Craig Stanley

[Regiment]

i don't think anyone is saying he HAS done anything wrong, but it's just one almighty kick in the bo**ox after another at the moment. trying to stay positive, but the continued silence from our own club while all this is going on, makes it very difficult.

[miltonkeynesgull]

MK Gull, he was. His contract was done prior to the playoffs. He has been working for BRFC for a good 3 weeks before it became official, I think. Who released the 17 players from BRFC? Who sold Hoskins for half a million?

The man who should have been trying to guide us to League One was.

Hmm it certainly seems as though he was doesn't it! Although I guess we'll never know for sure. I know it's an argument that's been made on here already, but, if his contract was indeed sorted before the playoffs, then our board would certainly have been aware, and Buckle could've had no complaints had they started to actively search for his replacement.

[Boom Boom]

Branston will be the next off for sure.

[tufcbrett]

Just been listening to Buckle's press conference on BBC Bristol and he essentially said exactly what Fonda and Royal have said, in that he's perfectly allowed to sign out of contract players. Got asked whether any more Torquay players would be joining him, and he certainly didn't rule it out...

It's extremely disheartening, but Buckle certainly hasn't done anything wrong here. I'll be far more dissapointed if it turns out he's been preparing this whilst he was still contracted to us.

Just listened to that to and my heart sank abit when he didnt rule out anymore coming from us.

Sad thing is the plyers going to rovers like stanley are all Buckles targets. He was only a torquay transfer target because buckle was incharge. Im gutted he wont be with us but its football. I will be more pissed off if buckle goes win the league with half the team we had last season.

I seriously do hope that we get someone like forster or throllope as they will have their own targets and players they know. If forster comes in i could see a few brentford players here or old rovers players if it was trollope.

But seriously at the moment the damange is not so bad, i know we need two keepers, maybe a centre back if branno goes, then few players to fill stanley, robinson and tomlin. but the last three were loans anyways. Im still confident enough if we can keep the rest of the squad then were be fine.

[miltonkeynesgull]

i don't think anyone is saying he HAS done anything wrong, but it's just one almighty kick in the bo**ox after another at the moment. trying to stay positive, but the continued silence from our own club while all this is going on, makes it very difficult.

I understand it's massively disheartening, and I'm feeling very gloomy about the whole situation at the moment, but there are people saying that Buckle has f***ed us over, when in reality all he's done is sign two out of contract players who happened to play for us last season. I'm afraid if it was me in his shoes, I'd certainly be looking to sign players I knew. What I wouldn't have been doing is working on this while still in charge at Torquay...

[cambgull]

This is getting ridiculous now, I don't blame Bucks for doing it at all, he's got himself a very good player. The problem is that it shows we are falling behind quite rapidly and losing players who have stated they wanted to stay with us. I dread to think how far we'll be behind in AT LEAST 6 days time.

[miltonkeynesgull]

I seriously do hope that we get someone like forster or throllope as they will have their own targets and players they know. If forster comes in i could see a few brentford players here or old rovers players if it was trollope.

But seriously at the moment the damange is not so bad, i know we need two keepers, maybe a centre back if branno goes, then few players to fill stanley, robinson and tomlin. but the last three were loans anyways. Im still confident enough if we can keep the rest of the squad then were be fine.

I'd agree with all of this. My hope is, a new manager with plenty of contacts comes in (Forster I hope - right level of experience/ambition and contacts) and can start replacing players who've left very quickly. But, like you say, we shouldn't need to add too many new faces. After all, we managed very well on a squad of 18/19 last season (mainly down to our lack of injuries, for which Mr Davey deserves a medal). It just depends whether there's anyone worth bringing in by the time we appoint a manager!

[stefano]

Gutted: YES.

Pissed off: YES.

Will Bristol Rovers piss the league next season: YES?

Can't see how that works. We didn't with the same players!

Stanley is a good player but one player doesn't make a championship winning team and our young Eunan O'Kane is developing into a player equally as good and potentially better.

Bevan was a good servant of the club but he is not exactly Gordon Banks and as a big man he never dominated the area as he should, seeming most of the time to have some unnatural fascination with the goal line, and also as a big man he was very vulnerable to low shots whipped in near to his static legs. He was also prone to basic errors which as a goalie can be costly, and he nearly gifted Shrewsbury an equaliser in our home play-off which could have been the end of our Old Trafford dream there and then.

Branston I voted for as Player of the Season both seasons for the way he dragged us out of the relegation dogfight when he arrived and for his guts and determination at the heart of our defence throughout our attempt at promotion last season. On the down side though his ball control is highly suspect and his distribution gives the ball straight back to the opposition far more than a team with promotion aspirations can afford.

As for Paul Buckle this is his big test. I admired the way he dragged us out of the Conference and turned us into a promotion challenging League 2 team in 4 seasons on a shoestring budget. Less convincing though was that when we were under pressure and needed to change things in the big games (Exeter play-off, Crawley cup, Stevenage play-off) there never did seem to be a Plan B.

A big test as the expectations at the Memorial Ground will be automatic promotion. A test that could be easily failed.

I am pleased our board have not made a knee jerk appointment and are clearly determined to get the right man in as our next manager. Contacts are crucial in football (which PB is using in taking some of our players, always to be expected when a manager moves on) and a manager with the right contacts will quickly boost our already decent squad most of whom are under contract and with the right contacts will be able to call in loan players every bit as good or better than the ones who helped us to the play-offs last season.

A new manager (my preference would be Nicky Forster or Peter Reid!), a new team, and a new Grandstand as we charge towards League 1 in 2012!

[friendlygas]

Just answering the point on who released the 17 players. I dont thinkj Buckle would have been involved in any way with that! These were all players (Hoskins the exception)who in all honesty were overpaid and the Board knew that ANY new contracts would be way below what most of those were on.Also they had played well below par most of the season.The better players were only on loan anyway (Ifil,McCracken,Senda,JP Ka LA LA,Howe,Gavin Williams).As regards Hoskins it seems that move was agreed by the Board BEFORE the last transfer deadline and finalised when the season finished but to be completely honest there is no way Hoskins would have played in League 2.He was at times unplayable in League 1. I am not going to comment on the transfers as I know exactly how you lot are feeling and have been through this many times. One I would strongly recommend your club to go for is JP Ka LaLa.IMO he was briliant when he played for us and is an all action midfielder who I am disappointed we lost.
Best of luck Guys and I mean that.

[HRG]

I understand it's massively disheartening, and I'm feeling very gloomy about the whole situation at the moment, but there are people saying that Buckle has f***ed us over, when in reality all he's done is sign two out of contract players who happened to play for us last season. I'm afraid if it was me in his shoes, I'd certainly be looking to sign players I knew. What I wouldn't have been doing is working on this while still in charge at Torquay...

Guilty!
In my defence it was a quick reaction to a frustrating piece of news in what what has not been a good week and a half. I know he is only doing his job but it's having a big impact on us at the moment. Let us hope that when the new manager comes in that he does his job, and does it better.

[Boom Boom]

Can't see how that works. We didn't with the same players!

Stanley is a good player but one player doesn't make a championship winning team and our young Eunan O'Kane is developing into a player equally as good and potentially better.

Bevan was a good servant of the club but he is not exactly Gordon Banks and as a big man he never dominated the area as he should, seeming most of the time to have some unnatural fascination with the goal line, and also as a big man he was very vulnerable to low shots whipped in near to his static legs. He was also prone to basic errors which as a goalie can be costly, and he nearly gifted Shrewsbury an equaliser in our home play-off which could have been the end of our Old Trafford dream there and then.

Branston I voted for as Player of the Season both seasons for the way he dragged us out of the relegation dogfight when he arrived and for his guts and determination at the heart of our defence throughout our attempt at promotion last season. On the down side though his ball control is highly suspect and his distribution gives the ball straight back to the opposition far more than a team with promotion aspirations can afford.

As for Paul Buckle this is his big test. I admired the way he dragged us out of the Conference and turned us into a promotion challenging League 2 team in 4 seasons on a shoestring budget. Less convincing though was that when we were under pressure and needed to change things in the big games (Exeter play-off, Crawley cup, Stevenage play-off) there never did seem to be a Plan B.

A big test as the expectations at the Memorial Ground will be automatic promotion. A test that could be easily failed.

I am pleased our board have not made a knee jerk appointment and are clearly determined to get the right man in as our next manager. Contacts are crucial in football (which PB is using in taking some of our players, always to be expected when a manager moves on) and a manager with the right contacts will quickly boost our already decent squad most of whom are under contract and with the right contacts will be able to call in loan players every bit as good or better than the ones who helped us to the play-offs last season.

A new manager (my preference would be Nicky Forster or Peter Reid!), a new team, and a new Grandstand as we charge towards League 1 in 2012!

Our recent form coincided with Stanleys arrival. He only played like 10 games. Matt Gill's form in League Two for Exeter basically sealed his move to Norwich City. With those to in the middle park they'll no doubt form a formidable partnership...I know they sold Hoskins but they have money to spend apparently & if Buckle's freebie signings are anything to go buy then the players he's gunna pay money for will be just as good. You're definitely looking at them & Crawley for the title. Torquay on the other hand..........

[miltonkeynesgull]

Guilty!
In my defence it was a quick reaction to a frustrating piece of news in what what has not been a good week and a half. I know he is only doing his job but it's having a big impact on us at the moment. Let us hope that when the new manager comes in that he does his job, and does it better.

Sorry wasn't meaning to call anyone out in particular over it! I totally understand, it's been a rubbish week for us, and it was my initial reaction to the news too. All I was trying to say is that, thinking about it, I reckon this is less Buckle's fault, and perhaps more of our own for not moving at speed once we knew he was off to Bristol.

[Boom Boom]

Just answering the point on who released the 17 players. I dont thinkj Buckle would have been involved in any way with that! These were all players (Hoskins the exception)who in all honesty were overpaid and the Board knew that ANY new contracts would be way below what most of those were on.Also they had played well below par most of the season.The better players were only on loan anyway (Ifil,McCracken,Senda,JP Ka LA LA,Howe,Gavin Williams).As regards Hoskins it seems that move was agreed by the Board BEFORE the last transfer deadline and finalised when the season finished but to be completely honest there is no way Hoskins would have played in League 2.He was at times unplayable in League 1. I am not going to comment on the transfers as I know exactly how you lot are feeling and have been through this many times. One I would strongly recommend your club to go for is JP Ka LaLa.IMO he was briliant when he played for us and is an all action midfielder who I am disappointed we lost.
Best of luck Guys and I mean that.

Cheers boi. I understand where you're coming from but I wouldn't put it past Buckle to have had some say in the releasing of the players, I mean if you look through the thread there's a lot of accusations about him already preparing for the Bristol Rovers job whilst with us. (You can't really argue with them either) You've signed two brilliant central midfielders by the way. Bevan is usually solid but definitely has his weak points.

[Colorado Gull]

The Board better appoint a manager at the end of the week MAX and start signing some players. I'm gutted about Stanley and I'm going to be even more gutted because I can just see Brano, Zeb maybe even Eunan gone as well. We can say now (in my eyes anyway) that us and Rovers are quite big rivals, I find it all a bit "cheeky" about how Rovers approached Bucks and now to rub it in sign our players. But there s no time to panic at the moment. When the new manager is appointed and starts signing a few players we'll soon forget about Bucks and Stanley etc and look on to the season ahead.

[Yellow4life]

Well it seems like we've done nothing(can do nothing with no manager) to stop players joining buckle so they will go!

Why would they want to hang on to something they may not actually have after our manager says he doesn't want to sign them.

The board should sign players.