Bristol Rovers’ manager Matt Taylor will be back in the dugout at St James Park for the first time since his departure from Exeter City in 2022.
The 42-year-old played, coached and managed the Grecians in a period that spanned over a decade. More recently, Taylor went onto manage Rothertham United since his departure from the Devon outfit, however he was sacked just before the turn of the year, where the Bristol Rovers vacancy appeared and the Lancastrian has never looked back since.
“I’d like to think there was 10 years of hard work, endeavor and real graft,” said Taylor. “They know I wasn’t the most talented in terms of my own skillset, but I gave that club absolutely everything, so I’d like to think people will understand and appreciate that.”#
Taylor scored 17 goals for the Grecians and played 160 times for the southwest club. “I’d like to think I’ve done relatively well for Exeter City as a football club, as a player, as a coach or as manager. I’m not one for sentiment, but I spent a lot of time there in terms of my playing career and coaching and managerial career, a good club with a lot of got good people there, but when we come together we’ll be looking for to pick up some points,” he added.
There will be mixed emotions for Taylor when he arrives at St James Park this afternoon, however the Rovers boss is a professional and won’t be distracted by the task on hand. “If you treat people properly and with respect generally they want to speak to you when you get a chance,” he said. “There is a lot of good people down there, a lot of good memories but I want that to be something that happens at Bristol Rovers as well.
“We have hit a little bit of a barrier in terms of our current league form, but there is no more distractions in terms of the cup competitions and I am searching for answers to the questions at the moment as to why we’re not performing better than we are.”
The Gas will be looking to get one back on Exeter, as their League One rivals beat Rovers 1-0 at the Memorial Stadium just 10 days ago, thanks to a first-half strike by Sonny Cox. The former Exeter boss was asked about how much the club has changed since his days there. “In terms of the playing personnel I must say, there’s been quite a big change around in relation to that. Maybe some of the younger ones are still there who were coming through during my time.
“Staffing wise, not in terms of the immediate back-room staff but behind the scenes there’s been a consistency there for 20 plus years now which is served them really well. Since I’ve left they have invested in a new training ground building, I’ve not seen it, but by all accounts it’s fantastic, so you can see where the club is going in the right direction and I wish him all the success in the future, just not when we play them!”
