‘THERE MIGHT BE SOME MORE LOWS TO COME BEFORE WE GET THE HIGHS, BUT WE WILL EVENTUALLY GET THERE’
THIS WEEK THE WAY WE TRAVELLED
PORT Vale manager Darrell Clarke met the local media to look forward to tonight’s League Two game at Salford and reflect on Saturday’s 1-0 defeat at home to Cambridge.
Asking the questions were BBC Radio Stoke’s Robin Grey, Mike Baggaley of the Sentinel and George Andrews of Hitmix Radio.
DARRELL, YOU HAVE TALKED A LOT ABOUT GETTING THE QUALITY OF THE PLAYERS UP AND TURNING THAT INTO RESULTS. HOW ARE YOU TRYING TO GO ABOUT THAT ON THE TRAINING GROUND WHEN YOU’VE NOT GOT A LOT OF TIME?
With the three games I have been manager, the lads have given me absolutely everything. I always watch the games back and get the data, the stats - running stats, sprint stats, all of it that managers get now.
The effort has been outstanding. However the quality has been lacking.
So, how you do that is plenty of work when we can get on the training pitch, but also making sure the players feel confident every time they cross the white line.
I think they are better players than they are showing on the ball at times and (it is) trying to get that out of them while dealing with the pressures of trying to win games. The players feel that pressure, I understand that, but for me pressure is a privilege. Players are in a privileged position and the manager is in a privileged position to get that pressure and be able to do something about it.
LEON LEGGE HAS BEEN IMPORTANT, AS YOU HAVE SAID, SINCE HE HAS COME BACK INTO THE TEAM. WHAT’S THE SITUATION THEN WITH HIM BETWEEN NOW AND THE END OF THE SEASON?
(The experienced defender is understood to have an appearance clause in his contract that will trigger a new deal for next season).
I keep answering this question Robin. I am not going to speak about every individual’s contract. Leon Legge has certain things in his contract that I don’t really want to go into detail about. It is out there, isn’t it? So, the more we talk about it, the more it becomes an issue. Leon Legge has defended very well for the last few games. I will be
picking Leon Legge when I think it is fit and necessary to play Leon in the games. If someone tells me different then that will change, but other than that he is an important member of the squad who is working very hard to try to get some wins on board and climb us up the table.
So, that’s where we are at with that.
LOOKING AT OTHER PLAYERS, WHAT HAS BEEN CLEAR IS YOU ARE GIVING EVERYONE A CLEAN SLATE SO FAR?
I think that’s the right thing to do. Players go through runs of form. Players do well at certain clubs
and not at others. You look at the average League One or Two player who has had a 10-year career span, in those 10 years he will have had bad and good spells. So, for me, the players have to start with that clean slate.
That is the way we have worked it. I can only pick 11 players, the squad is very top heavy, very top heavy in certain positions as well so some boys might not get the opportunities of others but that is the nature of the beast.
But as a clean slate - standards in training have been very high and the intensity has been very good. Now we just want to start winning
football matches which is easier said than done.
HAS ANYTHING SURPRISED YOU SINCE YOU JOINED? YOU SAID YOU KNEW THE SQUAD QUITE WELL BUT WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED IN THE FIRST COUPLE OF WEEKS?
Surprised me….there are positives and negatives to that. I am going to keep the negatives to myself at the minute, I think I have said enough about that.
The positives have been the response from the group. There are going to be one or two changes happening around the place – that have been happening around the place – and there will be more changes as we move forward.
But the response has been good. The atmosphere has been good, they seem a decent set of lads. But we want to get them better. Our fans want them to be better, the manager wants them to be better and that is what we need, we need to raise the quality stakes in the games. So, there are big positives but we will keep the negatives for another day.
SO WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR MORE OF IN ANOTHER TOUGH GAME?
It is about winning the next game isn’t it? I have always been the same. We got done by a great strike in our last game. Now we play Salford who were everyone’s favourites to win the league at the start of the season because they have healthy financial backing.
It is going to be a tough test. They have some big-name players but, like I said before, I wouldn’t be fearing Cambridge if we had to play them in the next game and I won’t be fearing Salford. We will be respecting them, we will be respecting their strengths and certainly trying to exploit their weaknesses.
Good players, but we will be looking to go there and pick up the three points.
DARRELL, YOU’VE MENTIONED A COUPLE OF TIMES ABOUT FITNESS. IS IT POSSIBLE TO IMPROVE THAT AT THIS STAGE OF THE SEASON OR IS THAT SOMETHING THAT CAN ONLY BE DONE IN PRE-SEASON?
Do you know what Mike, it is very difficult with the turnaround in games but there is certainly work going on with the ones who aren’t involved to try to get them fitter and sharper.
The ones who are maybe not playing most of the minutes.
I have been disappointed with the amount of injuries we have picked up this season, disappointed with what I think the fitness levels should be. But it has been hard doing that with the games and trying to progress and getting the game plans right.
So, there are a lot of things that go into that mix but it is something I will be looking to improve, not just over the course of the next eight or nine weeks of the season, but while I am manager.
We have a big pitch at Port Vale, a great pitch as well. It is a decent
pitch and we can have it widened next season if we want to. I want fit and athletic players that can get about the pitch because that energy wins you games.
At the minute I am having to make decisions where I don’t feel like I can play certain players the amount of games and minutes because they are going to break down from injury, which is never good.
I also feel like I am having to bring players off because they are not keeping the maximum levels of their fitness. So, it is something I have discussed with the group of players, they are what I have discussed with my staff. There will be one or two changes in that department of how we move forward. We will see how those levels increase in my time as manager.
WAS IT THE CASE WITH MONTY ON SATURDAY THAT YOU ARE MANAGING HIM OR HAD HE PICKED UP SOMETHING? (Cristian Montano came off at half-time).
No, Monty had a slight niggle so that was a precaution to be honest. We are hoping he is going to be available (for Salford).
Monty has had one of two injuries this season so that was a precaution. I thought he was having a good game to be honest, he was doing quite well in the first 45. Hopefully taking him off early means he won’t be ruled out for very long.
YOU’VE MENTIONED THAT YOU HAVEN’T REALLY GOT A NATURAL REPLACEMENT FOR LUKE JOYCE SO HOW DID YOU FEEL THE MIDFIELD DID ON SATURDAY? (Tom Conlon played as the holding midfielder in the 3-5-2)
I thought Tom had a lot better game with the ball. I thought he covered the areas well.
I thought we were better with the ball in spells. Don’t get me wrong, I am not running through hoops Mike, but we were better in spells on the ball. But we need to get a lot better with that.
It would be nice to get some of our wider options back. David Amoo, Dave Worrall, we have Hursty as well who is fit, but it would be nice to get a couple more wide boys so it gives me different options in games.
So, that will be good when they come back. Hopefully David Amoo is not going to be too far away now because he has joined in training which is good news. Hopefully there is some good news with Wozzer over the next week or two as well. So, that will be a huge benefit because we need those players available, we need everybody fit for the run in.
HOW PLEASED ARE YOU WITH THE WAY YOUR BACK THREE HAS BEEN SHAPING UP OVER THE LAST COUPLE OF GAMES?
We have defended really well at times. We have limited the opposition, I think in the last three games to very limited chances. However, we have to get better with the ball at the back.
Are those players capable of doing that? I am not so sure but we will keep working away on that to be a better watch, shall we call it. But you can’t always, Mike, change what has not been brought in to them if that makes sense.
But certainly we showed a little bit better on the ball at the back on Saturday. But certainly we need to be better with the ball at the back as well as defending as well as we have done.”
WHEN YOU CAME IN YOU HAD THE THREE GAMES AND YOU HAVE BEEN VERY PLEASED WITH THE COMMITMENT AND WORK ETHIC BUT MAYBE FELT THERE SHOULD BE MORE QUALITY NOT ONLY IN THE LAST THIRD BUT IN POSSESSION. BUT YOU DO HAVE QUALITY PLAYERS THERE TO GIVE YOU THAT DARRELL DON’T YOU?
Yes, I do think we have. As I have mentioned George, I think the wide players help you with that to be honest. You get more options wide and can get more, shall we say, better-on-the-eye players in the wide areas of the pitch.
You can get your overloads with a full-back and the wide player, I think that looks better on the eye.
But then you have the likes of Tom Conlon who was better on the ball on Saturday than he was in my first two games. With Burgey (Scott Burgess), you expect better quality on the ball, Jake Taylor, these balls can handle the ball, Joycey can handle the ball.
I think the back lads need to get better at that, the ones I have at the football club because you build from the back.
Well, you like to build from the back if you have the right players George, but at the minute we are trying to get that strong discipline about us and trying to do whatever it takes to try to pick up points and win football matches. I will do that as I see necessary.
IN SOME OF THE GAMES, MOVEMENT UP TO THE LAST THIRD HAS BEEN GOOD AND SOME OF THE FINAL DELIVERY HAS PROBABLY NOT MATCHED WHAT YOU WOULD LIKE. THERE WERE A COUPLE OF TIMES ON SATURDAY WHERE WE GOT INTO THE LAST THIRD AND THEN JUST THAT FINAL BALL JUST WASN’T UP TO THE STANDARD?
Yes the final ball, George, but it is also shooting as well isn’t it. Sometimes getting a shot away. I thought we turned down a couple of opportunities to pull the trigger. So, final pass, final little bit. I thought we worked it into better areas on Saturday but you want players to take that responsibility for that final bit. You look at Wes Hoolahan at Cambridge, he is 38 but his assists and what he creates in that final third is vital.
We have players that can do that, but they need to be showing it.
SO IT IS MORE CONSISTENCY IN THE AREAS THAT YOU FEEL WE ARE SLIGHTLY FALLING DOWN ON AT THE MOMENT THEN DARRELL?
Yes, when we can work the ball into areas. I think David Amoo and Wozzer, they give you different options in that final third. Wozzer is one of the best crossers of the ball in League Two and he can gives you that end product. Also, when you have wide players, you have attacking full backs as well here. That helps to be able to get more balls into the box.
SALFORD COMING UP. THEY FELL SHORT LAST SEASON BUT WITH THE MASSIVE BACKING THEY HAVE GOT THEY WILL WANT TO BE RIGHT IN THE MIX THIS TIME. SO, IT IS GOING TO BE A DIFFICULT TEST DARRELL ISN’T IT?
Yes. Listen, Salford and Cheltenham are two tough tests but this makes you or breaks you doesn’t it George? I am relishing it so my players had better be relishing it. We will go there against a team that needs to be up there and is fancied to be up there and has a very good manager in Richie (Wellens). So, we are looking forward to it, we are certainly not dreading it.
We are going to go up there are try to win the game and take it to them.
YOU HAVE DONE YOUR RESEARCH ON THEM AND THEY DO HAVE AREAS WHERE YOU CAN HURT THEM BUT IS ALL ABOUT YOU AT THE END OF THE DAY ISN’T IT DARRELL? IT IS ALL ABOUT WHAT YOUR TEAM DO?
It is George. We are not in a great position, we understand that. I am trying to keep everything as positive as I possibly can with the information the players get. It is important that we continue to do that.
There might be more lows before we get the highs, George, but we will eventually get there.
OVER six weeks, this special collectable photo series has explored what it was like to live, work and play in Staffordshire, from the 19th century to more recent decades.
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A tram in Market Street, Longton, taken around 1908.