Talent spotting

FIRST came former Doncaster manager Sean O'Driscoll, followed closely by Sky pundit and ex-Crystal Palace, Charlton and Hull boss Iain Dowie.
Suddenly, up on the rails appears former Walsall and Luton chief Richard Money, and after that the bookies tell us that ex-England legend Paul Ince is the clear favourite for the hot seat.
Meanwhile our chairman Nick Higgs is partaking of some winter sun in Italy. Fiddling, while Rome burns?
Quite honestly, any right-thinking Gashead is becoming heartily sick of the speculation, while secretly hoping the Bristol Rovers board flout tradition and produce an absolute gem to be our next manager. Maybe Mr Higgs will come back with Gianluca Vialli or Italy's World Cup winning manager Marcello Lippi in tow.
At least Shaun North, the man left in charge of the rapidly sinking Pirate ship, managed to keep us afloat by masterminding a 2-1 win at relegation rivals Hereford. Three much-needed points to keep us out of the drop zone for the time being.
Mind you, it made for painful listening on Radio Bristol. I was put through 94 minutes of inane chatter between the commentator and Bristol Rovers programme editor Keith Brookman.
I heard about four minutes of the action and the rest of the time had to put up with them telling me how Rovers were in control, didn't look like losing and were virtually guaranteed three points, even though at that point there were 15 minutes to go.
It was agony.
An example of what I had to listen to was: "Rovers played really well in the first half. They've looked pretty comfortable. Oh and that's a hopeful punt upfield by Hereford... oh it's landed in the path of Delroy Facey, and he scores!"
Pah, should have gone to the game myself. Only trouble is, there is no surer way to jinx the Gas than for me to travel to see them. Not only that but I would have to handle the disapproving glances from the wife, too.
Anyway, it's another big game on Saturday at home to promotion-chasing Crawley, who battered us earlier on this season. Hopefully those fans who wanted Paul Buckle sacked will respond to having their wishes granted by giving their vocal support on Saturday.
I can't say they proved very intimidating in our big FA Cup game against Aston Villa last Saturday. After all the excitement, we bowed out with barely a whimper, losing 3-1 to a Premier League side that didn't get out of first gear.
At the same time we were embarrassed on national TV by the state of the bog-like Memorial Ground pitch and the strange "timber yard" which suddenly appeared on the sidelines and swallowed up the ball following one hopeful defensive clearance by our porous defence.
Any "big-name" manager waiting in the wings might have been ever-so slightly discouraged by our public humiliation, I imagine.
I'm not sure, either, that the likes of Ince or Dowie are the answer.
Far better, to my mind, to get someone in who understands the unique qualities of the Gashead - someone, unlike Paul Buckle and Dave Penney, who can bond with the fans and produce the kind of fighting, attractive performances with which we can relate.
Geraint Williams and Keith Curle are still out there and I think I'd settle for either of these former Gas players than to sit around for a few more weeks while Sven Goran-Eriksson does the maths on whether he can afford to live in Bristol on such a modest salary.
Still, I've heard his agent has already been scouring the local nightclubs for eligible "talent".