Ricky and Tom discuss all things Doncaster Rovers.
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00:00Hello, and welcome along to the latest episode of Rovers Chat. I'm joined as ever by Mr Tom
00:06Bulkeley from BBC Radio Sheffield. Tom, how are we doing?
00:09Yeah, very well, thank you, Ricky. Happy New Year and all the like.
00:14Same to you, same to you. Yeah, so you mentioned the new year. Let's start of the old year
00:20then. So, Rovers, busy festive period, weren't it? You know, lots of games. It felt like
00:25we were at a game every three days. Yeah, how do you kind of look back on it? Because
00:30Grant McCann had this, you know, mini six-game league table that he'd come up with, you know,
00:36very Sutton-esque from last season, but didn't really go according to plan, did it? It was
00:40just, you know, talking off air about the returns from that. Seven points from eight
00:44teams certainly wouldn't have been what he wanted when he put that together.
00:49No, I think you've absolutely nailed that. I think promotion aspirants would probably
00:56want two points a game. Rovers have just got over, just over a point a game. Probably not
01:04enough to be the springboard and the catalyst for the second half of the season. Obviously,
01:11we've faced everyone now at Doncaster. We've seen everyone now. I think two or three teams
01:19that really stand out for me that have come up against Doncaster are Chesterfield. I thought
01:24they were really good, but Rovers kind of let that one get away from them. I did like
01:29the organisation of Walsall and everyone knew their jobs and what they were doing. And that
01:36Boxing Day, yeah, did highlight. It kind of came down to that, really. It was the big
01:42game and Rovers didn't turn up in that instance. So, yeah, Graeme McCann's got his work cut
01:49out, trying to chivvy along the players and the supporters, I think, going into this,
01:57not quite the home stretch, but the second half of the season certainly. But, yeah, you
02:04need to get back onto that two points a game pretty swiftly.
02:07Yeah, that's it. And it goes back to everything. Everything goes back from the manager himself.
02:13After the career, we keep going back to it. But to come out and say you're going to go
02:18for the title, you're going to then be judged against that, aren't you? And I think that's
02:22only fair. I think he realises that as well. The fact that Walsall, I think you put it
02:27to him after the Walsall game, do you see them as being 12 points better than Rovers?
02:32I don't think many people would say they do, but they are. The case in point is that they
02:37are 12. I think it's 10 points in front now. So, yeah, I mean, going back to that comment,
02:45I mean, it's hindsight again, isn't it? But do you think it was the right call to come
02:49out with that? And do you think that it's still achievable?
02:54Oh, the promotion is still achievable.
02:56Yeah.
02:59Because it's mathematically so. If I look at the form,
03:03I don't think Rovers look a soft touch by any stretch, but they're just not putting
03:09back-to-back wins together. They don't look and they don't read like a promotion team.
03:17They're on track at the moment, points per game for 74. That won't get you automatics.
03:22I wouldn't have thought, I mean, to be fair, there's some years that 74 probably wouldn't
03:28have even got you in the playoffs. This year, it looks like being a lot tighter, doesn't it? I
03:34mean, Walsall, they'd have to go mid-table form for them to, you know, even that would see them
03:40home. So, they're pretty much there. Then there's about 10 teams and everyone's up for grabs.
03:46And it's when the music stops, but Rovers are going to have to put back-to-back results on
03:53the board at some point. And the one thing which kind of, well, I thought Graham might have changed
04:01his side more often. I thought the strength in depth would be, this would be the time of year
04:06where that would come in. And there'll be a week between games and there might be three or four
04:11changes made. But a couple of games in particular, was it Colchester to Fleetwood? Other than the
04:18Gibson red card, there's only one change and that was enforced. And so, it felt like the second half
04:24of the other Fleetwood game. And when they got back into it on New Year's Day, I'm not saying
04:32there's only one team in it, but they looked a little bit fresher. I think they'd made a few
04:37more changes. And I expected there to be more changes made. I'm not saying put out two different
04:4411s, but I thought, there's some lads, Ricky, we mentioned it time and time again, your seniors and
04:52your manuals will play on Boxing Day. We've not seen them since. Yeah. Sabah and Westbrook, they
04:58got taken to Walsall and Colchester between Christmas and New Year's and didn't even sit
05:03on the bench. They were unused substitutes. So, I did think that there would be more changes made.
05:12And then Grant made a few more, didn't he, for the Port Vale encounter. But
05:18is anyone surprised, you put the word at the bottom of the screen, is anyone surprised that
05:22they're inconsistent when no one's really sure of a starting berth? Yeah, exactly.
05:31Going on to the strength in depth issue, which you can't deny, I think they've got
05:36best squad in the division on paper in terms of options. But I did a piece today on,
05:42you get two players per position, which is what the Holy Grail, every manager wants that,
05:47especially at League Two. I mean, it's very rare you get that. But there's three options in
05:52some positions, more than you think of the full-backs. You've hit the nail on the head
05:58with Emmanuel and Senior playing really well, not even in the squad the next game. I know
06:03Crank McCann's kind of sticking to his guns and he's going to keep this policy, it seems.
06:09But something's got to give, hasn't it, especially when we're coming to January,
06:12because there's no injuries. So, that's a great thing. That's a massive praise to Rennie and his
06:17team. But the by-product of that is a bloated squad. It's all right having strength in depth,
06:23but then when you've got six or seven players sat in the stands, it's wasted money, isn't it?
06:28And I think something's got to give this month, especially if we're talking about,
06:31which we'll come on to in a bit, bringing more players in. You can't keep adding players.
06:36No, I completely agree with that. And you think, I don't know if to start in 11, there's a kind of,
06:43well, I think I've heard managers say this before, you need to have everyone on it. You can't just
06:49have a couple of passengers. And I'm not accusing anyone of being passengers, but I think there's
06:53some people who have been told, you're good enough. I'm not saying I just feel they have to
06:59turn up and they'll win. That's not really being the case at all in any games this season. But it
07:06is maybe a case of people who just have a game and then they're out again. I think you've put
07:15the question there, is it a help or hindrance having strength in depth? Only if you utilise
07:20it right. If you don't do that and people don't know whether they're coming and going and what
07:25the roles are. The Fleetwood one, they're only the second team that Rovers have played twice now,
07:31obviously Port Vale the other. They tried and tested formula, went to Fleetwood, won by four
07:38goals to two, which seems a distant memory. And the side that played them was different in personnel
07:45and in tactics. They came away with the win at the end and Grant will say that it was the right
07:55to throw Billy Sharp on at the end and try and, you know, half a chance and he'll stick it away.
08:02He did that. I actually thought he would do that more this year, Billy Sharp. I thought that would
08:08be his purpose off the bench, trying to play, trying to sniff the goal out against a tied
08:12defence. Maybe sometimes that's the, I mean, there's other ways of skinning a cat, but that
08:21seems the most obvious. Yeah, and it's, you know, I suppose McCann himself will say that, you know,
08:29it's horses for courses, but a lot of fans are kind of making this point, you know, to me, to you
08:35on social media or whatever. You know, why is he necessarily focusing more on the opposition
08:42or thinking, right, we're going to counter them by doing this. Surely if you've got your style
08:47and your strengths, which was, that's what the run was built on, wasn't it, last season, that
08:5110-game winning run. 10 out of the 11, he could pretty much name, you know, game in, game out,
08:56and he went through periods where he didn't change it. It just seems now, I mean, I used to do
09:01predicted 11 pieces and I've knocked them on the head because they are just, you know, it's just
09:06foolish to do that. But that's his style, you know, that's his opportunity, that's his, you
09:11know, his choice, I guess. But it does flummox me slightly when it is just, you don't know what
09:18you're going to get performance-wise, personnel-wise, tactically. And yeah, I don't know whether it's,
09:25I mean, I can't remember a team getting promoted, having, employing such tactics. I mean, it's an
09:31odd way to go about it, but it's his way. Yeah, completely right. I go back to Walsall,
09:37they all look like they knew what they're doing at what times. They're two lads who came off the
09:41bench. I'm going to have to hold my hands up. I've forgotten the names. As we say, we've seen
09:46so much football, but they were the most, the two most used subs in the division because
09:51every game, they're the finishers. They come on, hold on to the lead or to nick a goal. Obviously,
09:58more often than not, holding on to leads going into the last 20, 25 minutes. So,
10:03good effective use of the substitutes. Because Adomo was one of them, I think.
10:09Yeah, I think he was a defender as well. I genuinely thought Rose had turned a corner,
10:16particularly at home. The Tranmere win was routine. The Fleetwood win was ground out,
10:23it was at the death. It did not matter. People would say, oh, the performance is this, that,
10:27the other. I was speaking to people after, it doesn't matter about the performance. After a
10:32kind of tough few days, Walsall, Colchester, they needed three points on the board and they got it.
10:38And I thought, you know what? And I think I wasn't at the Port Vale game. I texted you
10:44before. As soon as I saw the team line-up, I thought, well, Rose should be at Port Vale there.
10:50You never know what you're going to get. Maybe they're embodied by the mercurial winger,
10:55Mr Gibson. And I think he's a good player, but he's inconsistent. And I think when he's good,
11:02looks a million dollars. When he's not, looks kind of leaked to average. And I think that
11:11kind of goes for Rovers as a whole. They can hit these patches when they look brilliant.
11:17But if they go off the boil, that also happens as well. And I think with Jordan Gibson,
11:23and maybe it's a bit unfair highlight, it's because I want him to do so well. When he was
11:28thrown into that Colchester game, it was because he had the arm around him and then he scores a
11:33great goal and then just gets sent off. I mean, Rovers are finding new ways to get sent off this
11:39season. Have you ever known anything like it? Yeah, the Clifton one, the Molineux one. They're
11:45all avoidable, but at the same time, you know, you can't legislate for some of the refereeing
11:50we've seen. And that's not an excuse, but obviously you weren't at the Port Vale one.
11:56I mean, that was particularly bad. Not just to feel bad, I have to say, but very, very close.
12:04Yeah, let's move on to the next assignment. And so league matters kind of go on the back burner.
12:10It's Hull on Sunday. For whatever reason, it's been moved to midday on Sunday.
12:16I'm not sure how much appetite there is internationally for that game, but hey-ho,
12:24what do you think on it? I mean, I'm not going to ask you what team he's going to put out, but
12:28it's a chance, isn't it, to bank more money? If they win on Sunday, their earnings, and this is
12:36without the TV money, because obviously the Kettering game was on BBC, I think it's pushing
12:40£250,000, which is, you know, that's not an insurmountable feat. It all adds into the pot,
12:46doesn't it? And it'd be very worth knowing, you'll get this chance to speak to Graeme McCann
12:53this week, whether a win on Sunday will be able to be used this month. It's very opportune,
13:00isn't it? You know, he will have earned that, him and his side will have earned that.
13:04Right, can we have that money to reinvest in the squad and try and earn promotion? So,
13:11that'll be interesting. I see it as a free shot, to be honest. Hall, it was a bit galling that
13:17they... I don't know how much energy went into their comeback draw against Leeds. They were
13:233-1 down and came back to draw three apiece. That will have done one or two things, if not
13:29battlefield. They've taken it out of them, but, you know, it might have buoyed them as well.
13:35However, the focus for Ruben Sayers will be to stop up in the Championship. That is his dream,
13:41and he could probably do without a banana skin coming his way. Kind of similar. I don't know
13:48if the golfing class is quite as big as it was between Kettering and Rovers, but they won't be
13:54far off. And you saw what happened in that Kettering game. You know, they went a goal to the
14:01good and kind of... Rovers had to... We were reaching for the smelling salts in the second
14:05half and had to take it to extra time. It's one of those, which I'm sure everyone will be pleased
14:10that it's going to be decided on the day. No-one wants a replay against each other in the dark
14:18months of January. But yeah, Rovers can go there. They've got decent form from... I meant to look
14:24it up. They've got decent cup form against Hull over the years. I remember a couple of League Cup
14:28wins. So, it'd be great to see in the FA Cup. And there's... Well, it's a sell-out, isn't it,
14:34in terms of the away allocation has gone. I don't know how many others will be kind of thinking
14:41about it on Sunday morning. Can I get in the home end or whatever? I'm not advocating that, but
14:45there'll be a few tempted, certainly. I think it's a terrific show of support on their own.
14:51Yeah, it is. It is, absolutely. I think it's 2,300 and odd, which is, yeah, like you say,
14:59excellent effort. I mean, I've seen Hull twice this season. So, obviously, when Donny played
15:04him in the friendly in the summer, obviously, under Tim Walter, who was... And I actually saw
15:12his last game, believe it or not, Hull against Sheffield Wednesday. And yeah, I mean, that style
15:18of football was just... It was one of them I thought, when I saw it in pre-season, I thought
15:23it's either going to be brilliant or it's going to, you know, bomb completely. And it was the latter.
15:30And yeah, so they've got Sellers in. And I'm not sure, like I say, I'm no expert at all, but
15:35I presume that the style has altered somewhat. Obviously, they got a result against Leeds the
15:40other day. So, there's an upsurge there. But like you said, their priority is going to be
15:46staying in the Championship. And obviously, Roma's priority is to go up to the League One.
15:51I think it'd be interesting. I think there'll be changes, definitely. But I don't think there'll
15:55be the, you know, like you said, the Kettering game. Kind of similar parallels, I guess,
16:02isn't it? But yeah, they've got nothing to lose, have they, Roma? There's nothing to lose.
16:06No, and there's a man in the middle of it with everything to gain. You know, he's won promotion
16:12out of League One with Hull City. Left under dubious circumstances, he'll want to go there
16:21and put one over on his old side. Absolutely, no doubt. Yeah, that's it. It's quite a few
16:26of the connections, isn't it? Obviously, Grant and Cliff, Billy Sharp, Josh Emanuel, Tom Nixon,
16:31Brandon Fleming, I presume, won't be able to play on Sunday. So, yeah, quite a lot of
16:37crossover. We'll end it with, how could we not, January. So, we're less than a week in.
16:46Already a bit of movement, obviously. Efrem Yeboah's gone back to Bristol City.
16:50Rob Street's come in on loan. The two young lads, Sam Strong-Brown and Kasper Williams,
16:55have gone out on loan to non-league clubs as well, their first loads spelled. So,
17:01busy-ish, I suppose, but it's going to hot up, isn't it, you would imagine, for the next three
17:05weeks? Yeah, and another one, Flint's staying out, isn't he, at Darlington and Grant McCann
17:11was raving about him. He even brought him up, I think, in a post-match presser the other day. So,
17:19yeah, he's clearly one for the future and tipped to do well. But in the here and now,
17:25I think, you know, I'd be interested to know what Rovers fans can expect. Is it going to be
17:31multiple bodies in? Is it going to be one? I don't know. I think you alluded to it earlier.
17:36There's probably going to have to be a couple who are put out on loan, at the very least.
17:46And until that happens, to be fair, it's a big squad, but it's not the biggest in the division.
17:52I think Carl Isle have used something like 30-odd players.
17:55They're still adding as well.
18:04I'll put it to you, to be honest, Ricky, because I look at the team from one to 11.
18:08Where needs strengthening?
18:11Yeah, well, this is it. I mean, Street's coming, but I suppose you could say, you know,
18:16a replacement for Yeboah. So, they're still at the same size there. I know Matty Craig's,
18:20obviously, the name on the lips at the minute. I mean, you know, whether that happens or not,
18:25that'd be brilliant if they got him back. But again, if he comes in, that just pushes
18:32a Westbrook or a Close further down the pecking order. Sabara, you know, there's others. I mean,
18:36there's so many options. That midfield is so cluttered for me. I don't know. I really don't
18:43know where they need to strengthen, because if you do that, I mean, they've already got a good
18:47accent earlier. They've got two options for every position. Some they've got three. Do they need
18:52another centre half? I don't think so. Do they need another centre mid? Craig would be good,
18:56but do they need him? Do they need another winger? You've got Molineux, Gibbs and Sabara can play
19:01there. Hurst, obviously Street. I don't know. I mean, I know people want to see, it's a thirst
19:08for signings and to freshen it up, but I know McCann said he's after this second. Obviously,
19:13he's got Street done. He wants a second loan signing. Past that, I don't know. I don't know
19:19whether there'll be many more coming in. He said he doesn't want to go past the limit of loans. So,
19:24that would give him, obviously, you've got Street, Fleming, Sharman, Lowe, Kelly. That's four. So,
19:31if you had another one in, you can't have more than five in a matchday squad, because if you get
19:35six, you're having to leave one out every game. So, you take those two loans into it, and then
19:40where do you strengthen from that? Have they got money to spend on players? Is it the right time
19:44to spend on players in January? It's very rare. I know McGrath came last January on a permanent,
19:49obviously, that was slightly different, because it was from the League of Ireland,
19:52and I don't think it was a massive fee. So, then you looked at the free agent market,
19:55and I don't know. I would be surprised if they didn't, if they dipped into the permanent market,
20:02but I suppose we'll see. Definitely another loan player. I would, obviously, that's what
20:08McCann said he wants to do next. What about you? Do you think they need to strengthen much?
20:13Yeah, I do, actually, and there's the old adage that strikers win your games,
20:21defences win your titles, and I looked, and as soon as Rovers fell behind against Port Vale,
20:29I thought, God, another goal conceded. Rovers have kept one clean sheet in 15 league games,
20:37and that came against the bottom of the league, Carlisle, and they're lucky that day to keep
20:41a clean sheet. One odd draw would probably be fair. That worries me, and I'm not saying that's
20:46the keeper's fault or any individual defender. I would actually go and get a centre-back.
20:56Now, you say you think it's going to be loans. I would want a kind of experienced centre-back,
21:04and now Wood, we don't know. Anderson, not fancied. The Walsall game, in hindsight,
21:17against a team that so would have set pieces, could have, would have, should have played there,
21:21maybe. I think that's where Rovers need to tighten up. I'd actually like to see a string of
21:29nil-nils, one-nils, and really say we're kind of digging in and being resolute and dogged,
21:38because when Rovers do concede, they're yet to win a game. Sorry, when they do concede first,
21:45they're yet to win a game. Absolutely, yes. Making it really, really, really hard for yourselves.
21:52Yes, it's an interesting one, isn't it? Like you said, with the Wood,
21:55I know Grant said it's probably going to be another month or February, but then
22:00you've got to get up to speed, haven't you? It's not just a case of being straight ready
22:03to play. I think it's going to be really interesting what happens with Richard Wood
22:07next couple of months. But, yes, I'll go back to playing devil's advocate a bit,
22:12but the signing of the centre-half, then it's McGrath, Oluwu, Anderson, Wood, Faulkner,
22:19obviously Kasper Williams to come back, I think, after a month. So, you know,
22:23you're looking at six players there. I mean, Faulkner's an interesting one. Him and Jones,
22:26I mean, I'd be staggered if they're still here at the end of the month. Faulkner's not played
22:31for Rovers since, I think, November 23. Jones played Gillingham, obviously, the last day of
22:37season when he came off, came on for a lot taller. So, they've been in Ireland, didn't work out,
22:43they've been in limbo for the last month, unable to play and just training. So,
22:48I do not see where either of them get a game from in the next five months.
22:54Yeah, tempted to agree. All these players are under contract, aren't they? Unless there are
23:00people willing to take them either on loan or, you know, there's various routes that you can
23:07take out of a football club. But whilst they're all under contract, it's very difficult and
23:12kind of underlines your point about it being a big squad and it just needs a bit more maybe
23:20dynamism, if I can put my teeth back in. And I think, you know, we're all kind of waiting,
23:27aren't we, for this to click. The next league game is 18th of January, I think.
23:35Gillingham, yeah. Is it going to be that day? When's it going to happen?
23:40It's, we're waiting with bated breath. Absolutely, we are. Brilliant. Thanks for
23:46chatting, Tom. And thanks for tuning in. We'll do another one of these, probably early February,
23:52once the windows shut and we can look at our predictions and see if rovers have been busy
23:57in the January window. Yeah, thanks for tuning and we'll catch you again very soon.