Bristol Rovers backed for "clever" Darrell Clarke decision as "very toxic" claims made | OneFootball

Darrell Clarke has returned to Bristol Rovers after their relegation to League Two

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

After a disastrous end to the League One season, the writing was on the wall for Inigo Calderon as Bristol Rovers boss, and he was duly dismissed on Sunday following the final game of the season - a 4-1 defeat away to Blackpool.

In what was the former Brighton and Hove Albion's first stint as a head coach, it couldn't have transpired any worse, as a record of just six wins, three draws and 16 defeats in 25 games saw the Gas sleepwalk into League Two after picking up just a solitary point from the final 27 on offer.

However, what also occurred swiftly was the sourcing of his replacement, as Darrell Clarke was reinstalled at the Memorial Stadium on Tuesday night, just two months after being dismissed by Barnsley.

So, with fourth-tier football on the agenda for the first time since 2022 for Rovers, FLW asked our resident Gashead, Ziggy Carter, whether re-appointing the 47-year-old was the right decision.

Bristol Rovers dubbed "clever" for Darrell Clarke decision amid Steve Evans, Michael Duff talk

Carter referenced a handful of fellow experienced managers who currently find themselves out of work such as Steve Evans and Michael Duff, but believed that Clarke's understanding of the club, having taken the West Country outfit from the depths of non-league into League One between 2015 and 2016 before departing in December 2018, made it a shrewd move from Hussain AlSaeed.

"I have a few (names) that I had looked at beforehand, all the managers and rumours as to who we could go for," he explained.

"Steve Evans was one that I thought would be a good appointment," our fan pundit claimed. "However, with Steve Evans, there's just so much risk.

"Obviously he's got so many promotions out of League Two and so many promotions on his CV. But, watching him with Rotherham when they came down and we're expected to go right back up, didn't do that, and it was quite worrying for them that they had a chance of going down.

"I think it got quite toxic and was quite abusive towards his own players, is what I've heard from Rotherham fans," Ziggy stated. "In his interviews, he was digging out players who had done things wrong, saying 'that's on him', which I don't think was helpful in that situation.

"So, I think if we started out on the wrong foot, it would definitely have got toxic at the club. However, Rovers fans do like to get behind those sort of characters.

"And, what he did with Stevenage, taking them from the bottom of League Two all the way up to nearly a play-off in League One and could've been more if he stayed a bit longer," he added.

"Jon Brady, ex-Northampton, which I think would have been the wrong decision. There's too much history after his words on us when we beat them to promotion.

"Michael Duff, I think would have been a good appointment after his Cheltenham (days)," our fan pundit continued. "He's not quite a Championship manager and I think he was sacked a little bit too early at Huddersfield as well. Looking at them now, it kind of seems he was keeping them together a bit more rather than making them get worse.

"But, I do think Darrell Clarke is a very good manager," Carter stated. "I think he was sacked too soon at Barnsley as well for a long-term project which they were building towards.

"I would also say that the owners need people to get back onside after last season. It was getting very toxic at the Mem, there's been chants of 'AlSaeed out', what's going on?

"Not much communication since then, so they need someone who the fanbase will unite behind and help them to push on and take the pressure off.

"Personally, I'm not one to go back to old managers," he added. "Obviously, his legacy here speaks for itself. It's massive after the back-to-back promotions.

"I'm not one to go back. I feel it could ruin legacies such as Steve Evans' at Rotherham.

"However, I think it's a very clever appointment from the owners," Carter concluded.

Darrell Clarke will have the fans immediately onside amid pressure to bounce back

After his previous stint at the Mem, Clarke will no doubt immediately have the fans onside, but will also be aware of the territory he could fall into should Rovers start his second stint poorly.

Change is definitely in the air in this part of Bristol, with an array of experienced players and loanees reaching the end of their contracts. However, as Carter alluded to, the Mansfield-born boss was given the task of rebuilding Barnsley after two failed play-off campaigns and was somewhat harshly treated despite a mixed run of fortunes at Oakwell.

Pressure will be on the Gas' to mount an immediate promotion bid. However, with two previous successes at this level - once automatically and again via the play-offs with Port Vale in 2022 - there are far worse options which the ownership group could have explored, and one who will need less time to aclimatisate to his new surroundings.