The countdown to Darrell Clarke’s return to the home dugout at The Memorial Stadium for a competitive fixture back at Bristol Rovers is almost over.
The Head Coach will be in charge of the Pirates for the first time since December 2018 when the Gas host Harrogate Town on the opening day of the Sky Bet League Two campaign.
It has been a busy pre-season for Rovers, who concluded their six-game fixture schedule with a 1-0 win away to Sky Bet Championship side Oxford United, thanks to Micah Anthony's second-half goal. In that time, Rovers have also welcomed nine new additions to the squad, with Ellis Harrison being the latest player to come into the team to link up with Clarke again.
Speaking to the media ahead of the season opener, Clarke reflected on pre-season on and off the pitch before previewing the upcoming campaign.
PRE-SEASON
“It has been a manic period. There have been quite a few changes at the training ground. Obviously, there have been changes in personnel and a lot of changes in what I want the culture and the environment to be.
“I think testament to the lads and all of the staff. We’ve got a lot of new staff and a few new players in the building, and it’s gone really well in a lot of aspects. So, I’ve been pretty pleased with the environment. There’s plenty of work to continue to make sure the non-negotiables are met with the way they do things and the way we do our business, but I’ve been pleased with it.”
CULTURE AT THE CLUB
“You’ve got to get lads to understand how I work, but most of the time when you come into the Club, the players have done their homework on who the manager is.
“I’ve managed a lot of players in the EFL, so the work quickly gets around about what I’m like as a person and how I manage. I think that helps and earns the respect, and it also makes sure we get [the culture] where we need it to be without anybody thinking they’re bigger than the Football Club, and the lads have responded really well to that.”
THE SQUAD
You always want more as a Head Coach, but I think time is going to tell. What I will say is by the end of the transfer window, I think we’ll have a stronger squad than what we started with. That I can guarantee. So, these things take a little bit of time; there are always bits and manoeuvres.
“We’ll see how we start the season, and there are a lot of games in August as well. I’ve said this a few times, I think we’ll be player trading right until the last day of the window, and for me, it’s about coming out of the window a lot stronger than we went into it.”
CONNECTING THE GROUP
“The biggest thing when you’re trying to get success at a football club is around how quickly you can connect a group. Of course, you don’t want to lose your best players, but that’s where you can be at times. We’ve got to build a squad here, and I don’t know how long that’s going to take for us to get that rhythm, to get the connections to get where we need to be so that we start growing and moving forward as a group, because there are a lot of layers that go into that.
“We’re at the very bottom of the layers for what my coaching staff and I are trying to build. I know we live in a footballing world where everybody wants this and that now, but there’s a hell of a lot of work that goes into it and around that while trying to build a squad and trying to be sustainable at the same time.”
COPING WITH INJURIES
“Injuries are part and parcel of the game. It’s how the game is. There’s not a lot you can do about contact injuries. You try to limit as many strains and pulls as you can. When you look at the statistics now in the Premier League and how many players are pulling up, there’s a lot of football now that has to be played.
“The intensity of the games is rising every single year. So, with that comes a lot more injuries with the number of games you have to play, but we just have to be able to cope with that. That’s why I’m trying to build a squad to be able to cope with that.”
EXPECTATIONS FOR THE SEASON
“To win on Saturday. Everybody gets excited, saying they want to do this, they want to do that, let’s just try and win the next game. I know we’re going to get stronger as the season goes on. I know we’re going to get stronger by the end of the window, but in the meantime, it’s about trying to win the next game, and it’s a simple message that I’ve used throughout my career as a manager.
"Just focus on that because when you tend to win your next game and your next game, everything takes care of itself. You need a certain number of wins to try and get out of League Two, but you can only try and win a game at a time.”
ELLIS HARRISON
“Ellis is a player I thought long and hard about before I brought him back, but I know his strengths. He’s a player that I’ve always got the best out of. He got me double figures in goals at Port Vale. He’s a player that I’m comfortable with managing, and I know what his skillset is.
“So, it will take him a little bit of time for him to get up to speed, but if I can get the Ellis going that I have done in the previous two times I’ve managed him, he’s going to be a big handful, and that’s what he will be. He and Alfie Kilgour are culture architects. I know within the changing room that’s two lads who have been here, seen it and done it. They know how I work, and they know the expectations, and they can pass that onto the other players.”
HARROGATE TOWN PREVIEW
“It’s very difficult to dictate teams that have been playing in pre-season. What I will say about Harrogate and the manager is that I've got a lot of respect for them as a football club. I think they do unbelievably well to stay in the division and be competitive in the division. Simon [Weaver] is a great guy. He’s an old-school footballing guy, and obviously, his dad has done very well to get the club to the levels it has. So, as a club, they’ve got the ultimate respect from me. There are no easy games. It’s the first game at home. Hopefully, we can get a decent attendance in, and we can put on a good performance.”
