Ricky and Tom discuss Rovers' form, the FA Cup run and the looming January window.
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00:00Hello and welcome on to our latest edition of our Doncaster Rovers chat. It's been a
00:06while. I'm joined as ever by Tom Bulcliffe of Radio Sheffield. Thomas, how are we doing?
00:12Yes, very well. Thank you, Ricky. The nights are well and truly set in now.
00:17Absolutely. Yeah, it's obviously the fireworks going off tonight for Bonfire.
00:22Fireworks in terms of Rovers as well, the last few games. I think the last time we spoke was Bromley
00:28and pretty decent response since then. Three wins, three cup competitions, progressed in two,
00:34going pretty smoothly, isn't it?
00:37Well, yeah, absolutely. I mean, that Bromley result, Rovers just can't find a way against those teams,
00:44can they? Your Newport's, Harrogate's, those that sit in the low block and try and catch you out.
00:49I mean, Grant McCann was full of praise for Bromley that night, but you really wondered,
00:54or I certainly did, about him post-game. He'd absolutely torn into his players and I'm thinking,
01:01what's he trying to achieve here? Is he going to have the desired effect?
01:06Well, absolutely it did. And from that Tuesday night to then go into a game against Bradford,
01:13packed house and a lot riding on it in terms of bragging rights and kind of in the make-up
01:20and shake-up of the league. I know there's only three points on the line,
01:24but still the confidence that Rovers will have gained from that, the fact that that was their last game
01:29before a couple of weeks away from league action, to then have such a quick turnaround.
01:37And when that team sheet dropped at Valley Parade, I think there were a few raised eyebrows
01:41and maybe a few furrowed brows as well. People thinking, OK, this is a brave selection.
01:48Not many would have gone for it, but it absolutely paid dividends.
01:53Rovers could have been well out of sight before they were.
01:56Even for the Bradford fans to come out and say, you know what, the scoreline flattered them in the end.
02:02Rovers have laid a marker down. They can go into other teams' fortresses and come away with three points.
02:10The attention, as I'm sure we'll come on to later in this catch-up,
02:14is whether they can repel Notts County and other teams doing that to them.
02:19So it is one of those divisions, isn't it, already, where you think,
02:23I think the kind of top seven or eight, give or take, have established themselves.
02:28I don't think there'll be a great deal between them.
02:30Certainly not the three tearaways of last year who've gone on to establish themselves so well in League One.
02:38But Rovers, particularly the way I'm most impressed, as you know, Ricky, League is the bread and butter.
02:44And Rovers have certainly bounced back decisively after that bumbling defeat.
02:50They have, yeah. I mean, you mentioned there the options that he's got.
02:54I mean, Jack Senior, you talk about bold calls, chucking him in from the cold at Bradford.
03:00I thought, I think he'd start at Newport in the League.
03:03That's it, dribs and drabs in the Cups.
03:06He was brilliant, had a really shaky start, as you'd expect, but he was great.
03:11And then he'd come back in again, obviously.
03:13He actually played the Barnsley game as well as the Barrow one.
03:16So he's an interesting one.
03:18I think that speaks volumes, doesn't it?
03:21You know, you think you're not in it, you're not in the mix, as it were.
03:24And then all of a sudden you're right back in it and the shirt's yours to lose.
03:28And that's a problem, I suppose, that it's going to have, especially with the treatment room empty now.
03:33You know, it's going to be seven, eight players every game that's going to be disappointed.
03:39Yeah, and that's why I think, and this is pressure on Grant himself,
03:44he might have looked at that Bromley defeat and thought,
03:48there's a lot of players who've missed out here who are good enough and have proved it before
03:53and will prove it again that he's left out.
03:55But it's definitely horses for courses.
03:58Have they got that quality on the ball at home?
04:01They probably have.
04:02Are they using those players?
04:04Maybe not.
04:05I think there's a couple, Sabara and Hurst, the latter in particular,
04:10who will feel now, you know, I think his is the shirt to lose, definitely.
04:15He will lay a claim down.
04:18But then if he's not used, then he'll come on and do what he did,
04:21like he did against Crewe not so long back and off the bench and had an impact and scored in that one.
04:26So, yeah, plenty of options.
04:28And that is when the pitches get heavier.
04:31There's injuries to people across the board, suspensions.
04:36You know, Rovers have been without Tom Anderson for the past few games as well.
04:42When it gets to the depths of winter, Rovers have got the strongest squad on paper.
04:49Easy for me to say.
04:52Well, that brings us nicely to, it's a strange month this, just three league games,
04:56no midweekers, even in the Cups.
04:58I mean, it's a bit of an odd one, but I suppose it's the calm before the storm, isn't it?
05:02You know, December, going to have all the games crammed in.
05:06You know, like you say, winter pitches start to kick in,
05:08so they've got to make the most of these blank weeks, haven't they?
05:12Yeah, absolutely.
05:13I think after November, is it nine games now they've got the Kettering?
05:16Oh, Kettering will be the end of November.
05:18But between the end of November and the start of January, it's like nine or ten games.
05:22I'm not even factoring the Football League trophy either into that.
05:26So, yeah, really, it kind of puts the emphasis on these three league games,
05:32Notts County, Salford, and then a trip to Carlisle as well.
05:37Rovers will hope for, well, Grant McCann will hope for nine points.
05:41I think realistically, seven is achievable.
05:44Yeah, I was going to say this.
05:46I thought seven.
05:47I think the Notts County ones, they're tough, aren't they?
05:51I think Salford, you know, they don't pull up any trees, do they?
05:54Carlisle have not got that bounce from Williamson that they would have wanted.
05:59So, yeah, I think seven is certainly achievable,
06:02but it's going to be a tough one, isn't it, on Saturday?
06:05Yeah, absolutely.
06:06Just going back to kind of points holes from a week,
06:09I mean, who would have thought six points from Swindon, Bromley and Bradford
06:12and the two wins would have been on the road somehow?
06:15Rovers have flipped it.
06:16They are in a rich vein of form away,
06:18but I'm really looking forward to Saturday.
06:20You'd hope for more than 10,000 in the ground.
06:22You'd hope that Rovers rise to the occasion.
06:25They didn't by any stretch against Chesterfield.
06:28I don't know if that will, you know, prove incentive.
06:30They were absolutely, I don't know if you were there last year,
06:34completely second best against Notts County in the home game last year.
06:39I think they got beat 3-0, maybe 3-1,
06:42and then lost on Boxing Day at their place.
06:45But they bombed, didn't they, Notts County,
06:48and finished 14th, I think it was, in the end.
06:51But they look at a sure, you know, a sure side this year
06:55and will prove problematic.
06:58I'm not going to go out on a limb and say these are the sorts of games
07:01that Rovers need to make statements from and all the rest.
07:05Just keep ticking along at two points a game
07:07and they will be absolutely fine.
07:09But I want an entertaining game of football
07:13and hopefully we'll get that.
07:16Yeah, I mean, we'll go on to the points per game, you know, theory,
07:21if you like, in a bit.
07:23But I think you're right in terms of the crowd.
07:25Obviously, they snapped up there.
07:26They get good support anyway, don't they, Notts?
07:28I mean, they sold the 3,000.
07:31You would hope it's pushing towards that 10,
07:33which they got against Chesterfield.
07:36It must make a difference as well.
07:38The players walk out, they look to the left,
07:40they either see an empty stand, which you've had so many times this season,
07:42Morecambe, Akrington, Bromley, you know,
07:44and that's nothing against those teams away support.
07:47But, you know, and then when you look and you see a full house,
07:51you must want to, that must give them something extra to play.
07:54You know, these are the kind of occasions you want to be in.
07:56You want to be in League One, you want to play in full houses,
07:58or you're near to full house.
08:00Absolutely.
08:01I spoke to someone the other day who was kind of reminiscing
08:05and saying, whether I say reminiscing, it's not that long ago,
08:07wanted to recreate, he said that 10 minutes before that crew home leg
08:12was special, you know, and it was absolutely rocking.
08:15Now, there are a few games in the diary that you get of interest
08:19and your Bradfords, your Notts Counties,
08:22they're chief amongst those, aren't they, really?
08:24These are, you know, Grimsby away and maybe a little bit less at home,
08:29but these are the ones that you earmark in the calendar as bumper fixtures.
08:34You know, we don't need to go through the list of teams
08:36that Rovers are trying to escape from.
08:39But, yeah, I think Rovers should be well up for it
08:42and it would not surprise me if Grant made multiple changes
08:46from last week for this one and just said,
08:49look, it's a case of resting, rotating, refreshing.
08:53We'll see how the cup draw pans out as well, obviously,
08:57or thoughts on that Rovers are now just, you know,
09:02one 90-minute game or maybe extra time
09:05and penalties away from the third round.
09:07On paper, I know Catherine has done it to Northampton.
09:10Oh, I've pre-empted this, have I? Right, OK.
09:15So, yeah, I was generally happy.
09:18I think most Rovers fans were with the draw.
09:22If you're not going to be at home, then perhaps the next best
09:25is to be away to lower league opposition.
09:28It will be a bit of a banana skin.
09:31I was alluding to the fact they've beat Northampton.
09:34They've got a few former league players playing up top for them,
09:38but Rovers, if they've got enough about them,
09:41should see that one over the line.
09:44And who knows who you draw in round three
09:47and there's a lot of money to be at stake.
09:50That's it. They've already banked 45k from the barrow
09:53and, you know, I think it's 75 if they win the second round,
09:57not to mention if it's on TV, you know,
10:00add that in as well. Suddenly, if you win that,
10:03you're in the third round with, you know, a substantial
10:06six-figure fee to kind of add to the coffers for January.
10:10Just in terms of Kettering, when you saw the draw then,
10:13obviously, I think they're, I've not read too much into it,
10:17but I know they're trying to get temporary seating, I think,
10:20for their grounds, quite a modest ground by all accounts.
10:23But, yeah, I mean, Rovers are doing a lot better than me.
10:26Recent years, Chorley, was it?
10:29Away from home, they had a few other potential banana skins as well
10:32down the years in the Cup.
10:34Yeah, absolutely. It's not a competition Rovers do particularly well in.
10:38It was under Grant McCann that Chorley, I think, were tuning up
10:41and Rovers took them to a replay, which would take me down
10:46a whole different path of whether I think that replays
10:49should still be in rounds one and two.
10:53Yeah, I think the guys, the chief exec or chairman came out
10:57and said they missed out on 50 grand because they went straight to penalty
11:00or extra time penalties at Stevenage when they could have had a replay
11:03and who knows, maybe TV coverage.
11:06But, yeah, it was under McCann that Rovers went to Chorley
11:08and earned a replay. They actually ended up in round five that year
11:11against Crystal Palace, which was the furthest they'd gone
11:14for about 50, 60 years.
11:17They fell against Kings Lynn not so long back.
11:21So, yeah, it's not a competition that they've excelled in.
11:24There's been a few hiccups along the way.
11:28It's a test of character, isn't it?
11:30And definitely those who've travelled to Barrow at the start of November,
11:36I mean, there's going to be a whole clamour for tickets,
11:39but you can't deny that those who make that long trek up there
11:44deserve to see the second round at least.
11:47Yeah, it'll be interesting, won't it, to see whether it is on TV.
11:50I mean, it doesn't make much of a difference.
11:52They're used to it by now, aren't they, the EFL players?
11:55But it'll be an interesting dynamic, I suppose, if it is on TV,
12:00maybe under the lights on a Friday night or whatever it is.
12:04But, again, like I said, that's extra cash as well,
12:06which McCann has highlighted and said January,
12:10that might be the difference between bringing in a lone player
12:13being able to supplement his wages or even a permanent.
12:17Well, yeah, absolutely.
12:19And there's no reason.
12:21He likes to add, doesn't he?
12:23He's the football manager's football manager,
12:25if you know what I mean.
12:26Always looking at the transfer window and seeing who might be available
12:30and where can I spend that extra last bit of cash?
12:33But, yeah, if it's going, I'd love to see a pod.
12:37People would probably, you could have people all down the spine of the team,
12:42the Rovers fans, and where they need to strengthen.
12:45Personally, I think they could do with another forward.
12:49But anyone who would be coming in through the front door as a striker
12:54knows that they wouldn't be an automatic pick.
12:56But as we go back to strength in depth, they wouldn't be in any position.
13:01Yeah, well, that's what I was going to come on to, actually.
13:04I don't think, I think we had this discussion last time when we were with Peter,
13:07I don't think he knows his best 11,
13:09I don't think he even knows his best formation right now.
13:11You know, you look at how they did so well with that 3-4-1-2,
13:15if you like, or 3-4-2-1 at Bradford,
13:19and obviously carried it over in the cups.
13:22But he tweaks it and it's fluid and he'll play four,
13:25he'll move to a four, which he did at Barrow.
13:27But he's having the players to do it, I suppose, isn't he?
13:29Case in point was Harry Clifton.
13:31I'd never seen him play right wing back.
13:34He only played it once Sterry left the field until half-time.
13:38But, you know, he showed a lot of energy and adaptability.
13:41And I think having that, as well as a big squad,
13:44is only going to help him, isn't it?
13:46Yeah, and there are lots of players, you know,
13:49people will say there's two or three players for each position.
13:52There's probably, and that's because they are so, you know,
13:56that's the strength in depth.
13:57You'd say that Jack Senior, be it an automatic left back,
14:01actually can play left side of centre half and probably do a job
14:04somewhere else as well that I've not thought about.
14:06And that's why Grant's the manager and neither of us are.
14:09But Owen Bailey's versatility comes into it pretty much anywhere.
14:14So, no, that's really good from Rovers.
14:18But you're probably going to have to adapt during a game.
14:21You might start with a three and it might not be long
14:24before you have to go to a four or, you know,
14:27Bailey drops into the middle of a back two or a back four
14:32and then you push the wing backs on.
14:35But that's how modern football has gone.
14:37You can't just be, set your stall out
14:40and that's it until 90 minutes are up.
14:44I also think something that, on a wider point,
14:47not just Doncaster Rovers,
14:48I think that subs are going to become more and more important.
14:51You can change half your outfield team at the drop of a hat.
14:57You know, I remember a few teams doing it a couple of years ago.
15:01They'd change the wing backs and then bring fresh legs on
15:03after an hour and opposition fullbacks didn't know what to do
15:08in that scenario.
15:09And that is something that at League Two level will certainly play
15:12into Rovers' hands because they've got a bigger squad.
15:15The bench is absolute quality.
15:17I've seen some people say this is the best Doncaster Rovers bench
15:21at this level that they've had, well, maybe ever.
15:26Absolutely. I suppose it ties into that.
15:28You know, they call them finishers now, don't they?
15:30I still call them substitute.
15:32But you're right, you can change your entire front four
15:35or your whole midfield.
15:37Being able to do that in one foul swoop,
15:41especially at lower leagues, I still think it's a bit strange
15:44you're only allowed seven subs in League Two.
15:46So you can use five, but you're still only allowed seven.
15:49In the FA Cup, they were allowed nine,
15:51which again, I don't think McCann's that bothered.
15:53I think he's always going to put one defender on the bench,
15:57which he's alluded to before.
16:01Just going back to the squad depth again.
16:03Obviously, Maxwell and Sterry both went off.
16:05I think it's probably more positive that Sterry
16:08likely will play Saturday than Maxwell.
16:10But again, I don't think there's any massive worries
16:14among the fan base.
16:15If neither of those are fit enough to start,
16:18you've got Fleming, you've got Nixon coming back as well.
16:20You've got Siniuk who can fill in there.
16:22Emmanuel, he's another one.
16:23I mean, we had this decision the other week.
16:25Six full-backs.
16:28Same whether it's viable to carry those.
16:30Obviously, for situations like this, I guess.
16:33Yeah, you're absolutely going to need them.
16:36I think Rovers will have to make a call, won't they?
16:38Once December's out of the way,
16:40and say it's a slimmed-down November,
16:42but quite a hefty December on and off the pitch
16:46for a lot of people.
16:48But Rovers are going to have to make a decision,
16:49particularly at left-back.
16:51Is Maxwell going to stay out the rest of the season?
16:54There's concern about him.
16:55Hopefully, he's all right.
16:57What does that mean for Brandon Fleming?
16:59Does he want to stay on until the end of the season?
17:01I don't think Emmanuel's deal is crystal clear yet, is it?
17:05I think they'll still kind of see how it goes,
17:08play it by ear.
17:10I don't think he justifies a play,
17:12so I would want more game time than what he's actually had.
17:15There's going to be two lads coming back from Ireland as well,
17:18Bobby Faulkner and Lewis Jones.
17:20So, yeah, Grant will already have one eye on what's happening.
17:26Yeah, I was just going to ask you, actually,
17:28finally, before I finish on Faulkner and Jones.
17:30I asked him about it the other day,
17:32and I put a piece up today, actually, about it.
17:35I mean, can you see, realistically,
17:37either of them being in his plans?
17:39I mean, it's such a weird arrangement,
17:42the fact that they've gone over there.
17:44I think they've played 10 games combined.
17:46It's been a nightmare spell.
17:47One's got relegated.
17:48Jones made a cock-up in his first game,
17:51didn't play much after that.
17:53And now they can't play until January at the earliest
17:56for anyone.
17:57So that's not just Rovers.
17:58They could be loaned out again to a non-league team,
18:00for instance.
18:01I mean, it's a strange old predicament for both of them to be in.
18:05No, I don't think either will be included,
18:07if we're being brutally honest.
18:09I think a non-league loan for both looks the most likely,
18:14if I was a betting man.
18:16And Grant will try and shape and mould and cut and trim.
18:21Don't know whether Yeboah is probably the one
18:25who's looking over his shoulder.
18:26It just doesn't seem to have worked as yet.
18:32Don't know whether, if there's any blame at all on any party.
18:36It's just not quite, you know, the wingers are in good form.
18:39Molyneux and Hurst and Gibson are all playing really well.
18:45He's had his go in the cup, hasn't he, a little bit?
18:48And he's kind of done little bits,
18:52but that's where it's kind of ended.
18:54Perhaps people were expecting a little bit more from him in that regard.
18:59But yeah, Grant's always going to be making decisions.
19:02When you've only got five loanees,
19:04you need to utilise them,
19:05particularly as one's kind of nailed down as your keeper for the rest of the season.
19:08You've only actually got four outfield players.
19:12So, yeah, you'll have to bear that in mind.
19:15And this is, of course,
19:16whilst trying to keep everyone in the building and not let any heads get turned.
19:21Well, that's it as well.
19:23You know, you talk about the assets that they've got,
19:25and it's something he was big on in the summer.
19:27You know, the fact that he's got now Molyneux, Bailly.
19:31Kyle Hurst is a weird one because I don't think his contract,
19:35I think his contract, I'd have to double check,
19:37but I'm pretty sure that's up in the summer.
19:39Maxwell's another one that's tied down.
19:41I think they're your three, really, in terms of,
19:44if you disagree in terms of, not that we're wanting to flog him,
19:48but if any team comes in, they're going to have to,
19:51you know, put in a really tempting offer, aren't they?
19:54Sizable, especially for Molyneux and Bailly.
19:57Yeah, and that's why Rovers,
19:59two of their best bits of business in the summer,
20:01were getting both of those down on longer contracts.
20:04They play virtually every minute of every game,
20:08and they produce as well.
20:10Bailly set high standards last season,
20:12particularly after Christmas.
20:14They'll want to try and regain that stature and that going forward.
20:19But then, Ricky, we're saying all this about the players,
20:22the manager.
20:23Yeah.
20:24Look what happened last year.
20:25Notts County sassed his opponents.
20:27They were flying high.
20:28There was no way anyone thought they were going to finish,
20:31certainly not outside the top seven.
20:33They looked a decent bet for promotion via any means.
20:37The manager's head gets turned, and off he goes to Swansea,
20:41and they absolutely bomb from there.
20:43Don Castrovers have got a Manager of the Month nominee for October,
20:48so congratulations, Grant.
20:50He's already won the award this season,
20:53and winning teams and their managers get noticed,
20:57and it won't have gone unnoticed to certainly the level above,
21:01and perhaps even one higher than that.
21:03And that's the harsh reality of football.
21:06It's shark-infested waters at times.
21:10Absolutely.
21:11One player I did forget to mention, actually, as well, is McGrath.
21:14He's come on leaps and bounds.
21:16We've chatted about him plenty, haven't we?
21:18A lot of people have made the comparison with Branthwaite at Everton.
21:23I know he's a bit further down the line, but I get that.
21:26Left-footed, good size, centre-half, just looks a player, doesn't he?
21:31And I know it's took a while for him to kind of get his game time,
21:34but if he carries on at this trajectory,
21:36I wouldn't be surprised if there's sniffing around him.
21:42Oh, people will have noticed him already.
21:44Don't worry.
21:45Just by, as you say, his attributes and his kind of physicality, aggression,
21:51et cetera, it's just, you know, there's a few, and he will know that.
21:56And he's got a, you know, Richard Wood and Tom Anderson
22:01around the training ground, as well as Cliff Byrne,
22:03all centre-backs who have had very good careers.
22:07So, you know, there's just a couple of things that I think needs to be
22:11ironed out. It can be a bit rash.
22:12You think back to the crew game where he got sold for the hot dog.
22:16Keep him on his feet. Stand on your feet and keep the lad at bay.
22:20But all things to work on.
22:23But if he goes on and plays 35, 40 games in a League Two side,
22:28which is in the top three, six, then, yeah, sure he's going to be noticed.
22:33But let's try and keep that one under wraps till the summer.
22:38Absolutely, yeah. Absolutely.
22:40He'll be here before we know it, I guess, January.
22:44But, yeah, Tom, thanks for your time. Thanks for tuning in as well.
22:47We'll try and get another one of these in the diary on a much more
22:51semi-frequent basis. Can't do them all the time.
22:54But, yeah, we'll try and get one in before that busy Christmas period in December.
23:00So, yeah, thanks for tuning in and we'll see you again soon.