00:00It was not the opening day result that Daryl Clark or anyone associated with Bristol Rovers would have wanted, as they were defeated 1-0 at the Memorial Stadium in League 2 by Harrogate Town.
00:12After what has been a promising pre-season for the Gas, in which they've brought in an awful lot of players and had some good run-outs in friendly matches, things didn't quite click on the day.
00:24But Daryl Clark still maintained they should have won the game and had enough chances to do so, but they weren't at what he would probably describe as their fluent best.
00:34That's perhaps to be expected on the first game of the season, but certainly they weren't clinical enough when it came to attacking.
00:41So, what next? Well, Daryl Clark has been speaking ahead of their next game in League 2, in which they'll take on Fleetwood Town.
00:50And what has been learnt from that opening day defeat against Harrogate?
00:54He's made quite clear in what he's said that Bristol Rovers must learn and learn quickly, and that they can't make the same mistakes, and they must be all, of course, more clinical in front of goal and put away the chances.
01:07And if they are playing well, then they need to make sure they're capitalising on playing well in order to pick up the maximum amount of points.
01:16It's a long and arduous season in League 2, but setting that tone early will be crucial, and that opening day defeat against Harrogate was the last thing that they would have wanted following their relegation from League 1 at the end of last season.
01:31But, a chance now to set it right, so let's hear what Daryl Clark had to say ahead of their second match of the season.
01:37Learn is the key word. That's what you're doing with a group. Obviously, a lot of changes, a lot of staff changes. So you learn, you learn with each game, you learn as them games come thick and fast.
01:49What we've got now, I think it's about seven games potentially in 21 days. So you just learn more about the group, each competitive match you play.
01:56So, everything's a bit of a learning curve with that. For the first 30 minutes, like I said, watching the game back Saturday night, as soon as I got back home, watched it back.
02:08It was a typical first game of the season, but I still think it was a game we should have won, but we didn't. So, disappointing. But we move on to Saturday.
02:18Yeah, what will you expect against Fleetwood on Saturday?
02:20It's early days, yeah, and obviously, they've got a good win at Barnet. Hopefully, it was always a tough place to go and play, but we've had a good week preparation. So, hopefully, that can come into fruition on Saturday.
02:34You once told me that tactics and formations are just numbers you write on a piece of paper. The system you had on Saturday, is that something you're going to persevere with, or are you going to be flexible as the season goes on?
02:43No, we'll have to be flexible. We'll have to be adaptable. That's not a problem. I want an adaptable squad.
02:48Working a lot of things out myself and the coaching staff, like we said, about the players, the systems and whatnot, but mentality of the group is key.
02:58Making sure that that mentality is absolutely spot on, because if that's not right, the tactics don't even come into play, to be honest with you.
03:05So, it's about responding every week, every game. There's no quick fixes around it. There's a lot of changes, but it's something I need to consistently see,
03:15is that improvement of performances and also mentality improving as we go along the way.
03:22Yeah, were you pleased that having talked about Conor on Saturday and that there's been a quick resolution to his departure?
03:27Yeah, I think it's important. I think when a player always gets interest from a division out of the club, sees the dollar signs, sees the money, sees the pay, sees the opportunity,
03:37sees the opportunity. We get it. I get it as a manager and not being critical of Conor. That's just the nature of the footballing world.
03:43Wishing him all the best. Thank him for his efforts and we've moved on pretty quickly because we've had to.
03:49Are you confident now you've got a squad that want to be here now and play for Rogues?
03:52If they don't, you know where the door is. I've said this to any player and I've said this not just now, but I've said it.
03:57Most clubs I've been at, if they don't want to be here, we'll work it on the merry way that they can go.
04:02If it was a valuation for the football club, we'll try and maximise that valuation.
04:06But as it stands at the minute, the players are working hard, they're focused in the training, they're focused on the drills we're trying to do.
04:11They're getting a lot of information. They're getting a lot of work.
04:15There's building layers to that work and we're at the bottom of the layers, if I'm honest with you.
04:19So they're getting a lot of that information and they're taking it on board, hopefully, and hopefully we see that.
04:24Fleetwood Town must certainly not be an easy encounter.
04:27But Daryl Clark's side will have to have a bit of fire in their bellies following that disappointing defeat against Harrogate at home.
04:36Obviously, they're going away in this fixture, but it's one that they know they still are capable of winning if things go right for them.
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