The Post reporter - James Mcnamara - met up with DC this morning. After a few minutes of an interview, DC got up and left. Not because of Mcnamara and his questions but because he was upset in general. Here are some tweets from Mcnamara about this........ DC not happy this morning. "Players can't understand negativity surrounding them at the moment," Spoke for 3 mins then got up an left. https://twitter.com/JPMcnamara7/status/532842881095303168 DC says angry supporter tried to board the bus at Alfreton after goalless draw on Tuesday night. https://twitter.com/JPMcnamara7/status/532843214064336896 Also revealed that someone had put up over 100 posters at the training ground demanding that he be sacked after the first week of the season https://twitter.com/JPMcnamara7/status/532843462035767296 DC says everyone trying their best to bring club together, but feels as if he has to isolate players from on-going criticism. https://twitter.com/JPMcnamara7/status/532843689220268032 Disappointed that some people do not recognise the fact that he is doing the best he can on a budget that has been cut by 50 per cent https://twitter.com/JPMcnamara7/status/532844409713602560 Full story and quotes to follow shortly https://twitter.com/JPMcnamara7/status/532844846969794560 I feel sorry for the guy and the team.
This is now being reported on the OS..... Darrell Clarke today told press that the mood in the Bristol Rovers camp at the moment is very low after Tuesday’s goalless draw with Alfreton but the manager insists that it is his job to pick the team up. He said: “The mood is very flat to be honest, the players are a little bit down because of the negativity surrounding the place at the minute. Some of the stick the players got after the draw with Alfreton after 12 points in the last 6 away games was horrible. It is getting to the point where we are building a sanctuary for the players and at times it feels like it’s us against the world. I will be holding a meeting this morning with the players to go through the positives of where we are at right now. We’ve got ourselves in a great position, 32 points out of the last 16 league games, and 8 clean sheets out of 19 league games which is the second best defensive record in the league." The reaction from some supporters after Tuesday’s game disappointed the manager but Darrell says that he understands supporter’s frustrations. He said: “When a fan wants to get on the bus at the end of an away game and wants to have a go at my players and my assistant manager has to try and calm the fan down it’s a bit of a disgrace really. First week of the season, 100 posters around the training pitch asking for the manager to be sacked, players to be shot for the players to respond in the way they did after that and the difficult first week is a credit to them. Now we’ve built a team that can finish in the top 5 and we need to get a response over these next games at home. I can feel the supporter’s frustration and realise that we are in a bad situation, but we are doing the best for the club to get out of this league. It’s not going to happen overnight, it’s about pulling together and for me there isn’t enough togetherness in the whole club but there will be between my players. I will be picking the lads up over the next couple of days to try and beat Kidderminster Saturday." http://www.bristolrovers.co.uk/news/article/darrell-13.11.14-2081368.aspx
Here is the story in the Post.... http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/Bristo...-Clarke-hits/story-24527907-detail/story.html Darrell Clarke has voiced his displeasure at the negativity surrounding his players after an angry fan tried to board the team bus following the goalless draw at Alfreton Town on Tuesday night. Clarke arrive at his press briefing on Thursday morning and revealed that the supporter in question had to be persuaded against boarding the coach by assistant manager Marcus Stewart and added that he now faces a job to lift his players ahead of the Vanarama Conference clash against Kidderminster Harriers. When asked about the mood in the camp, Clarke, who said his piece before bringing an end to proceedings without answering any questions, replied: “It’s a bit flat. The players are a bit down and they can’t understand all the negativity that is surrounding the place at the minute. I’ve told them that it is tough being a Bristol Rovers player but we have to get on with it. The stick that we got after a draw at Alfreton is making me think that we are getting to a point where we have to build a sanctuary for the players. It does feel at times that it is us against the world because people keep reminding me where Bristol Rovers were five or six years ago. I keep hearing about the good players who have played for the club in the past and it is difficult. We have to rise above that, keep going and believe in ourselves. I’ll be holding a meeting with the players this morning to go through the positives of where we are at the minute. We have got ourselves in a great position after collecting 32 points in our last 16 league games. We have eight clean sheets in 19 league games, which is the second best record in the league. I have to somehow try and inject some confidence into my forward players because they are all very low. Every press interview that I do I am saying that I am looking for new players and I am sure that is starting to have an effect on them and maybe I have to manage that side of things a bit better. I get frustrated, angry and disappointed that some people are still living in cloud cuckoo land. It is a bit of a disgrace when a fan wants to get on the bus at the end of an away draw and wants to have a go at our players. God help us if we lose a few games or go on a bad run. After the first week of the season there were 100 posters around the training ground demanding that I be sacked and that the players should be shot. I had to go round taking them all down and I think the players deserve a lot of credit for the way they have responded since. Do we need to be better at the top end of the pitch? Yes, of course we do, but it is difficult. The board had some good news regards the new stadium yesterday and are doing their best from a financial point of view, but I am working off a budget that is 50 per cent less than it was last season. I can understand the supporters’ frustrations, but some people need to wake up and smell the coffee. We are all doing the best we can for the club and the very best we can to get out of this league. It won’t happen overnight, but it won’t happen at all if we don’t pull together and for me there isn’t enough togetherness in the whole club.”
I have sympathy for the man and his team. They are all pushing hard for the club as are the majority of supporters. He has made it clear that the players are as disappointed as the supporters with way things are not working out in terms of scoring more goals. I'm sure they will get things sorted out eventually. There is no magic bullet to solve these problems. Lets' hope that the players continue to play for the shirt and work hard to resolve this shortfall. Let not the moaning minority spoil what could be a very special season.
Well the person who tried to get on the coach should be banned for life the same goes for the fan or fans who put up those posters some of are fans lately have been real pricks it really pisses me off
The bloke needs to man up. How would he have coped if he was Alan Pardew or Sam Allardyce?! The vast majority of the fans are behind him and the team. A few idiots must not allow him to forget that. The fault lies in the burning resentment which lingers from the unanswered questions at the end of last season and the start of this. The phrase 'Chickens coming home to roost' comes to mind
"Chickens home to roost" unbelievable i literally Googled that for an image for my post but couldn't up load it! Great minds eh 49!
Spot on. He shouldn't be tarring all Gasheads with the actions of a few idiots. The support for the team has been excellent this season, despite the appalling way supporters have been treated by the board and the horror that was relegation. He should have the courage of his convictions and faith in his team; no-one's forcing him to talk to the press about signing players. We do need another striker though
I have a lot of respect for Clarke and as we all know the board have shafted him with reducing his budget by £800k this year but he must not start blaming fans being negative. As anybody knows it is not cheap travelling all over the country to watch the gas and the fans do deserve a lot more credit for the incredible support that continues to follow them. I was the fan that Darrel spoke to at Telford and it was because I expressed the fact the first shot on target was in the 44th minute. He wants what we want but he needs to accept that Taylor will not win us games at the moment and leave him on the bench a few times, at least White's efforts on Tuesday made the keeper think rather than straight at him or missing the target. UTG
What I dont get is how DC and the team can at Tranmere get a standing ovation at the end of the game, the fans really applauding them, but a few days later, the same manager and crop of players get abuse and over the top criticism from fans and 1 fan even making the effort to get on the team coach. Yes we failed to score again. Yes we didnt win. Yes we all know (including the manager) we need a striker asap to bang the goals in. Yes its frustrating but not just to us fans but also to the manager and players. The manager and players know how we the fans feel. Trying to get on the team coach (2nd time this season that im aware of) is just way over the top and just not needed and called for. Seriously, how will that actually help the manager and players? Do you think that will give them a kick up the backside? I dont. I think it will have a negative effect on them and clearly it has seeing DC has come out saying so. Yes, DC does need to man up, a bit. But surely you would agree dropping off over 100 posters at the training ground and approaching the team coach (twice) with abuse is way over the top and certainly not what gasheads should be doing. These incidents makes me personally feel ashamed to be a gasheads. Fans need to take stock and think. * We are 4th. Thats without actually being at our best. Yes I know the line "imagine where we would be if blah blah blah" but we are where we are. 4th not 4th bottom. We are in the play offs. We aint far from 1st and have a game in hand. * We only are 2 points short of what Luton had at this stage last season. They ended up with over 100 points. Obviously this stage last season it hadnt clicked for Luton but it did in the end. * If 4th place after 19 games was handed to YOU at the start of the season, I bet you ALL would have taken that. * We do have a very good squad who fights for our club and gives everything. Its been a long time since we had this. A very long time. * Our manager is desparate to get us up and fight for us too. He only wants to bring in the right players. So far he has got a a fighting squad and I trust he will get in the right striker and not just panic and get in anyone. I am not happy with the lack of goals. Its goine on for too long. Unable to beat part timers etc. But then I think about the positives and I feel DC deserves our FULL support. Yes we shouldnt be happy being a non league team. We shouldnt be accepting our deline over the last 4/5 seasons. But we shouldnt take it out on our manager and squad who are giving everything to to get us back into the football league and so far they got us to 4th. I think some fans need to man up too. Just my opinion of course which I know wont go down too well with some but hey ho, thats what a forum is about
DC and his team are doing a great job. It was a hell of a shock to everyone coming to terms with the stark reality that we're a non league club. But he's dusted himself off, galvanised the team and things are going pretty well by anyone's standards. Football fans are a funny old lot. We all know that only one team will win the league or cup. We all know that we're not going to score five goals a game. But we're a passionate bunch and we all have different ways of making our feelings known. I doubt whether managers in any walk of life are particularly liked or loved. I'm sure it's lonely at the top. But part of being a great manager is being able to ride the wave, be clear about what you want, listen to the fans and don't get upset by a few idiots.
I think he's a young manager who needs an old head to help keep him on the level. Lennie Lawrence knows the club and knows his stuff. Doesn't need to be a paid job. DC just needs to seek out someone he can trust.
