Dave Horseman has issued gratitude to Bristol Rovers fans for their support so far this season during a tough campaign and has requested that they produce a memorable Mem atmosphere tomorrow lunchtime when managerless Rovers host promotion chasing Wrexham.
Horseman will be in interim charge of the Gas after the club confirmed that Matt Taylor had been sacked on Monday. Although at the time of writing Rovers haven’t appointed a replacement for Taylor, they are hopeful that they are close.
For now though, first-team coach Horseman is in charge who also led the team for two games recently while Taylor took a leave of absence to deal with a family emergency, the penalty shootout success at Barnsley and the dire 3-0 defeat at Leyton Orient.
“First of all, thank you, because I think they’ve been brilliant,” the Rovers interim boss told Bristol Live when asked what his message to supporters at this difficult time. “I mean, they travel in numbers. My son is only 15 but he was on the train up to Birmingham and they really have stuck with us in a really difficult period.
“So first of all, a massive thank you to them. I’ve had one or two not so nice Facebook messages, but the majority of the people have been really, really positive when I’ve spoken to them and the people I’ve seen out when I’m watching the kids play on a Sunday morning are really positive.
“Look, stick with us. George and Abdullatif and everybody on the board are building a really exciting project here. It’s not going quite as well as probably what everybody thought because of the inconsistencies but once we get there., it’s a young, vibrant, up and coming team and they’re only going to get better.
“We thank them massively for their support and we need to give them a little bit more back but the more noise they can make on Saturday will make a big difference for us.”
Rovers are lingering dangerously close to the drop zone, sat in 20th place and are just two points clear of the dreaded dotted line.
They have won just one of their last seven League One matches, scoring only two goals in that period with chance creation, let alone goal scoring, a major issue of late.
However, the Gas’ best outings this season have largely come at home and Horseman is hoping that the change in the dugout will trigger supporters to produce the type of atmosphere the Mem has historically been associated with when they welcome in-form Wrexham.
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“I think the Northampton game, as much as anything, the fans won the game,” the Rovers interim boss reflected. “Like it was ridiculous. First game of the season, I get all that. They almost sucked it into the goal. Even some of the away support is absolutely amazing to spend all that money travelling because every game seems to be way up north. So I think they’ve been absolutely brilliant.
“We have to give them more. There’s no secret. Now we’re not hiding away from that but the more they can help us at the moment and then we give back to them, I think the players, the young players particularly, need that.
“I always think you look at the staff and the players first and say ‘we have to bring the energy to them [the fans],” Horseman added. “They always respond and they always watch in numbers, travel in numbers and they haven’t had, in the last couple of weeks, much to be excited about. We have to give them that.
“So we have to start on the front foot. We have to give them a belief this weekend, but more importantly, Monday, moving forward, that we’re an exciting team to watch. It’s an entertainment business at the end of the day so there needs to be entertainment. When we deliver that, they’ll get all excited.”
