Happy New Year to all you Ziggers, where ever you may be.

So much going off over the back of my house its unbelievable. I will support GMS like I have with all managers, until it goes wrong, then I will change my opinion.
Personally, I think this is not just the cheap option, but, he will get thrown under the bus like Butler did, and to an extent Wellens.
Hand on heart, I don't just fear for this season, I fear for the future of the club. It was bad when JR left, it's gotten worse since young Andy Watson left.
When you look at Baldwin and Blunt, what have they overseen at our club, yes Club Doncaster is the answer. The football club is going backwards, I look at us and all I can see is Chesterfield, Southend, no investment in the team, playing kids, just like being back in 98.

R.T.I.D.

I think G McS has done as well as anyone could have with the mess he inherited. He is constructive in his comments and seems good with the players.

There is an assumption that some talented ex high level manager who would have turned everything around may have applied and been rejected and the Board (who erred in going with Butler and choosing Wellens) don’t know what they are doing. And though they certainly got those 2 decisions wrong their process is sound as is this choice in my view.

Looks like the board are still looking for a director of football. GM has indicated his preference apparently. Wondering if it might be Aidy Boothroyd. It will be someone he has previously been managed by. I think he played under Boothroyd at Coventry.

I liked GMcS’s interview - probably the best I’ve heard from a new manager. He avoids the obvious cliches and thinks carefully before he answers which is very convincing for me.

3 or so weeks to make this this decision!
More of the same to be served up.

Disappointing😐

Like most Rovers supporters I wish GaryMcS the best of luck of tuning this crowd of non-descript players into a winning team.
However, I'm peed off at people "so called supporters" saying "cheap option", and other similar negative comments about the choice. I ask them two questions:
1. What EMPLOYED manager would leave a job mid-season, unless he felt he was about to be fired?
2. Would any out-of-work manager with a decent record risk spoiling his CV by taking on the task at the Rovers?
I understand some of the short-listed candidates had a good record IN THE PAST, but no real current success.
I admire Gary for taking on an almost impossible task with his "safe" job as U-18 coach, but have this gut feeling he might succeed in keeping is in League One.
While I think some of the dynamism went away with John Ryan (because of his association with Intake schools, the same as my wife, we have a signed copy of his book), However I do not support people who want the owners just to pour money into the club. While foreign investments have worked at the top level, many have failed lower down and cause clubs real problems when the foreigners pull out.
I think Club Doncaster has been a stabilising component at the Rovers, despite what many think, and Gavin has run that well. We sent a reasonable about of our pensions when the Rovers were looking for financial support, and we got a lovely letter from Gavin with an open invitation to be the board's guest if we are ever in England during the Footie season.
What ever happens, I will always be RTID.

Interesting comments, most of which I agree with. Without knowing who applied I cannot say whether they seem to have chosen the right person, but I will say that Gary McS does impress me with the way he talks about football and the players. He seems perceptive and sophisticated and reminds me of Fergie and is sensitive in a way similar to SOD.

I differ to some extent in my opinion about applicants. A successful level 5 manager might well relish the opportunity to step up to L1 and a battle against relegation and if you were out of work, having perhaps been relatively successful at the type of club that demands unreasonably good results too quickly, the chance to manage in a more civilised environment that DRFC offers would be welcomed. In fact, in an industry where employment is rarely long-term you would be lucky to find a job where you would not be challenged to progress the team’s fortunes, if not to avoid relegation, it would be to attain promotion or play-offs.

Injuries are an interesting subject. When Saunders arrived he assured us that there would be fewer injuries which seemed a foolish promise, but he was right and the promotion and title following The Experiment with a side that was not over-skilful more or less proved his point. It is not a proposition that I am qualified to explain, but there must be degrees of risk in training and body-strengthening practices, physiotherapist conditioning and the general processes of maintaining footballers in good condition which the best people use. SOD’s players were somewhat injury-prone and those of the Wellens era have been disastrously liable to injury, so you wonder whether his staff were not up to the job. So we must hope that McSheffery will be able to get people in to manage that aspect of welfare better.

Interesting article.
https://popularstandfanzine.com/

Yes, Glen Wilson is probably the premier Rovers Blogger and it reflects the intelligent arguments against G McS. Of course when you know only the attributes of one candidate you can believe what you like about the others. You can imagine that their qualities were superior and

…base your case on hypothesis.

You either trust the process and judgement of the Board or not. And GW concludes that he will.

I am making fragmented comments, sorry, but this appointment really brings out the worst in some of our fans who frequent other social media. Those in football, have to be thick-skinned and although racial abuse is probably painful, the extent of policing and public sympathy provides helpful protection.

In contrast, people can make deeply insulting statements in situations like this with impunity. I suppose most of them can be dismissed as based totally on personal prejudice by people incapable of and unaware that they are incapable of rational evidenced-based reasoning, but they are just as hurtful (in my view) as those which can be remedied by going to law.

Comment deleted by Article Creator

Sorry Micky I deleted your worthy comment by mistake. Just can't get the hang of using the latest technology! Am d I'm not quite half way to 80!

That's half way from 70!

Didn't quite realise the Mentor/Director of football help G Mac would turn out to phone a friend. Let's hope its Wayne Rooney.

For those who did not see my erudite comments, I was just commenting on the great article Nookie gave us the link, and I was blaming all the hate, anger, and insults on social media. Most people would never say such things face-to-face.
Pauline and I have been Mac users since 1985 (the original "Fat Mac" with all of 512 KB of memory) but we blame the late Steve Jobs for inventing the smartphone.

Steve Jobs didn't invent the smartphone, Micky. He didn't even invent the touch screen - but he did revolutionise the user experience.
Difficult to know how this situation will work out. Much will depend upon the promised support structure and quality and compatibility of the team. I too was surprised that the mentor role is not a formal one. However, maybe that's the way GMcS wanted it - advice on request but no obligation on either party.

All the best to everyone for the New Year. Looking forward to Donaldo's preview of the Morecombe game and the ins and outs of the January window. Don't get me started on Anti social media. Let's just stick to football! Cheers! 🥂

I'd say Lee Carsley is as good as it gets as a phone a friend to have if you're looking for the best young talent to have on loan but perhaps not on how to manage a team to avoid relegation.

We really need an outside independent review as to why we have so many long term injuries. Anderson out now for January!

I hope to do a preview tomorrow. Have a Guid New Year everyone

So much one would love to write on here, let's just wait till the end of January, because out of the next 10 fixtures, the next two are the "easiest" compared to the next 8.
Lots of talk from GMS about Marquis and Downing returning to the ranks, most see it as another smoke screen to keep the fans on their side.

This will be my 6th different decade following the mighty Ziggers, I cannot recall a more defining January transfer window. In respect of who we will we be bringing in and the real prospect of league Two next season.