FL2: Rotherham v Torquay 15 Sept 2012

after 94 minutes we still hadnt turned up,we sounded very very poor,looking forward to match reports from poor souls who forked out hard earned cash on that performance

Yes great idea let us just say we have not got a chance of promotion this year and we are aiming to finish 14th. That would do a great deal to boost our already small crowds and would make the manager a laughing stock in the football World.

Luckily our manager learned his trade through hard graft and experience within the profession, not by playing 'Football Manager' or whatever it is called.

This time next week things will be looking very different with 13 points from 8 games and a place in the play off zone

Mid September before anyone's been good enough to beat us so it's been a reasonable start to the season in my view.

If, like Rotherham, we were getting the income from 7,400 home gates then I suppose I'd hope to see us a little higher up the table and be able to afford a stronger squad, but with the Plainmoor turnstiles not clicking up to 3000 unless it's a local derby, I have to be realistic.

After successive play-off finishes,a declaration that we were not aiming for automatic promotion would have killed season ticket sales stone dead in true Gerald Ratner fashion....guaranteeing a dramatic fall in income and becoming a self fulfilling prophecy.

Anyone in the entertainment business will talk up the product, whether the words are based on genuine optimism or not. They didn't tell me just how good the games against Cheltenham and Rochdale were going to be, but then football's unpredictability is part of it's appeal and it's nice to be pleasantly surprised at times.

So we'll have to come to terms with having lost one single, solitary match so far in season 2012/13, and then maybe look around for some plus points instead, such as Rene staying on the pitch for the whole 95 minutes and not getting a yellow card

Fleetwood away a good point against the newcomers to the league who ran away with the Conference last year and have recruited a number of very high standard players for League 2. They sit 3rd in the table.

Port Vale away with 7 players out through injury or suspension (a third of our squad) a creditable 1-1 draw. Port Vale sit 2nd in the table.

Rotherham away the big spenders and strong promotion favourites a single goal defeat (and our first defeat of the season after 6 games). They sit 6th in the table.

Two cracking home games where we should have finished off Cheltenham (we didn't that's football) and we comfortably beat a quite capable Rochdale team.

Argyle was a local derby where they set their stall out for a draw and credit to them through hard battling they got it.

All in all a good start. That is not dressing it up it is the reality (and if you don't behave I'll set Jon on you! ).

Right off to the Argyle site now as it is far more entertaining, having turned in to blind optimists having been undefeated for 2 games and being delighted at gaining a point at Plainmoor they are back to their manic suicidal depression. Compelling stuff! ;D

Wise words petef, on the whole a reasonable start to the season from some tricky fixtures. I am sure that Ling is fully aware of any deficiencies and will be working hard to address them, as he did last year. I fully expect the team to perform better on Tuesday night.
If anybody wants to make themselves feel better, head over to the Bristol Rovers forum, their fans are calling for Mcghee's head already!!!!

Last time we won away from home was at Barnet in March. Since then our away form has been:

Drew 2-2 at Oxford
Lost 2-0 at Wimbledon
Lost 3-2 at Hereford
Lost 2-0 at Cheltenham
Drew 0-0 at Fleetwood
Drew 1-1 at Port Vale
Lost 1-0 at Rotherham

In fact, since that Barnet match, our form in general has been terrible: P15 W2 D7 L6 (including the Leicester match). And you can't put all that down to playing difficult opposition