WHEN Barnsley visited Bristol Rovers last season, for a 1-1 draw in August, Darrell Clarke sang to the crowd pre-match on the loud-speaker.
He was out of work at the time, having been sacked by Port Vale earlier in the year and he would not be appointed by Cheltenham until October.
So he was a guest at the club where he is a legend for guiding them to back to back promotions in 2015 and 2016, and finished an on-pitch interview with a rendition of the Gas club song ‘Goodnight, Irene’.
This Saturday he returns as Barnsley head coach, hoping his side continue to hit the right notes as they have in recent weeks.
Returning to the Memorial Ground is not new for Clarke.
Since his glorious five-year spell came to end in 2018, he has been back as manager of Walsall, Port Vale and Cheltenham – winning two, drawing one and losing once.
He insists it is always special to be back among the ‘Gasheads’ who initially were sceptical after he oversaw their relegation into non-league football, albeit having only been manager for a matter of weeks.
From tearing down ‘Clarke out’ posters around the ground to a Wembley victory, to turning down the chance to manage Leeds United after meeting Massimo Cellino, it was a spell that introduced him to professional football management after cutting his teeth at non-league Salisbury.
Rovers, now owned by a Kuwaiti group, were extremely busy in the summer transfer window, bringing in 16 new players including a fee thought to be well over £500,000 for Irish striker Promise Omochere – initially a Reds target as well – who has struggled with injury.
But they find themselves just a place above the relegation zone, although the gap is five points after they won at lowly Cambridge in their last match – a first victory for new boss Inigo Calderon.
In contrast, Barnsley have shot up into fifth and have a four-point cushion in the play-off places. The task now is to increase that over the coming weeks and cement themselves in the top six. Off the pitch, of course, they will be looking to strengthen in the transfer window, mainly up front, while holding onto their star men and moving on those not in Clarke’s long-term plans.
The Reds are on a four-match winning streak, something they never managed under Neill Collins last season.
They will look to extend it to five in the south west this weekend and complete their second double of the season, the other being over Crawley Town.
Their postponement at Northampton on Saturday, while it allows them more time to get fresh after a brutal Christmas period, was frustrating as they were on the crest of a wave after collecting 12 points in ten days having taken the same in the previous 60.
But matches will always be called off at this level at this time of year and they have to make the best of it – building in training on what they have done well recently while trying to iron out the flaws Clarke says he can still see in his team.
TEAM NEWS
Barnsley: Out: Fabio Jalo (shoulder), Barry Cotter. Bristol Rovers: Out: Promise Omochere (hamstring), Kamil Conteh (knee). Doubts: Jack Hunt (calf).
LINE-UPS
Barnsley (3-5-2): Killip; de Gevigney, Roberts, Earl; O'Keeffe, Phillips, Connell, Russell, Gent; Watters, Keillor-Dunn.
Bristol Rovers (4-2-3-1): Griffiths; Moore, Wilson, Taylor, Sousa; Ward, Sawyers; Thomas, Hutchinson, Sinclair; Martin
KEY BATTLES
DARRELL CLARKE v INIGO CALDERON
Rovers have had six permanent managers since Clarke left – Graham Coughlan, Ben Garner, Paul Tisdale, Joey Barton, Matt Taylor and now Calderon.
The Spaniard is the club’s first ever boss from outside the British Isles although he is experienced in English football having played more than 200 times for Brighton before coaching their under 18s for a season and a half until moving to Rovers.
The 43-year-old has said he wants to ‘control’ games but may not be able to instill his full philosophy instantly in the middle of a League One relegation battle.
Calderon has managed in four senior games, while Clarke is approaching 700 so will look to use that experience to get three points back at his former club.
JOSH EARL v LUKE THOMAS
Thomas is set to play his 100th game for the Gas against the Reds for whom he made 95 appearances during a four-year contract from 2018 to 2022.
The midfielder, now 25, scored a vital goal for Rovers on January 4 when they won 1-0 at fellow strugglers Cambridge, having taken just a point from their previous seven games and dropped to 20th.
Thomas had been left out of the starting 11 since September by previous boss Matt Taylor, whose sacking has meant that he has started regularly.
Thomas has generally played on the right of an attacking midfield three so will likely come up against centre-back Earl and left wing-back Georgie Gent.
Earl has settled nicely back into the back three after injury and it will be interesting to see who plays next to him in the middle of it in Bristol. Marc Roberts was one of the Reds’ best players before his injury last month but Donovan Pines has filled in well in his absence.
BEN KILLIP v CHRIS MARTIN
Veteran striker Martin’s 18 career meetings with Barnsley have brought him ten wins and eight goals against the Reds.
The 36-year-old first scored against Barnsley for Norwich City in 2007 and has also netted against them for Derby, Fulham and Rovers last season at Oakwell.
Clearly in the twilight of a career which saw him score 114 Championship goals, he has only struck in one 17 games this season – but it was a brace against clean sheet kings Leyton Orient on New Year’s Day.
He has since started the last two games.
Martin is one of several Rovers players now well in their 30s who have played a lot of games at a higher level such as Scott Sinclair, Grant Ward and new signing Romaine Sawyers.
Killip has been on top form in recent games, making a series of fine saves during the Reds’ impressive winning streak.
DAVIS KEILLOR-DUNN v JOSH GRIFFITHS
Griffiths has been the busiest goalkeeper in League One this season, making 89 saves in 24 games.
The West Bromwich Albion loanee was extremely busy at Oakwell in the FA Cup in September, making a series of fine stops across 120 minutes then keeping out Josh Earl’s penalty after Adam Phillips hit the post.
But he will be coming up against a forward in top form as Keillor-Dunn has five goals in his last six games, several of them expert finishes into the corners from distance.
He scored past Griffiths on his Barnsley debut earlier in the season.
OPPOSITION VIEW
Dan Hargraves, Bristol Post
Bristol Rovers fans have had very little to shout about this season which eventually cost Matt Taylor his job.
However, there is a degree of cautious optimism that new head coach Inigo Calderon will be able to steer the Gas clear of any relegation threat with Rovers still only five points clear of the dreaded dotted line.
The former Brighton under 18s manager is the Gas’ first foreign boss which alone has made him an exciting appointment.
Rovers were unlucky to lose against League One’s form team in Leyton Orient last time out at home and come into this weekend following a first league win in eight against Cambridge United.
PREVIOUS MEETINGS
Gas 1, Reds 1 – August 12, 2023
After the high of the 7-0 win over Port Vale on the opening day, this game gave us a glimpse of some of the problems Barnsley would face last season. They took the lead through Nicky Cadden’s crisp finish in the seventh minute but were defending for the majority of the rest of the match as the hosts created a slew of opportunities. Jon Marquis – who bullied makeshift centre-back Jordan Williams – missed a hat-trick of clear-cut chances, and so did Scott Sinclair who eventually levelled.
Gas 0, Reds 0 – March 21, 1992
Mal Machin’s Barnsley moved further clear of relegation trouble and extended their unbeaten run to eight games in this bore draw. They would return and win 5-1 later in the year.
Gas 1, Reds 1 – February 18, 1956
Barnsley’s first league game at Rovers and their second ever after a 4-0 win in the FA Cup in 1910. It was a second trip to Bristol in a fortnight, having lost 2-0 at Bristol City earlier that month. It was their first trip to the Eastville ground and they took the lead in the ninth minute through Bobby Wood then had another goal ruled out for offside. But the promotion-chasing hosts levelled on 75 minutes.
