Bristol Rovers continue club reset following pre-season victory

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Daniel Wales looks at the club reset at Bristol Rovers during pre-season.

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00:00Now, as Bristol couldn't avoid the drop, sorry, Bristol Rovers couldn't avoid the drop to League Two.

00:07Now, obviously, we've mentioned a number of times what they need to do to sort of shift that momentum going forward.

00:12You know, Daryl Clark back at the helm for the first time since 2014, 15, and then 2016 he moved on.

00:20But his return, I mean, what's it sort of done for Rovers and the shift mentality-wise

00:26and the energy around the club, Dan, our Bristol correspondent.

00:32Dan, just give us a bit of a lowdown on, you know, things that are changing at the club

00:36to make sure they are really competing to go straight back up to League One, obviously League Two somewhere.

00:42They really don't want to be languishing.

00:45So, yeah, just touch on the pre-season plans.

00:47The focus is during pre-season, what they need to, in your opinion, get right.

00:51And then, you know, Daryl Clark coming back in and how important it is that the fans just don't see him

00:57for this nostalgic value that brought so many great memories to the club in his, you know, first tenure.

01:03He needs to literally hit the ground running, you know, complete resetting and go again.

01:08And then where's the sort of attitude at and the psychological shift as well

01:13to make sure relegation is forgotten because it's obviously very tough to do so.

01:16So, Dan, just give us a bit of a lowdown on the Rovers at the moment

01:20and where they are going into this new campaign, how confident you are in them as well

01:25that they can hopefully get promotion back over the line.

01:29Well, Charles, I think it's been a pretty upbeat pre-season at Bristol Rovers so far.

01:34In fact, let's be honest, anything that was remotely positive was going to be an improvement

01:39on what was the end of last season for the Gas, which, of course, saw them relegated

01:43from League One to League Two under Inigo Calderon.

01:46And they've brought in a whole host of new signings.

01:49They've got, of course, their new head coach in Daryl Clark, who knows the club inside out

01:52because, of course, he used to be the head coach there in a previous spell.

01:56He's brought in some good assistants in Rhys Carr and John Stead.

02:00And, of course, you've got Ricky Martin doing the directing in terms of their football output at the very top.

02:06So that's the structure. That's the outline. That's all that's going on at the club.

02:10And, of course, you've got the results they've had in pre-season so far as well.

02:13And, of course, it's not, perhaps, always the best thing to read into pre-season results

02:17because, let's be honest, they don't really matter.

02:19They're a little bit immaterial.

02:21And, in fact, pre-season games are often more used for developing playing styles

02:24and, of course, developing fitness as well

02:27and making sure that players are up to the task and up to the standard.

02:30But they defeated Chippenham Town.

02:33They also then got beaten by Stockport County whilst on a warm-winter training camp.

02:38That was, perhaps, despite a loss, actually not bad for them at all

02:42in terms of their development and confidence

02:44because they were two goals down at one point and then they got back to 2-2.

02:48Yes, they then lost 3-2 in the end.

02:51And that will be a bit of a blow.

02:52But I think they have to take more of the positives from that game

02:55instead of some of the negatives, of course.

02:57And, in itself, it was a good workout in a warm-winter climate too.

03:00And then, most recently, they've played Yeovil Town and won 2-1.

03:04So, two wins and a loss, as I say, results not really mattering.

03:09But, certainly, the word is that from Daryl Clark, John Stead, Rhys Carr,

03:13they've all been happy with what they've seen.

03:15Daryl Clark was very impressed with the attitude and application

03:18his players were showing in the early days of pre-season.

03:21And then, John Stead and Rhys Carr have been very happy

03:24with how things have gone since some of the matches

03:26that they've played against the opponents just mentioned there.

03:30So, I think, overall, things have been positive.

03:33And it's all about creating a different mentality within the club

03:36because, yes, you've brought in a lot of new players,

03:38but there are still a lot of the old guards

03:40who were there last season with a disappointment

03:42and the struggles they had in League One

03:43who are remaining at the club.

03:45And it's changing their mindset to think that, yes,

03:48they've had this incredible disappointment of being relegated.

03:51But, actually, we're going into a league now

03:53where the standard, perhaps, isn't quite as high.

03:56And so, therefore, to still have confidence in their ability

03:59to make sure that, yeah, we actually can do this

04:01and we can fight right at the top of League Two

04:04and hopefully get ourselves back into League One.

04:06And this time, if we are to get back into League One,

04:08be better prepared for it than perhaps they were the last time.

04:12To be honest, though, they probably should have stayed up last season.

04:15They were in a good position, too, at the start of proceedings,

04:19which has never quite kicked on.

04:20And then, of course, at the end of the season,

04:22once Matt Taylor had been sacked and Cauldron came in,

04:25things looked positive initially but then absolutely fell off a cliff

04:29and they just couldn't buy a result, never mind a win.

04:34So, yeah, things weren't good.

04:35But now I think it's about changing the ethos,

04:37the mindset inside the club to make them think,

04:39yes, we actually are still capable no matter what league we're playing in

04:42and that this season is there for the taking.

04:44So, yeah, I think it's about changing the ethos that we're playing.

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