Game by Game - 3

A balmy Friday night, lakeside in Doncaster is not on everyone's bucket list, but Jon Bradley was one of nearly 2,000 Blades fans to make the short trip to see the first team's pre-season schedule come to a close.  

Pre-Season Friendly: Doncaster Rovers (A), 0-2

Nothing quite like a local derby, in the loosest of terms, to end preseason in style.  As the Blades travelled to Doncaster, it was the supporters last opportunity to see their beloved Blades before the curtain goes up on the new season.  The pre-match chat was littered with suggestions of signings that people thought were the missing piece of the jigsaw puzzle. Everyone from Josh Windass to Ben Woodburn were mentioned but, for me, it could be one from leftfield. We all know Wilder may well pull a proverbial rabbit out of the hat and surprise us all with who comes in before the window slams shut.

United lined up in usual fashion, but with a midfield of Lundstram, Duffy and Holmes it was always going to be an interesting game without our main man Fleck in the middle of the park. He had been the lynchpin and all that was good in our pre-season to date. The back three also saw a slight reshuffle, with Egan and O'Connell joined by Stearman, rather than Basham.  It was evident Wilder was giving everyone the chance to stake a claim for a place against Swansea next Saturday.

United stroked it around with purpose in the first half but, as we have become quite accustomed to seeing in some games in recent memory, we looked very laboured in the final third.  The most noteworthy chance came when O'Connell produced a crunching challenge on the halfway line which gave Duffy the opportunity to play in Clarke, which materialised in very little.  

The most noteworthy mention though has to go to Simon Moore.  Moore produced four outstanding saves in the half, including two in quick succession.  Proving that there is a lot more he can offer the club this season than the pleasant way he spoke about us, following the signing of his new contract on Thursday.

As the second half started Holmes looked full of energy and purpose yet went down too easily for my liking.  But it was the introduction of McGoldrick which proved to be the much-needed spark for United on the hour.  A neat move saw him jinx in the box before pulling his shot wide. This was followed by a perfect chance for him at the far post where he couldn't have hit it truer but, unfortunately for the Blades latest signing, it hit the side netting.

Moments later the Blades had the ball in the net as Norrington-Davies crossed for McGoldrick who slid in to poke the ball home.  At 1-0 Doncaster huffed and puffed, but to little avail.  This allowed McGoldrick and United to break quickly and the scorer turned provider as McGoldrick weighted a perfect pass for Sharp to do what he does best and double the Blades lead.  Lavery went close late on but proved what we all already know, that he just isn't quite good enough for where we are now as a club.

As the heavens opened United finished their preseason campaign undefeated and any Doncaster based Blades had some very tentative bragging rights to take to the pub or into work on Monday.

Three final thoughts:

Dean Henderson had better be ready to fight for the number 1 jersey as Moore certainly showed a desire to push the loanee all the way.

McGoldrick is a different striker to what we have had for a while. He has the ability to link the play and the thought of him and Duffy striking up a relationship gives me a very warm feeling inside.

Despite the ongoing uncertainty behind the scenes, the supporters played their part and at the end of the game made it clear to the new signings that there is nothing equivocal about the love between players and fans in this group.

Jon Bradley - Twitter (@curlywisejon)

Photo Copyright: Paul McDonald

Creative Thinking: Brian Deane and Sarpsborg

 

 

Few British managers take the chance on managing overseas; even fewer make that move as their first in management. One of the small number in that latter category is Brian Deane and on Sunday he takes his Sarpsborg 08 team to the Arasen Stadium, Lillestroem, on the opening day of the Norwegian Tippeligaen season. Taking his first steps in top level management.

To those who know of Brian this will come as little surprise. A strong advocate of players gaining experience of different cultures and playing abroad, something he did in Portugal and Australia, it seems only natural that he follows in the footsteps of Roy Hodgson, David Hay and George Curtis in managing in Norway.

In fact there is already one Englishman out there; Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s assistant at Norwegian champions Molde is Mark Dempsey, a former coach at Manchester United and a name familiar in South Yorkshire after spells both at Sheffield United and Rotherham United.

Whilst Hodgson had two mid-table finishes with Viking Stavanger and Hay took Lillestrom SK to the title, it is a less well known and less established name in Norwegian football for Brian. Sarpsborg is a city of over 50,000 people, about 100km south of Oslo. It is a city that has seen football success with Sarpsborg SK six time winners of the Norwegian Cup, albeit the last of those was over 60 years ago.

In recent years, local clubs had struggled to gain a foothold in the upper echelons of Norwegian football and in 1999 sixteen local clubs decided to collaborate and combine into what is now, after further tweaks to the structure and name, Sarpsborg 08. The way the club was formed, becoming a single focal point for the city, means it has a culture that appealed to Brian.

"It is a well-structured community club, with a young board who are realistic and good fans who are realistic. It is such a good opportunity for me personally.”

The new club gradually progressed from the 4th tier of Norwegian football and reached the top flight Tippeligaen in 2010, only to be relegated the following season. 2012 saw the club promoted again, as runners-up and they made a move to appoint Brian as manager for their return to the Tippeligaen.

Brian had spent quite a bit of time in Norway, with the Football & Education programme he was running in Leeds, visiting colleges and making connections over there. He liked the country and its culture. One of those contacts, former Oldham, Blackburn and Wimbledon defender Tore Pedersen, was the man who facilitated his move into club management. Over three interviews Brian convinced the management of Sarpsborg of his footballing philosophy and the way in which he would take the club forward.

“I have joined a sensible club. After Promotion, Relegation, Promotion in the last three seasons, we need to establish ourselves and stay up; that’s important to me and important to the club. Steady progress is good and it is about putting a structure in place, introducing new ideas and changing certain aspects of the club."

For Brian it has been a positive first few months; "I got to know the players and they have got to know me and how I want to do things.” With budgets limited, Sarpsborg probably have the smallest budget of any club in the Norwegian top tier, Brian is largely working with the squad that took the club to promotion last season. Some adjustments have been made, such as bringing in Icelandic pair Gudmundur Thorarinsson and Thorarrin Valdimarsson.

Joining as his assistant is Ian Burchnall, who worked with Brian in the Football and Education Academy at the University of Leeds. The partnership is in some ways forged in adversity. Both had knock backs in trying to progress their careers and on coming together, despite quite different backgrounds, they found shared philosophies and beliefs, a mutual respect and developed a cohesive working relationship.

“Ian was a good semi-professional footballer and a talented coach with ten years of experience, but breaking into professional coaching is very hard for someone who hasn’t played professionally. For me, I had the professional background, but as an example, when I was doing my coaching badges I was asking people if I could join them on the coaching ground and try things, the existing team were looking over the shoulders. It wasn't easy to get the opportunities to develop myself.”

“If you were going into something like this you could bring your mates in with the same football background, same career path, but they are not going to offer you anything different. Ian is academic, with a sports science degree. He has come through in a more modern era. We build on each other’s ideas using our contrasting backgrounds; it works well.”

Results for the pair have been good, with the club unbeaten throughout pre-season.

“There is one thing I know from my time in football, you take pre-season games with a pinch of salt. Yes to be unbeaten is nice, but with the budget constraints we have we have to beware as a couple of injuries and it could be really tight for us.”

The players will be very clear on the standards he expects and he knows that, despite the results, there is still plenty of work to be done. Last weekend the unbeaten pre-season culminated in a 3-3 draw at second tier club Mjondalen with Sarpsborg coming back from 3-1 down. Post-match the manager talked of his disappointment with the naivety of some of his side’s play and recognised there was further work to be done.

Changing things is always going to be tough when monies are limited. Even when faced with offers of players, Brian is rarely in a position to accept.

“I get calls from agents, as you can imagine, offering me lots of players, but our budget is that tight we have to be creative.”

Brian has already mentioned in previous interviews how he sees the Development squads back in English football as a potential source. Loaning young talented players who cannot get first team experience at their club is one potential avenue. He also has plenty of contacts and knowledge of promising players from his work at Leeds University and at the colleges and universities in Norway. However, he won’t bring players in for the sake of it.

“I have had calls about players wanting to come out here, but the reality is I only want to bring players in who are going to add to what we have got. We are going to have to try and develop players and bring players through as well. That is important for the longevity of the club and the finances.”

Brian mentions that there are probably calls he hasn’t returned, something he recognises from a player's perspective when he was the one making calls to managers late in his career. Now he recognises that it isn’t necessarily ignorance on the manager's part, but a need to find the time and focus to devote to his job and his team. We speak very late on a midweek night, with Brian having spent the rest of the evening meticulously preparing for the weekend fixture. 

“Management is about managing and making sure that your players are prepared. You are ensuring that they are alert mentally and physically; you could be mentoring them, getting them in psychologically prepared so they believe that they can take the World on.”

 In a long and varied career, Brian benefited from playing under a whole host of different managers, each with their own characters, ways and methods. In the time since joining Sarpsborg, he has sought the counsel of people he has played for such as Alan Pardew and Peter Taylor and those who have experienced playing and managing overseas, such as Roberto Martinez. Each give him ideas about how he could manage.

“I have looked at the managers I have had and draw on what they did well and what they didn’t do so well, balancing that by looking at what I am doing from a player’s perspective. Respect plays a big part and it is two way. I don’t mess about. That’s one thing I learned under George Graham, you have got to have discipline."

"There is one manager, the moment you let your players have an opportunity to have a say it doesn’t always work and I don’t think it would work for me. I think I am fair, but there is only one captain of a ship.”

When asked which managers he played under influence the way his teams are set up to play, he emphasises how he is trying to build on existing foundations.

“We have inherited a philosophy here of playing very good football through the thirds, something the club is renowned for. I reviewed a lot of last season’s games and I have worked on increasing the tempo, because we are going to need to do that. The fitness and discipline are going to be key. Sometimes it is just about being a little bit more professional.”

With these incremental changes across the piece, increasing the intensity and sharpness, focusing on maintaining possession in small areas, Brian is confident that the club can start to make great strides.

It may not be at Premier League level, but the standard of football is good and when the opportunities are not there for young ambitious managers in the football league, you have to be creative in your thinking. Creativity is a word that comes up frequently when talking to Brian, it is one of the reasons he finds himself in Norway now and is something he will need to apply to his thinking in ensuring the survival of what many would perceive as the league's smallest club.

So with a strong pre-season behind them and the long term foundations starting to be built, Brian can look forward with some positivity to Sunday’s game against a team they drew 1-1 with at the start of pre-season back at the end of January. That should give his team some confidence, but they also know that in their manager’s words that the pre-season result and performance is meaningless, it is getting off to a positive start on Sunday that matters.

Interview with Brian Deane - Part 1 (Back from adversity)

Following on from recent interviews with former Blades players, Tony Agana, Alan Kelly and Jamie Hoyland; it was a great pleasure to have a couple of lengthy chats with three times Blade and England international Brian Deane. Even after such interesting conversations, there were parts of his career that we still didn't have time to touch on, but his story and recollections still make fascinating reading.

In Part 1 we look at his early beginnings and a career that at one point looked like it might be over before it had even begun.

After starting your career as a youngster at Leeds, how big a blow was it to be released by the club?

No, I wasn’t released. I went down on trial as a 14 year old; I was never an apprentice there, so I just carried on playing locally and ended up at a team called Yorkshire Amateurs, based in Leeds.

Whilst playing for Amateurs I broke my leg playing against a team from where I grew up, a team called Mandela from Chapeltown. The unfortunate thing about that was that I was playing against some of the lads I went to school with and it was through no fault of any of them. Some of the guys on the side of the pitch didn’t take too kindly to the fact that I wasn’t representing my local community. There were some lads there who were a lot older than me, they’re probably in their fifties now, and they were shouting from the side;

“Five pounds if you break Deane’s leg.”

“No, ten pounds if you break Deano’s leg.”

Unfortunately, I actually broke my leg in the game and it was actually a friend of mine so I hold nothing against the lad for the challenge because it was just one of those things, but there was this frenzy whipped up.

At that time I am only a 16 year old kid and these are grown men on the sidelines encouraging it. It was hard to take; I was only trying to better myself. I was trying to get into a team where I could be recognised. Having missed out at Leeds I was trying to find a pathway to get myself in a position where I was noticed by the right people.

So was there any malice in the tackle, given you said it was a friend?

It was from behind. I was through on goal and he took me from behind. He didn’t actively go out to harm me, but I broke my tibia and fibula and dislocated my ankle. Michael came to see me in hospital and it was particularly tough as my mum and my brother were there and they knew what my thoughts were on playing football and from their point of view, they probably thought it was over for me as well.

I had about eight months rehabilitation, at that time you had to have a full length pot up to your hip for about four months and then a shorter pot.

 

After such a horrific injury, how did the opportunity with Doncaster Rovers come about?

At the beginning of the following season I went down to Doncaster for a trial. Luckily for me Dave Blakey, the chief scout at Leeds when I was at Elland Road on trial, was working with Billy Bremner at Doncaster and he invited me down. It went from there really. I had a trial, then Billy Bremner left for Leeds and Dave Blakey went with him. Dave Cusack came in, took on the manager's job and he really liked me. He offered me a professional contract, I was seventeen.

At that time I was going to college, because at the back of your mind you’re thinking ‘Well I’ve broken my leg; I need to look at other options as the chances of me becoming a professional footballer are probably receding.’ I never knew if I would get back to playing at all and that injury could have been it for me.

Did you keep on with the study?

Yes I was studying at Leeds City College and playing part-time.

Deane at Doncaster

How easy was it to establish yourself in the first team and was it a big adjustment?

No really. I made my debut at 17, just before my birthday, I think it was Swansea at home. We drew 0-0 and then after that, if memory serves, we played Whitby Town away in the first round of the FA Cup. We were losing 2-1 and I came on and scored a late equaliser. I scored again against Wigan in the league and it kicked on from there.

You gradually established yourself in the Doncaster first team, bagging 12 goals, was it still a surprise when United showed their interest? How did it come about?

Dave Cusack had got the sack and Dave Mackay and Joe Kinnear had come in as the managerial team. I was a young lad; I think I was 19/20 by then. We got relegated that year and I went in to see them and said “Look, what’s happening?” They offered me a contract and I just thought, “Nah, it’s not good enough”.

I thought that it might have been difficult to leave Doncaster after they gave you an opportunity, but it doesn’t sound like it was?

We had scored 40 goals that season, I had got 10 of them, and I felt that they were insulting me so I spoke to Dave Cusack. He’s been a bit of a mentor for me to be honest and he put me in touch with John Rudge at Port Vale. He also spoke to Dave Bassett. I spoke to John Rudge first, but it was all a bit of a faff and didn’t appeal.

When I went down to United, you know where you turn over the hump and down into the car park and I saw the stadium I thought “Wow! This is proper football”. I’d been used to playing in the 3^rd Division, which is where United had just been relegated to, but this was different. “Wow! If I can get a contract here it doesn’t matter about what money I am going to get. I just want to sign a contract at this place”.

Harry came out and introduced himself and then he told Geoff Taylor (his Assistant Manager) to show me around the ground. I was just awestruck by the size of the place. Bruce Springsteen was having a concert there at the time and it was all being set up. I was just thinking ‘Where do I sign? How do I get these people to offer me a contract?’

 

What are your memories of your early days at United?

I met Cliff Powell, who was roughly the same age as me and I found that Cliff and I had a lot in common and that just made it really easy for me to settle. They were just a great bunch of guys down there, you had Wally Downes, Francis Joseph, Tony (Agana) who was a really nice guy. Simon Webster, Graham Benstead....you know it was just a really nice place. You had Ian Bryson, who had come down on trial, who was quite a quiet character but fitted in well. It just seemed the right place for me to be to be honest.

You were thrown straight in for the first league game with Francis Joseph, in a team that was significantly re-shaped by Dave Bassett was it difficult adjusting?

No. I had scored ten goals in a team that had struggled and got relegated. I knew I could score goals at that level. When something traumatic happened to me, like the injury, it was like me getting a second chance and I was determined at that stage of my playing career to go out there and enjoy what I was doing. I wanted to show people the potential that I had.

 

Francis' injury in that game allowed the opportunity for the Deane & Agana partnership to develop? What was it that made it work for you?

It was just instinct. He was left footed, I was right footed. We complemented each other really well. We did opposite things on the pitch, so if one was coming short, the other would go long, if one was out wide the other would hit the box. If I didn’t score, he scored. We just supported each other really well.

I don't think anyone expected the club to achieve back to back promotions. What are your main memories of the first promotion season?

It was the way we went at teams, all-out attack. Fortunately for me, we played a kind of football that created lots of chances and it was perfect. We had a good blend of players, experience and youth, local lads like Chris Wilder and those from outside. Harry was the catalyst for me, he knew how to man manage a group of players.

He also knew how to find wingers as well; Alan Roberts, Ian Bryson, Paul Wood, Peter Duffield. We had this reputation for being direct but that does a dis-service to the team and the way we played and how we used the wings.

All we did was make sure we got the ball wide very quickly and people at the time moaned about it, but opposition teams didn’t know how to cope with the pace we had in the team. People say we were direct, but I would say we played into the holes, because we had players who could get on the ball in the holes. We also had tremendous full backs who could play diagonal balls and if you are going to get behind teams that is key.

There was Pikey (Martin Pike) on one side, Chris Wilder on the other and it worked really well as they just got the ball into the wingers quickly. We then had wingers who could take a defender on one-on-one and put a good ball in. It worked really well and if you play at that kind of tempo, it is extremely hard to play against.

United beat Chester 6-0 that season with both you and Tony Agana scoring hat-tricks; such a rare event in football. Do you still have the match-ball? Tony said he doesn't have it.

Yes, somewhere. I played against Chester the season before so I knew what to expect and how they played. People have a go at forwards now, there are good forwards out there who sometimes don’t get the right supply and it forces them to look like average players. I was fortunate to play in a team that played to my strengths and abilities so I knew I was going to score goals and they knew if they were to put the balls in the right areas I would score.



A deadly duo are formed - Deane (R) and Agana (L)



The following season, what was the expectation like in the team? I don't think even the most fervent supporter expected another promotion push.

I think our first game was at West Brom and you never know what to expect going into the league above, but the way we dismantled them at their place gave us real confidence. Harry had this ability to make sure we were never scared or intimidated by the opposition. He has taken a lot of stick over the years, long ball this and long ball that, but you look at the players he worked with and I wonder how some managers nowadays would have got the best out of them like he did. A lot to be said for the way Harry prepared us. You look at the way teams defend now, teams can’t defend.

You have a lot of media savvy managers, some of whom know what they’re talking about and, no disrespect, but some of them don’t know what they’re talking about. The biggest thing for me in management is knowing how to get the best out of players and keeping players on your side. If you can do that, it is more of a recipe for success than having the, I’m the Big Chief; I am the Alpha Dog style of management.

 

I remember both in interviews and also meeting you (I bought The Brian Deane Story on video and you signed it in the Club Shop - some burglars stole it!) you seemed quite shy and quiet. Is that perception right and did that make it quite difficult in a team of "characters"?

I think the lads accepted me for how I was. Don’t get me wrong, I was no shrinking violet, but I was just a guy who was enjoying what he was doing. I was probably not as streetwise at the time because I was concentrating on my football. I didn’t have any agenda.

You know people have a lot of agendas in football and I just wanted to play football. I was doing what I dreamt about doing and really wanted to do, from the time I was collecting Roy of the Rovers comics and watching games on television as a kid. Growing up I would see Cyrille Regis in the “Sign Please” section of Roy of the Rovers in his West Brom kit, all of a sudden that is me, a professional footballer. I was watching Bryan Robson on the pitch and suddenly that’s me. That’s why I was playing football, it was my career, and it was what I dreamed about.

In Part 2 which you can read here, Brian's memories of a glorious promotion with the Blades at Filbert Street, top flight football with the Blades, that goal against Liverpool, international recognition and being sold to Leeds.

Charting the 2011/12 Season in Football - Number 4

Part 4 of the Charting the Season series with a slight North West bias in the graphs, featuring Bolton Wanderers, Blackburn Rovers and Phil Brown's departure from PNE. Other easy targets are not missed out; step forward Doncaster Rovers and Nicklas Bendtner.

Remember - Just double click on the graph/chart to increase to full size.

Previous parts of the series can be found here:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3 

Faith in the Universal Liar

"Hope is the only universal liar who doesn't lose his reputation for veracity"

- Robert G Ingersoll

Bank Holiday Monday, just gone ten to five. Still slightly in shock at events at the Madjeski, where you have come from two down to beat a top 6 side who comprehensively out-played you at home a couple of months earlier. Sat in your armchair, cursing Leeds' failure to consolidate their play off push at Selhurst Park, your mind wanders ahead.

That feint shred of hope that the unexpected might happen. As Sky Sports News put up the words "Sheffield United Relegated" alongside "Reading 2 - Sheffield United 3" you raise from your armchair, finger raised, "Ah no! Not yet! We are not mathematically down. Don't even think about putting that effing 'R' next to us in the league table!", glancing round to check that the children aren't listening….they're not.

You didn't expect it to come to this. Mid-table again, maybe slightly below at worst. It's a pretty average division, anyone can be up there for promotion, so-called bigger teams can be dragged into what they call the relegation dogfight, but not us. We will have a bit more about us than that, we wont make the same mistakes with loans and signings that we did last year…..will we?


Then the season starts, upheaval, followed by upheaval, with loans, followed by more loans. Christmas arrives with things looking dire, but renewed hope as a boyhood fan takes over and we all remember what happened last time we had one of those. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, still counting, 7, 8, 9, 10, surely soon, 11, 12, 13, 14 games go by before a win arrives. Bruised and bloodied, we can get off the canvas, we can still pull through on points.

Back to work and everyone wants to talk about your club. When asked, you agree that your team is down. "We've been dead and buried for weeks. When we lost to Palace, Scunthorpe and Derby in the same week, that's where we blew it. We were two up at Scunthorpe for God's sake". You blush slightly, because you are lying, just a little bit, because your head is controlling your mouth, but your heart cannot be repressed. Whilst speaking you play out scenarios in your mind.

If we can put 3 or 4 past Barnsley and Donny and Palace go down 2 or 3 against Leicester and at Hull? Hull could still chase an outside chance of the play offs. If Swansea have nothing to play for in the last game of the season and rest a few players…and we beat them at full strength at home. Forest might still be trying to seal a play off place going to Selhurst on the final day, they wont roll over and they have the fire power.


Regretfully remembering the match at home to Boro, just two weeks ago, chance after chance missed, before conceding late on. Three points dropped, realistically one, one point that might have meant not having to rely on 8 or 9 goal swings and other's failures. You had written them off then, season finished, and the defeats Cardiff and PNE that followed properly sealed it. You had accepted your fate. Embarrassed by the weakness of their submission, awaiting the revengeful glee of your mates who support the other lot. The same supporters and friends who you had remorselessly ripped into twelve months ago. Then, two games two victories and renewed hope flickered.

What of the clubs you have chased down the final straight, like the back-runner chasing down the leading pack and leaving his final sprint 10 metres too late, wishing the race was 1510m instead of 1500. If only you could play another couple of games……. You read messages congratulating them on their survival, of remaining in situ for another season. Those Palace and Doncaster supporters play it down, "Still to make sure", "Still need a point", but you know deep down they believe they are safe. You know deep down, your club is far from safe, but still you look for the positive.

You remember Oldham, 8 points from safety with one week of the 1992-93 Premier league season left…..they survived. Bradford City beat Liverpool on the final day in 2000 to survive. West Brom moved up three places when all above them lost on the final day in 2005.

Then those memories are swamped by others. Of sitting high up in the gods at Stamford Bridge on the 7th May 1994 as Mark Stein scored in the last minute and your team were relegated following a bizarre series of events at Goodison Park which were relayed by fellow fans, radios clutched tightly against their ears. Of last minute play off final defeat against Palace in 1997. Of last day Premier League heartache in 2007. You then realise that when the unexpected happens, it tends to happen in a bad way for your team.

Tuesday comes and your youthful reserves beat Port Vale's second string 6-0, you're reminded of a great 6-0 league victory over Spurs. You think maybe the first team can do that on Saturday. Tuck away goals like Brian Deane, Jocky Bryson and Paul Rogers did that night, and then it hits home that, although it seems like yesterday, it was 18 long years ago.

The fact that over the course of this season your team has averaged less than a goal a game and are the second lowest scorers in the division starts to sink in……Ah but we have scored 6 in our last two games! Yes but we have also conceded 4 and then you remember we have got Neil Collins and you are temporarily subdued once more.

You sit there and consider League One might not be a bad thing playing wise. You think of the FA Youth Cup Final, upcoming against Manchester United. Those promising young players, might be better blooded at a lower level, build a new side, a future of talented kids, pepped up with experienced older heads. Less expectation on them as a result, none of the braggadocio displayed by certain other clubs following their fall from the Championship.

But you wonder whether other fans would really accept that? Can we financially adapt, when an immediate return may not be achieved? They will just sell all our promising youngsters, just like they always do? How long could we wait to return?

It feels like a lonely world, trapped in a psychological game balancing reason and probability, with blind optimism, faith and a massive degree of hope. A to-ing and fro-ing of positivity and negativity that frazzles the brain. Yet you know it is a game being played out not just by supporters of your team, but by supporters of all teams of all levels, across the globe. Some hoping for safety from relegation, some hoping for promotion others just hoping for financial survival and a continuation of being able to support their club. A true global game, played out by individuals who have little or no influence on the outcome.

Saturday will either bring renewed hope or despair. Even a win might not be enough to prevent despair. Like most playing the game; I don't mind the despair, I can deal with the despair, it's the hope that is killing me right now.

Getting bums on seats – and keeping them there

Reading the tweets of a fellow Blade this week I thought "that's a good subject for a blog post", but before I had chance to construct my thoughts I was contacted by the tweeter in question asking if I would host his musings on the subject on A United View. So it's my pleasure to welcome my first solo guest poster on A United View, David Jones (a Doncaster-based Blade and not the Sky Sports presenter) and his thoughts on how you solve a problem like fan apathy.

Here's a little thought experiment for you. Imagine, if you will, that you're Doncaster Rovers chairman John Ryan.

Now, once you've finished straightening your cufflinks and practicing your disarming grin in one of your many full-length mirrors, turn your thoughts to the club's most pressing problem: attendances. Rovers are the Football League's rags-to-riches story, having shot from the Conference to become established in the second tier and, on their day, playing reputedly the most attractive football outside the top flight. Yet for all this they can't fill their shiny new 12,000 capacity Keepmoat Stadium, even for local derbies.

Keepmoat seats kept empty by absent Doncastrians

 

For their first season in the Championship, 2008-09, Rovers sold more than 8,000 season tickets. But despite becoming established at that level the town is yet to take the club to its heart. This year's Keepmoat attendances so far have averaged under 10,000 and the club is curiously quiet on how season ticket sales are going, with rumours suggesting that by early April the number was limping towards the 3,000 mark. So you, as chairman, decide to throw £100,000 of your own money at attracting more fans to the club.

A quick bit of maths suggests that the money could be spent reducing the price of each one of those 3,000 season tickets by more than £30. Or here's another thought. Let's assume Rovers' lowest early bird price, £340, represents the smallest amount that the club can afford to charge for a limited number of seats within the stadium while still covering costs. In that case you could, with that £100,000, enter everyone applying for a season ticket into a lottery, with fully 300 winners – announced on the eve of the new season - getting their seat paid for in full by the club.

300 cashback winners, out of, let's say, perhaps 6,000 season tickets sold – that's a one in 20 chance of getting your money back. With odds like that, chances are that many supporters wavering over whether or not to commit to a ticket for next season would fancy their chances and take the plunge. After all, you've got to be in it to win it.

Or you could just do what John Ryan does best, and blow the £100,000 on a grand gesture that will grab headlines in the short term but do nothing to address the underlying issues that threaten to sabotage the club's renaissance.

No prizes for guessing which option the real 'Mr Doncaster Rovers' took – he made the unprecedented decision to give away free tickets to all home supporters for Good Friday's relegation 6-pointer against Crystal Palace.

On the face of it, this is a laudable move: the stadium is likely to reach capacity for the first time this season, many casual supporters will see the team play for the first time and, in characteristic Ryan fashion, there's the added bonus of guaranteed publicity for the club.

But the question is how many of those taking advantage of the freebie seats will come back – especially with the club on its most wretched run of form in recent memory, its trademark 'Arsenal of the lower leagues' style a distant memory as a crippling injury crisis exposes the limitations of trying to build a robust squad on Rovers' shoestring budget. Friday's match may bring a carnival atmosphere to the stands, but it's not likely to be a great advert for the entertainment value of Championship football.

Anyone can fill a stadium by letting people in for free, doubly so in a town where people will “have owt for nowt”, but the key to long-term success is to build up those attendances week in, week out.

But while Rovers supporters rightly idolise John Ryan for the transformation in their club's fortunes that he has overseen, an increasingly vocal section of the hard core support is becoming frustrated with his methods.

'Good Free-Day' is just the latest in a string of money-off promotions aimed squarely at casual supporters, and long-standing season ticket holders - who have already seen their annual subscriptions soar since the club left Belle Vue to become tenants of Doncaster Council - are beginning to feel taken for granted. Speaking on local radio this week, Ryan hoped that season ticket holders would see the positive in what he and the board were trying to do. Yet anecdotal evidence suggests fans who have followed the club since its non-league nadir are not renewing their seats for next term, and that's a warning sign the club cannot afford to ignore.

This isn't something that you'll have heard said very often this season, but in this regard at least Doncaster would do well to follow the example of South Yorkshire neighbours Sheffield United.

For all the faults of the SUFC board, the club's track record on season ticket incentives has been a good one – fans who renewed after relegation from the Premier League were promised a free season ticket the following year had the club been promoted (an offer that admittedly seems less generous with hindsight); and for the last two seasons a child's season ticket cost £10 when bought with an adult's, though that offer has now fallen victim to the club's perilous financial position.

They, too, have gone for a bold gimmick to boost attendances for 2011/12 – but it couldn't be more different from Rovers' approach. All season ticket holders who renewed their seats by mid-April have been guaranteed a price freeze, not just this time out but also for 2012/13. It's an offer that rewards loyalty, and softens the blow of relegation to League One with the promise that, even should the Blades immediately bounce back, those who've stuck with the club through its 'annus horribilis' will still be paying as little as £300 for their seat the following season.

And it's an approach that seems to have paid off, with more than 10,000 renewals sold by the deadline – well off the high watermark seen in happier times, but just about enough to keep the club afloat and certainly enough to ensure that that Bramall Lane will be one of the best attended grounds in that division.

Even now that the deadline for cheap renewals has passed, those hardy souls buying a Blades season ticket for the first time can pick up an adult seat on the Kop for £369 – fully £50 cheaper than the lowest-price seat currently available at the Keepmoat (where the cheapest seats became a staggering £80 more expensive at the end of March).

It's easy to forget in an age that demands instant results, but the fans who go to games year in, year out, are the lifeblood – and a major revenue stream - of any club. And any chairman ignores this at their peril.

You can follow David on twitter here @jonesthescribe