Skip to content

Darrell Clarke leaves Bristol Rovers

I always looked at Clarke as very much a contemporary to Ainsworth, along with Neal Ardley.

All feisty ex-pros who went into management around the same time. All got promotion from League Two around the same time, none of them on the biggest of budgets.

Young, inexperienced, raw but good motivators. The only one still standing in League One is Ainsworth.

«1

Comments

  • Getting a team promoted can be a real problem for managers when their team can't compete at the higher level, loyalty can be in short supply and its time for a change as a throw of the dice rather than face reality or find more funding. Not to say that is what happened in these examples or that getting you up should protect you against buying bad players and losing games for ever.

    Just another show of how good a job Ainsworth has done over the last few years.

  • A little off-topic, but I'm surprised by how badly Bristol Rovers are doing this year. I think they're possibly the best L1 team I've seen at AP so far this season. Although equally, we were pretty poor that day and did give them a 2-0 head start...

  • Just like those Headington name changers up the road, there seems to be an awful
    lot of suspicion about each clubs, supposedly wealthy overseas owners !!

  • I get the feeling the reality of Oxford's situation is yet to fully reveal itself. Promised money isn't forthcoming, tax bills left unpaid to the point they've been served with two winding up petitions, lack of communication with fans' groups, no progress on the stadium - either buying it, getting a better deal or moving... it goes on.

    If football clubs get the owners they deserve, you wonder what Oxford did in a former life - as if Maxwell and Kassam weren't bad enough.

  • @MindlessDrugHoover said:
    I get the feeling the reality of Oxford's situation is yet to fully reveal itself. Promised money isn't forthcoming, tax bills left unpaid to the point they've been served with two winding up petitions, lack of communication with fans' groups, no progress on the stadium - either buying it, getting a better deal or moving... it goes on.

    If football clubs get the owners they deserve, you wonder what Oxford did in a former life - as if Maxwell and Kassam weren't bad enough.

    Absolutely agree with this. Most of their fans seem to have their heads in the sand about just how dire their situation looks. Then you have other fans who actually want to move games to Biecester or Thame United for a few years. Very strange club.

  • I’m just thankful that no one connected with Wycombe Wanderers thinks foreign ownership is a good idea.

  • He got them back up from the Conference, and into League One...and there's only under half a season gone. Don't like Rovers but it's harsh on Clarke.

  • Maybe solution for Oxford is to go back to Maxwell's Thames Valley Royals idea.

    Obviously things have moved on and it would be daft now for the merged entity to not use the Madjeski and TVR was always a daft name - just combine the two - Reading United (or Reading for short). Oxford City could take over representing that city directly.

    can't see any flaws....

    No form of ownership is risk free and no owners ideal - whether UK (eg Oystons/Sisu) or overseas (Oxford/Bristol). Our trust board does seem to have done a good job at finding potential investors with a strong track record. While we would all prefer to stay fan owned, hard to see how realistically this can be funded.

  • I remember Rovers turning up at AP the season they were promoted from League 2*. I think they had just been taken over by Al-Qadi that week, and they had quite a few Jordanian flags in the crowd. Interesting to see how much opinion has turned!

    *O'Nien got a late winner

  • @DevC said:
    Maybe solution for Oxford is to go back to Maxwell's Thames Valley Royals idea.

    Obviously things have moved on and it would be daft now for the merged entity to not use the Madjeski and TVR was always a daft name - just combine the two - Reading United (or Reading for short). Oxford City could take over representing that city directly.

    can't see any flaws....

    No form of ownership is risk free and no owners ideal - whether UK (eg Oystons/Sisu) or overseas (Oxford/Bristol). Our trust board does seem to have done a good job at finding potential investors with a strong track record. While we would all prefer to stay fan owned, hard to see how realistically this can be funded.

    As long as we look after all the extra money we get in the Championship next season we'll be fine for many a year to come

  • Someone will "trouser" any extra money we get!

  • not if we're still fan owned

  • I should point out if this limps on into next season, the bribe needed to buy my vote will go up when we get promoted.

  • Interesting plan eric.

    somehow struggle through the rest of the season, get promoted, don't increase salaries or recruit championship players, keep the extra TV money, ok we get relegated straight away pretty abjectly but cash earned pays for the next season or two in lg1. Genius. cant think why all 24 clubs in Lg1 don't decide to do the same thing.

  • edited December 2018

    Wow, you saw a lot more than I did in the phrase 'not if we're still fan owned' there @DevC

  • @Wendoverman said:
    I should point out if this limps on into next season, the bribe needed to buy my vote will go up when we get promoted.

    As I said, a lot of the extra income will be trousered.

  • @eric_plant said:
    not if we're still fan owned

    I would hope our fans would still have trousers, are you suggesting they sell them to fund the club. Not in winter I hope.

  • More the phrase @Wendoverman

    @eric_plant said:

    As long as we look after all the extra money we get in the Championship next season we'll be fine for many a year to come

    I suspect he wasn't being entirely serious. Nor was my response.

  • I am always trousered whatever the weather.

  • @DevC said:
    Interesting plan eric.

    somehow struggle through the rest of the season, get promoted, don't increase salaries or recruit championship players, keep the extra TV money, ok we get relegated straight away pretty abjectly but cash earned pays for the next season or two in lg1. Genius. cant think why all 24 clubs in Lg1 don't decide to do the same thing.

    Who said anything about getting relegated?

  • obviously @eric_plant if you don't increase salaries and refuse to recruit championship players and just do it to keep the extra tv money we will be abjectly relegated. All of which you made obvious in your post: 'As long as we look after all the extra money we get in the Championship next season we'll be fine for many a year to come'

  • people said that about League 1 this season

  • (I was joking)

  • @Wendoverman said:
    (I was joking)

    I think many of us would appreciate it if going forward you added that to any post where you have made a joke. It can be a little hard to tell otherwise.

    Miow!

    I think Eric's plan is a great one. Not sure why he has settled for the Championship though. Go to the premiership without increasing expenditure and we'll be made for years.

  • Oh-oh tough crowd. @DevC I thought you had extrapolated rather a lot from @eric_plant 's comment about going up to the championship, suggesting his plan was that he would not buy players or raise wages and therefore be relegated...which, as far as I could see, was not what he meant. I'll be appearing all week, now it's time for the raffle...

  • edited December 2018

    There was more than enough 'Premiership' at Adams Park when Wasps ploughed their ugly furrow, thank you very much...

  • @DevC said:

    @Wendoverman said:
    (I was joking)

    I think many of us would appreciate it if going forward you added that to any post where you have made a joke. It can be a little hard to tell otherwise.

    Miow!

    I think Eric's plan is a great one. Not sure why he has settled for the Championship though. Go to the premiership without increasing expenditure and we'll be made for years.

    Who said anything about not getting to the Premier League?

  • If he is intending to spend all the extra money we earn from the Championship @Wendoverman on players wages, hard to see how our season there could fund us for years to come.

    Good luck with your show. I hope you haven't invested too much money getting tickets printed.

  • champions league too?

Sign In or Register to comment.