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    New manager appointed
    Tranmere Rovers have appointed Darrell Clarke as the club’s new manager.
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Silence

If Mark is away then we cannot expect any sale completion any time soon. It would be surprising if AC was appointed and a new owner came in next week with their own man. Mind you we are talking about Rovers!
 
I am broadly supportive of this appointment. Crosby transformed our season from heading to the NL
to fairly comfortable survival and deserves the chance to move things forward. It also means the club can be proactive in the transfer window rather than waiting for the takeover to conclude if it does.


Reservations are the release/try to retain list where AC let go the two players he had improved the most; Wood and Merrie, while trying to keep players who seem past it like Walker. Also Crosby hasn’t taken the lead in squad building previously. Hopefully these prove unfounded and he can deliver a decent squad with the available funds.
 
There's a photo going around of Smurf in his full Rovers kit. Wrong on so many levels, embarrassing!
 
God i hope mark has not got him in. I remember when it was on Sky. The guy it a real bad egg
 
bring back the cowshed! said:
If you have forgotten who Norman Smurthwaite is, here is a little reminder. After what he did at Port Vale, we don’t want him running our club.

Norman Smurthwaite - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org en.m.wikipedia.org
Click to expand...
Thanks for sharing BBTC.

I didn’t know much about Smurfwaite but he’s had a very chequered history given his dealings at Port Vale. Doesn’t sound ideal at all but as DB suggests, is he the the only option for Palios who is in poor health and needs to retire? If so can we blame Mark for selling it to Norman if the Tacopina deal has fallen through?

Of course it is likely that Crosby has knowledge of Smurfwaite from his time at Port Vale and surely wouldn’t have become manager if the person above him was a nightmare to work for.

Interesting times, but the club needs clarity asap
 
I'm not saying he should be our owner but without the help we received from Smurthwaite we would have been in a lot worse position
 
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Smurthwaite’s just a lender, effectively replacing the Allied Irish loan. We surely wouldn’t have had much difficulty obtaining finance from other potential lenders but MP did say this loan was at a better rate than AIB (plus of course he already had a relationship with the bloke….mates rates?!). So, although the loan does help us, it’s not as if we’re dependent on Smurthwaite.

Btw Smurthwaite was long gone from Port Vale before Crosby went there.
 
Very positive as you’d expect and repeats his ambitions are promotion.
Mentions recruitment a few times which starts now so he must have assurances about the budget, whoever is paying the bills.
 
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Very good interview.

Glowing praise for Parky too.

Good to hear about recruitment, and interesting little quips about ‘financial constraints, or not’ and players being fit for match 46 as much as for match 1, which would be welcome! Noticed yesterday that the window opens on June 1 btw.

And pre-season’s all mapped out, including the friendlies!
 
A very impressive interview. Very erudite and very focussed on what we need to do.
Personally didn't think he would get the job if there was going to be a takeover as he is not a "Name" but leaving that aside he now has a glorious chance to really develop his managerial career. Will he have the Midas touch re recruitment is the critical thing?
Interesting re bigging up Parky - said there was now a vacancy as No. 2 but sidestepped whether he would bring his own man in or not. Maybe Parky is pitching for the role or else threatening to leave? Expect to hear either way shortly.
Fitness - basically confirmed Finley's dig back in last November that pre-season fitness training was inadequate last year. Hopefully that alone will mean less injuries and a stronger start to the season.
 
He must be fairly confident about next season due to the results he obtained over his 13 games in charge. It was playoff form and if he can tweak the squad a little and hopefully strengthen in certain areas, he might have a case.
 
He talks confidently but not arrogantly. He is popular with the fans and takes that relationship very seriously.

He seems well organised. The pre-season friendlies last year took ages to be announced and there did not seem to be quite enough games. Let's hope more are public this time.

I am looking forward to seeing what a full season brings - after a full pre-season programme - and with his own players (contract renewals and new players).
 
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