‘I feel ready to come back and lead my staff and the squad’
DARRELL Clarke spoke to the media as he returns to his first-team manager role.
The 44-year-old suffered a close family bereavement in February and was away on compassionate leave before making a phased return.
He will take the team at Exeter this weekend. Here’s what was said at his pre-match press conference...
IT’S GREAT TO SEE YOU BACK. WHY HAVE YOU DECIDED TO COME BACK NOW?
First and foremost I feel ready to do that. That’s the first thing.
I would like to thank everybody for the love and support, the support I have had from the football club, from the board, Carol, David Flitcroft, and the supporters. They have been absolutely outstanding.
The main thing is I feel ready, I feel ready to return. They are my staff, they are my players. So, I am ready to lead the group.
WAS IT A TOUGH DECISION?
I don’t really want to go into too much detail of my personal life, but it is not tough because I want to stand at the front.
I want to stand at the front of the pack. We pulled this group together. It has always been a ‘we’, it has always been a united front.
Going into the last game of the season at Exeter…..we all know it is a massive game and it is up to us as a group to respond to that. I am looking forward to it.
WHAT HAVE YOU MADE OF THE JOB THAT ANDY (CROSBY) HAS DONE IN YOUR ABSENCE AND WHAT HAVE YOU SAID TO HIM AT THIS POINT NOW YOU ARE BACK?
Absolutely outstanding. I think we all have to be a little bit honest in that the last three games, the players haven’t performed to the standards they can. I haven’t felt that around the training ground.
Andy Crosby has done an unbelievable job. He is a talented guy. I think we work great together as a team and he has worked great pulling the troops together which was in unbelievable circumstances. I think the way the club, the supporters and everybody handled my personal situation…i can’t thank them enough for that. Crosser and my backroom team have done an outstanding job.
YOU HAVE SEEN TRAINING. WHAT, IN YOUR OPINION, HAS BEEN THE DIFFERENCE IN THE MATCHDAYS FROM TRAINING, WHICH YOU SAY HAS BEEN POSITIVE?
It is the mental side. It is the mental side of the game.
The boys are well prepared, I just think mentally one or two things have gone against us in the last two or three games and we haven’t responded the way we should. That has made our performances edgy and not on the front foot as much as we would have liked.
There are loads of things that can go into reasons why but I am not here to talk about why and what has happened before. I am here to say that I am ready to lead the group, lead my terrify staff, my terrific players and my terrific supporters….ready to lead that at Exeter.
GIVEN WHAT IS AT STAKE, DID YOU FEEL ALSO MAYBE A SENSE OF RESPONSIBILITY TO COME BACK AND BE THE LEADER AT THIS POINT?
Always. I think that is my character. I feel responsibility. I do feel responsible. But I wouldn’t be sat here having this conversation if I didn’t feel I was ready to do that because that wouldn’t be right for anybody. It wouldn’t.
It is not a results-based decision that I have done that. It is because I feel ready. We and I need to make that crystal clear. It is because I feel ready that I want to lead my staff and lead my group.
YOU COULDN’T HAVE PICKED A TOUGHER GAME TO COME BACK, GIVEN WHAT IS AT STAKE NOW. IT IS A HIGH-PRESSURE ENVIRONMENT. CAN YOU THRIVE ON THAT?
I have managed in those situations before so I have got plenty of experience of managing different scenarios and so have my coaching team. We will be preparing our players as best we possibly can for a mammoth task.
We could end up in the automatic, we could end up in the play offs or we could end up out of the play-offs. There are only going to be three scenarios after the game and we have to be prepared for all of them and make sure we prepare as best we possibly can, as we have done all season.
DO YOU THINK CONTEXT HAS BEEN A BIG PART? MAYBE PERHAPS HOW THE LAST THREE GAMES OR SO HAVE BEEN VIEWED? THAT’S PARTICULARLY WHERE YOU WERE ON GOOD FRIDAY AND WHERE YOU ARE NOW, BUT THAT DOESN’T TAKE INTO ACCOUNT WHAT GOT YOU TO WHERE YOU WERE ON GOOD FRIDAY?
You can’t look back now. We can work out
ways of why things haven’t gone so well over the last three games. It is a massive mental side of the game that individual players need to look at themselves and make sure they get that right for 3pm on Saturday.
We will be working on that, we will be working on a game-plan as we always do. When you hit a few sucker punches – and we have had a few of those this season – then you have to rally together, and that is what we will be looking to do.
WILL THAT HELP? AS YOU HAVE SAID, THE TEAM HAVE HAD A FEW DISAPPOINTMENTS THIS YEAR. THERE HAVE BEEN A FEW THINGS THAT COULD HAVE DERAILED THINGS. DO YOU THINK ALL THAT CAN GALVANISE YOU?
The proof will be in the pudding but I want to lead that and see where it takes us on Saturday.
I am looking forward to it and a big thank you from myself and my family for all the love and support that I have received from everybody.
I CAN TELL THAT SUPPORT HAS MEANT A GREAT DEAL TO YOU. HOW HAS THAT HELPED YOU?
It has got me stronger. As I said, I don’t want to go too much into my personal circumstances but you have to get yourself off the canvas, off the floor. I want to do my family proud and I will continue to do that.
YOU MUST BE VERY PROUD OF WHERE THE TEAM AND THE CLUB ARE AS A WHOLE?
Yes, I am very proud of our football club. I think there is a real togetherness about this football club, one of the best I have ever seen.
We want to continue to keep building that, keep thriving on that.
That comes from Carol and the family and David Flitcroft, all the way at the top, all the way through, to keep that togetherness.
We want success, I want success for those people and the supporters.
SO, ALL FOR ONE ON SATURDAY AGAINST A TEAM WHO ALSO HAVE SOMETHING TO PLAY FOR?
It’s a big one, but this is why we love the game isn’t it? I want to manage big games, I want to be involved in big games.
Our club wants to be involved in these sort of games so we are really looking forward to it.
YOUR MESSAGE TO THE FANS, DARRELL?
Thank you, first and foremost. Get behind the lads on the final day and let’s see where we end up. Thank you ever so much.