IN the first part of our Rovers review of the year we recall just how close Gary Bowyer’s side got to the Championship top six.

 

JANUARY

ROVERS fans could not have asked for a better start to 2014 – a New Year’s Day 2-1 win at Leeds followed by the permanent captures of midfielder Tom Cairney and striker Rudy Gestede, who had opened his account for the club in the Roses success.

The duo then starred in the 1-1 FA Cup third-round draw with Manchester City at Ewood Park, a match in which goalkeeper Paul Robinson made an emotional return after 13 months on the sidelines.

Lancashire Telegraph:

A 1-0 home win over Doncaster followed before Manchester City produced a storming second-half show to win the Etihad Stadium replay 5-0.

And Rovers did not win again in the month, losing 4-1 at Nottingham Forest before letting leads slip in drawing 1-1 at home to Derby and 2-2 away to Barnsley.

On the final day of the transfer window Bowyer lost captain Scott Dann to Crystal Palace but signed winger Craig Conway from Cardiff City.

Gary Bowyer quote of the month: “Jordan Rhodes isn’t for sale. I was never very good at maths but we paid £8m for him, then he goes and scores the most goals in the calendar year – more than Luis Suarez – and yet he is still valued at £8m. That doesn’t quite add up to me. But then again I’m no Carol Vorderman.”

 

FEBRUARY

GRANT Hanley marked his first match as Rovers’ new captain by scoring the goal that sealed a welcome 2-0 home win over Blackpool.

Lucas Neill was back training at the club but, despite appearing for Eric Kinder’s U21s side, he was never offered a deal by Bowyer.

But the Rovers boss did sign Luke Varney on loan until the end of the season. He made his debut in a 0-0 draw at Middlesbrough.

A two-week break followed during which time striker Leon Best was sent out on loan to Sheffield Wednesday.

On their return to action Rovers secured a vital 1-0 victory at Reading thanks to Craig Conway’s first goal for the club.

Gary Bowyer quote of the month: “I’ve seen Grant do the job for many a year at youth and reserve level – he’s captain material. He is an organiser and he leads by example – not just on matchday but every day in training.”

 

MARCH 

INJURY-RAVAGED Rovers’ five-game unbeaten run came crashing to an end as they were beaten 4-0 at Bolton.

That led Bowyer to sign defender Michael Keane on loan from Manchester United, as well as winger Liam Feeney on loan from Millwall, in time for the East Lancashire derby at home to Burnley.

Both made their debuts as the Ewood Park outfit went down to their bitter rivals Burnley for the first time in 35 years.

And a bad week got worse for Rovers went they lost 1-0 at home to Bournemouth. A reaction was needed in the trip to Huddersfield Town and Jordan Rhodes ensured there was one, the striker netting a netting hat-trick against his former club in a 4-2 win.

Rovers then came from behind to draw 1-1 at home to leaders Leicester. 3-3 at Watford and, with 10 men, 2-2 at Millwall to end the month eight points off the play-offs Gary Bowyer quote of the month: “There’s a lot of hurt in there (after the Burnley defeat) but we’ve got to go again now, we’ve got to regroup. We’ve got 13 big games left and people will probably write us off from the play-offs because of this result. But that’s not the right thing to do.”

 

APRIL

JORDAN Rhodes’ 50th goal for the club could not stop Rovers drawing for the fourth successive match, this time 3-3 at home to Brighton.

But Bowyer’s boys returning to winning ways four days later as Rhodes and Rudy fired them to a 2-0 home victory over Ipswich.

Lancashire Telegraph:

Another 2-0 Ewood Park success against QPR followed before Rovers drew their next two games. They threw away a two-goal lead in drawing 3-3 at Sheffield Wednesday before they failed to break down basement boys Yeovil Town in a 0-0 home draw on Good Friday.

But a 4-2 win at Birmingham on Easter Monday, inspired by a Gestede hat-trick of his career, and a 3-1 victory at Charlton, gave Rovers hope of gatecrashing the top six on the last day of the season at home to Wigan.

Gary Bowyer quote of the month: “I still believe in the last minutes of one of the games up and down the country there will be a twist and the pendulum will swing from one club to another. We’ve just got to perform to the level that we can.”

 

MAY

TO sneak into the top six Rovers had to win their final game of the campaign at home to Wigan – and win big. They needed Reading to lose at home to Burnley and Brighton to lose away to Nottingham Forest and overturn a seven-goal swing.

It was a huge ask but at one stage not impossible as Rovers, led by the Championship’s player of the month, Gestede, were 3-1 up and Brighton and Reading were losing.

But ultimately a 4-3 win was good enough only for Gary Bowyer’s side to finish eighth.

Tom Cairney claimed the club’s player of the year prize while Tommy Spurr was handed a contract extension at the end of the season.

Rovers owners Venky’s broke their silence in an open letter to supporters in which they said they were ‘deeply sorry’ that they had yet to bring the success ‘we all desire’ to the club.

Gary Bowyer quote of the month: “We can’t and we won’t rest on what we have achieved. We’ve laid the foundations for rebuilding the club again and that was my aim when I first took over.”

 

JUNE 

GARY Bowyer was linked with the vacant manager’s position at Championship rivals Leeds which led the Rovers boss to issue a statement in which he confirmed his commitment to the club.

Bowyer allowed midfielder Alan Judge to sign a permanent deal with Brentford but opened talks over new contracts for David Dunn and Markus Olsson.

The Rovers boss sealed a deal for Chris Brown on a free transfer – and then shot down claims from Doncaster chairman John Ryan that the striker would be on ’10 grand a week’ at Ewood Park.

Lancashire Telegraph:

One year earlier Ryan said Rovers offered defender Tommy Spurr a ‘£2m deal’ to make the switch from the Keepmoat.

Gary Bowyer quote of the month: “Contrary to reports, Chris Brown is not on the wages that their chairman has stated and we are disappointed that for the second summer running he has made comments regarding a player’s wages that are both unwelcome and inaccurate.”