Big-time Charlies

WELL the mighty Gas are through to the second round of the FA Cup.
We neatly avoided the banana skin that was Conference North side Corby Town 3-1 at the Mem in front of a crowd of less than 4,000.
Still, it's an improvement on last season when our knockout exploits involved a 6-1 defeat at League newbies Oxford United in the Carling Cup and a 2-1 defeat at non-league Darlington in the FA Cup.
And now it is on to Totton, the little-known club from the Evostik Southern League, in the second round for a match that will be screened live on ITV.
Mind you, the victory has scarcelessly lifted the feeling of impending doom among a large proportion of our supporters who see manager Paul Buckle as the anti-christ, hell bent on taking us to oblivion.
Apparently many feel that we should have taken Corby to the cleaners, run up a cricket score and lived up to our reputation of "a big club".
Well, I have to admit I don't know where this notion that we are among football's giants has come from.
You only have to look at our history to see that, traditionally, we have always been a small club punching above our weight.
Which football "giant" has never been in the top division, has spent a huge part of their history renting their ground from first a greyhound company and then a neighbouring non-league club, and whose biggest signing cost £350,000?
In fact, one of the reasons I supported the Gas in the first place was that we DIDN'T portray this Billy Big B******* attitude.
For years our neighbours across the city have lived on their success back in the 70s when they managed to reach the top flight and survive there for a couple of seasons. We have always jeered at their "Sleeping Giants" attitude, poked fun at the idea that they think they have some kind of divine right to be up among the Manchester United's and Chelsea's of this world.
We at Rovers were a band of brothers, united in a kind of Us against the World mentality, able to joke at our misfortunes and treat success as the imposter it was.
I don't know, maybe the fact we have managed to reach Wembley a few times, and in 2007 actually played at the new stadium AND Cardiff's Millennium in the same season, made younger supporters feel we were bigger than we were.
And certainly we have always had a big fan base - not mirrored in our home attendances but a reflection of the highly populated area from which we come.
But having a reasonable supporter base is no guarantee of success as the two Sheffield clubs will be quick to verify.
On the other hand, glory for teams without their attributes is not out of the question. Who would have thought 20 years ago that the likes of Wigan and Swansea would be gracing the Premier League?
So isn't it time for a dose of reality and to get back to what we do best? The words are there in our club anthem Goodnight Irene: We're Loyal Supporters, Faithful and True, we always follow, the Boys in Blue".
Looking through those words I find no mention of: "unless we are struggling to overcome "little" clubs like Hereford and Macclesfield".
We have no god-given right to beat anyone, or win anything.
But one more win in the FA Cup and who knows what may lie ahead in the third round?
I recall our play-off season five years ago and a trip to Derby, where we played brilliantly only to lose in the last few minutes after having a player sent off.
That performance sparked us on a brilliant run in the league, eventually leading to our fantastic day out at Wembley.
On that day at Pride Park our support was fantastic, a story of Gasheads all pulling together against the odds because we were the underdogs and didn't expect to win.
A bit more of that attitude, and a bit less of the "Big Club Syndrome", is just what we need right now.