20Questions - Donny Rovers pt3

Last updated : 25 January 2007 By Bigrich.....

Hello there, Who are yer and how long have you supported Rovers??
My name is mark, i live in conisbrough but formerly in westwoodside in the isle of axholme and i have supported rovers for 22 years.

What made you support your club?
I started supporting the club because my dad was a lifelong fan and he took me to see me first game and i was hooked from then on plus from where i lived it was either rovers or scunthorpe and id rather not give my opinion there.

Whats your favorite away day and why?
My favorite away day has to be the short trip to oakwell purely because we dont lose there (well not for a while anyway) and we always play really well.

Whats your proudest moment being a Rover?
My proudest moment as a rover was when we won promotion back to the league at stoke, it looked like we had thrown it away until franny tierney scored the golden goal which put us on the road to where we are now,living the dream and hopefully completing the wish to get to the championship.

And your most embarassing / disappointing?
My most disappointing moment was when we were relegated from the league and having a joke of a chairman try and kill the club!

Are we your main rivals? and why do you hate us with such venom?
In my eyes rotherham are not our main rivals, scunthorpe are although it is very close, this is mainly because we have played them more recently over a greater amount of games but there still is a underlying disrespect for rotherham not hate but near there, divided family support helped this in my family with my older brother being a rotherham fan.

If Donny Rovers was a Song, what would it be, and why?
If doncaster rovers was a song then they would have to be "simply the best" this is after watching the last few years getting better and better after the heartache we had all suffered.

Whos your all time favorite player, and why??
My all time favorite player has to be tim ryan, he gave blood,sweat and tears for the rovers and the team was in his blood, a player who would never back down to any challange, the embodyment of the team ethos.

Well a shiny new stadium, worth the wait??
The new stadium is fantastic as im sure you will find out on saturday, it is something only a few years ago none of us could really believe would have come about, belle vue was a traditional old ground but as football has changed so has the world around it and yes it was well worth the wait.

Whats the feeling like moving from what was a shed, to the new place?
Belle vue will always have the memories from all the years gone by, including some very memorable moments in recent history but the old girl was outdated, not a shed as such as she was loved by the rovers but maybe just a little past her time.

O'Driscoll, have your views changed on him since he arrived??
Sean O'Driscoll, alot of fans expected him to come in and take up the reigns where penny left off, we played nice pretty football in the 442 style, SOD changed this and at first it wasnt pretty and we were for the lack of another word bored watching some of the performances, but he had to be given time to get his ideas across and the last few months have shown how we have changed from a nearly team to one who we feel can challange for promotion this season.

And should Penney really have gone and your reasons??
I dont think we will ever no the reason why penny left, maybe it is for the best now with rumors of players and staff being alienated, alot of fans thought he had taken us as far as he can as he seemed tactically inept in his last few months, i feel he lost the respect of the players to a degree and he lost alot of the fans with his attitude, It was time for a change possibly before this season started but if he had stayed we wouldnt be where we are now.

Much player movement during January and do you expect any?
In january id hope that we do sign a centre back as cover as the defence is something that we are very short on reserves in, and i would also hope we can get an experienced goal keeper in possibly neil sullivan who we previously had on loan, apart from that i cant see anything we need to get at the minute.

One player from this division you would like in your team, and why?
One player from the division who i would like to see in a rovers shirt would be billy sharpe from scunthorpe, he is a clinical goalscorer and would be an asset to any team.

Who's your strongest / Weakest link?
Our strongest link in the team has to be graham lee, he is the club captain an a rock in defence who also pops up with a goal now and then, he is a driving force behind or recent form and is a player who would be very difficult to replace, our weakest link has to be goal keeper jan butz, a player who doesnt inspire confidence in himself or his teammates, he is more predictable at making a mistake than calamity (david) james in his hayday.

Predicted Line-up?
Our predicted line up would be, GK- ben smith. Defence- James O'Connor, Graham Lee, Adam Lockwood, Peter Gilbert. Midfield- Paul Green, James Coppinger, Brian Stock, Jason Price. Strikers- Johnathon Forte, Paul Heffernan

Predicted Score?
Our score prediction is 3-1 to the rovers

Whos going up??
Oldham, Doncaster, Nottm Forest

And who's going down?
Bournemouth, Brentford, Leyton Orient, Rotherham

And finally. Steak & Kidney, Meat & Tatty or Balti??
It has to be a balti pie. Enjoy the game! and good luck after saturday.

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