When I say that I will never again, under any circumstances whatsoever, involve myself in anything, in any way, associated with politics at Bristol Rovers Football Club, I mean it. The past has passed and I am there most weeks to enjoy the football. My loyal reader will probably have detected the imminent arrival of a “but” in this blogpost and she would be right, but this “but” is a very positive “but”. In a strange kind of way, the arguments we had and lost with the old guard, now a decade or so ago, have now been won without anyone raising a finger.
The old arguments were mainly to do with the way in which the club was run, which used to be on the basis of “boom and bust” and “luck and chemistry”. The arguments that Bristol Rovers should have solid foundations and become sustainable which were rubbished before have now been embraced by the new kids in town. And it has all come to light in an excellent Bristol Post interview with manager Darrell Clarke.
Asked what Rovers would be doing in the recently opened transfer window, Clarke replied: “We are not in a position where we are either willing or able to pay over-inflated prices players who are going to be a lot cheaper in the summer.” This was music to my ears. He continued: “There have been players who have come to this club on big money in years gone by and they haven’t delivered.” He would be looking to sign “players that are right for the long-term view of the football club.”
I doubt that everyone will be happy with Clarke’s comments. I have already heard minor rumblings from people who simply expect the new owner Wael al Qadi to throw his millions into the transfer market. That old chestnut “speculate to accumulate”, which is another way of saying gambling, has already been wheeled out. Speaking personally, I am not interested in that argument, if it is an argument at all. I have long tired at the antics of previous owners crowing about the size of the club’s playing budget and paying over the odds for the type of players Clarke rightly described as the ones “who have come to this club on big money in years gone by and they haven’t delivered.” The old ways of governance took Bristol Rovers into the Conference, carrying record debts.
Clarke’s following comments should be music to the ears of anyone who dreamed of Bristol Rovers being run sustainably and professionally by confident and competent men with vision and passion: “The owners are committed to running the club as a sustainable business whilst also building a proper infrastructure in the background. If I don’t get the right players I might have to dip into the loan market.” With typical honesty, tinted with realism, Clarke concludes: “That isn’t ideal but circumstances sometimes dictate that you have to bite the bullet.” And so should say all of us.
Any manager worth his salt would want as much money to spend in the transfer market as possible because he believes new players might improve his team and give him a better chance of succeeding (and keeping his job). That’s what Clarke means when he said that the situation is not ideal, but I am sure he sees the bigger picture. He must know, better than anyone, the mess the club was in before Wael al Qadi came in. And he, Clarke, deserves a huge amount of the credit for restoring the club’s fortunes. However much we acknowledge the efforts of the new owner, I suspect we would not be where we are today – League One – without Darrell Clarke.
Before Wael, the club was unsustainable, with even the finance director Toni Watola (kids – ask your parents who he was) saying it would be impossible for Bristol Rovers to ever break even and the owner himself Nick Higgs boasting that “without the directors there would be no Bristol Rovers.” Now, we have owners who are “committed to running to running the club as a sustainable business.” From unsustainable to sustainable in less than a year.
Words like “sustainability”, “infrastructure” and “foundations” are not as sexy as the empty rhetoric of the past (remember director Barry Bradshaw’s “let’s go for it!” call to arms as we continued to slide through the divisions?) and there will always be those who expect the new owner to recklessly fritter away his wealth. Ask former Crystal Palace owner Simon Jordan how that one usually plays out.
Just about everything Darrell Clarke says is a welcome breath of fresh air and it’s the same thing with just about everything the new regime says and does.
The battles to try and change Bristol Rovers for the better were lost over the years but the principles on which those battles were fought represent exactly what has now happened at the club, so the war has finally been won without a further shot being fired.
Don’t look at Clarke’s comments with the slightest hint of negativity. It’s the best news any supporter could wish for.
