All in a Stu

EIGHT months ago Colonel Gaddafi was probably sitting on his balcony, quaffing cocktails, looking over his kingdom and planning to rule for another 20 years.
Meanwhile, New Zealanders were considering how they were going to rebuild after the Christchurch earthquake.
And Rene Howe was scoring the only goal for Bristol Rovers in a 1-0 home win over Oldham which manager Dave Penney hoped would be the start of our escape from League One relegation.
How far we have come since then. Gaddafi deposed, New Zealand are up and running again and have staged a successful rugby World Cup and Bristol Rovers are two managers down the line and in a lower division.
On Saturday, under our latest boss Paul Buckle, we finally managed to win our first Saturday home game since that February triumph over mighty Oldham.
For we Gasheads it should be a monumental moment.
Flags should be hanging from the rafters, cars should be tooting their horns, a party should be going on in Eastville Park.
But the mood seems to be pretty subdued.
It was only Dagenham, for starters.
We beat them 2-0 with Joe Anyinsah and a Matt Harrold penalty giving us a vital three points.
But they are being labelled "the worst team to play at the Memorial Stadium since 1884" and shouldn't be fit to lace our boots.
Hmm. The same Dagenham, I recall, who won 2-0 at the Mem last season and signalled the end of the Penney era.
Not only that but it appears our much-loved midfielder Stuart Campbell could be leaving the club, even though he claims he doesn't want to go.
So at a time when Rovers fans should have been willing their team to hold on to a desperately needed three points, some of them preferred to sing "There's Only One Stuart Campbell".
Interesting choice of song, when Campbell wasn't even in the side and the XI players ON the pitch needed every bit of encouragement from the crowd.
It's ok, though.
We held on and are now up to the lofty position of 15th.
Buckle shouldn't be too bothered about the Campbell chants.
He seems thick-skinned enough to take it on the chin, carry on the way he sees fit and ride out the unrest.
But whether this response is helpful to all our new players is open to question.
I am not sure if I was Craig Stanley or skipper Matt Gill I would find it particularly encouraging when I was working my guts out to ensure we began to revive the club's fortunes.
No matter.
To my mind, if Campbell stays or if he goes is a matter for the manager alone.
After all, it is his head on the block at the end of the day.
And if he feels the club's future is better served by cutting the ties and letting "Grandad" go, then that's what he should do.
But before he departs wouldn't it be nice if the club did something to reward his services.
A testimonial perhaps, to allow fans to say goodbye to him in the proper way...