Fuzzy - many thanks for your hard work and brilliant contributions throughout the year. Interesting times indeed ahead I think. I'd be happy with a draw tomorrow. I recall a wonderful effort of yours when Sean was tipped for Burnley! All the best

Another good thought provoking article Fuzzy.
Merry Christmas to one and all.

I just hope the boys take it easy on the drink as we need three points at Burnley.

El Hadj's decision could be a momentous one. It changes the template. Did we seriously think that this would happen? PlacIng professional and family objectives before financial ones is to his credit and should work in his favour in the long term and hopefully others will follow his lead, a pattern which complicates and hopefully enriches "the Model".

Many thanks Fuzzy for another excellent match thread "starter". Thanks also for your hard work throughout the year in keeping this forum and the debates we have vibrant and meaningful. Although we have never met, I wish a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and yours and also to every other Rovers fan on this forum.

A Very Happy Christmas to all. Can't wait for 26/12. Bring it on.

Thanks guys

El-Hadji Diouf looks to have decided Donny is for him and his family and as I've said, its good news as the guy can certainly play. I hope Dioufy helps us to attract the quality-players McKay's scheme is seeking.

Does it fly in the face of the "shop-window" idea? I don't know. Maybe it suggests to the new players that a longer contract may be needed for them to be re-discovered by the higher echelons of the football world?

That could be attractive to some younger players who have a bit to learn but may put-off older players.

Interesting in any case.

Fuzzy, I also think that maybe Dioufy finds the challenge of getting to the PL with Donny either this season through the play offs or next season auotomatically or through the playoffs appealing. DS stated that their are performance related bonuses in his contract. My guess is that if promotion happens, the club will use some of the funds available as a PL club available to the key players that get us to the promised land - but this is probably not the key factor for El-hadji. Diouf is rated by Pele as one of the 125 best players of all time - he has nothing much left to prove on the pitch as an individual - however, if he can be an instrumental part of getting an unfashionable club like Donny Rovers to the top tier of English football, then that challenge may just appeal to him - and cement his place in history in a different way to most, maybe any of the other greats.

sorry, that should read, "the club will use some of the funds available as a PL club to reward the key players that get us to the promised land"

Totally agree with you Crazy, and I think it shows a lot for both Diouf and the club that they are prepared to do this.

I should like Villa to make Beye a free agent to allow us to do the same with him. Add to that Chimbonda who seems to be relishing his time with the Rovers and you have the basis for a top team.

I don't think any of us, especially those who welcomed the McKay plan, realise that this was what he had at the back of his mind.

It is great to find players willing to play the game for the games sake, and look to benefits for acheivement, rather than, I want x,y and z and not put in the effort to acheive them.

Let's hope that this is the start of a very fulfilling New Year for all of us, once again Merry Christmas to all.

Sorry, spelt achieve wrong twice.

newyankee44 it is a pity it was not possible for you and FuzzyDuck to take up Willie McKays offer to go and discuss any doubts you have about him but it must be costing him a lot of money to get these players in for us and he is hoping for a profit at the end of the day but he is going to have to wait. Beye, Chimbonda and Ilunga do want to sign on for an extended contract with us as will others that arrive here, it will create a bit more stability than many thought and may even help to keep Billy with us to see how things turn out. JR, DS and WM are aiming for promotion next season and with the players coming in who would bet against it happening. There is an even bigger named signing due in the new year, they are really pushing things at a cost which is less than the club were paying in league1.
Diouf appreciates the way our fans have supported him and if the other new arrivals are given the same then we will see equal performances from them along with a willingness to sign for longer.
I was suspicious about the McKay involvement with the club but after speaking to him and seeing how things have advanced over the last couple of months I am much happier with the way things are going.
A good introduction to the Burnley game FuzzyDuck and I have predicted in our sites prediction league for a 1-1 draw but if Diouf is back in the team I can see us winning the game.
I will end by wishing you all a merry Christmas and a prosperous new year. Keep up the good work supporting Donny in whatever way you can and we'll get the results.

I would like nothing better than to meet with Willie McKay and Fuzzy. The problem is that Fuzzy is in Switzerland and I am as the name implies in the States. What a meeting of the minds it would be if you ad Alex were able to join us.
It would be even better to arrange such a meeting with all the other, Canadian, Balbykiwi, Crazy, Donny Lass, Zigger and his son Azza and Drfc Hound. If we could all get together and get PDXMickey to come in from Portland we would have a real Summit meeting. Alas I don't think it will ever happen.

Best wishes for Christmas and the New Year.

A lot of forward planning may help your scenario work one day newyankee, I did meet Alex for a short time before the Brum game but didn't have time for a good chat because he put his stomach first. lol.. What a meeting that could be, invite JR, DW and TB at the same time. lol.
Seasons greetings to the new world.

Just to put my record straight Spike, I never had a doubt about WM as I could see that as the only way forward. I didn't expect it to be so earth shattering.

This is why Fuzzy and I have clashed at times, as he was, and may still be sceptical of WM, JR and their motives and effect on the present contracted players.

I quite understand his retiscence to accept the inevitable, but it has seemed at times as if we were diametrically opposed to each other. One thing we were not opposed to, was getting the best for Doncaster Rovers.

We also differed in our views of SoD and DS. However, I think that now players are getting to know each other, and getting foitter, we are going to see a return to the SoD type of good football, but with a cutting edge to the end result ie WINS.

newyankee44, us Donny fans may have opposing views but we should never fall out with each other, we all have the same hopes for Rovers to do well. Some of us see that change is needed to achieve that, including the board, some are very cautious about change, especially big ones like are happening at the moment. I am still a little bit worried as the changes we are going through have never been tried before by any other club. From what has happened recently it has dispelled my fears of stability at the club with the 18 month contract for Diouf and Chimbonda, Beye and Ilunga also wanting to carry on until the end of the season. I am looking forward to the new year when better players come along, we will make West Ham look second rate. One of the new signings is going to be unbelievable to most of our fans, I can't say who it is as I've made a promise but the team we will have should be able to make a good go of it in the prem.
Things are starting to look good for Rovers again after it was beginning to look as if we were going to be destined for league 1. All that needs sorting out is the commercial department.

Now look chaps we are on a high having pulled off a good win in the last game, signed new players and a new high profile player coming in January.

Obviously this is change and we are moving in the right direction but and this is a big but where and when is the big cut back in salaries coming in?

I don’t want to see Billy and Stockie go but unless they go where does the cut back in salary come from? I have lost count of the temps coming which leads me to believe that the figures for salaries have gone up not down. It concerns me and even JR is voicing concern in a recent comment on the OS that we have to increase supporters coming through the turnstiles!

If we can get that elusive back to back win, an increase in the level of support, Billy and Stockie stay I will be a lot happier.

On that slightly more positive note I am off to cook the Christmas breakfast for 6 and then on to the big meal at 3. No rest for the wicked!

I will be at the Watford game Spike and I normally have a drink in Good Fellows close to the ground.

The thing is that it really helps McKay and Ryan to sell this scheme to the fans, and should you have a conversation with them, you have to realize that is their objective. Both are also successful negotiators and salesmen.

Willie McKay is currently trying something extremely innovative and unconventional. Two traits that I normally find attractive. The thing is that he is doing this at nearly no personal risk. It's very easy to be innovative on those terms. The risk is born by our football club.

In the end McKay will either prove a successful, new and more financially efficient way for managing the transfer market or he won't. If he does, he becomes tremendously valuable in football as the only guy with the contacts and know-how to make it work. If he doesn't we could be in deep trouble.

If he is successful with this concept then I'm sure he will want to make the money that he deserves for having and implementing the idea. I don't think he can do this with Donny. This could put us in deep trouble.

If Dioufy re-signs for 18 months, it's great news for Rovers. I'm not so sure it advertises McKay's concept from the player's point of view. Do the target-market of players really want to spend too long in Donny? But whether it's good for McKay or not is not important. It's good for Donny.

I get peed off when people suggest my opposition to this scheme is anything to do with my liking for the previous manager. It hasn't, simple as that.

I also don't like any implication that my support for Donny Rovers has reduced. If anything it's quite the opposite. If you like everything the club does, it's easier to support them than if you are opposed to some of the things they are doing. Of late, I have appreciated the full-bodied support of those who didn't like SOD more than ever. I'm in the same position they were in now, and it's not so easy.

Anyway, an interesting 2012 awaits as does the 2nd course of my Christmas dinner.

Merry Christmas one and all!

Fuzzy, as you know, I share your concerns. However, at the same time, I do find the approach that the club has taken to be innovative and exciting. As long as the club is identifying and covering off the risks (and there is no way that we can know whether that is being done), then I am comfortable with the approach that they are taking and looking forward to 2012 with some anticipation. I agree with the Master Salespeople statement and I don't underestimate that but I think we also have to consider JR's record - in his time as Chairman of the club we have had no real cause to doubt his commitment to the future success and stability of the club. I guess that if a major strategy change was happening in our own businesses, we would have much more information via which to assess the merits of the new strategy but there is no way that we will ever have access to that detailed level of information in this case and nor should we. So for now, I am prepared to trust that JR has put the right safeguards in place to protect the longer term stability of the club - based upon his track record and clear commitment over many years to DRFC. That doesn't mean blind faith. Events could move me back into the extremely concerned camp.
Fuzzy, I don't think that anyone can doubt your commitment to the club and hopefully not mine either. The hard work that you put in on your blog and match thread every week proves that you are completely committed to the Rovers and your posts are always meaningful and backed up by evidence - without you, our debates would lose much.
Finally, if it were possible to arrange a meeting, that would be great - perhaps we could hire JR's box at the keepmoat some time though I think that would have to be arranged via something like the Extra Time site where the various chat features will allow the arrangements to be made without broadcasting to every member of the site.
Merry Christmas to all.

Merry Christmas fellow Rovers fans. I hope you all enjoyed your day and the time spent with your families, (as well as the odd beverage no doubt.) Should be another good game tomorrow and i can see Rovers getting an important away win. RTID!

Leeds 1 down at Derby, Roberts, Shackle and Green, what a team we have had in the past.

Gawd already speaking 5hite!

The commentators btw

No keeper cover on the bench! fingers crossed.

Agreed Alex - add Wellens and Mills to that - pity we couldn't afford to keep them.

Any ideas why Chimbonda isn't starting?