Well, Joey, a win on Friday is a good way to go into the second game of a quick double header like this.
Yeah, it’s always pleasing to keep a clean sheet and win a game, especially in front of your home fans. We want to keep that momentum building; we have got some really good fixtures, lots to be excited about and we’re very quickly back on the horse at Fleetwood.
It’s the first time I’ve been back and I’m looking forward to seeing some familiar faces.
Is it one that you really look forward to it having been there before?
I can’t wait. There are lots of people in the fabric of the club that you don’t run into. Obviously, when Fleetwood played down here, you bounce into a lot of people from the club from the football side and the board side, but you don’t bump into the everyday people that you used to see all the time, the cleaners and people who worked in and around the stadium.
I can’t get wait to get there and see everybody, it’s been a while, but also we’ve got a game to win so the niceties will stop at about 1.30pm after I’ve said hello and up until 5.30pm they will be our competitive enemy, in the greatest respect, and at half five we’ll be back on good terms because I never forget that Fleetwood gave me an opportunity and I had a great time there.
The only thing I’m gutted about is the global pandemic and COVID because we’d have got in the Championship.
As a player going back to a former club, you get that boost to show them what they are missing. Is that there as a manager?
No, look, I want to beat everybody at everything. That includes my kids at tiddlywinks.
There is no added spice because it’s Fleetwood. It would be nice to go back and beat them because I felt we should have beaten them here barring some strange refereeing.
It’s a game that we want to win because we want to finish as high in the table and push our club as far as we can.
Were there any niggles picked up on Friday?
No, but you never know. Saturday morning is different when their bodies have settled down, but I think they’re fine. Everybody seems to have gotten through it unscathed barring a few bumps and bruises.
The squad is in a really good place. Harry Anderson is back in the group now, Josh Grant is hopefully back on the grass this week, touch wood, so really positive signs that the group is coming along nicely.
One more win gets you over 50 points and that is a nice little milestone.
Yeah, and I have spoken about that all season, even when we were riding a bit higher in the table. You have to get to that. Some people see that as pessimistic but I’m realistic, just get to that and see where you are and kick on from there.
The key was getting into League One and staying in League One. OK, we want to get out of League One at some point, but you want to get out of it in the right direction and there are some big clubs in this division. We are not going to be able to blow them out of the water, it’s got to be done with a real strategic plan from the football department and the business side of Bristol Rovers Football Club. We’re on track with that but we’ve still got a bit of work to do in the last eight games.
We’ve got people competing for contracts and people that want to show us what they can do. They feel they haven’t had enough minutes in the season and I think the group is in a really good spot.
The sun’s out which is nice, there was the stadium stuff on Thursday. There is a really nice feeling around the football club and it’s important we keep fostering that.
Joey, I remember it being quite an niggly game last time against Fleetwood and there were quite a lot of winding-up tactics, there was a lot of added time, it was quite messy. How do you prepare for those games? They have not always been the forte of this team, so keeping your composure is a challenge you’re going to need to meet on Monday.
Fleetwood is a tricky place to go. The weather… the wind doesn’t blow as it does in Bristol, the weather doesn’t behave as it does in Bristol, the pitch is a bit narrower, and the fans create an intimidating atmosphere.
Scott (Brown) has got them going well with a back five, really difficult, and (Jayden) Stockley and (Jack) Marriott up front are really competent for the level. They have improved since we played them last, but we think we have.
We feel aggrieved that we didn’t win the game and barring some barmy refereeing, I think we would have won the game.
We know it will be difficult just because Fleetwood, regardless of who the manager of Fleetwood is, is a tricky place to go. There is a sign on the stadium that says ‘One road in, one road out’. That’s not saying ‘Welcome’, is it?
Anything you get there is hard-earned and it will be the same for us on Easter Monday. There will be a big crowd in there because it’s the Fylde Coast and it’s a bank holiday. It sets up for a great occasion.
You alluded to the stadium stuff, but I suspect that was a welcome boost and another reminder of what the club’s future could look like.
Yeah, it’s nothing to do with me. I won’t be putting any spades or bricks down, it’s not my bag, but I just think it’s a big boost for the club.
The supporters have been with the club through thick and thin and it does look like there is a bit of light at the end of the tunnel.
We’re very fortunate to have an ambitious owner who has got that ambition for the football club and the Gasheads, certainly the blue half of the city has had to watch the red half of the city get the stadium redeveloped and training ground and League Cup ties and pushing for the Premier League.
It must be tough. As an Evertonian in a City like that, it’s tough, particularly when you’re trying to get your kids to support the same team. They want to go where the good players are.
The project, if it plays out like it’s looking, the owner’s ambition is massive. That’s why I came here in the first place, to work with him and be part of what he’s trying to do here.
It’s that light at the end of the tunnel. With the season ticket sales, you can see the quartered jerseys now more often around the city and there is a bit of a spring in their step.
We’ve got a long way to go and we’re only in the embryonic stages, but it’s nice to have that good news and positive feeling around the football club from the years of doom and gloom.
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