Football / Bristol Rovers
Darrell Clarke: ‘The rapport with the fans was key to my return’
Darrell Clarke says that he wants to get Bristol Rovers challenging for a place in the Championship as he pledges he will give “absolutely everything to try to bring success back” to the club.
Looking around the dressing room during his first interview after being reappointed as Rovers manager, Clarke admitted that “not a lot has changed at the Mem if I’m being honest with you but to be back here after such a long time away, I’m really looking forward to it”.
“The rapport with the fans was a massive pull for myself but also it’s still a club with massive potential,” Clarke said in an interview with the club’s media team.
is needed now More than ever
“But the connection with the supporters was key…
“I’m certainly not coming back fearing failure. I’m coming back with the appetite to put more smiles on (fans’) faces and build another legacy…
“They’re going to get absolutely everything to try to bring success back here.”
Clarke said he can “still feel the passion in the place” but that he has got “a lot of work to do” ahead of the upcoming season in the fourth tier.
“The club’s in mourning… The fans are hurting, no doubt. The people around the building are hurting. Understandable because they’ve let the supporters down.
“I think there has to be that accountability which people are showing, I think that’s important.
“But I also think it comes as a fresh start of what we’re trying to do and what we’re trying to build here now…
“I’ve come back to win. I’ve come back to get this club back challenging to try to get into the Championship, albeit we’re going to be starting in League Two.”
Darrell Clarke previously managed Rovers from 2014 to 2018 – photo: Bristol Rovers
Clarke added: “It’s a fresh era… We have to forget the past now, we have to move on and it’s up to us to pick our fans up and that’s by a message I repeated when I took the club into the National League…
“Now it’s time to get a squad of players that the fans can be proud of and build a backroom team as well which is a formidable backroom team that can bring success to the club because that’s what our supporters deserve…
“We’ve got a busy summer ahead to build a squad that’s capable of challenging for promotion but also the aim of the game is to win football matches, and that’s up to me and my staff to find that way to win games…
“I ain’t coming back if I ain’t hungry. For me, I’ve got unfinished business here.”
Main photo: Bristol Rovers / YouTube
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