00:00A 2-1 win for Bristol Rovers in pre-season capped off what has been another useful week in their campaign ahead of the new League 2 season.
00:11Certainly things for the Gas have been looking very positive following the disappointments of their relegation from League 1 to League 2 at the end of last season.
00:19Since then, of course, they've had lots of new signings come in, plus their new head coach, Daryl Clark, who of course used to be the head coach several years ago at the club,
00:28along with two assistants alongside him in Rhys Carr and John Stead.
00:33In this latest fixture against Yeovil, which was a game for charity in the match for Marcus,
00:38so Bristol Rovers, as mentioned, run out as 2-1 winners in what was another good result for the Gas.
00:44Certainly their pre-season has been productive and constructive so far into making the sides a coherent and just well-drilled and oiled unit
00:56ahead of what will no doubtedly be a difficult League 2 campaign.
01:01Certainly Bristol Rovers knew that coming into it, they had to make changes at the club.
01:06That's what they've done so far.
01:08Of course, in their first outing, they were victorious against Chippenham as well, and that got things off to a good start.
01:12Then, of course, a loss against Stockport County away in a warm-weather training camp.
01:18That was a bit of a blow, but that game was good for their resilience because, of course,
01:22they came back from two goals down at one point to level things 2-2.
01:26Yes, they then lost 3-2 in the end, but it was good in terms of what experience was gained from that fixture.
01:33Certainly for Bristol Rovers, things couldn't really be more positive given what happened at the end of last season,
01:39and this result against Yeovil certainly doing ever more to commend just what a strong position that they are in.
01:46So, let's hear now from one of their assistant head coaches, Rhys Carr,
01:50who reflected after the match, after what was a difficult game against Yeovil,
01:54but one that he thought was a good performance and good to aid with their development
01:58as the League 2 season draws ever and ever closer,
02:03with Bristol Rovers, of course, targeting promotion at the end of the campaign,
02:07which, of course, is in May.
02:08Yeah, of course, really, really important.
02:13It's a really important cause.
02:15It's something that, you know, a lot of us hope that we don't have to deal with in our lifetime,
02:19so to be able to raise awareness, raise money for that,
02:22and that's something that football can do quite beautifully, isn't it?
02:24And it was nice to see both clubs kind of pull together for that moment just before kick-off as well.
02:28And 500 gas heads as well here today, that must have been great to see.
02:32It is, and they'll make a difference.
02:33They'll make a difference to us up and down the whole country for the whole year.
02:36So it's appreciated.
02:38You know, we know we travel it as well.
02:40We know that it takes time.
02:41People have to leave work early.
02:43It costs a lot of money, and, yeah, their support's hugely appreciated.
02:462-1 win today.
02:47What did you make of the performance out there?
02:49No, we're pleased, number one, because we want to win games of football.
02:53Whether it's a friendly, whether it's, you know, every single game we compete in, we want to win.
02:57There's certainly areas that we want to improve as well,
03:00but, you know, we'll take away the positives.
03:01But every game we play, the staff will come together, we'll review it,
03:05we'll debrief it with the players, we'll keep nipping away and trying to make little areas better
03:09so that it all comes together in the next game too.
03:12Now, one of the certain positives was Kofi Shaw, goal and an assist for him today.
03:15What sort of impact do you think he can have?
03:17Yeah, he did great, didn't he?
03:18He's very energetic.
03:20He can cover the ground for us.
03:22He's an attack-minded midfielder, and ultimately they get judged on goals and assists as well,
03:26and he's come up with both today.
03:27I think, you know, until he stuck that one in the top corner with his left foot,
03:31we're probably all thinking, perhaps you should slide this one to the runner.
03:34But he's got that quality, you know, and stick it into the top corner
03:37and then have the assist as well.
03:38Yeah, good performance from him.
03:40Oli made a real big impact in Spain.
03:42We don't want to put too much pressure on the young players,
03:44but how good is it to see that they can make an impact in games like these?
03:46It's brilliant, you know, and they're getting opportunities,
03:49and when they get opportunities, it's important that they take them.
03:52Again, as with anything, you know, Oli's got a lot to learn,
03:55and he's got a lot to develop, but us as a coaching staff,
03:58we've had the conversation with Oli.
04:00We'll provide him with that environment to try and get the best version of him
04:02that we possibly can, and yeah, absolutely, he'll keep learning,
04:05he'll keep performing, and again, we'll keep nipping away at the bits
04:07that we think he'll be better at as well.
04:09Now, we always talk about the changes on the pitch,
04:11but there's been plenty of it as well.
04:12How have you settled into the new coaching unit?
04:14Yeah, brilliant.
04:16Almost seamless, really.
04:17You know, you want to think any job you'll ever have in life,
04:21whatever industry you're in, it makes the days easier
04:24if you get on with the people that you're working with,
04:26and yeah, it seems to have clicked on that kind of personal level,
04:29but ultimately, we're here to do a professional job
04:31for the football club as well, and that's what we try and do.
04:33Every single day, there's long hours to go into every single day.
04:36You end up spending a long time together, getting to know people,
04:39but it does help when you all get along as well.
