Stability key for the future as Rovers get little things right

THE majority of League One managers would throw their hands up in horror if set a target of winning the European Cup in five years.

Even now, it is hard to tell whether Doncaster Rovers chairman John Ryan was actually joking when he put that challenge to Sean O'Driscoll in 2006.

Not surprisingly, O'Driscoll has failed to deliver the 'miracle' – but try asking any Rovers fan how highly they rate his achievements and they still put it on a par with the Virgin birth.

A Wembley victory against Leeds United, a return to the Championship after a 50-year absence, the Johnstone's Paint Trophy at the Millennium Stadium, and now talk of promotion to the Premier League. Mind you, that is the chairman talking again and not the manager.

Given the limited funds at his disposal and the financial clout of his rivals, it is hard to imagine that any manager could have done better for Rovers over these last four years.

O'Driscoll's focus will always be fixed solely on the objective of 'playing well' – and there are rarely mentions of 'targets' or promotion pushes.

Now, just as on the day he arrived, the Rovers manager is happy to leave that to Ryan.

"I don't talk football rhetoric and I have never gone down that line," says O'Driscoll. "You want to play well and that doesn't change. That's always my philosophy – if we play well, it means we have done all the right things.

"I admire John because it is difficult to maintain your enthusiasm in football when the industry is so full of negativity. You read the newspapers or go on the websites and there are phone-ins where people tell you that you should be doing this or that. But John has dragged this football club, almost single-handedly, from nowhere and is as passionate about Doncaster today as he was in the Conference.

"I have never known a person that looks at things in such a positive manner and I imagine that's why he's such a successful businessman!"

Times are tough for many in the Football League but Rovers were among the few clubs this summer who were able to invest over 1m in a transfer fee to land Sheffield United striker Billy Sharp.

Ryan and his board of directors dipped into their own pockets to help fund the acquisition and the move sent ripples around the Championship. O'Driscoll is not complaining but his feet are staying firmly on the ground.

"We missed out on Jason Shackell and lost Gareth Roberts this summer but finance dictates and both were made offers (by Barnsley and Derby County respectively) that we couldn't match.

"We are probably one of the smaller fish in the Championship and, if I had come from a big club with big resources, it would have been a bit of a culture shock. But I have never got anywhere near to signing a player for 1m before so I can't start complaining about the amount of money we have to progress the club.

"This is the most financially stable club I have been at," he adds. "We are punching above our weight and we have to continue to do that. Everyone is ambitious but they have to be realistic ambitions.

"We get crowds of 7,000-8,000 and you are not going to survive in any higher division with that sort of crowd base. You have got to build slowly.

"I joked when I first came here that the chairman wanted me to win the European Cup in five years. Having that vision and somewhere you want to end up is okay – but it is what you do on a day-to-day basis that is probably more important."

By his own admission, O'Driscoll – who had spent most of his career on the south coast with Bournemouth – initially found it tough to win over Rovers supporters. Those days are now a faded memory.

"Sometimes change is difficult for a lot of people. We have always given credit to those who have gone before and not taken plaudits we don't deserve but we had to move it forward and that meant changing things.

"Once people saw that we were prepared to work though good times and bad, I think they trusted us more. Once you get the trust, you can do a lot. It's a completely different football club now from when I joined. Not just the actual venue we play in but the whole structure has moved forward and people who had been here a long time have embraced the change.

"Things have moved on but the core of the football club is still intact. The values and the principles had never really been articulated. We tried to put some meat on the bones and say 'this is why Doncaster Rovers is important to Doncaster'. The way we do things and the way we behave is just as important as trying to win football matches. I would do the same at whatever football club I was working at. It is important to see the whole entity rather than just the first team."

Word of O'Driscoll's achievement stretched to the Premier League last season and he was narrowly beaten to the vacant Burnley job by former Sheffield Wednesday manager Brian Laws.

Now unfashionable Blackpool have won promotion to the top-flight, too, it has offered even greater hope for the rest.

"This whole industry dreams but that's what makes it so interesting," he remarks. "Even if you finished last season on the bottom of the table, the new season starts with renewed vigour and enthusiasm.

"To win the European Cup, you have to get in the Premier Division, to get in the Premier Division, we had to get out of League One, to get out of League One, you had to put an infrastructure together, to put an infrastructure together you have to get the right people, to get the right people, you have to make sure that they can do the things you are asking them to do. Then you have to give them the tools to do it.

"It all comes down to the little things and sometimes that is difficult – but it has stood us in great stead so far and I see no reason to change."

ROVERS: The summer so far

IN: Billy Sharp (1.15m Sheffield United), Simon Gillett (Southampton), George Friend (Wolves), Josh Payne (West Ham United).

OUT: Gareth Roberts (Derby County), Paul Heffernan (Sheffield Wednesday), Lewis Guy (MK Dons), Sean McDaid (Carlisle United), John Spicer (Notts County), Ben Smith (Shrewsbury Town), Charles Fisher.

LAST SEASON: 12th, Championship.

YP VERDICT: 9th. Rovers are now respected as a solid Championship side after finishing mid-table two seasons in a row and their style of football is always pleasant on the eye. The question now is whether they can take it on to a new level? Although Billy Sharp will be a major asset in attack, they may rely too heavily on his goals. Midfielder Brian Stock is another key piece in the jigsaw but is often injured and goalkeeper Neil Sullivan is 40 and coming towards the twilight of his career. A lack of strength in depth could well prove to be the club's Achilles heel but another mid-table finish should be viewed as a further success rather than a failure.