Assistant manager Darrell Clarke believes there are plenty of players around the non-league scene with the potential to make it within the professional ranks. âI think there are certainly players around the non-league that have the potential to step up and do well at this level. The influx of foreign players at the top level has had a filter-down effect right throughout the game and I think a lot of good talent is released and ends up on the non-league scene now. I had a lot of young players at Salisbury who had been released by professional clubs after losing their way a little bit and that was something we worked really hard at. The likes of Jamie White and Theo Lewis are good young players I had at Salisbury and there are others like them who could also probably make the step up. The biggest difference for players at that level is whether they can perform in front of 7,000 people as opposed to 700. You need a certain type of mental strength to deal with that and that is where the real question lies in whether or not a player can make the step up. I have a good knowledge of the players around that scene, but I wouldnât go as far as to say that these are the only players I know about. I was out watching a lot of league games with a view to strengthening the squad when I was the manager at Salisbury. There are loads of good players out there, but what is most important is getting the right fit in terms of what we are trying to build here.â I think bringing in Clarke could prove to be a great bit of business. We use to be good at signing players from non-league but for some reason we stopped looking down for players but instead over paid players from higher leagues. Now we have a great chance of signing some unknown quality due to the knowledge Clarke has. We may see the next Charlie Austin!
Yeah we seemed to stop doing it when Holloway and Penrice left the club a lot of fans have been saying sign players from non-league for a while now. There's plenty of talent out there at that level but do we have enough scouts out there to watch these players.
well hopefully clarke will be able to remember the players who stood out and the danger men who he would have watched himself.
I agree with pretty much everything said here. I would be surprised if Clarke's appointment wasn't very much to do with his knowledge of what may be out there and his acumen at putting a decent team together playing good quality football. Rover's have traditionally followed the in the footsteps of teams like Burnley who used to supply an endless stream of young players into the higher echelons. It kept the clubs afloat and probably lined the pockets of the club's owners! There is a huge advantage in the promotion of young eager talent from the non-league ranks. It's a tremendous opportunity for a young wannabe to make a name for himself; he will be relatively inexpensive to accommodate; he will be full of enthusiasm and he is unlikely to be another 'bad apple'/influence in the barrel/team dressing room. Last season Rovers were under the thumb and getting out of trouble as usual demanded playing ugly where necessary. I also hope that Clarke can influence the playing squads tactics for the coming season and that we play some more attractive 'on the deck' football. Please guys - not so much hacking the ball downfield to bounce straight back off the defenders concrete bonces!!
It would be great to get back to these ways. Good for our club if we can get decent players to make profits from (Providing we get promotion out of them first )
Carayol rated some guy he'd played alongside in non league football as one of the best players he'd seen. It was in the EP a couple of years ago.
