‘We want to be on the front foot in all games’
VALE MANAGER DARRELL CLARKE SPOKE TO MIKE BAGGALEY AHEAD OF THE CLUB’S POTENTIAL RELEGATION SIX-POINTER THIS AFTERNOON AGAINST COLCHESTER
THAT NEWPORT WIN MUST GIVE YOU A GREAT PLATFORM GOING INTO A BIG GAME AT COLCHESTER?
“I did enjoy Tuesday night but then on Wednesday I am straight back to work, straight in the building, working on Colchester.
“There is no let up for a football manager and that is exactly the way it should be. It is only a very small stepping stone to where we eventually want to be taking it.”
FOOTBALL CLICHES SAY COLCHESTER V PORT VALE IS A SIX-POINTER. HOW ARE YOU VIEWING THE FIXTURE?
“Yes, there is no getting out of that fact but at the end of the day our concentration is on our performance.
“In the Bolton game, we deserved the point for me, on the performance, then on Tuesday we have got the win and the performance.
“So, let’s focus on performance. My work with my players is focusing on that and then the results can take care of themselves. So, onto the next one, Colchester away, a big game, they are down there with us. They will be looking to win the game and we will be looking to win the game.”
WHAT RESPONSE HAVE YOU SEEN FROM YOUR PLAYERS THIS WEEK FOLLOWING ON FROM TUESDAY? BECAUSE YOU COULD SEE THE JOY AND RELIEF FOLLOWING THE FINAL WHISTLE.
“It is natural for players to gain that bit of confidence from the win, a spirited performance that showed a bit of everything.
“So, there were a lot of positives from that and you are hoping the players take the positives from that.”
TWO PLAYERS I WANT TO ASK YOU ABOUT, SINCE YOU HAVE COME IN – THEO ROBINSON AND LEON LEGGE. BOTH PRIOR TO YOUR ARRIVAL SEEMED NOT TO BE INVOLVED. LET’S START WITH LEON, WHAT HAVE YOU MADE OF HIM AT CENTRE HALF? HE’S LOOKED FANTASTIC.
“I think the performances have been very consistent from Leon, in a defensive structure.
“Like I have said to every single one of my players, the slate was clean when I came through the door. I think I have shown that there have been opportunities for a lot of the players and it is up to those players to take them.
“Leon Legge has taken his opportunity but we need to keep that consistency with that from him. He is a model pro, he is a great lad.
“And the likes of Theo, by his own admission he has probably not had the impact that he would have liked when he joined the football club but he has got a decent goalscoring record at this level. I thought his work rate the other night was tremendous, leading the line.
“So, we will be looking for more of the same, and Theo will be looking to get one or two goals along the way.”
WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT CLEAN SLATES, WHAT’S THE SITUATION WITH HARRY MCKIRDY?
(Mckirdy isn’t able to play because he’s not in the registered 22-man squad).
“Harry is one of those players that is a bit of an enigma.
“You speak to a lot of people in the game about Harry (right) and he doesn’t have a great reputation but managers have to manage ‘mavericks’.
“You can see on the training ground that he has that match-winning quality in him. You see the kid’s ability.
“He is unfortunate that there is no possible way of me getting him in the 22, but he probably would have been a player that I could have got the best out of.
“But he also has a mechanism I think in his head where his biggest strengths become his confidence.
“He just has to tone things down a little bit to make sure that he loses that bit of reputation that he has got, with the undoubted ability he has.”
KNOWING WHAT YOU ARE
LIKE AS A MANAGER, AND YOUR SKILLS, AND WHAT HE IS LIKE AS A PLAYER, IT MUST FRUSTRATE YOU THAT YOU CAN’T INVOLVE HIM ON A MATCHDAY?
“Yes, I have said that to Harry himself. But I can also understand why managers and coaches lose a bit of patience with him. I get both sides of the story. For me, I have always managed with the principle that I will always try to get the best out of players while they remain my players, unless they are a real negative influence in the group, which I haven’t really had many of.
“Part of your job as a manager is the man-management side of things where you are dealing with different, characteristics, different characters, different players and certainly I think the case with Harry is his biggest strength becomes his biggest weakness.”
YOU WERE SAYING YOU WERE IMPRESSED WITH THE INCREASE IN QUALITY ON
TUESDAY? HOW MUCH OF THAT IS DUE TO HAVING DAVE WORRALL AND DAVID AMOO AVAILABLE AGAIN?
“Wozzer and David Amoo are more experienced players, it gives us a lot more firepower in those areas of the pitch. But I thought the lads, certainly in the first 30 or 45 minutes of the first half, really worked our game-plan well which was to get the overloads in wide areas, to get deliveries into the box.”
AND CRISTIAN MONTANO, HOW MUCH BETTER IS THE SIDE WITH THE ATTACKING OPTIONS HE GIVES YOU?
“Monty! Monty, yes a lad I worked with at Bristol Rovers. I think in the games he has been available for me, he has done very well.
“Obviously I know Monty and to be fair to him he has filled in at left back fantastically. I wouldn’t have seen that at Bristol Rovers.
“So, he has added that value to his game. He has added that, he has undoubted ability and technique, and quality, so hopefully he can stay fit and continue to be a big player for us.”
IN TERMS OF YOUR PLANS FOR NEXT SEASON, HOW MUCH HAVE YOU BEEN ABLE TO DO OR HAVE YOU GOT TO WAIT TO SEE IF YOU WILL BE IN THE FOOTBALL LEAGUE?
“There is always stuff working on in the background. I am a glass half-full type of guy so I always have to be planning ahead. I am planning ahead positively if that makes sense because that is where we want to be heading.
“So, we are doing plenty of work with that and plenty of work to look at potential recruitment. You have to be ahead of the game with that as much as you possibly can be so there is plenty of that stuff going on in the background.”
AND IN TERMS OF PLAYERS NOT IN THE SIDE AT THE MOMENT, HAVE YOU SPOKEN TO JAKE TAYLOR WHO CAME IN IN JANUARY WITH QUITE A BIG FANFARE ON A THREE-AND-AHALF-YEAR CONTRACT?
“I man-manage all my players, I don’t have a problem. All my players are important to me.
“My message is crystal clear, get in the team, stay in the team and work hard. I have tweaked a few things but a lot of the things….people call me ‘the Tinkerman’ but I haven’t really changed that much because a lot of the changes have been forced on us, with injuries.
“So, for players, they need to come into the team and stay in the team. I am sure there will be more opportunities for Jake.
“I think he is a very talented player, I think he can unlock in the final third. But also he has to add that bit of steel to his game, certainly with the pitches not great at the minute. A lot of the pitches that we are on at the minute are not free-flowing so if he can add that steel to his game, then, with the undoubted quality he has, then I see him having a bright future.”
THERE WERE A FEW LEADERS ON THE PITCH ON TUESDAY NIGHT WEREN’T THERE?
“Yes, they worked really hard. I think, without the ball, we have been pretty consistent – other than the Cheltenham game. I think our shape and discipline has been
pretty good but one thing I have been banging the drum on a lot of times is that extra bit of quality that enables you to win League Two football games.
“We had that. You saw the first goal that we worked the other day. We worked a bit of movement on the second goal as well, changing the direction of the free kick. So, our better quality, with the defensive discipline of the team, can get you wins at this level.”
GETTING MORE PLAYERS IN THE BOX WAS A BIG FACTOR WASN’T IT?
“Yes, you have to take chances in the final third. Be aggressive. That’s what I want to be.
“You have to get the ball in the box, get it in dangerous areas and have people committed to that. So, that is how you score goals. The amount of goals that are scored in the second six-yard box, the statistics don’t lie on that.
“The percentages are there and the percentages are a one-touch or a two-touch finish, mainly a one-touch finish, so the more time you deliver in those areas and the more players you get in those areas in the final third, the more chance you have of scoring a goal.
“Believe it or not, it’s not rocket-science, but we probably make it look like it is rocket-science at times don’t we?”
HOW IMPORTANT IS A CAPTAIN TO YOU? HOW IMPORTANT IS IT FOR TOM CONLON TO BE YOUR MAN ON THE PITCH?
“If I was to pick somebody out who has been very consistent, he would be one of them. I didn’t think he had the strongest first game when I first took over but then his performances have been strong.
“I think he quite comfortably could have been on three or four goals in the last few games. He arrives late, he arrives with good timing. He has a great strike, and he shows those leader qualities.
“He’s not necessarily too vocal, but leading by example. He has been very impressive. If I can make him a better leader, and I think you can, I think you have to work on leadership, leadership groups to make these young men be better leaders as they go along. The more leaders you can have in that group, the better.”
YOU STARTED RIGHT ON THE FRONT FOOT ON TUESDAY NIGHT AND WILL WANT TO
REPLICATE THAT AGAINST COLCHESTER?
“Yes, certainly. Every week, and every game we play, we will have a plan, we will have a process of what we are going to do without the ball and try to hurt them with the ball. That stays pretty consistent with myself.
“But you are right, we want to be on the front foot, we want to be on the front foot in all our games. That is a good habit to try to get into.”