Clarke 'perfect choice' for Rovers return - Lines
Clarke left Rovers in December 2018
- Published
Former Bristol Rovers midfielder Chris Lines says Darrell Clarke is the "perfect choice" to get the club back into League One.
Clarke returned to the club this week after Inigo Calderon was sacked following relegation this season.
In his first spell at the Gas, between 2014 and 2018, he secured successive promotions, taking Rovers from the National League to the third tier. He went on to manage Walsall, Port Vale, Cheltenham and Barnsley, who he left in March.
"He's the best manager I ever worked with and got on with as a friend and manager," Lines, who himself enjoyed two spells at Rovers and played under Clarke for three years, told BBC Radio Bristol. "It is the perfect choice.
"He's got a tough job ahead of him, but he did last time. He's got serial success, he's a serial winner. He will eliminate the negativity around the place. Everyone loves him."
Lines suggested Clarke's appointment may be a way for chairman Hussain AlSaeed to get fans back onside after a dismal campaign.
"It happened so quickly; maybe they had a plan in mind," he added.
"[It is] a lift for the club and supporters, they are the main people who need positivity at the minute, and something to look forward to for next season. For them it is brilliant.
"It'll get supporters who have been cynical or sceptical slightly back on side. It could be a masterstroke from that perspective."
'We're backing him fully and completely'
On Thursday, AlSaeed wrote an open letter to the club's fans explaining the decision to bring Clarke back to the club.
"Darrell's history with this club, combined with his energy and experience, made him the clear choice to lead the team into the next phase," he said.
"We're backing him fully and completely; with resources, with structure, and with time."
He added that Calderon and he did not share a vision for the future of the club ahead of a battle for promotion.
The former Brighton & Hove Albion Under-18 coach was appointed to succeed Matt Taylor but managed just six wins from his 26 games as Rovers plunged from a position of safety - nine points clear of the bottom four - into relegation.
"While his passion was evident, the outcomes didn't align with the direction we need to take. We thank him for his efforts and wish him well in the next stage of his career."