All of the stand out talking points after Bristol Rovers were beaten 2-1 away at Fleetwood Town
Daniel Hargraves Bristol Rovers reporter
07:30, 10 Aug 2025
Dan Hargraves is the Bristol Rovers reporter for Bristol Live. He joined the title in July 2023 having previously worked for Reach PLC as a freelance football writer in April 2022 while a journalism student at the University of Derby.
He has also reported on a number of football matches across European competition, the Premier League and EFL and covered the Birmingham Commonwealth Games in 2022. In his role as covering the Gas, he wants to leave no stone unturned and cover every angle of the football club for Gasheads’ enjoyment.
Bristol Rovers head coach Darrell Clarke has inherited big problems to fix(Image: Geraint Nicholas/PPAUK)
It is becoming increasingly difficult to write these pieces without effectively saying the same thing about Bristol Rovers as we have done for the past five months.
A 2-1 defeat to Fleetwood Town had squandered chances, poor defensive moments and body language that translated into anything but confidence…as has been the case in the vast majority of Rovers’ last 12 competitive matches. Of that dozen, they have lost 11 and drawn one. These first eight days of the season have well and truly been a hangover from the woes of last season’s relegation.
There is only so much metaphorical greasy food, vitamin tablets and paracetemol Darrell Clarke can provide his squad to ease their queasiness at such an early stage of working with them. Frankly, fans have every right to be concerned that it is going to get worse before it gets better.
READ MORE: Fleetwood Town 2-1 Bristol Rovers live: Reaction as Gas start season with back-to-back defeatsREAD MORE: Bristol Rovers player ratings vs Fleetwood: Omochere off the mark but defeat again for the Gas
This mess hasn’t been caused by Clarke, but it is his to clean up. He signed up for that though. He knew exactly what he was getting himself into and very rarely do managers walk into jobs with it already sunshine and roses. It is going to be a process, but how many times have supporters been told that over the past couple of years? Patience has been required and fans have offered it, but now that tolerance is wearing more thin as the weeks go by.
We could sit here and make the case that the last time Rovers were promoted out of League Two, they started poorly. The same with Clarke’s Conference promotion season; it’s a valid point. Frankly though, Gasheads have been put through enough over the past year and deserve something to shout about straight away, even if it isn’t near the finished article.
Clarke is demanding patience, but he is really going to have to wring hard to squeeze any more out of fans. Frankly, the supporters wanted to see improvement from the off and starting the League Two campaign with back-to-back defeats has, if anything, worsened the mood.
Once again, the head coach will have learned a great deal more about the players he has inherited after Saturday’s defeat to Fleetwood and you get the feeling that he could put an even greater stamp on the squad in the final couple of weeks of the transfer window.
Here are some of the stand out talking points after the loss at Highbury Stadium…
Darrell Clarke makes ‘fragile’ mentality point
Knowing Darrell Clarke’s ‘say it as he sees it’ approach, it always felt as though there would be a moment where the new head coach would really drill in on the issues of last season in an interview. It was just about how soon it would come.
It has only taken two games for the returning Rovers boss to make reference to mentality issues, which says a great deal. It was discussed under multiple managers and coaches last season, it was even a problem the campaign prior. A lot of the players are the common denominator in this case.
Clarke admitted that there are some still scarred by last term but there is only so much sympathy supporters can provide players who were part of a team that should have never even been on the cusp of relegation.
In both games this season, the Gas have started brightly, not taken the lead and then crumbled. The goal conceded against Harrogate was soft, but Will Davies’ double for Fleetwood was desperately poor.
There wasn’t really much of a reaction until the second half started while when Rovers had halved the deficit and should have been pushing for an equaliser, they rushed things and ended up being complacement and wasting the opportunity of a bonus seven added minutes.
There isn’t any doubt that these players want to succeed, but as every game goes by without a win, the pressure builds and it is obvious that there are individuals in this squad who are having a difficult time coping with that pressure. Clarke now needs to make decisions for each player he has inherited whether he is willing to make the effort to help them overcome scars of seasons past or whether they aren’t going to play a significant part in his plans. Saturday should have put him closer to finalising those decisions.
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Fabrizio Cavegn makes his debut
There was a first glimpse of new striker Fabrizio Cavegn in blue-and-white quarters who was handed his Bristol Rovers debut from the start.
The 22-year-old started the game with a real sharpness about him, looking desperate to make an immediate impact. He certainly isn’t short of confidence, raising his arms to his new supporters after winning a corner early into the match.
It became quieter for the Swiss as the afternoon went on and Rovers found themselves 2-0 down but it was an intriguing first appearance.
“It’s always difficult when he’s not worked with the group for a period of time,” Clarke said to Bristol Live. “I thought he had a half chance first half, worked hard. We expect him to get stronger and stronger.”
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Promise Omochere off the mark
When Promise Omochere was dragged down and subsequently won a penalty, a handful of players hovered around trying to stake their claim to take the spot kick. It looked like Ellis Harrison was ready to take it, but the ball was then passed on to the man who won the penalty.
Obviously, we don’t know what exactly was being said between them, but the psychological benefit of seeing the ball hit the back of the net for Omochere will hopefully be massive. The Irishman, whose last goal came against Exeter City on Boxing Day, has appeared to be lacking in confidence at times, but that will do him the world of good.
On past evidence, the striker is a bit of a streaky forward, and an in-form, confident Omochere is a real asset for Bristol Rovers.
Promise Omochere opened his account for the season at former side Fleetwood Town(Image: Tom Sandberg/PPAUK)M6 horrorshow adds to continued away day woes
It has been over seven months since Bristol Rovers last won away from home in a competitve outing. Of course, three of those months are redundant considering the off-season. However, the fact that Rovers haven’t won on the road since January 4 makes it even more impressive that hundreds of fans made the effort to complete one of the more gruelling journeys they’ll have to complete this season.
The effort required from supporters to get to Highbury in the first place was extortionate as a closure on the M6 left coaches and cars in standstill.
One supporters’ coach managed to arrive just in time for kick-off while another showed up after the game had started. It also sounded as though some drivers cut their losses and turned around.
It was a memorable first away day of the season…but for all of the wrong reasons.
READ MORE: Darrell Clarke details ‘fragile’ mentality issue at Bristol Rovers following Fleetwood defeatREAD MORE: Josh McEachran looking to put experience to good use at Bristol Rovers following summer arrival