Darrell Clarke apologises to fans in his scathing reaction on Bristol Rovers’ 4-1 defeat to Tranmere in League Two at the weekend.
Tranmere ended their seven-match winless streak with Nathan Smith opening the scoring, followed by a brace from Connor Jennings, who also assisted Josh Davison’s goal.
Alfie Chang scored a late consolation for Bristol Rovers, but Tranmere dominated, with the home fans booing at the final whistle.
The result leaves Bristol Rovers sitting 16th with 17 points from 13 games played, Trannere are 18th with 14 points from 12 games.
The hosts hoped they could bounce back from their 4-0 defeat against MK Dons in the previous fixture.
“I apologise, first and foremost,” Clarke said, per Bristol Live.
“I put a team out there that represents me, and we were so far off it today. Out-battled, out-duelled, out-played in all areas of the pitch and it’s not acceptable and it’ll never be acceptable whilst I’m manager.
“I think everybody knows me now over a period of time here and I won’t accept performances like that, so we’ll be in in the morning.
“We’ve got to learn the hard way because once is a one off, last week, twice is not. I’ve seen a team out there getting out-battled, outrun, out-competed and outplayed.
“And when you do that, the consequences are what they are until we get better.
“So, otherwise I apologise to my supporters and make sure I try and get a reaction next game.”
“I apologise to all the supporters” – Darrell Clarke’s full post match press conference after Tranmere defeat #UTG⛽️
Catch all my post match coverage on @BristolWorldUK pic.twitter.com/6KXfdMI6O3
— Harvey Maggs (@HJ_Maggs) October 18, 2025
“Listen, one off last week, but for me, this week the training’s been good, intensity’s been good. The talks, the work we’d done, everything seemed really positive, I just spoke to my staff about that.
“But if you’re not going to back it up at three o’clock on a Saturday, and let’s be honest, we’ve been given the support, right?
“You know, the fans have been right behind us like they continue to be behind us but when we give them that performance, it’s going to get negative. If we can’t do the basics of the game right, accept it, accept it.”
He added that no one is exempt from responsibility: “There’s one or two that need to, and by the way not just the boys that were here last season, let’s not paper over the cracks, the boys that I’ve signed in the summer [were] nowhere near good enough.
“So, there’s no point pointing the finger. Everybody has to hold accountability and we’re miles off it. And that’s what happens in football, at levels. If you’re miles off it, if you don’t want to do the basics of the game right, you get punished, and we got punished.
“We started rubbish. First 30 minutes we were poor. I thought the back end of the first half [was] a little bit better, a little bit better.
“Second half, I get into them; to be honest with you, I told them at half time they’ll be in Sunday if it didn’t get any better and it got worse.
“We give a real shocking goal away, the second goal, and then we collapsed. Not enough character, not enough leaders out there. And, like I said, the buck stops with me.
“You know me, you’ve done plenty of interviews with me, I don’t go hiding, I don’t go shirking, I don’t go in my shell, I stand up and be counted.
“You know, I’ve got to look at myself and think, these are my players, my systems. I mean, we talk formations, it’s not formations, it was a heart and a desire thing today. It’s an application thing and we’re miles off it.
“I won’t accept that they’re running harder than us on our own patch, and a team that’s been out of form as well, that won’t be acceptable.
“So, you’ve got to learn the hard way so a bit of old-school treatment. I’m not all for this smothering players and arms round them when you put in performances like that. There has to be consequences.
“The buck stops with me because managers get sacked but, three or four of those performances and managers get sacked, you’re on your merry way [and] players are still here. So, we’ll have to find a different way to make sure performances like that don’t happen again.”
Here’s how Twitter users reacted as Darrell Clarke apologises to fans in his scathing reaction on Bristol Rovers’ 4-1 defeat to Tranmere…
@GabSutton: Concerned about the trajectory of Bristol Rovers under the Al-Saeeds. This hadn’t occurred to me in the summer but, just re-evaluating it all, I’d have to question whether they have the right mindset to successfully run a football club. Unreasonable expectations and background interference seems to have been an issue there previously. Don’t know whether it still is – but whispers that Abdullatif is returning to England to have more day-to-day involvement again casts a dim light over the rest of the season, especially if he’s going to try and get involved on the football side. I reckon the club was in a better place with an Al-Qadi majority ownership, even if the financial scope was perhaps more limited, just because he’s a humble, level-headed guy and a safe pair of hands. Apprehensive that a lot of good work could be undone at the Mem – and I would hate for that to come under Darrell Clarke’s legacy. Hope I’m wrong here. #UTG 🔵⚪️⛽️
@Brfc_awaydays: I trust him. lads like Ruel need to be worked on though. Theres no fight.
@AndrewL10815812: No driving energy from midfield. That sets the tone and neither Mc or Content provide that. Contrast with a Lines or Sercombe and it becomes clear. That’s what we need in January and a guy like the second half sub for Tranmere today.
@amorgan34: Can’t argue with that… #UTG
@calcology: Stick with DC, he will get it right but it’s a massive job with the hangover from last season. The players he has inherited are completely crap, that’s the bottom line.
@brfctom: Love the bloke so much but coming back gonna tarnish his legacy, simple as
@JonerJones84: Strong chat from DC as per, but the tactics sit with him from today and last week. Get them in tomorrow, for sure, but how about working on a decent pattern of play rather than hoof ball garbage!
@MancalledMonk: Too many passengers in the team still, no depth in quality and heads seemed to go today at 2-0 down and there was no chance of getting back into it. What I wouldn’t give for a Lines, Anderson or Sinclair in the midfield for energy or to make things happen.
@Xtracover4: I love DC but today was just so embarrassing. Last week was poor against an average side . Today Tranmere wanted it more and could’ve and should’ve been 7/8 goals to the good. There was no fight from us. We passed the ball back so many times,no runs into space everything was bad
@Nichola24192020: Darrell means business. UTG 💙⛽.
@baileytim166: Really hard to watch this last few games. Yes most of the players attitude and fight were way off but we have to find a better way to get Fab into games other than the long ball until Promise is fit as it just isn’t working, the front 3 are struggling because they are all small.
@Luke73072657: You can say oh yeah trained well and all that. But how come we never see these passages of play on match day. All we do is hoof the fucking ball forward we don’t see any of that practice in training when that’s all we do on match day. Also gotta be a reason the players aren’t fit
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