no backward steps in terms of final league position until now, at least. I've enjoyed the highs of reaching two major finals in 2007, the Millennium Stadium being a magnificent venue to take in for a young football fan, but there is no feeling like visiting such a special place as Wembley and winning there made it all the sweeter. I can still picture Sammy Igoe sliding that ball over the line in stoppage time and bouncing up and down to the tune of The Fratellis 'Chelsea Dagger' but at this point in time that all feels so far away.
It was the next season that I started to come regularly to games, securing a gig selling programmes on Filton Avenue for the supporters club and it seems that as my time volunteering on match days comes to an end so does Rovers League 1 status.
I was confident of Rovers going somewhere good this season, the capture of Will Hoskins the pick of a bunch of transfers and the 3-0 defeat on the opening day to Peterborough, one of the teams I fancied for promotion from the off, did little to dampen my spirits, but it was the next game that made all Rovers fans take a step back and look at the bigger picture, a 6-1 defeat to newly promoted League 2 side Oxford in the Carling Cup was an appalling setback that turned out not to be a simple, though rather astounding, blip but an insight into the season to come.
A scrappy win against Yeovil could have been a turning point, the first win on the board out the way should have bred a little confidence in the camp but as the next two-and-a-half months went on it looked like being another season of inconsistency and mid-table obscurity but things only got worse. Another disastrous defeat to lower league opposition, this time against Conference side Darlington in the FA Cup, killed confidence and a 6-3 JPT win over a second string Wycombe side did little to lift it significantly. That was the only win in November and with the Gas having gone seven league games without a win Paul Trollope was placed on gardening leave by the Rovers board.
Darren Patterson took over for two games before the appointment of Dave Penney was revealed. Penney was labelled as 'the outstanding candidate' of ten final interviewees by chairman Nick Higgs who also promised 'two or three new faces' to bolster a squad with a solid basis, this wasn't what happened, though. The new gaffer didn't claim a win until his fourth game in charge, 3-1 over local rivals Swindon, a 6-1 reverse to Walsall in the next game completely rattled the new boss and along with David McCracken there were to be numerous signings brought in, Rene Howe, JP Kalala and Gavin Williams to name just three, but all they seemed to do was to unsettle the clubs established players. They failed to bring the required results and the next victory came after a run of five straight defeats with a 1-0 win over Oldham, Conrad Logan coming in for his first game in goal, alienating fellow loan keeper Luke Daniels who never made an appearance at the club again.
It was clear Penney was unpopular with the players and three more consecutive losses were the final straw for Nick Higgs and the board relieved him of his duties after a 2-0 reverse against relegation rivals Dagenham, Stuart Campbell was placed in charge until the seasons end as one last, desperate attempt at turning things around and getting some parts of the fanbase onside. It worked initially, a win was claimed against Tranmere and performances started to pick up, a run of four unbeaten dragged the sorry Gas out of the relegation zone but that was as far as it went, the last two games in that run being an inkling as to how poor the side were results aside.
There were to be no more wins in the final six games of the season and despite two improved displays against Bournemouth and Sheffield Wednesday the club was all but relegated with one game to go. The mood after the draw with Wednesday was not as depressing as it might have been, it was more about taking the inevitable, it had looked all over after the Dagenham loss and even though Campbell gave us hope there was no surprise or shock for fans to deal with and there was nothing anyone could do about it.
The final day defeat was academic and we were eventually relegated by three points. Gasheads could look back at numerous buts and what ifs, the two disallowed goals against Huddersfield, losing at home to Plymouth despite having been 2-0 up after eleven minutes, it's all too late and no fan should bare thinking about it. The key point of the season was certainly the board handing Dave Penney the managers job, his long ball tactics did not suit the squad he had, there was little change from the ultra defensive mannerisms that had become so ingrained in the side under Paul Trollope and his tough man management skills were far from what was required, although Trollope's mollycoddling approach may have gotten the players into a comfortable state, not a place where any professional footballer should be.
The squad themselves seemed to lack any fight until they were put under the charge of their team mate and friend Stuart Campbell who took to lending an ear to the players and it seemed that once the initial pep his promotion gave the side was gone they were all back to their relaxed state and the tactical naivety and general managerial inexperience from Campbell and his assistant Craig Hinton eventually told.
Nick Higgs earlier this week said that the Rovers faithful should expect an announcement in 'the next couple of weeks', and the sooner a new manager is appointed and given the chance to remodel the squad and his backroom staff and get pre-season plans sorted out the better. I'm afraid to tell all the Stuart Campbell fans that if he is given the job on a full time basis then you can expect the Gas to struggle again next season. A competent, experienced and hardline manager is what is needed to get the squad in order, a summer clear out should be on the cards, keep the key nucleus of the squad and get rid of the players who have been happy to take the clubs money with no care for the fans or their personal performances.
The winds of change are wisping their way around the Memorial Stadium and the club needs to embrace them.
