Do you think Buckle regrets leaving us now?

[Gazzableedsgull]

Just wondered what people's feelings are regarding the situation with Rovers? and if Buckle maybe thinks he could of taken us further?
also can we feel sorry for their fans or do we not care?

http://www.brfcforum.co.uk/index.php?/t ... situation/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Personally I'm not too bothered, but we know what its like to be hovering where they are.

[stevegull]

I doubt he regrets leaving us, his ego wouldn't allow the thought of him doing something wrong...

[Gazzableedsgull]

I doubt he regrets leaving us, his ego wouldn't allow the thought of him doing something wrong...

surely he must lay in bed thinking he's bitten off more than he can chew though ..

[Dave]

Firstly i would seperate Bristol Rovers the club and there fan's from this Buckle thing, i never had aproblem with the gasheads or there club and still dont, Bristol Rovers were always a league 1 club with the odd Championship season as i was growing up, and i still think of them as atleast a league 1 club, so being 18th in league 2 has to be hard for there fan's to take.

I dont think it is a the case that Buckle can regret leaving us, even if he wanted to, every young manager that starts of in football will dream of one day taking over a premiership club, and i am pretty sure the ambitious Buckle is no different, he was never going to take us up through the league's .

Buckles decision to look to move on from Torquay while his own stock was high, actually was a correct decison on his part and this is why it is not a case of him being able to regret it, and i feel i must add, i think the reaction from the vast majority of gulls fan's has got nothing to do with the fact he chose to leave, it was the way he went about it, many of our board members will not admit it in public, like us,they know he shat on us from a great hieght.

This time last year when Rovers sacked Trollope, and Buckle was linked to Rovers, i said on a few forums, Bristol Rovers would be completely the wrong club for Buckle to go to, and bit by bit it is being proved right, however after sacking Trollope and Penny in a short space of time, iam not sure Rovers board either have the will or the money to sack Buckle, despite all i think he will be given time.

[stevegull]

I'd probably agree with your decent post there, forever.

I don't think any fans would have begrudged him leaving to go to a better job, much like many of us wouldn't mind seeing Eunan's career develop past the boundaries of Plainmoor. However, Eunan comes across as a likeable person (maybe partly due to his ability on the pitch!), but Buckle did always seem to have a streak in him many people disliked.

It was, as you said, the way in which Buckle departed that annoyed many fans, as he appeared to have made the decision long before the play-off final, and despite what he said, this wouldn't have helped our preparations going into the game. And obviously, the way he seemed to poach our players by not offering them deals really got on my nerves. No matter what he says, if he was fully committed to the club, he would have signed those players up to torquay a long time ago.

[AustrianAndyGull]

Agree with forever so far as Bristol Rovers the club are concerned. I've got nothing against them at all personally and i've not really had that much to do with them having been brought up in Yorkshire and with the Yorkshire clubs. Buckle was right to leave when he did and if it were me i would have done the same thing. Buckle has a big ego and thinks he can do better than Torquay which is fair enough for someone with ambition. In the back of his mind whilst we were all taking our seats at Old Trafford he was plotting his future at Rovers and concocting a list of our players that he could plunder once he was in the hotseat at the Mem. On top of this he failed to tie down Branston and others on longer contracts leaving us a little exposed. If i were in the same position i would have told everyone i was leaving BEFORE the final and got Torquay promoted before leaving. If i didn't then i would have turned down the job at Rovers and carried on as Gulls boss out of duty. I also would NEVER have taken any of Torquays players to the Mem unless they were out of contract. It is the right thing to do. Buckle, and to be fair most of the people in football nowadays do not understand loyalty and morality and think they can do what they like. Thats why he is despised and someone like Gary Speed is loved. Its not his ambition thats the issue its his attitude and own delusions of grandeur that p**s people off. As for him regretting the move to Bristol, not a chance. He is that thick skinned that it probably won't even have crossed his reptilian mind ( he should be in V!!). He may do if he ends up back at a non-league club again but we'll see. I've got many happy memories of Buckles reign at Torquay and he gave us some great drama and good fortune and for that i am grateful to him but at the end of the day he is just like the rest of the them, a selfish ****.

[yellow]

A combination of his inflated ego and his arrogance would make such a thought unthinkable to the weasel.

I hope he continues to display his full range of managerial skills,....... until he is sacked!

[Gullscorer]

I have a feeling that the second half of the season for Bristol Rovers will be better than the first half. Generally speaking, the second half of all Buckle's seasons at Torquay were better than the first; I think the same thing will happen at Rovers and they will soon begin to climb the table. Not saying they will get promoted or even make the play-offs this time, but Buckle will make steady progress there over time.

[stevegull]

In spite of him being a complete and utter c*ck, i do think he is an accomplished manager. He will bring success to them if given time. I even think they'll at least get into the play-offs this year.

[AustrianAndyGull]

i disagree. just like mourinho can only manage a team with money, buckle looks like he can only manage a team on a shoestring. he is spoilt for choice at rovers and doesn't make the correct decisions, at torquay he had no choice but to play who was fit and available. Rovers are going nowhere fast - not said out of bitterness, i honestly believe this.

[ferrarilover]

I side with you in this Andy and honestly cannot begin to see where Steve (and others, nothing against Steve individually) draws his conclusions that Useless will get anywhere near the top half, let alone into the top 7 places. Sure, they have some fine names, and a large attendance, but divisions as low as the one below us are littered with clubs of that nature, look where it's got them.
Too big to fail simply doesn't apply anymore. Look at Argyle, look at Luton and Cambridge and Wrexham and Stockport. Take it up a notch, look at Pompey. Go to the very top, Man City spent a billion pounds in the summer, they probably aren't going to make it out of the group stage of the Champions League.
Having a bunch of decent names on paper doesn't work in football, because football is played on grass and it's results that count. At the moment, Rovers are a shambles, they are in total disarray, a bit like Argyle and Northampton and perennial strugglers Bradford City.
Nothing I have seen of BRFC, on the pitch, has given me the slightest indication that they will get anywhere near the playoffs. There are all number of clubs, including our own, who would rank above them in terms of overall ability and likelihood to finish in the playoffs.

As for the original premise of the thread, no, I don't think he is. He will have been much more realistic than the vast majority of the supporters who are driving the idea that Rovers are under performing this year. He will probably have expected to be this far down the table by now, and as one chap on their board points out, they are still just as many points from relegation as they are from the drop, it's just that the table is a little unbalanced, so their actual position is artificially low.
Unless you have limitless money to sign players who are far too good for the division, but have no balls or desire to better themselves (*Cough* Crawley *Cough*), then assembling a brand new squad and achieving early success is nigh on impossible.

Sadly, given enough time, I, like most, am certain that PB will get Rovers back into the division from whence they came.

What is certain though, is that given his resources and finances, Martin Ling would have us a damn sight further up the table than 18th!

Matt.

[friendlygas]

Whilst you may be right about the resources and what Martin Ling could do with it.I am not convinced that Paul buckle will not succeed here amd in the same vein I am not convinced that you will finish higher than us and certainly dont think you have more ability than we have in the squad. It will be an interesting season that is for sure and our next two games will probably give a good indication as to where we will finish as we play Swindon this week and Gillingham away the week after. These games will tell us whether we are turning the corner or heading for a mid table to 18th finish.

[ferrarilover]

Whilst you may be right about the resources and what Martin Ling could do with it.I am not convinced that Paul buckle will not succeed here amd in the same vein I am not convinced that you will finish higher than us and certainly dont think you have more ability than we have in the squad. It will be an interesting season that is for sure and our next two games will probably give a good indication as to where we will finish as we play Swindon this week and Gillingham away the week after. These games will tell us whether we are turning the corner or heading for a mid table to 18th finish.

The whole point of my last post was to demonstrate that this is a totally moot point. Yes, it's true that, on paper, if you lined up the two best starting XIs and compared them by some rating system that in a lot of positions (with the exception of Robbo, Ellis, Bobby, Eunan and Rene, oh, and Martin Ling of course) you would be stronger. But, in total defeat of that argument, I direct you to the present League Two table, which shows your merry band of superstars and world beaters to have accrued fewer points from the same number of games than our lot of plumbers and builders mates (Manse and Ricey, if anyone cares).
As to the rest of the post, I have said (perhaps elsewhere, cut me some slack, it's late :~D ) that,given time, PB will succeed at Rovers, but at the moment, he is making a right cake and arse party of the whole thing. I'm pretty sure we'll finish above you. You seem to have found your level for this season and we certainly haven't been playing beyond what we supporters could rightfully and properly expect, nothing I have seen, heard or read, points to the existence or even remote chance of this Festive turnaround, I don't see why you'd suddenly start beating teams who, earlier in the year, were beating you. Nothing appears to be present to effect that change, it certainly won't be the tactical nous of the man at the helm.

Similarly with the next two games, a quick look at your results so far shows that you have been beaten by teams from all parts of the table, both home and away, but you have also managed take points from some of your bigger games. You know what you look like based on that (you're not gonna like it)... An average League two side. Brilliant one week in coming from behind at Southend, rotten the next in getting beaten by Barnet at home (yes, I know, I know), it's all swings and roundabouts because you're in League 2 now (although I suspect it's largely the same in L1).

Anyway, you didn't answer the question, does PB regret leaving us?

Matt.

[royalgull]

Nah why would he? Nothing is won (or lost) in December. Rovers still have the players to go on a run as good as ours has been recently and haul themselves towards 7th place. That's not to say that will definitely happen this season but they definitely have the quality there to do it. If we finish above them this season that means we'd have achieved our goal of mid table safety and I'd be delighted with that. Can take time to gel when you make radical changes, Southend did the same last year and never threatened the playoffs, this year they are top of the league.

So much bitterness towards PB it's actually quite funny, I can understand it, he did make some mistakes (like all managers especially young ones) but the end results are there for all to see. Towards the end of his tenure we were playing some great stuff, winning games and in the playoffs and not with some massive budget. 'Only good with money' behave, we weren't close to the top spenders in this league the whole time he was here. Yes he had more leeway than Ling has without question but you lot would make it sound as if we were Man Utd.

Seriously just need to move on, it's not doing anyone any favours.

[friendlygas]

Personally Matt I don't think Buckle regrets his decision to leave you one bit. I think he realised that was as far as he could take you and that if he continued this season he could have ruined his growing reputation.
Now on the otherhand he may have regrets about joining us!!!!! He is facing a really difficult time and I think Time is an essence and not sure some will give him that time. We really need to be going on a run soon or I can PB going on a run!!! I am certainly prepared to give him both this season and half of next to see what he can do. Some say he hasnt lived up to his promise of attacking football which overall he probably hasn';t but there again what other team has two wingers? Crayol and Anyinsah are class acts and he must be praised for bringing them in and trying to play with both.
To be honest it would not be totally surprising if you finish above us and to be fair to you I have the feeling that your recent good run even took a lot of you by surprise!! I have been more surprised by our lack of a good run and it seems to be one step forward quickly followed by two back,injuries have been very unkind to us in losing Virgo,McGleish,Wayne Brown and now Gill to long term injuries.Campbell also appears to have been injured for ages. This is not an excuse,it is fact and certainly not idea.Our Board have indicated that we missed out on 3 or 4 players before the last deadline so it seems we could have a few more additions in January which should help our cause-just hope we get a few wins before then!!!
Good luck to you in the coming weeks.