DPL v Charlton A

The opening passage of play illustrates why I have dislike this awful lazy incompetent team. A Charlton attacker takes the ball down their left wing and 3 Rovers players shadow him, none of them tackling him until he is actually in the penalty area when one clumsily brings him down, but he stays in his feet and we escape without incurring a penalty. When it happens again in the next clip the defender could stop their winger outside the box, but delays and it’s a penalty.

The next move is where Mitchell throws the ball to one of our players. Mitchell should have seen the Charlton player who was poised to intercept the ball, but the intended recipient was not paying attention and was unaware of the Charlton player until it was too late, so just watched admonishing Mitchell for his mistake.

The next segment is another example of naivety with the ball struck by one Rovers player too heavily on to another who had insufficient skill to control it or perhaps it was not intended to go where it did by the first player. The Charlton player does control it and there is another attack into the penalty box where we regain control and the “clearance” goes to a Rovers player whose close control is inferior to his Charlton counterpart and they nearly score.

Their goal illustrated Rovers inability to defend the box with their scorer provided with complete freedom from either marker or challenge to use as much space in the box as he chooses.

I am ashamed of them. The only player who did his job was Mitchell. I almost feel that I should write to him and apologise for the rest of them. Goodness knows what our Goal Difference would be if we still relied on Jones.

I couldn’t watch any more of the “highlights”. I am ashamed of this team; they are unprofessional. I did not see the 1997/98 team, but this lot not only look like a Sunday League team, but like a Sunday League team that doesn’t even try.

How did we gather up such a useless collection of duds?

On re-reading my latest post I realise that I failed to mention that I was basing it on watching the Extended Highlights. You watch football because of the pleasure gained from seeing skilful play and the excitement that is derived from you own team's play, in particular in them scoring goals and winning.

I listen completely impassively now; I an beyond despair and I do not expect them to score goals.

All there is ahead is routine defeats and then a new season to look forward to and perhaps a little hope that they may be able to remain in League 2.

In a sense it is bewildering because it is not as though the club is on the brink of financial ruin, which often accompanies this kind of disastrous decline on the pitch; it is the failure of management at CEO level in my view. Baldwin has to go.

The Board and their managing executive, the professional, the CEO, made a serious error in effectively allowing last season to wither. You do not hand over day to day management of a business to the foreman which is what DRFC effectively did when Moore left in putting management into the hands of a man with zero experience in leading at this level. Doing that gave the impression that the club was not particularly interested in maintaining a promotion challenge. When they came to advertise the permanent job with that embarrassing decline very visible to all potential applicants, it would colour their perception of the ambitions of DRFC. Wellens, with his memories of good times here might well have been one of the best qualified applicants, but how many managers, particularly those already successful and employed would be drawn to apply?

What should have happened was that Baldwin should have looked around and targeted individuals, managers who were actually employed by clubs and doing well and made his pitch to them and asked them what it would take to get them to come here.

The incentive to do this following Wellens sacking was even stronger. Given where we were and again relying on people to apply, it is perhaps not surprising that McSheffery was the best of of them. Formal recruitment processes only work if you run an obviously sound enterprise. Rovers needed to be “sold” and a suitable candidate wooed who would name his price.

Some very good points Don. Im in complete agreement. The whole manager appointment system has been a shambles. It will be a big risk sticking with GM to keep us in league 2. The board should be thinking of alternatives already and weighing up the pros and cons of potentially available managers with experience. Starting afresh next year in league 2 may well not be a disincentive for most potential new managers as it was when GM was appointed. But unless Baldwin goes we can expect more of the same I fear next year.

If it happens, it happens.

Sorry to say, but this team, manager, board are sleepwalking back into none league.
Baldwin has his got his love children on the VSC still believing every word that comes out his mouth. Its embarrassing to think they still believe wie will stop up, we've just gone a whole month without scoring, (can anyone remember that ever happening before? )

We could actually go down scoring less goals than we did in the disaster season of 97/98, but all hail the GM, because he's won a couple of games. Yet when you ask them about him having the worst ever points per game ever, they say, 6 games left. Like they used to say, 8 games left, 10 games left. Just like when they say, we've got all the teams around us to play yet, how's that working out.

There's know doubt I will be renewing mine and the grandsons season tickets, purely because of the away games having small away sections. As for the home gamed, it's quite possible we shall be voting with our feet, just like a few thousand other will be doing.

It's a sad, sad, day, when the club I've followed since the early 70s, have turn me against the team I love.

We're R.T.I.D. not club Doncaster till we get sick of all the crap.

Gillingham seem to be getting it together.
Could that be down to appointing a proper manger?😏

Manager😊

We didnt score a goal in the month of March so here are our bestshots! https://twitter.com/jimmydrfc/status/1508763547827949573?s=21&t=3sGOVSzBdlOZCYgg4lk0CQ

There was only one that needed a good save!

Williams’s dolly header over the bar did not look like a real try for a goal - more like a defensive header at a corner.

Seeing what amounts to the entirety of a month’s attempts to score make you realise how far we have been from actually competing to win matches.

It is remarkable that we don’t lose by more every time, but I suppose that is because Mitchell is one of the few players who is of League 1 standard.

How long does it take to appoint a new manager? 2 days in Wimbledon's case. I'd actually be happy to have Robinson whom they've just sacked!