October
Newsfile

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Cardiff look to be forced into two changes from the teams that has started the last 4 games. Kevin Nugent is struggling to be fit after an achillies injury and his place will be taken by Leo Fortune West. Andrew Jordan, signed last month from Bristol City, looks set to replace Jeff Eckhardt who has a back problem.

It will be Jordans full home debut after previously coming on as a sub against York and playing FAW game at Llanelli.

West and Jordan played for a first team XI against a reserve team XI in training earlier in the week to prepare them for Sunday.

Bobby Gould spent two spells with Bristol Rovers and the following article is from TotalWales.
WHEN Bristol Rovers run out at Ninian Park on Sunday the memories
will come flooding back for Bobby Gould - the threat of unpaid wages,
losing his home ground and collapsing from exhaustion in his
bathroom.

It was at Rovers that Gould, now helping owner Hammam and chief coach
Alan Cork restore Cardiff City's fortunes, began his managerial
career.

He had two spells with `the Pirates', from 1981-83 and 1985-87. The
second was fraught with problems as the cash-strapped club diced with
its very existence.

"We were penniless. We didn't have two half-pennies to rub together,"
recalls City manager Gould.

"The people who ran the club were Dunford Dairies and the chairman
offered me a milk float as a company car because we couldn't afford
anything else."

Gould and Rovers go back a long way. He joined the club as a player
in 1977 when they were in the old Second Division and began his
coaching career at Eastville, the ground Rovers left in 1986.

"I scored a hat-trick on my debut, at home against Blackburn," says
Gould. "And in my second game we lost 9-1 at Tottenham! Colin Lee
scored four that day.

"That defeat didn't register until the next day when I was in Norway
after a coaching job. I was in the chairman's house and they showed a
game from England. It was Spurs v Rovers - and there I was trying to
get a coaching job!"

Gould had a spell as Geoff Hurst's No 2 at Chelsea before Rovers made
him their manager in October 1981. He created a buzz at Eastville by
signing big names such as Mick Channon and Alan Ball.

He then joined his hometown club Coventry City in 1983 but was sacked
a year later and returned to Eastville in 1985.

"The club was in a hell of a mess," he says. "One morning I was told
the bank wasn't going to pay our wages.

"I got into my car and went to see him. I went into his office and
told him I had a player worth £100,000.

"I said, `You give me time and I guarantee I'll get £100,000 for
him'. He looked at me, smiled and signed for the wages to be paid.
That player was Gary Penrice." Gould was proved right. The club sold
the striker to Queens Park Rangers for £500,000 in 1989 and Rovers
survived.

"We beat Newport County in the last game of the season to stay in the
old Third Division. We had no right to stay up. We had nothing," says
Gould.

"I had to do everything. My energy levels suffered as a result. One
night, after coming home from work, I collapsed. I had a couple of
vodkas and lemonade and it goes through the system quickly if you
haven't eaten.

"I went into the downstairs loo. Next thing I knew my hand was down
the toilet and I was wedged in such a position that I couldn't move.
Fortunately I had pulled the chain before my hand went in.

"I called my wife, Margery, to help me out. She thought I'd had a
heart attack but it was just my body saying it had had enough."

To survive, Rovers surrendered their lease at Eastville and moved to
the humble surrounds of Twerton Park to groundshare with Bath City.

Rovers received £280,000 compensation from the Bristol Stadium
Company for giving up the lease and the club breathed again before
eventually moving back to Bristol at the Memorial Ground.

During the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, Gould sarcastically referred to
Eastville as "Azteca Twerton". A giant furniture store now stands on
the site where Rovers played for so many decades.

Gould, who lives near Bristol, in Portishead, adds, "Sometimes I take
my wife, kids and grandkids to the store and tell them, `I scored a
hat-trick here'. But I can't show them the ground and that is sad.

"We had wonderful support there. "The supporters were brilliant. The
club had no right to survive but it did because of the will of those
people who loyally followed us from Bristol to Bath every week."

Gould's work on a shoestring budget did not go unnoticed and Sam
Hammam appointed him Wimbledon manager in 1987 - beginning a chapter
that would lead to FA Cup glory and, ultimately, the Wales job from
1995-99.

"Every day we were near closure at Rovers. I learned everything
there - humility, success, failure, working with no money," he says.

"I remember going to play Bournemouth and losing 6-1. It was Dennis
Dunford's first game as our chairman. After the game he said to
me, `Thanks for a lovely day out'."

Another afternoon to forget was a trip to Walsall. The directors paid
the supporters to travel to Fellows Park - a sort of thank you
present - and Gould's men responded by losing 6-0.

Things were so bad that Gould even asked his close friend and former
Arsenal goalkeeper Bob Wilson to come out of retirement to play for
Rovers.

"That time at Rovers taught me about myself, about other people. I've
got great respect for the Dunford family. They welcome me back to The
Memorial Ground any time and they should be remembered in the history
books for keeping that club alive."

The following article is from the Bristol Evening Post.
Former Bristol Rovers winger Josh Low hopes to come back and haunt his
former club in this weekend's FA Cup clash at Cardiff City.

Now installed in the wing-back berth at Ninian Park after a spell at
Orient, the Bristolian will line up against his old club
on Sunday admitting: "I have a lot to prove against Rovers."

Low failed to make a real first-team impact with the Pirates after
coming up through the youth ranks. He made 22 League appearances -
half of them from the bench - and failed to find the net.

But sees the first round Cup clash as an ideal stage to show how he
has improved.

"I never felt I fulfilled my potential at Rovers. I didn't really show
what I could do, and I'd love to do well against them on Sunday," said
Low.

"I've spent a lot of time working on my final ball in. There has been
many an afternoon when I've stayed back to practice crossing and
shooting.

"Crossing has been one of the weaker parts of my game and I'm working
hard to improve that."

Low moved to Brisbane Road in May last year after being released
by Rovers, but joined Cardiff six months later.

"Living alone in London was difficult. My girlfriend was back in
Bristol and I just couldn't settle," he said. "The move to Cardiff was
just what I needed. I enjoyed the area and I now live here. That makes
a huge difference because it's only a few minutes drive for training
each morning."

Low knows there have been a lot of changes in the Rovers side
since his departure, and acknowledged: "There aren't many players
left now who were there with me - Steve Foster, Andy Thomson and
a few others.

"My dad used to take me to Bristol City matches, but later I started
supporting Rovers and it was special when I joined them as a trainee
and later turned pro.

"But my focus on Sunday will be playing well for Cardiff City.
"I'm enjoying myself and the team spirit is fantastic."

Rovers will have midfielder David Hillier starting the comeback trail
tonight when the reserves take on Norwich City at the Memorial
Stadium.

The former Arsenal and Portsmouth star, sidelined following a
summer knee operation, picked up a new injury in a reserve game
against Bristol City last month.

Norwegian trialist Roger Vaaler is set for his first game between the
sticks as boss Ian Holloway continues his search for cover to Nick
Culkin.

Rovers are awaiting further details after blood tests revealed that
Mickey Evans is suffering from a mystery virus. The striker has been
suffering dizzy spells during matches.

Physio Phil Kite said: "We are now having secondary tests done and
should know exactly what is wrong in a couple of days."