Mildy's absence could have huge impact on our season

I do wonder if playing Preston on Saturday is a better bet than rushing to sign a keeper today and him not having time to train with the players .... Also whoever we sign now will be with us during a vital period so perhaps better to wait for the right man and take a chance on Saturday ..... Difficult job being a manager.

Perhaps leaving the loan signing so late squeezes an extra game out of the back end of the period? We play Nuneaton away on Sunday Jan 4th, maybe that is factored in? I dont know.

Guys, I'm sick to death of it, too. Here is my original effort before I sent it off to the Post...

By Nick Rippington
STEVE MILDENHALL’S injury setback is a huge blow to Bristol Rovers’ hopes of keeping the pressure up in the race for automatic promotion from the Vauxhall Conference.
I would even go so far as to say Mildenhall has played a bigger part in our climb to the lofty perch of third that any other person representing the blue and white quarters.
It’s a big statement, I know, but ever since Mildenhall took over between the sticks just after Christmas two seasons ago he has been our Mr Reliable.
Before he stepped successfully into the breach the No.1 position at Rovers had been a revolving door as a series of managers from Paul Trollope, through Dave Penney, Paul Buckle and Mark McGhee, struggled to plug the gap, largely relying on the loan market to provide our last line of defence.
For a short time we thought Buckle might have solved the problem when he brought in Scott Bevan, but he seemed strangely fallible for a man mountain before suffering a string of irritating injuries from which he never truly recovered.
To be fair some of our temporary keepers - Michael Anderson, Conrad Logan and Michael Poke - earned temporary hero status. Others, though, like Chelsea loanee Sam Walker and West Brom’s Luke Daniels, had a pretty rough time of it.
For those intent on rewriting club history, John Ward has gone from club saviour to the man to blame for every problem to befall the Gas since Santa’s Grotto got a bad review on Trip Advisor. It’s fair to say though his recruitment of Mildy was a masterstroke.
Though as the result of work commitments I haven’t been able to attend as many matches as I would like this season, the one thing I can safely say is that not a game goes by without me hearing of some act of heroics from the reliable keeper. When Rovers have struggled so much to convert chances at the other end it is easy to see how having a lesser keeper between the sticks might have impacted on our season.
I don’t think it is too much of a leap to suggest we would be much further off the pace if Mildy had not been around.
Earlier in the season I saw with my own eyes how his absence can affect the side.
I’ve no axe to grind against his understudy Will Puddy – who himself is out injured at the moment – but when Mildy failed to take the pitch at Barnet the negative effect his non-appearance had on our defence was glaringly evident.
In a first half in which we found ourselves hemmed back in our own half, a defensive error and a goalkeeping slip were enough to guarantee three valuable points for one of our main rivals.
Full marks of course to Mark McChrystal for stepping into the breach against Wrexham in the valuable 0-0 draw on Tuesday night. It can’t be often that a player with no goalkeeping experience has stepped into the breach with an hour left in a match and gone on to keep a clean sheet.
But I’m sure Mark – not to mention Tom Lockyer, Lee Brown, Tom Parkes and Neal Trotman – won’t argue with me when I say ‘Get Better Soon, Mildy. The Gas need you’.


Nick Rippington is a sports journalist working on national newspapers in London but his spiritual home is the Mem. He has been an ardent fan of Bristol Rovers for 46 years, seeing them through the highs of promotion under Don Megson, Gerry Francis and Paul Trollope as well as many painfully remembered lows. A former schoolboy members of the RATS (Rovers Away Travel Service) and Tote End regular, he still tries to see the team as often as work permits...Catch up with nick at @nickripp on twitter.

Thanks Nick. Much appreciated.

You may also find this worth a read . . .

Not sure losing Mildenhall will be a huge impact when even MM kept a clean sheet on Tuesday? Losing LDV for good could be a far bigger impact as we can't get in a replacement and there's nobody else like him at the club.

I get where you're coming from, but it would have been unfair to put any sort of idea in KP's head that he was to be considered as a starter then go out and get a 20 year old from Notts County IMO.

Mildys injury sounds bad, probably out for a long time; imo BRFC need to bring in a senior pro in january. utg