‘November has been a month to forget in BS7’

November has been a month to forget here in BS7. To be fair, December hasn’t started that well either.

Two crumbs of consolation came from our meek surrender at the hands of Barrow in the FA Cup; firstly, that it’s nice for us to have a tradition that we follow every year, and this embarrassment can go with Chesham last year and Bath in the FA Trophy the year before that. Secondly, Sunday’s defeat appears to have been the straw that broke the camels back. Darrell was not mincing his words at full time here, and it’s clear that he means what he says; quite a few players have to shape up or ship out.

I don’t think it’s fair to say that this is the biggest test of his career. After all, he had to start the Conference season off by rebuilding a broken club amidst a hate campaign run by faceless cowards and the expectation to win promotion immediately.

Having said that, Clarke hasn’t faced this kind of slump in form in his time at the Rovers. Sure, this time last year, we were in a similar position, but we weren’t quite conceding goals in the calamitous fashion that we are of late. 

Realistically, the final four games of 2016, starting with Bury at home on Saturday, could seal the fates of pretty much every defender at the club plus Kelle Roos in goal. Roos has come in for widespread stick, some warranted (he’s made a fair few howlers now, and he didn’t get down in time for Barrow’s winner either) and some not so warranted, given that the back four in front of him are hardly covering themselves in glory either. What doesn’t help is barracking him, giving him the Man of the Match award as some kind of joke, as happened on Sunday, or clamouring for the injured Steve Mildenhall.

I’d never be one of those who tell fellow fans never to boo or criiticise; we hand over our hard-earned cash in return for the right to do so. But for the next month at least, with Mildenhall out of action and Will Puddy seemingly not cut out for third tier football, Roos is all we’ve got, he’s young, and he doesn’t need another knock to his confidence. So keep it down. Just for a bit.

So, Bury at home. Eleven weeks have passed since the Shakers last won a game in any competition. They’re also the only side in League One to have conceded more goals than we have, so the eyes of Britain’s gamblers will be on us as millions depend on this game for their “Both teams to score” bets.

Our visitors have a young, reasonably talented squad, full of cast-off from their giant North West neighbours from Manchester and Liverpool. James Vaughan, their centre-forward, was touted as the new Wayne Rooney after breaking the England Captain’s record to become the youngest goalscorer in Premier League history; He’s scoring an average of a goal every 2 games for them so there’s a good chance he’ll have a field day come Saturday. Kelvin Etuhu was once highly rated by the Manchester City youth setup also.

The other stand out name is Ishmael Miller, best remembered in these parts as the scorer of a hat-trick for West Bromwich Albion that ended our incredible FA Cup run one game short of Wembley back in 2008.

Put your money on a 4-4 draw here. Well, don’t, because, as this column proves, I can’t predict what day comes next let alone any football result, but expect goals nonetheless.

James Hodges is Bristol24/7’s Bristol Rovers columnist for the 2016/17 season.

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