Dismal Doncaster Rovers losing their identity and soul amid worrying times

A club which used to revel in the moniker of the ‘Arsenal of the North’ amid happier times are losing their identity and soul and are in danger of becoming an after-thought in Yorkshire football once again.

Visits to the Lakeside used to be events. Now they are to be endured.

There was a sense of apathy everywhere you looked on Saturday. The odd bit of gallows humour was aired along with a few shouts of ‘Sack the Board’ from home supporters, but in the main there was just flatness and tiredness.

Rovers are at their lowest ebb since some bad old days in the Nineties at their former Belle Vue home.

It was a time when many sports-minded Doncastrians went elsewhere for their football fix. To Leeds and Sheffield in the main. Others simply voted with their feet and started to do other things.

The fear is that history will repeat itself with a growing disconnect developing between sections of the club’s fanbase and the hierarchy.

Rovers make great play of being run as a self-sustainable business and a community club. Balance sheets are all well and good, but the bottom line is that Doncaster are languishing in 12th place in League Two and the powers that be are being called out for a lack of ambition.

In March 2021, Rovers drew at home to Northampton and were in fifth place in League One and promotion candidates. Now, they are going nowhere.

The concern among seasoned followers is that they could in fact be going somewhere in 2023-24 if things don’t improve and an alarming slide is not arrested.

Namely the National League and the recent experiences of two of their historic rivals in Scunthorpe and York provide food for thought.

On the pitch, tippy-tappy Rovers are tepid and unconvincing.

Trust in the process is the schtick of Danny Schofield. A pitiful total of ten efforts on target in six matches in a miserable March has ensured that faith is being seriously tested even among his apologists.

It’s hardly the best advert for Schofieldball and among other things, Rovers punters are starting to lose patience with their head coach.

But the fact remains that he can only work with what he is given, which is not a great deal given recent forays into the transfer market.

On this day, Rovers had a very unconvincing keeper who had the proverbial nightmare, an edgy defence, a lightweight midfield and a no focal point up front, although it was hard not to have a degree of sympathy for Caolan Lavery, a player on his own and in isolation before departing to injury early in the second half.

Yes, they had several absentees - with two more added to the injury count by the final whistle in Lavery and James Brown.

But so did Northampton and a bit more besides. Twelve of their players were unavailable, yet they still won easily enough.

Northampton weren’t particularly great. You don’t have to be against Doncaster at the minute.

They did possess a level of competence and that was good enough.

The Cobblers are well placed for promotion after a fifth win in seven matches. Rovers have won once in their past eight games and have lost three of their last four at home, failing to lay a glove on Bradford, Harrogate and now Northampton.

A sign of the times is that chants against the board and others questioning the aptitude of those in home jerseys appeared after 100 seconds on Saturday's soporific watch.

Rovers were caught short by a nifty corner routine and the ball found its way to Mitch Pinnock, whose low drive flew underneath the body of Jonathan Mitchell.

If that was bad, the worst was yet to come for the ex-Cobblers keeper.

Doncaster mustered a token effort on target in the first half and while their start to the second period hinted at something, it was a brief tease.

Mitchell's wretched day further descended when his pass out from the back was aimed straight at Sam Hoskins, who obligingly tucked away his 20th goal of the campaign.

The Cobblers mercifully passed up the chance to make the scoreline embarrassing and put the boot into Rovers. But this was bad enough.

Doncaster Rovers: Mitchell; Olowu, Anderson, Rowe; Brown (Hurst 42), Ravenhill (Westbrooke 78), Close, Seaman; Molyneux, T Miller (Long 78); Lavery (Agard 49). Substitutes unused: Bottomley, Barlow, Faulkner.

Northampton Town: Burge; Lintott, McGowan (Norman 90+2), Guthrie, Haynes (Osew 90+2); Hondermarck (Yengi 66), Sowerby, Leonard; Pinnock, Appere (Bowie 66), Hoskins. Substitutes unused: Maxted, Wright-Phillips, Abimbola.