Give Rodger a Chance

By: Dave Boylen
Date: 05/09/2006

THE vultures are all ready to swoop on Graham Rodger. Already people are calling for him to be dismissed after only seven games. Town fans might say that I look at the Mariners through rose-tinted glasses and don't see that there is anything wrong with the Football Club.

All I can see at this present moment in time is that we have got a new manager who has brought in a number of players who are not on just one year contracts, but in some cases three year deals which to me is a sign that the club is looking for consistency. Also the introduction of Youth Team player Peter Bore to the first team setup is another step in the right direction, because Russell Slade never looked at bringing any of the youngsters in to the side.

One of the biggest complaints of the Russell Slade era was the football we played; well shall I put it another way we did not play at all, it was just a boot down the middle. I admit that Graham needs a convincing win and Saturday's fixture against Walsall is becoming a very vital game for everybody concerned at the Football Club.

It does not happen overnight to bring new players in and to get them to gel together is not a easy task. My personal opinion was the club made a huge mistake in letting Rob Jones leave the club in the summer. You can tell by the goals we have let in that the Mariners lack confidence at the back, and Jones certainly gave us that confidence. I don't know why he left but what I do know is that he was very happy here with his family living in Waltham.

I was not at the Macclesfield game due to being on holiday, but by all accounts we played well in the first half, but faded out in the second half. Again is this due to putting a new team together? I know that Mariner supporters will be looking for our first half performance to continue the full ninety minutes, and end up with a convincing win.

In realistic terms we cannot afford to let too many points slip away from us if we are going to make a impact in the promotion race to get out of this horrible league. Also Graham did well in my opinion in resting Peter Bore, just taking a bit of pressure off the lad, sitting him on the bench and pointing out to him the little bits and pieces that he should be doing out on the football pitch. I fully expect that Bore will play Saturday.

I will be also looking for Town to have a convincing result against Walsall, because if we don't get one, then the next two games are away to Rochdale on the Tuesday, followed by a really tough match the following Saturday at Chester.

In conclusion these next three games are going to be very important games for Graham Roger, but please give him a chance as it is still early days and a couple of wins can shoot you up the league very quickly.

See Dave's other articles

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