Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
THE FALL GUYS
Dream start to season turned into a nightmare ending for Rovers
The smallest budget in League One, a wafer- thin squad and an injury list the could run from ML5 to ML6.
It was a terrible mix for Brian Kerr and his players as they finished bottom of the League One pile on the final day of the season and were automatically relegated.
It’s League Two matches next season for the Cliftonhill fans, rather than an unprecedented fourth season in the third-tier of Scottish football.
At the start of the campaign, it seemed like they would be preparing for so much more – even bothering the full-time top two in Ayr and Raith and the promotion spots.
Kerr, who had been promoted from his youth coaching role to takeover from Darren Young, put down a marker for the season with an impressive Betfred Cup campaign.
There was a high-scoring win over Lowland League champions East Kilbride – led by former Rovers assistant Billy Stark – and they stunned Lanarkshire rivals Hamilton Accies.
An eight- goal thriller, an Alan Trouten hat- trick, and a shootout victory built the optimism at Cliftonhill.
A draw with Championship outfit Queen of the South and subsequent loss on penalties meant that Rovers narrowly missed out on making it to the next round.
The League One season opened with a 5-1 hammering at Cliftonhill to Ayr – which set the tone for the early season form: good away, shocking at Cliftonhill.
The home ground just didn’t seem to suit the style of play gaffer Kerr was looking for, which resulted in impressive wins on the road against the likes of Alloa and Arbroath, while slumping to defeat to a struggling Airdrie team and a 4-0 demolition at the hands of Stranraer.
They ended the hoodoo in some style as they defeated promotion favourites Raith in Coatbridge – and moved into the top four.
However, just a week later Rovers suffered a season-defining shock to the system in Methil.
With just moments left and leading 4-3 against East Fife, Rovers somehow threw the game away and lost 5-4.
It halted the Rovers momentum and they only managed one more league win in 2017 – over Young’s men in the return fixture just before Christmas. In truth, Rovers season never recovered.
Connor Shields’ Sunderland exit – one of the star turns in Coatbridge – was felt badly as his productive partnership with Trouten was never really recreated with Joao Victoria, Arbroath loanee Kane Hester, Scott MacLean or Conor Scullion.
After draws with Airdrie and bottom-of-the-table Spiders – two games Rovers staff would have viewed a winnable – a run of six defeats in a row saw them plummet down the table.
With defenders Alan Reid, Ross Perry and Jason Marr absent for long spells of the season – and Sean Higgins and skipper Gary Fisher playing through injuries – the squad was pushed to breaking point during the poor run.
In March, a win in Stranraer – coming from two goals down to win 3- 2 – was hailed by fans and management alike as a potential turning point.
In actuality, Rovers won only one of their final 10 games in the season – and defeat to their Monklands rivals Airdrie confirmed their spot in the bottom two, before the coupling of defeat to champions Ayr and a Queen’s Park win over Arbroath sent them to the bottom of the table.
It is a stunning fall from the early season promise and it will be a huge rebuilding job of the team and their confidence for whoever is in the dugout next term.
... it will be a huge rebuilding job of the team and their confidence for whoever is in the dugout next term