Western Daily Press (Saturday)
Today isn’t about me or the other boss – Taylor
MATT Taylor insists that this afternoon’s home match against Cheltenham Town is about Bristol Rovers and the club’s history – and not him – as 140 years are celebrated on the same day the new Pirates boss takes charge at the Memorial Stadium for the first time.
Taylor’s first game was on Tuesday evening, a 2-1 defeat at Crawley in the EFL Trophy, but today will be the 41-year-old’s first League One match and will also be his first chance to meet the home faithful as the man sitting in the home dugout as opposed to the away section he filled when manager of Exeter City.
The club will be marking the occasion by playing in a one-off kit which pays tribute to the club’s first ever strip which sported a black shirt with a yellow sash along with allblack shorts and socks. Rovers will be selling 1,883 of the limited edition shirts online and in the club shop.
Today will also see fan favourite Darrell Clarke return to the Mem, with the former boss, who guided Rovers to back-to-back promotions from the Conference up to League One, as well as stabilising the club in the third tier. Clarke is now in charge of Cheltenham and has overseen an impressive resurgence of a side that looked doomed after setting an English Football League record for the longest run of games at the start of a season without a goal.
Speaking to media ahead of the game, Taylor said: “Like I say in my programme notes, I saw the players up close and personal on Tuesday and then I kind of get to see the fans up close and personal this weekend.
“It’s a celebration for the football club too, so it’s important we talk about that. The history of this club, what makes it such a good football club, and how long that history is as well, 140 years, and what they’ve been through.
“The ups and the downs, the successes and the failures, the times where the club’s been in a difficult situation, but it seems to be in quite a strong place now, and hopefully a stronger place moving forward and that should be something that the fans can really get their teeth into this weekend.
“It’s incredible because I’ve seen the first kit which was ever won and I’ve learned a little bit about where we’ve played over the years and the promotions we’ve had, relegations. The good times and the bad times.
“I still don’t know the in-depth knowledge of this football club and I don’t know if I’ll ever know that. That’s for historians and supporters to really have and keep as their own.
“Hopefully I can play a small part in that, playing a part in terms of a good period.
“Stability, first and foremost, that’s what you ask for as a supporter, but then success on the pitch as well. On top of that, the type of football, which I think our fans want to see.
“It’s certainly not about myself or even the opposition manager. It’s about celebrating what’s all good about Bristol Rovers Football Club.”
On Clarke, Taylor added, “I hope he does (get a good reception). He did really well for Bristol Rovers, and with it being a relatively local team, in what is a well travelled League. So lots to look forward to. It just feels like a big game of football.
“These are the games you want to be involved in. These are the games why I came back out of a, not miniretirement, but a bit of time where I wasn’t involved in football for games like this. But we want to be on the right outcome of whatever is at the end of it which is hopefully a positive performance and a result for us.”
While this is not 45-year-old Clarke’s first trip back to Rovers, he told BBC Sport he “loves” returning and seeing the fans, and tipped the Pirates to earn a play-off spot later this season.
“I’m sure if they can start getting a run of results together they can start threatening that top six,” he said.
“For us, hopefully we’re starting to claw one or two teams back to try to get out of that bottom four.”
Swindon boss Michael Flynn is expecting to welcome back a number of players when his side visit AFC Wimbledon this afternoon.
The Wiltshire side were without as many as seven senior players when they won at Accrington last time out.
“It is looking a lot more positive than it was a couple of weeks back,” Flynn told reporters.