CAPTAIN Luca Connell admits that the players must take some responsibility for the sacking of head coach Darrell Clarke.
The combative midfielder was made the captain of the club when Clarke arrived in May, following the departure of long-serving full-back Jordan Williams to Championship side Portsmouth.
But the season hasn’t gone entirely to plan, with the Reds currently sitting eight points outside the play-off places.
The recent form and performances on the pitch resulted in the board making a decision earlier this week to relieve Clarke of his head coach duties at Oakwell.
And Connell says the players must take accountability for their role in his departure.
He said: “As much as the gaffer has taken the hit on this one, I think the players have to look at themselves as well.
“It’s not just the gaffer why the club weren’t doing well enough.
“We’ve got to look at ourselves but it’s football and it happens.
“We’ve just got to move on as quick as we can now with a fresh start.
“I think there’s a lot of factors.
“There’s a lot of things that have gone on behind the scenes that not everyone knows about.”
Clarke was the third permanent manager that Connell has worked under since joining from Celtic in 2022.
The next man appointed will be Connell’s fourth, should he decide to stay in the summer.
He said: “It’s a completely different week now.
“We’ve got a meeting with Conor who’s obviously got it (the job).
“All the staff are still here so not a lot changes.
“But we’ve just got to listen to what Conor wants and see what he wants for the weekend.”
What does he expect to see from Conor in the final stretch of the season?
“I think if you ask anyone in the changing room, you can see how hard Conor works,” he added.
“They’d only have good things to say.
“He was obviously the set-piece coach under Darrell Clarke and I think under set-pieces we’ve done quite well.
“It’s good for him to get the opportunity.
“If he works that hard with everything else then there’s no reason why it can’t work.
“It’s Conor’s first job in coaching so no-one knows what he’s going to be like but it’s exciting to be working under him.
“Especially for me as I’ve been working closely with him all season.”
The Reds still have an outside chance, albeit an incredibly slim one, of making the play-offs for the third consecutive year this term.
And Connell says that’s the aim.
He added: “I don’t think the play-offs is a write off.
“We’ve got ten games now with a fresh start to give it a good bash and see if we can get in 5th or 6th.
“Hopefully we can turn things around in the last ten games.”
