Bristol Rovers have another month to conduct any business in the transfer market, despite the new season commencing this weekend.
Darrell Clarke has promised that Bristol Rovers’ squad will be “a lot stronger” by the end of the summer transfer window than when he returned to the club in May.
Rovers begin their 2025/26 League Two season at home against Harrogate Town on Saturday, but they will still have until 7pm on September 1 to conclude any outstanding business, of which there appears to be a significant number.
The Gas have added eight players this summer, and 17 have left since the conclusion of last season. Both figures are expected to climb, with the Pirates remaining confident in reinforcements while acknowledging that they will eventually have to trade players.
When asked about his present squad ahead of Saturday’s season opener, Clarke replied, “You always want more, don’t you, as a head coach? But I think time will tell. What I will say is that by the end of the transfer window, I believe we will have a far stronger group than when we started. That I can assure.
So these things take a little time. Always in pieces and manoeuvres. We’ll see how we begin the season. There are more games in August as well. I’ve stated it a few times: I believe we’ll be playing dealing until the end of the window, and for me, it’s all about coming out of it stronger than we went in.
“Obviously, relegation necessitates significant modifications. The financial ramifications of that are also significant, so we must work hard to control it and put together a truly competitive side by the end of the window.”
Rovers signed 16 players last summer and were busy in the January transfer window, however they finished 22nd and were relegated from League One.
Their budget did not reflect that of a club expected to struggle at the bottom of the third tier, and their consequent relegation has had, and will have, financial consequences.
Although more incomings are predicted, the Pirates will also have outgoings during their remaining month of action in the window.
“It is because, no disrespect, relegation comes at a cost, doesn’t it?,” Clarke confessed when asked if trade includes both ins and outs. “We’ve lost a lot of money in the last few years, and we can’t continue like this. So, with that, we need to start acting a little more responsibly within our limits to ensure that we get the correct team of players, and sometimes you lose one or two players along the road, which I don’t mind.
“For me, it’s just the way football works. It’s the nature of the game, and we’re probably no different than most clubs we’ve played against who will be constantly exchanging players.”
Several players, including Connor Taylor, Kofi Shaw, Kamil Conteh, and Ruel Sotiriou, have been linked to other clubs this summer.
Although the Rovers head coach did not name who would quit the football club in the coming month, he stressed that everyone is replaceable, regardless of who leaves. “We’re in League Two,” Clarke explained.
“Listen, everyone is replaceable. I’ve managed in League One and League Two. I’ve managed a lot of League One games now. Every player is replaceable. It’s the way we work and how things are.
“The most important factor in achieving success at football teams is how soon a group can be connected. Of course, you don’t want to lose your top players, but that is sometimes the case. We need to develop a squad here, and I’m not sure how long it will take for us to get that rhythm, that connection, and to be where we need to be so that we can start evolving and moving ahead as a group, because there are so many levels to that.
“We’re at the very bottom of the layers myself and my coaching staff are trying to build and I know we live in a footballing world where everybody wants this and that now but there’s a hell of a lot of work that goes into it and around that while trying to build a squad and trying to be sustainable at the same time.”
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