Two games, four points and Rovers are in the top four already. Who said Kean and Venky’s don’t know what they’re doing? At least 10,000 people if last night’s attendance is anything to go by – that’s who. It’s fair to say a trip to Ipswich and Hull at home aren’t the two most difficult games the Championship can throw up, but hom win and away draw is the yardstick for all promotion winning teams, so that’s a positive if nothing else. Other positives would be still having Robinson in goal, Givet and Dann (it seems the Championship is his level) looking solid enough at the back and Kazim-Richards up front.
 
Beyond that it’s hard to work up much enthusiasm for anything else. The squad’s still unbalanced, Kean’s willingness to play people out of position remains baffling and the club continues to stumble along from one embarrassing quote to another. Oh, and the fans are still to blame for everything, right?
 
If Rovers were to add a decent left-back and another striker (Rhodes or Guidetti would be fine), it could be argued they’d have the squad in place to mount a serious challenge. But that still leaves the problem of Kean and the Venky’s circus. However, the likes of Shebby Singh, Paul Agnew or whoever try to spin things, the simple fact of the matter is that while Kean remains in charge the vast majority of fans will continue to feel disaffected towards the club. His relationship with the fans is non-existent (his fault) and his continued presence can only do more harm than good. Replace him and win the fans over in one fell swoop – or leave him where he is and have 10,000 people doing other things with their time on match days.
 
Common sense tells you that once you’ve become a busted flush you forever stay busted. Every loss, every goal conceded, every misplaced pass – they’ll all be Kean’s fault, even if they’re someone else’s. It’s harsh in the extreme, but that’s the nature of where he stands in the eyes of the fans (again, his fault).
 
So, a decent enough start but, in the bigger scheme of things, nothing’s changed very much. If it doesn’t, then don’t put any money on Rovers staying where they are in the table for very long. 
VAVEL Logo
About the author
Michael Black
Freelance news, features & sports writer for prohockeynews.com, britishicehockey.co.uk, eurohockey.com, vavel.com, ftbpro.com & rovers.footballblog.co.uk.