Darrell Clarke shared the reasons for his return to Bristol Rovers and his ambitions for the 2025/26 Sky Bet League Two season in his first press conference since coming back to the Gas as Head Coach.
The 47-year-old is back for his second spell at the Pirates after gaining back-to-back promotions with Rovers between 2014-18 and signed a three-year contract with the Club ahead of the new campaign.
Clarke has gained plenty of experience in his coaching career, achieving promotion to League One with Port Vale and managing Walsall, Cheltenham and Barnsley.
Speaking to the media on his first official day back at the Club, Clarke also discussed his affinity with the Rovers, the squad, and the fans' reactions to his arrival.
What has brought you back to Bristol Rovers?
"I would have walked back. The affinity that I have with the Club and with the supporters in the past and when the phone call came and it was the right time to talk. It was an opportunity where I could not wait to get cracking again."
You once said that you would never go back. What changed your mind?
"I am not so sure. Go and ask David Moyes. He has done a good job at Everton. There’s a lot of things saying that Football Clubs should never go back, and I understand that, but for me, it’s a different Club to the one I left. The resources and certainly the training facilities are fantastic. Certainly, at the top end of League One.
"We didn’t have that last time. So, that was a massive pull, and I know the owners are trying to do the right thing to get the stadium up to a much better standard to make sure that we’re in a better place. So, for me, it’s a Club that has got the ambition to kick on, and unfortunately for us, it’s back in League Two. But that’s all by the by, shall we say now. It's a fresh start for everyone."
This isn’t just a sentimental reunion, is it?
"Not at all. I’m here to win. Sentiment doesn’t come into it for me. Yes, I've got a fantastic rapport with the fans, and that’s hopefully going to help us get some results. But, for me, I’m here to win. It's a Club that should be challenging at the top end of League One, trying to get into the Championship. We got close last time with nowhere near the resources that I’m going to be given this time. So, that whets my appetite and gives me the opportunity to build something good here with Ricky Martin on the footballing side of things to make sure that we get everything done right and moving forward."
How different is the Darrell Clarke now compared to the one that left here in 2018?
"I always say that my banter has got better. That’s 100 per cent. You work with different boards. You work with different owners. You work with different circumstances at different Football Clubs and different players. The skillset goes on, and the leadership is ever continuing. I talked about it the other day. I am addicted to leadership and leading, and I would like to think that over the years, I’ve got better, and I still want to keep improving on that to make sure I become a better leader. So, I believe you’re getting a better manager and a better leader. As everyone knows, the game is about results, isn’t it?"
When you look back at your first spell, so much was achieved. Did you feel like there was unfinished business?
"Very much so. A dream of mine is to try and get this Club into the Championship. That’s easier said than done having gone back to starting in League Two, but it’s still a dream, and why can’t I build another legacy? Why can’t we get this place rocking? Which I know we can and build that together, but with that comes a lot of hard work and it doesn’t happen overnight.
"That work has already started, and it’s going to be a continuing progress because that’s what Football Clubs are about, and if you want to get to the levels that we want to get to and that I want to get to, we need to get working away. So, definitely unfinished business."
Do you feel you’ve got credit in the bank with the supporters because of what happened the first time?
"I don’t really look at it like that if I’m being honest with you because I think the game is about winning. What I know about the supporters of this Club is that they give you a great opportunity if you are to perform on a Saturday. I said it the other day, we could play one game and not play particularly well and get beat, and the fans would be giving the players and myself a bit of stick.
"The next game, as long as the performance is right, they’ll be right behind you, and that’s all you can ever ask from your fanbase. It’s one of the best fanbases I’ve ever worked under. That’s for sure. They’re one of the most passionate, and we’re going to need them. I don’t want to sit here and think I’ve got some credit in the bank because that’s not me as a person. I know I’ve got to earn the right as everyone else has to win football matches."
How hard is that going to be looking at what you’ve got?
"It’s never easy, is it? If it was ever easy, you lot would be doing it. I have a process for what you need to build to bring success to a Football Club. The culture and environment is massive. Getting the right set of players into the building, it is paramount that we do that, get the right number of leaders in the group and get the right balance with match winners. I could talk all day about the things that make a Football Club successful, but the connection is the key and the culture and making sure that everyone is connected, from the board to the supporters, to the players, to the management. Can I get what we did last time and get all of that connected again? I think I can."
Are you expecting quite a big turnaround? How busy of a summer do you think it will be?
"It has been very busy so far, and it will get even busier. What I will say is that I’ve met the recruitment team and we’ve had lots of meetings already. There are platforms and pieces being put into that jigsaw straight away. I know what I’ve inherited as well, and I know quite a few of those players have had a disappointing season. But what I will say is that they come with a fresh slate with me. Those boys are my boys now. They are my players, and when they’re back in on the 23rd of June, we’ll be looking to make sure that they take on board what I want to build here and what we’re trying to build, me and Ricky. The culture and the environment around the place, but ultimately, to win football matches.
"There will be changes. Lots of them. There will be players that will be given that fair crack of the whip, and no doubt, there will be one or two that will fall by the wayside. But hopefully, they know they know that they can come here with a clean slate and it all to prove because some of the players from last season owe the fans, and as long as they come back in with the right attitude and right attitude, they will get me and my staff's full support."
What will a player need to give to be part of your squad?
"I have managed successful players in the past, so I can give them a helping hand on that or a kick up the backside, however, you want to call it, to get them to understand what this Club means to its supporters. I am a custodian of this Club. I was here last time. Ricky and the board are, but the fans are here to stay.
"So, for me, it’s a task to make sure that I get players performing out there to what Bristol Rovers players should look like. Full of guts. Full of determination. Living their lives as professionals every single minute of the day wanting to achieve, wanting to do better and wanting to do all the non-negotiables, as I call it. Players will have good games. Players will have had games. That’s footballers at the top level and through all the levels, but the non-negotiables are key. That’s not just on a matchday. That’s on a daily basis.
Have you got assurances that this is your ship and you can do what you want?
"When I met Ricky Martin when we sat down, we both understood what a successful culture looks like, and we’re under no illusions that we’re going to be left to that task in hand because I wouldn’t be sat here [otherwise]. I’ve managed a few Clubs in the past that weren’t that, shall we say.
"So, coming back to a Football Club where I want to be able to manage. I want to be able to pick the team. I want to be able to pick the players that come into the Club, but around that is a backroom staff that is paramount to be able to do that because I can’t do everything myself.
"My success here previously and the success I have had as a manager has not just been down to me. It’s down to everyone being connected, from my staff to the board, to the Director of Football, to everyone being connected, and that’s the big part of it. It's not the Darrell Clarke show. It never has, and it never will be. There’s a team behind that we all want fighting in the right direction, and the reassurances that me and Ricky got was paramount for us to be able to do our job and do it to the best of our ability. The owners have been very supportive of that."
When you were at Cheltenham, you probably operated with the lowest budget in that division. How competitive do you think you’re going to be in League Two?
"We’ll be very competitive. I loved my time at Cheltenham, going into a team that hadn’t scored a goal for eleven games. I know the budget here last year. Cheltenham’s budget was three times less, and we got 43 points. This team got 43 points last season. So, I know if we’re getting the right players into the group, that there’s going to be resources there to be backed for us to be able to be successful, and that’s all you can ever ask for as a manager."
The goal is clearly to get Rovers on the move up again. How quickly do you think that might be able to happen?
"Who knows. Speedbumps are always in the way. You’re hoping you get your business done as quickly as you possibly can, but it has to be the right players. That sometimes can take time. We just had a recruitment meeting there where the better players are on hold because they want to stay higher up the pyramid. So, you’ve got to hold your nerve. There’s a lot of things that go into wanting to sign players. It’s not about just chucking the cashbook at them.
"We want the players here with the right attitude and the right mentality. So, that will take a bit of time, and then hopefully, when we get the group together, it’s the work that my staff and I will be doing on the training ground to try and get the team connected as quickly as we can because the game is about connections. We talk about individual players, but professional footballers all have abilities. A lot of it is connecting the team together and getting the right connections, and with that, you do that by a lot of hard work on the training pitch and in games, and that’s what we’ll be trying to do to make sure we start off as quickly as we can."
What was the feeling like walking around The Mem again?
"There are a lot of memories. There were a lot of lonely walks as well across that pitch because it wasn’t all good times. I remember losing in the FA Cup to Chesham at home. I had some bad results as a manager, but the good times are coming to my head a lot more than the negative times. Certainly, the Dagenham game and the atmosphere at The Mem can get going, unlike any other Club that I’ve managed. What we have to do is make it a fortress, but first of all, we have to win our fans back, and the only way to do that is on the pitch. But I know if we can start bright, they’ll turn into our twelfth man very, very quickly."
What is your message to the fans today?
"Thank you for the welcome I’ve got back. I’m honoured to be back here. I can’t wait to walk out here again in our first proper game. Just stick with us and believe in what we’re trying to do, believing in what we’re going to be doing and be a little bit patient, which is hard for fans, and hopefully, we can bring the success back."
Did you see the reaction from supporters when it was announced that you were coming back?
"I only do LinkedIn as a platform. So, the messages I got there were unbelievable, and I’m still getting them now. The support has been absolutely fantastic, and like I’ve said, I’ve always enjoyed coming back as an opposing manager to be able to thank the fans for how they were with me, how they gave me that chance when I took the Club into non-league, how they gave me a chance to rebuild and certainly the support I’ve been given on my return has been amazing. I’m pretty touched with it."
Your previous spell here, in terms of the achievements that you had with this side, where does that rank for you in your managerial achievements?
"I have enjoyed it, but I don’t live in the past. I am so hungry to want to bring success again. So, yes, they were good memories, but I don’t get out of bed now for memories of the past. I get out now to build more of those memories. I want to build. I’m really determined to not sit here and go ‘it didn’t work the second time.’
"I’m really determined to make sure that I build another legacy and there’s another chapter to be written in a positive way, and that’s the drive. That’s why I’m back here. It would have been quite easy to sit there and go ‘no, I’ve done well there. I won’t take that chance to risk what we built before being ruined.’ I looked at it as a massive positive, to come here and create another legacy."
What is your aim this season?
"It’s to win every game I manage. We know the expectations. We’re not stupid. The fans are not stupid. But I also want to make sure that the focus comes to the players and my staff on winning the next game because if you win the next game, you win the next game, you win the next game, and you win a certain amount of games in a season, you get promoted. It’s as simple as that.
"Everybody wants to see and hear a manager say that we’re going to get promoted. That’s the aim. Shouldn’t it be for every manager who sits in the chair saying that we want to get promoted? I don’t think I’ve ever managed a team, other than Cheltenham where we hadn’t scored in eleven games, that aims to stay in the division. But I’ve never managed a team and thought it would be alright if we were in midtable this season. I want to get promoted, and that always has to be the end game."
