Exclusive: When Bees Met McGhee

Today presented me with a fantastic experience and insight in to the way the media department works at Bristol Rovers. Having been invited in by Kirsty Pugh who works for the club, I made my way to the Rovers training ground for 9.30am sharp this morning (I'll go in to further detail about the whole experience in another blog post later).

I was given the opportunity to interview manager Mark McGhee exclusively for this blog, away from the different media outlets that swamp the South Bristol Sports centre on a press day. After Chris Swift of the Evening Post and Richard Hoskin of Radio Bristol had done their scheduled interviews, they went off and had a chat, allowing me to step in and question the gaffer on his time at the club so far and his feelings ahead of next season.

I had about 5 minutes to grill the Scotsman before he took training, so I got straight down to the questions all Gasheads wanted to hear his responses to. We shook hands before recording and then we began. 'Have you enjoyed your time at the club so far Mark?' I asked immediately, desperately trying to gauge his honest thoughts having been Rovers boss for over two months now. "Yes" was his instant response. "But one of the most important things that makes any manager's life at a club easier is results, so if we're getting results it'll always be enjoyable. Saying that, if you don't get results it's not half as enjoyable for me!"

Surmising how the 9 weeks have gone he explained; "When I'm coming up here from home early on a morning it's easy when you've won but much more difficult when you haven't. But yes, so far, it's been great." I felt the natural topic of conversation from this point would be the fans and the reaction he's received from them so far. "Yes. Again I think that's partly to do with results and really I'm holding my breath because it's next season that counts."

Me with Mark McGhee pre-Swindon

"The fans have been terrific. Away from home they've been unbelievable, I think we've had as good an away support as I've seen in a long time. This season I've watched a lot of games and the best away support I saw was Leeds United down at Brighton, which was fantastic, but I think our support that we had at the likes of Cheltenham and Swindon was up there. It was really superb." His glowing reference of Rovers fans was brilliant to hear and for Gasheads to be compared to support from a Championship side like Leeds whilst we're in League Two is something to be proud of. He often smiled at me whilst he was talking as it was explained to him beforehand that I was a huge Rovers fan. He could just have said what he did because he knew I was a Gashead, but having experienced the support first hand, I think it's fair to say he was being honest.

He's made no secret in recent weeks of the fact he is preparing for next season and working out what he wants to do in terms of new personnel. When I asked him about the attitudes of the players already here since he arrived he was very keen to stress that they've have been nothing but true professionals. "Their attitudes have been superb. Their willingness to try and implement the ideas that I've put to them, not all radical but slightly different to before, has been brilliant and they work on it brilliantly in training. They've done everything I've asked of them."

As you'd expect from such an experienced manager, he's very thorough in his research and confident that what he was saying would translate in to results on the pitch after the summer. "There's a long summer ahead of us and yesterday I was talking to some experts in the fitness, strength and power side [of things] and the lads will all be getting programmes for the close-season leading up to pre-season. In fact that will start a week on Monday after the Burton game where we'll be in the gym and starting to initiate those programmes. I expect to see a different level of fitness, strength and power come the start of next season on the 18th of August." He seemed particularly passionate about getting the players up to peak physical fitness over the summer, something he must have felt wasn't in place when he came in. His enthusiasm for the job was clear and it was great to chat to him knowing he was committed to the job and enjoying every moment of it.

Thursday's training loomed and as I knew Mark soon had to jet off to take the session, I thought the final question was best asked referring to summer movement. "There will be changes" was the clear response, something that he hadn't previously admitted when questioned by the local press. It was somewhat of an exclusive he gave me to share with you guys, so consider yourself privy to confidential information! "Looking at the ones under contract, there aren't any you wouldn't want to keep and those on loan we'd take back next year too so if we can keep what we've got, we won't be too badly off."

"Of course we do want to bring in a few others but I'm not going to come out and put a specific target of how many I wish to bring in. If I did and come August had less than that, people will constantly ask where the other signings were and when they'd be made and I don't want that." Very intelligent, but you'd expect nothing less from such a wily manager. Improvements will be made but no hints were given as to who we'd look to bring in and what areas we wish to strengthen, but that will be made clear in time. We're still only in April. Decisions will be made over the next few weeks on player contracts and once things have been signed, sealed and delivered, focus can then switch to new players. One thing is for sure, it's going to be exciting to see who comes and who goes.

That concluded the time I had to chat with Mark and he left having told a small joke about a work experience student who came to interview him whilst at Brighton. I won't say it on here though, I may get in trouble! We shook hands again and wished each other luck before we went our separate ways to do our work. I had a lot of respect for him and the job he's doing before today, but that's increased having met him personally and seen how sincere he is. Because of this I hope I'll be able to interview him again at some point in the future and provide further exclusives for the blog.

Roll on our big Good Friday game with Gillingham at the Mem tomorrow!

Mark McGhee's barmy army...