Post by mehewmagic on Jan 19, 2016 12:33:37 GMT
My latest article should be on the Bristol Post website soon.
here it is below.
If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen
The title of this piece was regularly used by the American President Harry S Truman, a plain speaker who wouldn’t pass the spin doctor filter these days, and who must have known a thing or two about heat, being the President who ordered the two nuclear attacks on Japan in 1945.
The true test of a person’s character is when things aren't going well, or to use a biblical analogy anyone can love those loving you; what is far harder is loving those who oppose you, or even shout things at you.
In a week when another in a long line of local managers proved he just couldn't handle it when things go badly (Paul Buckle, Sean O’Driscoll and numerous other suspect leaders of both Bristol sides also spring to mind) we can reflect on another attribute to admire in Darrell Clarke.
Although he’s a slightly foolly and aloof character at times, he has proven to be pretty good at handling the few mini-crises he has faced in almost six seasons in management. Admittedly we’ve never seen him in a ‘normal’ full-blown crisis, and although the eight games he was given to save us in 2014 were obviously unsuccessful, it is hard to judge him on that as there were so many complicating factors in those five weeks, including those numbers themselves, eight and five; simply not hefty enough.
The two mini-crises us Gasheads have seen at first hand have been during the balmy first blooms of each season. If some Gasheads were champing at the bit in early September 2014, after away defeats at Barnet, Altrincham and Braintree Town, September 2015 was treated with slightly less kerfuffle even though after seven games we had only one point more than 2014’s seemingly apocalyptic start, had scored a miserly five goals (the joint fewest in the division), and most importantly were on an unwanted three game losing streak, with a triple barrelled blank up front. A further loss and a draw left us 17th and rather ruffled.
Yet both times DC turned the ship around, grinding out five victories on the trot in a packed 19 day period in September 2014, and a year later embarking on three fine away wins in a row, scoring nine goals in the process; two more than in the entire nine previous League games. At our nadirs Darrell’s team were 19th and 17th, yet he didn’t buckle and hauled us up to second and fourth (so far).
At Salisbury City Darrell never allowed any real troughs, but there were relative lows, all of which were tackled with the grit and professionalism he is now well known for.
For the 2010/11 season DC and Mikey Harris were thrown in the deep end after financial problems and an enforced double relegation. With the club in chaos they managed to remain undefeated in the opening seven Southern Premier games, but draws were costing them badly, and as the likes of Cambridge City, Truro City and our friends Chesham United had started with louder bangs, they found themselves only fourth, with a thumping 3-0 loss then tipping them into fifth. Now, fifth may not sound like a crisis to many, but for a ‘big’ club in the seventh tier of football, where only the champions get automatic promotion, it was a mini-pickle; a pile of discarded fast food burger gherkins perhaps.
The Whites responded with a 17 game unbeaten run (13 of them wins), and finally hit top spot in February. A 6-0 home massacre at the hands of Truro City seemed like a blip, but a poor run-in of only eight points from the final eight games dumped them into third spot. Unperturbed, DC capably guided them through the play-offs, against teams in better form than them, both of whom had already beaten them during the regular season.
The 2011/12 season in Conference South was a stormy affair, yo-yoing around mid-table most of the season, and at one point negotiating a five match losing streak. Success only came in the cups, with the Cathedral city reaching its first ever FA Cup Third Round.
2012/13 witnessed a different manner of pressure, as they topped the table for over four months, only to drop into second during a run of two draws and two defeats, and never made it back to the summit despite 20 points from their final nine games. Darrell’s charges dusted themselves down, kept their nerve and won the play-offs AGAIN.
One word seems to sum up the ultimate breakdown of our recent local failures; stubborn. John Ward’s stubborn resistance to pace and width, Mark McGhee’s stubborn refusal to use players in their best positions nor join the modern era (like… er, the 20th Century), Sean O’Driscoll‘s stubborn rejection of football that might actually win games, and Cotterill’s stubbornness to change a formation and stop blaming everything except himself.
Thankfully DC is more often accused of the opposite; tinkering, trying new things, and keeping a relatively open mind.
The Rovers kitchen sometimes has the gas turned up too high, but don’t be upset, Darrell Worrall-Clarke is in there cooking up a slice of level headed pie.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Martin Bull became a Gashead in 1989 and immediately fell in love with Twerton Park, standing near G pillar. His sixth book has just been released. It is entitled ‘Print That Season! - One man’s weekly meanderings throughout Bristol Rovers’ promotion campaign of 2014-15’ and is the antidote to obedient season reviews, with none of the hindsight that most writers rely on. It is a signed and numbered limited edition of only 462 books, and is available via www.printthatseason.club
here it is below.
If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen
The title of this piece was regularly used by the American President Harry S Truman, a plain speaker who wouldn’t pass the spin doctor filter these days, and who must have known a thing or two about heat, being the President who ordered the two nuclear attacks on Japan in 1945.
The true test of a person’s character is when things aren't going well, or to use a biblical analogy anyone can love those loving you; what is far harder is loving those who oppose you, or even shout things at you.
In a week when another in a long line of local managers proved he just couldn't handle it when things go badly (Paul Buckle, Sean O’Driscoll and numerous other suspect leaders of both Bristol sides also spring to mind) we can reflect on another attribute to admire in Darrell Clarke.
Although he’s a slightly foolly and aloof character at times, he has proven to be pretty good at handling the few mini-crises he has faced in almost six seasons in management. Admittedly we’ve never seen him in a ‘normal’ full-blown crisis, and although the eight games he was given to save us in 2014 were obviously unsuccessful, it is hard to judge him on that as there were so many complicating factors in those five weeks, including those numbers themselves, eight and five; simply not hefty enough.
The two mini-crises us Gasheads have seen at first hand have been during the balmy first blooms of each season. If some Gasheads were champing at the bit in early September 2014, after away defeats at Barnet, Altrincham and Braintree Town, September 2015 was treated with slightly less kerfuffle even though after seven games we had only one point more than 2014’s seemingly apocalyptic start, had scored a miserly five goals (the joint fewest in the division), and most importantly were on an unwanted three game losing streak, with a triple barrelled blank up front. A further loss and a draw left us 17th and rather ruffled.
Yet both times DC turned the ship around, grinding out five victories on the trot in a packed 19 day period in September 2014, and a year later embarking on three fine away wins in a row, scoring nine goals in the process; two more than in the entire nine previous League games. At our nadirs Darrell’s team were 19th and 17th, yet he didn’t buckle and hauled us up to second and fourth (so far).
At Salisbury City Darrell never allowed any real troughs, but there were relative lows, all of which were tackled with the grit and professionalism he is now well known for.
For the 2010/11 season DC and Mikey Harris were thrown in the deep end after financial problems and an enforced double relegation. With the club in chaos they managed to remain undefeated in the opening seven Southern Premier games, but draws were costing them badly, and as the likes of Cambridge City, Truro City and our friends Chesham United had started with louder bangs, they found themselves only fourth, with a thumping 3-0 loss then tipping them into fifth. Now, fifth may not sound like a crisis to many, but for a ‘big’ club in the seventh tier of football, where only the champions get automatic promotion, it was a mini-pickle; a pile of discarded fast food burger gherkins perhaps.
The Whites responded with a 17 game unbeaten run (13 of them wins), and finally hit top spot in February. A 6-0 home massacre at the hands of Truro City seemed like a blip, but a poor run-in of only eight points from the final eight games dumped them into third spot. Unperturbed, DC capably guided them through the play-offs, against teams in better form than them, both of whom had already beaten them during the regular season.
The 2011/12 season in Conference South was a stormy affair, yo-yoing around mid-table most of the season, and at one point negotiating a five match losing streak. Success only came in the cups, with the Cathedral city reaching its first ever FA Cup Third Round.
2012/13 witnessed a different manner of pressure, as they topped the table for over four months, only to drop into second during a run of two draws and two defeats, and never made it back to the summit despite 20 points from their final nine games. Darrell’s charges dusted themselves down, kept their nerve and won the play-offs AGAIN.
One word seems to sum up the ultimate breakdown of our recent local failures; stubborn. John Ward’s stubborn resistance to pace and width, Mark McGhee’s stubborn refusal to use players in their best positions nor join the modern era (like… er, the 20th Century), Sean O’Driscoll‘s stubborn rejection of football that might actually win games, and Cotterill’s stubbornness to change a formation and stop blaming everything except himself.
Thankfully DC is more often accused of the opposite; tinkering, trying new things, and keeping a relatively open mind.
The Rovers kitchen sometimes has the gas turned up too high, but don’t be upset, Darrell Worrall-Clarke is in there cooking up a slice of level headed pie.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Martin Bull became a Gashead in 1989 and immediately fell in love with Twerton Park, standing near G pillar. His sixth book has just been released. It is entitled ‘Print That Season! - One man’s weekly meanderings throughout Bristol Rovers’ promotion campaign of 2014-15’ and is the antidote to obedient season reviews, with none of the hindsight that most writers rely on. It is a signed and numbered limited edition of only 462 books, and is available via www.printthatseason.club
