It’s Friday, it’s round about lunchtime. It’s time for the return of Paul Raven’s Newsround, bringing you up todate with Rovers related events from the past seven days…
Coppinger and Wilson Not at the Races
Jamie Coppinger and former team-mate Mark Wilson were in the news yesterday after they, along with Ipswich’s Michael Chopra and six others, were charged with serious breaches of the rules of horse racing following an investigation by the sport’s governing body, the British Horseracing Authority. The group are charged with conspiring to “commit a corrupt or fraudulent practice” under the rules of racing by the BHA the charges allegedly stem from the group conspiring with jockey Andrew Heffernan to fix races with bets being laid to lose on betting exchanges on races run between November 2010 and March 2011. If found guilty they are likely to face lengthy bans from involvement in racing, including attending racecourses or talking to licensed individuals, so the one plus of being charged, would that they’d be legally banned from talking to Willie McKay ever again.
On a serious note though this is a bit of a kick in the teeth for those of us who defended the reputation of the club prior to Rovers’ change in management structure and policy a year ago. Thanks lads, you’ve made us look as silly as you feel. Also, as sponsor of Mark Wilson’s home shirt in the 2006-07 season I would like to distance myself from these allegations; I have nothing further to add, other than don’t put any money on the 4:40 at Uttoxeter.
Dean Saunders; Motivational Speaker
If Dean Saunders is looking for career options post-football then he can probably chalk off ‘motivational speaker’. In the wake of Rovers defeat to Preston on Tuesday night Saunders told the press; Saunders said: “We missed Harper and Hume’s influence against Preston. There wasn’t an awful lot more I could do with the players I had available.” Far be it from me to offer advice in this situation, but that’s your squad Dean, the one you’ve assembled and it’s very likely at times in a 46 game season some of them won’t be available, so you probably better start thinking up some things you can do with them.
Woe is Westley
A lot has changed in football over the last decade, but at least you can always rely on Graham Westley to keep being Graham Westley. In an article on the BBC website titled ‘Graham Westley unhappy with ‘gamesmanship’ claims’ the Preston manager delivered a fantastic rant about suggestions that his teams have a tendency to employ gamesmanship to aid their progress. Stand out lines from Westley’s diatribe to BBC Radio Lancashire include “It starts to happen to any side that’s got success on the horizon,” because you know, seventh in League One is of course the cusp of greatness.
In a line we can only hope someone at Radio Lancashire has had the forethought to cut and capture Westley stated “It beggars belief that this nonsense actually gets listened to.” We share your pain Graham. The Preston manager ended by making comparisons between his side and some obvious contemporaries; “Manchester City face it, Manchester United face it – everyone starts pointing fingers at sides that look as though they’re going to be successful because they want an excuse for themselves.” The full article can be found here.
Misses Jones
Centre-half an d part-time provincial nightclub bouncer Rob Jones will be unavailable for Rovers match with Shrewsbury this weekend after he picked up his fifth booking of the season against Preston on Tuesday night. The Rovers medical team are currently fashioning a replacement out of Shelton Martis and spare parts.
Hume You Gonna Call Up
Rovers will be without Iain Hume for two games later this month after the forward was recalled to the Canada squad for their upcoming World Cup qualifiers. Hume will be absent from Rovers’ matches with Chesterfield and Hartlepool as he joins up with the national team for the games against Cuba and Honduras. The Canadian squad includes two other UK based players; Burnley’s David Edgar and Norwich’s Simeon Jackson.
Belles on the Box
Not many women’s football teams go to Arsenal and score four goals, sadly for the Belles, they notched two at either end in a 3-2 defeat live on ESPN last Sunday. The Belles gave a great account of themselves to the audience at home though against the FA Women’s Super League winners, the Gunners having been crowned champions in the hour before kick-off courtesy of Birmingham’s failure to beat Bristol. The Belles struck three times in the first half, but only Aine O’Gorman’s long range effort was in the right net, earning her another drink from our editor. Arsenal extended their lead with 12 minutes to go, but Leandra Little’s late goal ensured the Gunners weren’t given an easy ride. The game’s goals can be viewed on the video at the foot of the page.
When the Shit Hits the… Wall
We’ve all been there; an away game in the big smoke. Arrive early for antiquing on Portobello Road, a quick trip to the Tate for their exhibition on pre-Raphaelite and Victorian Avant-Garde painting, a couple of Sidecars at the Savoy then on to the match, where before you know it the heady mix of lunchtime Cointreau and a David Cotteril tap-in have gone to your head and you’ve smeared DRFC in your own excrement on a toilet wall. Again.
Perhaps the above preamble is fictitious, but it would seem the away end at Orient last Saturday contained at least one numpty who isn’t housebroken, and so the end conclusion was sadly real. Understandably, and quite rightly the club have apologised profusely to Orient. “From the chairman downwards, all staff at Doncaster Rovers condemn this abhorrent behaviour which has tarnished the reputation of the thousands of Rovers’ supporters who travel the length and breadth of the country in support of the club.” The reputation of those who attend home games presumably remains untarnished.
R’sonists in Action
If you can’t wait until Saturday afternoon to watch men in red and white hoops potter about aimlessly without a clear plan of how to break down Shrewsbury, then you’re in luck. Supporters’ team the Donny R’sonists take on their Shrewsbury compatriots at the Ian Wilson CommunityS ports Village in Rossington in the morning, the match is a 10:30am kick-off.
Issue 60 on Sale this Weekend
If you’ve enjoyed all you’ve read above then don’t forget that Issue 60 of the fanzine is on sale at Saturday’s game. The ‘zine will be available outside the Keepmoat ahead of the game, and also from the entrance to Car Park 2 after the match. It is, as ever, still £1.
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popular STAND fanzine 