Bristol Rovers away!

Beau Nash wrote:

2weirdtown wrote:Is there a coach going?

Via Standerwick, Corsham, Chippenham and Cheltenham.  

comrade powell wrote:Bristol Rovers (13 Dec)

departure times

1135 radstock
1145 sizzler
1200 twerton

The prices are as follows for adults/concessions/children accompanied by an adult….

£10/£8/£4

(£4 extra for non members)

Please book your seats by ringing Bas on 07881728689

1200 from Twerton does seem excessively early to me, but I understand from Comrade Powell that Berkeleys think it will take an hour and a half to get from Twerton to the Mem, so perhaps they are going the route that Beau Nash suggests!

Palms wrote:The audio interview on the chronicle site should put this discussion to bed...

Two points. Is Adie right when he says it was a good performance despite not winning? That's not the impression given by supporters.

secondly I think we need to forget about Ross starting a game. Other players can f'ck up as much as you like and they won't lose their place yet he can score twice and is still a liability.

Well it sums It all up really.Disgusting to make remarks publicly.Shows a management team under pressure.I wouldn't want to play for that pair again.how unprofessional was that.No one else is ever criticised in this manner.you wouldn't get away with this in a normal employer/employee relationship.Ross go and get yourself a club worthy of you .No wonder fans are leaving .

Im surprised at Adies comments on Stearns performance and his weak reasoning for his non selection. Im ambivalent about Stearn starting but expected to hear a better explanation. Also didnt think we created much. Cant recall their keeper being under the cosh. Routine saves and a woeful header from Kington was about it apart from free kick.

Does anyone know what time the bus goes back after the match? Want to get bus, but the wife has a Christmas do that night, and she wants me home early to look after the kids.

I agree that Adie Britton would have been better off keeping the reasons for the non-selection to himself even though he was asked the question. Obviously he'd have been criticised for saying nothing but whatever he said would also have got the same reaction, so saying nothing seems the lesser of two evils.

Dusty Lynfield wrote:Does anyone know what time the bus goes back after the match? Want to get bus, but the wife has a Christmas do that night, and she wants me home early to look after the kids.

Dusty, the bus departure time is 5.10

Bridgeyate wrote:Well it sums It all up really.Disgusting to make remarks publicly.Shows a management team under pressure.I wouldn't want to play for that pair again.how unprofessional was that.No one else is ever criticised in this manner.you wouldn't get away with this in a normal employer/employee relationship.Ross go and get yourself a club worthy of you .No wonder fans are leaving .

Appalling comments from Adie Britton - someone who is always very measured in his interviews usually - regarding Ross Stearn and his value as a player in his squad. I saw Paul Randall and Charlie Fleming give the ball away many times and not be the best at defending across the front line but they were strikers who scored lots of goals and became all time heroes at Twerton Park. Now I am not saying Stearn is in that sort of league but for gods sake give the lad some credit for being what he is and stop finding fault and all the negatives and encourage the many positives in him as a player. Fair play to Andrew Kerslake in the interview for trying to press home the 'hot' question because Adie Britton just could not give a straight answer to it without getting extremely flustered and by the end pretty annoyed.

If it hadn't been for Stearn we would probably not be going to play Bristol Rovers on Saturday. Britton & Howells are slowly trying to destroy him and I am now very firmly in the 'Howells & Britton' must go camp because I have had enough of their mind games, totally blinkered & negative tactical strategy and probably more importantly, the total disregard and disrespect they show to the long suffering fans by saying we played well when everyone who paid good money to travel & watch the game said it was pretty dire....you cannot defend the indefensible however hard you try.

Adie Britton has in the past done a lot for Bath City but has he not noticed that the fan base has almost disappeared with so many supporters not bothering any more. He is trying to justify a product (the make-up of the team and the numerous flat and woeful performances) which is just not fit for purpose and it is never their fault - it is always someone else's fault, the playing budget is too small, injuries or the players just aren't good enough. Fans and the players need some positivity from the management team - more of a 'lets get up and at 'em and we will win through somehow' attitude but it is never forthcoming from either of them.

If the club Directors cannot now see the hard facts in front of them, they are risking being labelled as the Board that after 125 years finally took Bath City down the road of no return and as I know they are all true supporters at heart - most of them throughout their lives - I cannot believe they refuse to deal with this playing management issue which has been very slowly eating away at and destroying the club for the past 12-18 months.

LB wrote:

Beau Nash wrote:

2weirdtown wrote:Is there a coach going?

Via Standerwick, Corsham, Chippenham and Cheltenham.  

comrade powell wrote:Bristol Rovers (13 Dec)

departure times

1135 radstock
1145 sizzler
1200 twerton

The prices are as follows for adults/concessions/children accompanied by an adult….

£10/£8/£4

(£4 extra for non members)

Please book your seats by ringing Bas on 07881728689

1200 from Twerton does seem excessively early to me, but I understand from Comrade Powell that Berkeleys think it will take an hour and a half to get from Twerton to the Mem, so perhaps they are going the route that Beau Nash suggests!

I wanted to get the bus myself, but not with a midday start !

Cannonball you have summed it up so well.

Corstonian wrote:-

I stood on the away terrace once - view from there is not the best as it's kind of in the bottom corner rather like the part of our Bath end nearest the turnstiles. The prefabricated "stand" section allocated to away fans will keep you dry if weather is wet but its got low elevation. But as against that, the atmosphere in the ground is usually good, they do decent food and the locals are friendly

I was in the away end for a Rovers / County league match last season (back in the days when Rovers used to be a League club ) and there's no guarantee of keeping dry if it rains. The away section of the terrace is uncovered and the "tent" stand behind the goal provides little protection if it rains. We were sat a few rows back from the front and got absolutely drenched.

There's a snack bar in the bottom corner that sells excellent pasties.

comrade powell wrote:

Dusty Lynfield wrote:Does anyone know what time the bus goes back after the match? Want to get bus, but the wife has a Christmas do that night, and she wants me home early to look after the kids.

Dusty, the bus departure time is 5.10

Should be back in Twerton at about 7 o'clock going by the departure time

Cracking post yet again cannonball, good to have you back

yes, appears not quite right Adie saying that in pubic - but if he didn't give a "footballing" reason that would be wrong as well.
Out of interest was what Adie said correct, with regard to running at 2 defenders and (presumably) losing possession unnecessarily? Being away I can't comment.

Other than the free-kick Stearn didn't really have an impact on the game in my opinion. I think it was a different full-back than the one he tore apart last month.

I still think he should have started, be interesting to find out why he was left out after Ebbsfleet, whether it was tactical or if they didn't think he played well there. We won our next game 4-0 over Maidenhead so obviously didn't make a huge difference in that game, but still seems a bit odd.

For me one of the sad things is the change in the way people see Adie. I for one may not have always agreed with him but have always liked and had respect for him. He now seems to have become so far detached from the the supporters (the few that are left) the real danger is the good things he has done will be forgotten and eventually he will leave the club under a cloud of animosity and bad feeling.
I have no time for Mr Howells but Adie seems to align himself 100% with him. I would have hoped things could have been resolved before they got to this stage but we are now in a rapid downward spiral, despite which a few people at the club still trying to deny there is a problem.

stillmanjunior wrote:

comrade powell wrote:

Dusty Lynfield wrote:Does anyone know what time the bus goes back after the match? Want to get bus, but the wife has a Christmas do that night, and she wants me home early to look after the kids.

Dusty, the bus departure time is 5.10

Should be back in Twerton at about 7 o'clock going by the departure time

Well just in time for breakfast then - what's your problem?

Cannonball has made the best post of the last few seasons...failure at ALL levels of management is the reason we are where we are.

"regarding Ross Stearn and his value as a player in his squad. I saw Paul Randall and Charlie Fleming give the ball away many times and not be the best at defending across the front line but they were strikers who scored lots of goals and became all time heroes at Twerton Park."

And the fact we have Dave Pratt who is worth 1.5 players and does the defending bit should work in Stearn's favour. I wonder if this is a player led thing to limit his game time?

2weirdtown wrote:"regarding Ross Stearn and his value as a player in his squad. I saw Paul Randall and Charlie Fleming give the ball away many times and not be the best at defending across the front line but they were strikers who scored lots of goals and became all time heroes at Twerton Park."

And the fact we have Dave Pratt who is worth 1.5 players and does the defending bit should work in Stearn's favour.  I wonder if this is a player led thing to limit his game time?

Are you suggesting Stearn is being left out because of other players opinions? Even Adie didn't try to justify the position by blaming the players.

I hope Ross finds a new club quickly.

Is he going then?

Well, there you have it. A thread of comments from some of the remaining 300 odd loyal fans of this Club.
I wish that everyone in charge of the well-being of this Club read threads like this. The postings from CANNONBALL are always good but his latest contribution is exceptionally brilliant. Mr Powell's description of the mood change pre-match last Saturday, when we heard the team selection, is particularly poignant too.
When so many fans are in agreement that management change is needed, before the Club goes under, surely the Board must ACT!!
The latest comments to be made public by our team management must surely be the final nail in their coffin. They have now completed undoing all of their previously good work of the past.

The best way we can 'celebrate' the 125 year now is to replace Howells and Britten, with immediate effect. It will be providing many of us with a well deserved Christmas present too.

Peteboa wrote:Cracking post yet again cannonball, good to have you back

I've never been away really.........and I have been watching the club for a very long time and as sure as eggs are eggs, if you have tension or unrest in the dressing room between the management and some of the players, you will never achieve very much on the pitch. Not really wanting to labour the point any more.... but the comments about Stearn giving the ball away, as well as being very poor man management, could apply to the entire team during every game. They are all part-timers so mistakes will be made on the pitch, but to single out one player who has scored 20 goals in 31 starts & 36 sub appearances for the club - and he isn't really an 'out and out' striker either - is asking for a fairly robust response from fans who just want to be ENTERTAINED with a bit of flair and style from time to time.

Most fans will accept that it isn't going to happen every week but its the manner of the under achieving performances each week that tells it's own story and more of the same baffling team selections and tactics each week isn't ever going to change it. The team is very capable of being an entertaining top 6 outfit but as we have seen many times this season, it has a very soft 'underbelly' and not a huge amount of backbone to really fight back if things go wrong early on and this overall mind set is always a reflection on the coaching and team management and the weekly mental game preparation.  

Any business losing money & loyal customers as Bath City are doing needs to actively review the whole set up and then deal with the reasons for the decline.....and that doesn't mean then issuing a statement saying everything is fine and we will carry on blindly doing the same things over and over again. Accepting that there are big issues off the pitch that need sorting out, on the pitch - which after all is why the football club actually exists - the Directors just need to do what they are there for and actively DIRECT the club forward.... firmly and with some imagination and realise the huge consequences if they don't.

Just listened to the Kerslake/Britton interview. Have to say Kerslake had him on the ropes.