“Darrell Clarke’s going to be under a bit of pressure after that,” exclaimed one unhappy Gashead leaving the ground last night after a home draw against Walsall. “I don’t understand his tactics” said another. “Or his selection.” It doesn’t take long, does it?
Actually, I’m not too bothered by the comments of a small minority of Bristol Rovers fans who are beginning to doubt the manager, Darrell Clarke. There are a few reasons for this and it’s time to stop, take stock and, as the youngsters say, get real.
That Rovers have stuttered in the early days of their return to League One should surprise no one. This is a considerable step up on what came before. We are playing better teams, like Rochdale and Walsall, who are also near the foot of the league. I was struck by both performances against us, full of passing, pace and movement, less hoofball and “hitting the channels”. Their styles made for exciting games and whilst we would all prefer a one-sided drubbing of our visitors, it was never going to happen.
Perhaps we have been spoiled by Darrell Clarke’s first two stellar years as Rovers boss, after being given a hospital pass to the Conference by John Ward. In both instances, we scraped up and deserved to scrape up. The final league table never lies. Some people thought it would be much the same this year, with Rovers brushing aside the opposition with gay abandon, securing automatic promotion at the first attempt. Given how few games have so far been played, it could be that this will happen because we are still in early September, not April.
The fact that it has not been plain sailing could be down to all kinds of factors. Many of the players are barely out of the Conference is one factor and Darrell Clarke has no experience of coaching and managing at this level. In other words, there is a process of adaptation taking place. Are people really surprised by that?
I know that football is a results business and managers live and die, at least professionally, by results and that no manager will survive a prolonged slump that appears to be leading to relegation. This, patently, is not the current situation at the Memorial Stadium. Clarke has plenty of interest in the bank and deservedly so and I really wish even the minority of doom-laden soothsayers would give it a rest and be careful what they wish for.
This is not the chaotically run Bristol Rovers of Nick Higgs, where there was no Plan A never mind a Plan B and where the manager’s office had a revolving door through which a new manager walked through every other week. This is a Bristol Rovers we have never seen before where the new owners and directors have clear ambitious plans to run the club sustainably and successfully. Darrell Clarke is a key part of the new era.
We are all, as supporters, free to have our own views on Clarke’s team selection and his tactics, even those of us who have never coached a kid’s team or managed a Sunday League club. Sometimes, we are probably right where the manager is wrong but more often than not – and I know this is a controversial opinion – the manager, in this case Darrell Clarke, probably does have a greater grasp of the intricacies of progressional football than those of us who wander onto the terraces with several pints of ale on board.
It’s also true that managers lose the plot, the dressing room or the ability to manage effectively and we’ve all seen instances of that. But to suggest we terrace-dwellers could somehow do better than the current incumbent is laughable in the extreme.
Last night, I would have preferred Chris Lines to start but this is the view of someone who has not coached and managed the players and hasn’t been employed with the aim of winning football matches. Darrell Clarke will have considered all manner of factors in his selection which may include things we don’t know about, like minor niggles suffered by some players, or those players suffering from irritating colds and the like. Sometimes, you will pick players not because of their great footballing ability but because of their heart, spirit and desire.
If Darrell Clarke is really under pressure as Rovers boss, then the world truly is going mad. If we lose next week, I can imagine some folk saying, “the next game is massive for him”, to repeat at nauseum.
Wael Al Qadi is creating a long term plan for Bristol Rovers. He is new to lower league English football so he will be learning on the job and we all accept that. By the same token, Darrell Clarke is learning about the next level on the job. I am hoping that these little rumblings disappear as the results improve, as they surely will, but even if they don’t let’s not take a giant step into the past and start to panic.
