An evening with.....

[Rockford's Love Child]

I went tonight, an interesting event expertly chaired by the passionate Ray Stubbs. Ray had his travel bag with him as he is off to Holland tomorrow to cover the Southampton game on BT Sport.

There were some interesting comments from Palios and Brabin.

Mark said that the investment in the Main Stand suites totalled £100,o00, but could bring in an extra £500,000 per annum for the next three or four years, the equivalent of ten additional strikers at Conference level per year in that period.

The panel was asked why the sprinklers were used before the game on Saturday, following 48 hours of torrential rain. Nicola Palios replied that the new pitch drains exceptionally well, and was actually bone dry at 2pm on Saturday.

Gary was asked about playing players out of position, to ooohs and aaaahs from the audience. He went through the players individually: Ridehalgh is excelling in his new role; Ihiekwe described himself to Gary as a 'right back or a centre back', hence he is being played at full back; Brabin was cut off before he could expand regarding Maynard.

In general, I thought Brabin came across as cautious and realistic, whereas Palios seemed the more ambitious. I may have been reading too much into their comments, but once or twice Palios seemed to upbraid Brabin when he suggested that the fans needed to lower their expectations slightly this season. I felt a bit sorry for Brabin at times as there is a hell of a lot of pressure on his shoulders, from fans, owner and media, and he can't guarantee success.

I am sure there were other far more interesting points made, but they escape me at the moment.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

I forgot to mention above that Danny Holmes also came up in the conversation tonight. Both Brabin and Palios gave the impression they thought he was staying and were disappointed by his decision to leave. This might partly explain the failure to recruit a right back. It seems there may be more to the episode than came across from Danny's comments in the summer.

Mark compared the sustainable ownership model Rovers are developing with that of Newport County, where a sugar daddy has walked out and left them facing relegation. Palios suggested, somewhat mischievously, that Danny may regret the decision he made in the summer.

 

[bring back the cowshed!]

Thanks, RLC. It's always good to hear what the chairman and the manager are thinking. Managers rarely have to answer direct questions from fans about individual players. We certainly heard very little from PJ - and to be fair not that much detail from Lorraine Rogers - and it's good to know that MP knows both the cost and the value of investing in the club. It's interesting to hear that MP is more gung ho than GB. We are used to it being the other way round.

MP could have been enjoying a relaxing retirement rather than spending his pension on Tranmere, while GB could have stayed out of the limelight and pressure by remaining in charge of Everton Under-21s. They both chose the more difficult option and are making a go of it. While we can all criticise the odd mistake, I think they deserve the wholehearted backing of the fans.

 

[Ian]

Ridehalgh is excelling in his new role

Seriously?! Anyway, thanks for the feedback, good to see the club is keeping the fans in the loop and yet again, they are showing a real desire to get this club back into the league.

BBTC, we can be quite critical at times, but it's only because we care. I certainly do agree that GB has a lot of weight on his shoulders.

 

[Boz]

Thanks for the report RLC. It must having been a bit frustrating having GB cut off just as he was explaining the Maynard deployment.

On the right-back question, I'd hope that Brabin has looked at footage of last season's play and spoken to staff at the club who saw him in action there, rather than accepting Ihiekwe's self-assessment that he can play at right-back. I doubt we'll ever get the full picture regarding Danny Holmes' departure, just as we never got a proper explanation why he was suddenly ditched by Adams, despite being one of the better performers. It's true Newport are in a difficult situation, but they have an experienced manager in Terry Butcher and their 'sugar daddy' has done his bit to secure their future by offering to gift his share-holding to their Trust. Too early to say if Danny's made the right move.