Daniel Wales and Charles Hague-Jones look at what the priorities are for the next Bristol Rovers manager.
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00:00Dan, looking at Bristol Rovers now, obviously, sacking Matty Taylor after dropping to 20th
00:07in League One. A massive job ahead for the new manager, whoever it is, to come in. Firstly,
00:14I mean, next game, Wrexham. Then they obviously play Exeter, Stevenage. It's a long while,
00:23really, until they play a side down near the bottom, which is probably Cambridge or Leighton
00:27Orient to point above them at this time. Now, it's a massive job. It's a huge sort of chance
00:36to go one way or take the club another, and the owners need to get this decision right,
00:41whoever it is. What does the next Rovers boss actually need to ensure that happens? Because
00:48they aren't really scoring enough goals, it's clear to see as well, and they are conceding
00:55quite a lot as well. So, tough fixtures coming up, a massive job on his hands. What does the
01:00next Rovers boss need to do? Well, this season, I think, it's about survival, to be honest,
01:07at least at the moment, because that's the way they've been sliding down the league. But having
01:12said that, because the league is so tight, let's be honest, if they can get a string of results
01:17together, they could actually push up the table and just sort of secure that mid-table place in
01:23the division and be just a little bit away from the threats of relegation. I'm not saying that
01:29anything more than that's possible this season. It might be, but certainly the way things have
01:32been going, it doesn't look that way. So, you'd imagine that getting themselves away from the
01:38relegation zone and just into mid-table, and the safety and security of mid-table in League One
01:44is the aim. And that is a toll on itself, because as tight as the league is, they haven't been good.
01:50Performances have been pretty poor over the last few weeks, and obviously that's led to
01:55Matt Taylor's sacking. And as much as it is tight as well, other teams are picking up points and
02:03this run couldn't have gone on forever, and that's why the sacking has come. But
02:09going on further into the future from that, of course, they have recently had the confirmation
02:13of an ongoing takeover to bring the club into a new era. So, the new owners there, Al Saeed,
02:22he'll want the club not just to be relegation fodder going forward. He'll want them to be a
02:28competing club. He'll look at their neighbours, Bristol City, and think, well, why can't we be
02:33like that and get into the championship and compete with them? And so, you've got to think
02:38that it's not just a manager perhaps that they're hiring now to just make them survive. It's a
02:43manager that they'll want to help them compete in the future as well. And that's a tall order
02:49because they aren't the richest club in the world, and obviously every club is having to
02:55deal with PSR, but they need to just be better as a club overall.