Losing faith...

Remember that Pre-season feeling of hope and excitement that finally, our beloved football club had turned the corner and were about to embark on a long and successful future? Nope, nor can I. It seems forever ago now.

Crashing to a humiliating 3-0 defeat against a Port Vale side who were crushed by Morecambe just 3 days ago, is an absolute joke, but certainly not a funny one. But it was predictable. You could see it happening. Those dark and negative connotations of Rovers remain because we simply don't have anything to be positive or encouraged about. It's typical that we get comfortably beaten at home by poor sides like Cheltenham, Aldershot and Port Vale because even though we've got an entirely new squad, we've all become accustomed to losing matches as Rovers supporters. There are just no real good times and when they do come along, they last all of 2 seconds before vanishing. It's just the way life is, like it or lump it.

Who's to blame? The Chairman Nick Higgs? Yes, nothing's been delivered by him or the board members for years, despite plenty of false promises. However, he's done all he can do in this situation really. He's identified a man he thinks can transform the club and backed him as far as he can financially - what more can he do on the front? His decision making in terms of appointing Paul Buckle can be questioned. But let's be fair, Buckle can talk a good game. He tricked us in to thinking he'd turn the club's fortunes around, so he probably did the same to the board of directors and chairman. Although, he did have success at Torquay, which stood him in good stead when considered for the job.

So that brings us on to the manager? He's got to be the one to blame, right? The masses of players he signed were always going to take time to settle in and gel, but they've played together now for almost 20 games this season and showed absolutely no consistency at all. The number of embarrassingly poor performances and results this season is an absolute disgrace - nothing has changed at all. He can't get the team to play the football he says he want us to play, although he doesn't help himself by playing players out of position all the time. He is in charge of the team and must take all responsibility for how they fare out on the pitch. If we were winning he'd take the plaudits and praise, so it's right he takes the criticism when we play as disgustingly as we have done so many times already this season.

I'm losing faith, I really really am. Even in our darkest of days of being in the basement division 5 or more years ago, I used to enjoy going to watch my team play. I loved feeling part of the wonderful Rovers support and I was proud to be a Gashead. But that's slowly fading away now. We've had to put up with this nonsense for too long now and quite frankly, people have had enough. I know a number of people, including my dad who has been a loyal Rovers fan for more than 40 years, lose interest in the club over the past few months. They don't believe a word that comes out the board or chairman's mouth, they aren't treated to good football or successful Rovers sides and they do not see a bright future for their beloved club. It's a travesty that the club are losing long suffering fans and seem to be doing nothing to stop it from happening. I'm not going to give up, because I'm a Rovers fan and that's that, I'll go no matter what division we're in. But I'm not as proud or excited to be a Rovers fan as I used to be and it's a depressing feeling to have.

Yes, people will look at this and say "Get a grip, it's only a game" or "You're making a mountain out of a molehill", but any true football supporter will know it's not as simple as being 'just a game' and any true Rovers fan will know that this depressing post has not been written on a whim, it's been a long time coming. I'm really struggling to see past a season of real disappointment on and off the pitch, because when you get a negative vibe from the footballing side of things, it tends to darken your outlook on the whole of the club too.

Seeing as this is Bristol Rovers, it would just be expected for the new stadium plans to die away too and knowing the current mob in charge, they probably will. But it's the only ray of light surrounding the club at the moment and it needs to have every energy of the chairman and directors focussed on it - it's our future. If this proposed stadium plan falls away, so will the fans... and the football club.

We need a miracle and I don't know where it's going to come from.