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Doncaster Rovers: Mark Wilson interview
Doncaster Rovers' School of Science football has won countless accolades over the past few years.
And while you'd get short odds on their esteemed managerial "brains trust" duo of Sean O'Driscoll, pictured below, and assistant Richard O'Kelly utilising their vast talents on the Premiership stage in the not-too-distant future, the Rovers' players themselves are desperate for their footballing education under the prized pair to continue.
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The development of players can get lost in the results business that is modern-day professional football, but if you wear the red and white hoops of Rovers, you never stop learning, according to experienced schemer Mark Wilson.
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The Scunthorpe-born midfielder – 31 on Tuesday – has played under the likes of Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United and former England boss Steve McClaren at Middlesbrough.
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But it's been under the professorial guidance of O'Driscoll that Wilson feels has been his most enriching time in the game and he can vouch that all of his Rovers colleagues feel the same.
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O'Driscoll turned straw into gold during his managerial stint at Bournemouth – where he developed countless young players and helped to put future England international Jermain Defoe on the path to greatness.
And his work as an alchemist has continued at the Keepmoat where he has helped to turn many talented lower-league stars into the real Championship article, with the evolution of Brian Stock, Martin Woods, James Coppinger and ex-Rovers schemer Richie Wellens being cases in point.
Small wonder Burnley recently beat a path to Rovers' door in their hunt for a new manager and while the fates decreed that it was Brian Laws and not O'Driscoll who was bound for Turf Moor, for many it's a case of when and not if the Midlander displays his considerable talents on a wider stage.
Delighted – although somewhat surprised – that O'Driscoll wasn't ultimately Burnley-bound, Wilson said: "It's massive that Sean's still here. I do believe, at some point, that he will manage in the Premier League and he deserves an opportunity.
"But I'm delighted he's stayed as I've still got a lot to learn from him. I feel I've improved as a player under him in the last three seasons and I know there's a lot of players in this side who feel the same.
"So I'm delighted we kept him – but for how long, who knows? he will be a wanted man.
"I thought he would have been the man for that (Burnley) job. Let's be honest, there's going to be a lot of clubs out there – Premier League and the Championship – that are going to want him eventually.
"He motivates in his own way and has a different approach to a lot of managers. His football intelligence is probably off the charts for most managers and he could probably spend an hour talking about how he does things.
"He's so tactically aware while Richard O'Kelly does a fantastic job as well.
"Coming up to the age of 31, I feel I've become a more rounded player under the manager. And he's hammered home fundamental things to me that probably get missed at better clubs.
"I think for a man who is working on one of the smallest budgets in the league he's also very resourceful and comes up with lots of ideas to improve his team without spending a fortune.
"We lost two very influential players (last summer) in Matt Mills and Richie Wellens and didn't have the money to buy two to replace them.
"But the manager has managed to do things in and around the training ground and in-house that work and improve the team."
A minor blip had seen Rovers taste defeat in their last three matches in all competitions ahead of this weekend's televised home encounter with Reading, with the South Yorkshiremen not enjoying the best of fortune in last-gasp losses to Cardiff City in the league and to Derby County in the fourth round of the FA Cup.
Rovers were good value for a positive result in both encounters and certainly didn't deserve to be on the losing side in last weekend's heart-breaking 2-1 loss against the Bluebirds after dominating proceedings – particularly in the second-half.
A rare faux pas from Neil Sullivan saw him let Jay Bothroyd's header slip through his grasp as high-flying City got out of jail and claimed three points, but despite a couple of blows of late, Rovers – as ever – are concentrating on performance and are keeping positive.
That said, Rovers couldn't console themselves with their display in their 4-1 home loss to Middlesbrough – sandwiched in between the Cardiff game and the cup loss at Pride Park – although in mitigation a selection crisis in midfield massively weakened their hand.
To all intents and purposes, it looked a one-off and the rarest of aberrations, with Rovers' home form having been pretty exemplary ahead of the arrival of Gordon Strachan's Boro.
A solitary Championship home reverse, to derby rivals Barnsley, told its own story prior to the Boro test and Wilson says Rovers didn't beat themselves up too much following the hefty loss, which represented just a bad day at the office.
He added: "A couple of wins and losses changes the complexion of things in this league and we are very aware of that.
"We all generally keep positive. We've still been in good form of late and you can't get too down on yourself in this league.
"The minute you do that, the defeats keep rolling in.
"Unfortunately, we had enforced changes against Middlesbrough and that upset the balance of the team. But that's not offering excuses, the boys who came in were quality players.
"It just didn't quite gel that night.
"Our home form had been good, so the result was disappointing. We pride ourselves on our home and away form and being disciplined and organised and we let ourselves down a little bit against Boro.
"You only had to look through their team and they have some top-class players who should be playing in the Premier League.
"We were beaten by a better team, no argument about that."
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Weather for Leeds
Saturday 26 May 2012
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