Would the last person to leave north Bristol this morning....

[JTG]

i definitely didn't think rovers would get promoted, they didn't really figure in the play off race until the last couple of weeks, they were a few places away (it seemed) for most of the season, saved the best to last

We had a dreadful start, then reached seventh in January on the back of a great run. Got distracted by the FA Cup and JPT and drifted back down again. Lost at Boston in March and we were 16th. From then on, every game was practically a cup final and after losing the actual cup final in Cardiff the team were on a mission - we were simply not going to be denied a second time this season.

Nine wins and two draws in our last eleven league matches took us all the way to promotion, including winning all of our last six matches. Even then it was close - we only beat Swindon thanks to a frankly unbelievable goal from Rickie Lambert and with five minutes of the regular season left we were out of the play offs. Then we scored. Then we beat Lincoln twice. Then we won at Wembley.

Happy happy happy

 

[Flashman]

Congratulations.

 

[JTG]

Ta

should go to bed, don't think I want this weekend to end though

 

[Flashman]

Dunno about you lot but I reckon we'll be straight back down

And so to bed.

 

[marty21]

Dunno about you lot but I reckon we'll be straight back down

And so to bed.

if they manage to keep that striker of theirs they can stay up imo

 

[Orang Utan]

Aw J, I couldn't give a shit about football, but to see the joy on your face on Saturday was sweet enough for me to pretend I do, so congratulations and I hope they do well again next year

 

[upsidedownwalrus]

Congrats JTG...

 

[i_hate_beckham]

Now the battle to stay up begins.

 

[JTG]

We'll be fine. Better pitches and more footballing sides will suit us down to the ground (literally). Igoe, Campbell and Disley will lap it up in the higher league

 

[Iam]

From what I've seen of Rovers this season, it won't be any lack of ability to play football that causes them problems - Trollope and Lawrence have them playing a good style of passing game going forwards and as seen recently, they've caused all sorts of problems for most of their opposition...

Need some tightening at the back, though, I'd say?

 

[JTG]

Not really, we've kept 28 clean sheets this season

Anthony and Elliott are a brilliant pairing, Phillips is mostly safe (can be a bit dodgy occasionally but far better than anyone we've had in the last ten years), full backs are OK.

Goals have been the problem, we scored 49 times in 46 league games this season!

 

[Iam]

Shows what I know, then.

 

[i_hate_beckham]

Will you still be playing at that shit ground next season with the fans either exposed or sat in glorified tents?

 

[JTG]

Will you still be playing at that shit ground next season with the fans either in cardboard boxes on stilts or ludicrously shallow terracing so noone can see unless they're at the front?

Will you still be in that shit division next season, going to Barnet, Macclesfield and Morecambe when we're at Leeds, Forest and Millwall?

Two years time, we'll be playing in this:

What about you?

 

[i_hate_beckham]

Will you still be playing at that shit ground next season with the fans either in cardboard boxes on stilts or ludicrously shallow terracing so noone can see unless they're at the front?

Will you still be in that shit division next season, going to Barnet, Macclesfield and Morecambe when we're at Leeds, Forest and Millwall?

Two years time, we'll be playing in this:

What about you?

2 years time? We will be in The Championship.

 

[JTG]

yes of course

you got any more decent players we can nick? Ryan Green was great and so will Andy Williams be I'm sure

 

[i_hate_beckham]

See you're only so good cos you have money to steal all our players from us. Try bringing your own up through a YTS scheme.

Yes i know Ryan Green wasnt a YTS with Hereford but we had to let him go as he was banned from Hereford City Centre. All together now to Yellow Submarine: "Ryan Green's a cunt, Ryan Green's a cunt, Ryan Green's a cunt, Ryan Green's a cunt." Repeat for as long as he on pitch.

 

[JTG]

He's a cunt because he left you. How sophisticated. He got you back into the league iirc.

We have young players coming up through the system cheers. Sean Rigg for one, we like him he's good. You heard of Scott Sinclair at Chelsea? He was one of ours as well.

 

[J77]

 

[JTG]

Work starts in August. We're gonna have the best ground in Bristol

 

[i_hate_beckham]

Work starts in August. We're gonna have the best ground in Bristol

Thats not hard.

I wish they would hurry up and start the new Edgar Street, they've been planning it for years to be built as part of the huge renovation of the Cattle Market to bring in tourists and shoppers but nothing has been heard of for over a year now.

 

[J77]

Work starts in August. We're gonna have the best ground in Bristol

Then you'll be able to do this:

<sorry >

 

[JTG]

You don't bother me, we won a trophy and got promoted in front of 40,000 of our supporters at Wembley when we only finished sixth.

A lot of our red brethren seem to find this tremendously irritating

Where's yer thunder gone?

 

[i_hate_beckham]

You don't bother me, we won a trophy and got promoted in front of 40,000 of our supporters at Wembley when we only finished sixth.

A lot of our red brethren seem to find this tremendously irritating

Where's yer thunder gone?

If you hadnt beaten Shrewsbury i would have cried.

 

[JTG]

If we hadn't beaten Shrewsbury I would have cried as well.

I cried anyway but in a good way

 

[3_D]

You don't bother me, we won a trophy and got promoted in front of 40,000 of our supporters at Wembley when we only finished sixth.

A lot of our red brethren seem to find this tremendously irritating

Where's yer thunder gone?

...or so you would like to believe. In truth, neither I nor any of my City mates are bothered about Rovers promotion - in fact you'll remember I came on this board & wished them luck before the final (and I meant it). Of course, had we not already gone up the feelings might have been different but, er, well we ARE up aren't we.

It seems to me that Rovers fans' hatred of and obsession with Bristol City is a bit of a one-way deal. Especially in recent years, many City fans have a far more intense rivalry with Cardiff than with the sags.

And I'll tell you what really amused me - watching your game at Lincoln on telly and hearing the Rovers fans singing "Are you watching Ashton Gate?". That made me laugh out loud! Your biggest game in years and on the brink of promotion, and your lot were STILL obsessing about us! I'd be a tad embarrassed at that if I were you.

 

[JTG]

I'm basing it on a visit to otib.co.uk after the final when half the threads on the board were about how much they didn't care about us.

I'm sure it may be true for you and many others but not for all of you. Likewise, many Rovers fans don't give a fuck that you've gone up this year 'cos it was all about us doing well.

I'm not embarrassed about anything our lot sing tbh and I think you're basing your view of us on a very small amount of data. You'd likely say the same about me

 

[3_D]

You're right of course in that there's gonna be a whole range of opinions in both camps. But I still have a strong impression that in general Rovers care a lot more about us than we do about them. I can't possibly quantify that as you say, so you can tell me I'm wrong and that's the end of it. But I'm still convinced that is the case.

I rarely visit the OTIB site and have never posted on there. The sort of people who do are likely to be the obsessive types by nature (I mean what sort of dysfunctional freak spends their time posting on internet message boards for fuck's sake? ) so I think you get a more balanced and representative view on the terraces and in the pubs.

 

[JTG]

Yeah probably. You can't prove shit like this to be fair can you?

I think in the real doldrums years elements (the Blackthorn End Southmead/Lockleaze chavs) have been annoying ly obsessive about your lot because there's been nothing else to do. This season has seen a significant decrease in that (though there was an upsurge in triumphalist c*ty dissing around February/March time for some reason ) because things have been happening on the pitch.

When there briefly seemed a possibility of us moving south temporarily, the reaction was more positive than I've ever heard it in 15 years of watching the Rovers. I don't think we're quite as obsessed as we used to be. In general.

 

[JTG]

Anyway, we seem to be turning into a home for refugees from Trashton

We still seem to be after Jevons, who is reportedly keen. Also, Tommy Doherty wants to return to Bristol and keeps pestering us about signing him by some accounts.

Not sure about all this, it seems a bit odd