[BFC SITE] Darrell Clarke | Pre-Northampton Town

Fixtures

• Northampton Town Vs. Barnsley - Sat, Jan 11 2025, 15:00

Head Coach Darrell Clarke spoke to the media ahead of the Reds' trip to Northampton Town on Saturday afternoon in Sky Bet League One.

A Strong Festive Run


"Obviously, a good run. I don't think there have been many teams picking up maximum points over the four games over the Christmas and early New Year period. So that's great. But it's chip paper now, as the old saying goes, we'll go on to the next game. It's not about getting five wins on the road, it's about just always 'let's take care of the next game'. Northampton have a new manager, so we expect a tough afternoon down there, but we'll be ready for it."

Building the Team from the Ground Up


"Listen, when I came in, there was obviously quite a bit of work to be done. There were a lot of players that were mainstays in the team last year that are no longer here. We were working with two or three players that played in the team last year, and then a lot of them were fringe players. So, gelling it together, getting some additions in was obviously vital and the right additions. It's good building blocks, shall we call it, with 20, or 21 games remaining. This Christmas period, I said I wanted to attack the second half of the season, and we put ourselves in a position where we can challenge to do that. But I don't underestimate how much work I've still got to do here. There's a lot of work still to be done. Yes, we're on a good run. We still have plenty of areas where we need to improve on. We need to just keep pushing forward."

Preparing Despite the Conditions


"We just prepare professionally as we can. Obviously, the weather conditions haven't been ideal, but we've got an indoor area that we can use, and we'll be training on the main pitch today and tomorrow. We're fortunate that we can use these facilities. So we're just preparing like the game's on. We can't control that. And certainly, myself and my staff won't be thinking about that, the weather can change pretty quickly. I know it's cold in most parts of the country, but we'll be ready if the game's on."

Corey's Form and Contribution


"I didn't think he had the greatest start to the season, by Corey's high standards, and then since coming in to the team he has been absolutely excellent. He's a player that makes great runs. He's good on the press. He's always pretty active in all the games. So really pleased with Corey's form at the minute. But, himself, he knows he needs to keep it going. He needs to keep the form that's giving him high accolades and high assists, which is great for us."

Praising the Team's Finisher


"For me, he's our best natural finisher. That's why we brought him to the football club. He's very intelligent with and without the ball. He's shown his quality over a long period of time throughout his career. He's been in really hot form and we're just really pleased to have him in our team. Not only that, he's a real good team-worker, shall we call it. He doesn't sacrifice the jobs that we need him to do to, to make sure that he's good without the ball as well, which is really pleasing. He's an intelligent footballer and hopefully, his hot streak continues."

Assessing the Opponents


"They're fighting for their lives to a certain extent. Jon Brady has done a magnificent job over a good few years there. Picked up quite a few injuries, but they strengthened us a little bit and no doubt they'll strengthen in the window. Kevin Nolan, who's, come in, I thought he did a decent job at Notts County. He's coached in the Premier League. So, listen, they'll be well organised, well drilled, without a shadow of a doubt. But, you know, as I say, most weeks is we're focusing on us and how we can hurt them and what we can do to go and try and win the game."

Home Form Challenges


"The home form has been more of a mental issue. You know, we, we've looked at it, there's not a lot changed. Back-to-back home wins is a great start to the year. We still need to do a lot of work, but we need to continue with our way and I personally, treat every game as a different project. That's the way I've worked for years now. And I don't really focus on home and away. I get the stats and we need to do better at home, but for me, it's just focus to go and win the next game. The opposition is always going to have different strengths and weaknesses than the previous game. It's working my week according to that with my coaching staff. You know, the different patterns in games, different formations. You come up, with the different characteristics of the other teams can be possession-based. Some teams go back to front. So every game is a different game. We go from Peterborough, Bolton away where they are very possession-based teams that want to build from the back a lot of the time and then Northampton, you know, they're a different team as well. So it's just respecting that and working, working away to go and try and break that down each game."

No Stone Unturned in Preparation


"It's an unbelievable amount of work that myself and my coaching staff and my analytical team do. You know, we're working away. We've had no breaks over the Christmas period, us as staff because we're putting it all together so that the players not only do they see the information, the work we do in the classroom, what we're trying to get onto, but then we're obviously on the training pitch. All players learn in different ways. Some learn more in the classroom, some learn more on the training pitch, some both, individual meetings, unit meetings, and the whole lot goes on. I pride myself on making sure there's no stone unturned to try and win the next game and that's why the work continues in that format. Looking at the data, looking where we need to improve, loads of things go into trying to win football matches. I think it's a little bit lazy at times when people just think we come in and train for an hour and a half and get on our way. It's evolved in many aspects. The data, the detail we can get on opposition teams, everything now. There's so much work to be done. And games of football, I've said it all along, at pro level are always one on fine lines. So if we can narrow down all those fine lines of making sure from the finest of details, that gives us that platform to try and win a game."

The Drive to Succeed


"The day I don't feel as hungry as I do now, the day I don't care, the day I'm here just robbing the living, that's the day I pack in. But that'll never happen with me because I'm addicted to trying to win and trying to make this club better."

In a Good Place Despite Challenges


"We're not in a bad place. We got through the Christmas period very well. We're in a pretty good place when it comes to injury. We've had a bit of illness in the camp as, as most teams have, but other than we're not in bad shape."

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