‘What a difference a week makes’

What a difference a week makes. We all left the memorial stadium two weeks ago, bereft, seeing a long, hard season ahead of us and potentially memories of that fateful day against Mansfield to be re-kindled.

Since then we have enjoyed a week of two away wins, with two late late goals and three points against a team that defeated a certain rival the week before.

Sitting in the East Stand on the Tuesday night of the Capital One cup games, and hearing of Luton’s path to victory, everyone was sanguine about texting mates or colleagues from the red half of Bristol – “before we make too much of it, we got to go there next week”, was the sage opinion.

That night against Birmingham City had seen a far better performance than against the Cobblers a few days earlier but nobody was confident this was a new launchpad to success.

This Tuesday, when the boot of Stuart Sinclair provided an impressive away win, there was celebration tinged with disappointment that we had missed an opportunity the week before to rub salt in the South Bristol wounds when they were freshly inflicted.

The late late show at Yeovil and Luton may well be testament to decent fitness levels or a never say die attitude but whichever it is, in Darryl we trust is very much the mood in the pubs and bars of Horfield.

Ellis Harrison is fast becoming the goal scoring star of the Rovers. He often looks like he is about to fall over the ball before he actually lashes it into the top corner and the regularity of that occurrence is starting to make a believer out of me. Certainly the manager has described him as the most improved player at the club and I wouldn’t argue.

Barnet come to the Mem tomorrow in the battle of the newly-promoted clubs and a home win is essential to establish ourselves in the top seven that Mr Clarke has set as a target.

One thing is already certain for tomorrow and that is that Stuart Sinclair will be announced as “sponsor’s man of the match” a few minutes before the final whistle.

I know this because it happens every home game. Regardless of player performances, the sponsors are odds-on to reward the hirsute one.

He is by far the most popular player in blue and white and sponsors are lining up to make him their man of the match.

Back in the 1980s was the last time one player heard his name announced with such regularity when the honour was bestowed bi-weekly on Andy Tillson. Tillson was honoured every week because he was a stylish classy footballer who impressed regularly.

The worry is that the favourite player mantle has now passed to Sinclair and he is the opposite. A hardworking ‘Mr 100 per cent’ who won’t stop running and will charge around trying his best regardless of the score is a given, but my concern is that his quality isn’t of the highest standard – and technically gifted he is not.

I can’t make up my mind if the torch passing to him is an acknowledgement that Rovers quality is expected to be lower today or if fans see him as one of them and they are keeping the dream alive that if they worked hard enough, they could pull on the shirt themselves.

Oh, to see some quality like Vitalijs Astefjevs, but at least we are trying to play the ball on the floor. This was notoriously absent against Northampton when we wanted to lump it as far as we could, but I suspect we will be back to the passing game tomorrow.

Rick Johansen is away