By Stuart Hepburn
There is no doubt that Rovers have a massive chance of returning from the Conference to the Football League, and the confidence that the fans seem to give the players most certainly helps this.The challenge to return to the Football League a season after being relegated from it is one that Darrell Clarke and the Gasheads seem to believe is possible. The genuine emotion that the boss showed at the end of last season shows that he really does have the passion to bring this club forwards and back in to the highest tiers of English football.
Darrell strikes me as a determined man, who has a frank passion to better the football club and the players. He seems to really believe in his players, and is more than capable of adapting and improving the players’ games. This is similar to how the Gas faithful really do have belief in this squad.
Darrell also seems to care for and value us fans greatly. He has said on numerous occasions how incredibly well-supported Rovers are, and it really is true that the fans make the football club. There is no greater joy than seeing the players’ play with the same passion that the fans display every week, and that was extremely evident when Rovers had won 5 games in a row last month.
I can imagine that there really is no greater feeling than the Gasheads singing your name, especially when things are going well. The thing that strikes me most about this club is how loyal and passionate the fans are, who still probably can’t comprehend how a club the size of Rovers with its history is currently in this league; the good thing for us however is that we have the best fans to take us back in to the Football League.
There seems to be a real belief that Rovers can win at least every home game, and with the vast numbers of fans (usually taking up more than half the away grounds) this does make Rovers chances even greater of taking points away from home. This was evident at Forest Green, and although the result didn’t work out exactly as we’d hoped, the confidence which it seemed to give the lads was evident.
I really believe that we, as supporters, can help the club progress in the most testing times that I ever hope to see as a Gashead. The signs are all there; the fans, the manager, the team, perhaps all we need now is a bit of ruthlessness to kill games off and send us back in to the Football League, where the possibilities are endless.
I just hope that the blue half of Bristol will be singing even louder and prouder than they already are come the end of April.