‘Bodin has every right to a rapturous ovation should our paths cross again’

Well, then. That’s Christmas over for another year. I used to keep my decorations up until the Rovers went out of the FA Cup, out of superstition. But Christmas just isn’t Christmas without a tree and tinsel.

Appalling dad jokes aside, the post-festive period, with it’s lack of third round action, has given us a bit of a break from all things Rovers. But the late December fixtures (and one on New Year’s Day) proved one thing, to me at least. It showed, beyond reasonable doubt, that whatever struggles we’ve had with form, the determination and spirit is still there.

The players were clearly exasperated at the home defeat to Doncaster where they were good value for a point, and they turned that frustration into points with – gasp – two away draws. Not losing on the road is something of a shock to the system, and a sign – possibly – that we’ve turned the corner. But we’ve said this before.

The real proof in the pudding was Portsmouth at home, on January 1. After an hour where both sides, in terms of quality, looked like they’d had a New Year’s Eve more like you or I than professional athletes, we fell behind. In a good few games this season, that’s been it, game over. You could see what it meant just by looking at Stu Sinclair’s face as he scored the equaliser with six minutes left. Granted, he’s got more enthusiasm than a Golden Retriever puppy with a Pepperami at the best of times, but he celebrated that one as if it was the winner in a cup final. Liam Sercombe, however, scored the winner on this occasion, and while his 25-yard finish was yet another example of the genuine quality he’s brought to the side since the summer, the part I liked most was the setup, from the free-kick.

Sides whose heads have dropped don’t practice new free-kick manoeuvres on the training ground, and full credit has to go to the boss for keeping heads high through poor form, a period of almost unprecedented gossip off the field (stay off the forums, kids) and endless speculation about the club’s best player leaving. Once again, well done, Darrell.

Speaking of the club’s best player heading for the exit, Billy Bodin has every right to a rapturous ovation from the Gas faithful should our paths cross again. Signed for nothing, on trial, the Welshman became the primary source of magic in BS7; able to create something out of nothing, and take two or three defenders out of the game in one move. He’ll live long in the memory around these parts. I’ve been going to games since the mid-90s and Billy probably gets into my all-time XI.

Furthermore, the move from Rovers to Preston North End, a grand old Championship club, was done early, allowing DC the chance to bring in replacements. No sniff of an agent angling for a last-minute move to ‘do us over’.

We now have a creativity problem, however. The wide midfielders at the club are Byron Moore, who has failed to deliver in his 18 months in the quarters to date, and Ryan Broom, who’s clearly a talent, but has one league appearance under his belt. Are these two ready to start regularly? If not, the manager needs to settle on a formation that gets the full-backs bombing forward, as opposed to chopping and changing, or he needs to buy some wide men post-haste.

On the subject of purchasing, welcome to Bernard Mensah, signed from Aldershot. I’ve no great memories of seeing him play, either on TV or against us, but to all intents and purposes he seems a typical Darrell Clarke signing and, harking back to days of yore, a typical Rovers one. He’s young, brought in from non-league, and clearly got some talent – you don’t get on the field in the Championship, as he did at Watford – without being able to play a bit. Also, please allow me to present Exhibit A with regards to his skills, with this absolute wondergoal he scored for Aldershot not too long ago:

The main reason, however, that he fits both the manager’s plans and the club, is his attitude. It seems like everyone at his previous employers had something positive to say about his work rate, how he made time for fans, how he was a good influence in the dressing room, and so on. As we know only too painfully, talent is one piece of the jigsaw only. The Mem has seen enough tortured geniuses and downright lazy sorts over the years for us to know that the club brings in a person as well as a footballer.

Additionally, I was really glad to hear the manager state recently that he wants permanent signings in the building this month. It’s easy for clubs, especially ones without billionaire sugar daddies, to sign six or seven loanees to bolster squads, but from what I’ve seen they work out less often than they succeed.

Right then: Blackpool away, in a month where we have at least a week’s break between every game. The seasiders are certainly beatable at Bloomfield Road, not having won there for three months. But then we seem to break these barren runs of other sides when we show up – look at Gillingham away for an example. Also, we haven’t won away for the same stretch of time.

However, if we can go 1-0 up, maybe through the new boy –  and our much-improved defence can have a game a bit more like the last few and not like the ones before that – perhaps the central defensive Toms, Lockyer and Broadbent, can toast their new deals (incidentally two great early pieces of business by the club) with maximum points.