Clark’s time as manager started in earnest this week, with the postponement of Saturday’s scheduled game at home to Luton Town creating a mini-pre-season for a team six points adrift of safety with only eight games to play.
With his contract due to expire after that, staying in the division is his only concern – not the style.
Clark began with a hospital pass of a first game, away to leaders Lincoln City, on only his fourth day. The Imps won 3-0.
“I’m going to give the fans a team that’s going to wear the shirt with pride and the badge with pride,” promised Clark. “I’ll give them passion, honesty, commitment, desire. What they deserve.
“I can’t promise that will be enough to play sexy football and win football matches, but I’ll make sure those players that represent this football club and the fans, who I do admire, get players who are going to be committed.
“They’re going to run through the proverbial brick wall to get results. If we have a little bit of a mishap, we quickly put it to bed and we move on to the next one.
“That’s the way it’s got to be. We need them (fans) more than ever now. We need them.
“Whatever’s gone in the past, whatever issues they may have and not have, all I’ll ask them to do is just focus on the players. They need that support.
“We all need to stick together.
“If we all come together as one, we have a brilliant opportunity of keeping the club in the division and then building for the future and whatever issues they have, they can then voice those issues come the end of the season.”
Chief operating officer Paul Douglas says keeping Rotherham in the third tier is a matter of pride for the town.
“This club has been a real beacon of esteem for the people of Rotherham,” he said. “We do take it seriously so we don’t want to be relegated.
“But we’re in a football pyramid. We’re trying our best not to be relegated, but whatever happens, it won’t dim our enthusiasm to be as successful as we can be in subsequent seasons.”
This will be the fourth successive season Rotherham have finished lower than the previous year, but Douglas denies they are in a downward spiral.
“I don’t think there’s a spiral you get into and you just can’t get out of,” he said. “You get out of it by rolling your sleeves up, working hard, sticking together and hopefully having a bit of a change in luck but sticking to your principles that got you initial success.”
Be the first to comment