New Bristol Rovers head coach Inigo Calderon met local media for the first time on Friday afternoon alongside director of football George Friend.
The 42-year-old has joined from Brighton and Hove Albion where he had been manager of the Seagulls’ under-18s, having also played for the Sussex outfit for six years between 2010 and 2016.
The Spaniard is Rovers’ first foreign managerial appointment in their history and will be hoping he can guide the Gas up the League One table with their current position of 19th place a precarious one.
Calderon will take charge of his first game on Sunday when Rovers travel to Stevenage but, in the mean time, here’s a full transcript of every word the new Gas boss said as well as what Friend had to say too…
Inigo, welcome to Bristol Rovers. What made this the right decision for you at this stage in your career, becoming the new head coach of the club?
IC: I think it was the right time for me. I think I needed to spend some time in England with the 18s to get used to the country again, to the philosophy, to everything to set up better in England. But there was a moment that I started to need proper football and I think when that opportunity came I didn’t think too much because I think there are a lot of things that I like a lot.
I said yesterday before the game that I have feelings similar to the ones I had when I came to Brighton to play. The team was fighting relegation in League One but at that moment there was something, a plan coming up after. We have the training ground coming up. They were talking about the new stadium. So I have a lot of things I can feel here.
To be fair, it’s been chaotic the last days and today has been done but I have really, really good feelings. Yesterday, even losing the game, I could see the team do good things. The staff, the players, the training ground, everything is perfect. I mean it and I think there’s good things to come.
I’ve been reading an interview you gave to The Athletic where you had a tactics board as a 13-year-old. You preferred coaching to playing. Was it always a dream and ambition to be a head coach of a football club one day?
IC: Yeah, I start to think about how crazy I was last time in my career because when I started to do that, I remember doing set pieces when I was 15, I didn’t think I wanted to be a coach. I was just enjoying playing football and that but I’ve always been coaching. Even when I was 18, I was coaching under-17s. They didn’t know I was 18. So I love coaching and I say now that it’s true that I love coaching more than playing because I’m really busy in my head.
So I like to be thinking a lot about football and when you’re a player, it’s just two hours, one hour-and-a-half and after you have to rest. As a coach, you have 24 hours to do something and I love it.
It’s true that, yeah, playing football is great but sometimes I think you can think more when you’re a coach and I really enjoy it because, as I say, you have too many things to do, you have to prepare the game, you have to prepare the session, you have problems with the players, you have problems with the staff. So there’s always something going on and I love it. It’s good.
This is only your first day today, so I imagine you’ve done an enormous amount of things in a short space of time. But when you settle in, what kind of style of football would you like Bristol Rovers to play?
IC: It’s been my first day but in my head it’s been working out, as I said before with George, I have so many things in my head I want to do. So for me it’s really important to try to do first day A, after the B, after the C because I cannot do everything in a few weeks.
But obviously at the end I’m going to try, or the team is going to try to play football to win games, basically. That’s what we have to do now. If that means that we have to play good football, probably that’s going to be the style we’re going to try to use, but without being naive at all. We adapt to League One.
The way I like to play football is controlling the game. You can control the game with the ball, without the ball, but controlling the game, not being too much like an NBA game; I don’t like that. So I would like to see a team like that. I want to win the game with passion. I always talk about passion because when I came here, they talk about the passion of the fans. I say, ‘okay if it’s about passion it’s not going to be a problem for me’ because something I have is passion for this sport.
As I say, a team that wants to play football honest and wants to give a lot for the fans because for me it was crazy yesterday. How many fans that were there and even losing the game, supporting the team, we have to do that for them.
You watched them at Exeter yesterday and you’ve seen them on the training ground today. How do you initially assess the group of players that you’ve inherited?
IC: I didn’t want to know the table, now you told me about how many points clear we are because that doesn’t change my mentality. The way we are going to approach the game doesn’t change. We have to approach the game the same way, even if we play against the top one and that’s the mentality I have, to be a proactive team.
I’ve been watching them a lot. I’ve been watching this morning. It’s a big room to improve. I said to the boys this morning that the table doesn’t lie. You are there because of a reason. So you have to do many more things better than the ones we are doing at the moment and that’s not a problem, you realise about that. And yes, I agree, we have to do a lot of things much better and we will do it for sure. I don’t know if it’s going to be one week, two weeks, three weeks, but we’re going to improve 100 per cent.
And you’re from the Basque part of Spain that’s very passionate, it’s got a football hotbed. You’re now a Gashead. Bristol Rovers, a very tribal fanbase. What have you first made of the fans that you went and spoke to before the game yesterday?
IC: Yeah I liked it. I have a small story. I was coming down to the stadium on Gloucester Road. I was there in 2009 because I came to watch a game here, I think it was against Southampton. I was watching the game here and I thought ‘I like this stadium’. Don’t tell me why. I like the different stands, the environment, the people that are put in the corner.
And yesterday [it was] the same even the fans you have in the stands, I like it and as I say, the fans yesterday, they didn’t know me at all and they showed so much support and love to me.
So listen, I have a big responsibility but I’m gonna try my best 100 per cent.
And George, if I could bring you into the conversation. Why have you chosen Inigo as the new head coach of Bristol Rovers? What qualities has he brought to the football club?
GF: Calde, sorry I call him Calde because it’s easier to say and he doesn’t mind it, but he’s someone I’ve tracked personally for a long time. [I was] fortunate enough to have played against him and followed his career as a player. I think, as you mentioned, what he’s done at Brighton mirrors what we’re wanting to do here. It’s not a bad benchmark to have.
And then also tracking him post-retirement as well. Six years of coaching. Knowing what his character is like and knowing, for me, he’s got that blend. Okay, he’s Spanish, as you say, from the Basque Country, but, he’s a very English Spaniard in that sense because he played like an Englishman at times. But then he had that Spanish flair and I hope he can bring that, and that perfect balance and blend into his management as well.
And the biggest part, I’ll be honest, is the board are so key on people. They want the right people here. Good people, good characters. Good characters and we certainly have that in Calde and we really believe in it.
In terms of a backroom staff, Dave Horseman will work on the coaching team and Kevin Bond has been brought back into the football club as well. Do you anticipate anyone else being added to the coaching staff?
GF: Just firstly on that, I think Dave needs some serious credit for what he’s done. He’s had to step up on a number of times when Matt [Taylor] was away with his family stuff and then now being interim as well and for part of that just doing it on his own with his support staff. So credit to him for that. He’s been superb and he will be a serious aide for Calde as well.
And Bondy coming back is great. The Rovers fans know him. Some of the players and the staff do as well and his experience will be invaluable as it goes forward.
We’re not sure. There has been a slight restructure already but that’s something we’re working towards. That’s where we’re at the moment.
And it was a busy summer in terms of recruitment. January is just around the corner. What changes to the squad can we anticipate over the next few weeks?
GF: Yeah, we’ve only had a day so we haven’t had a full recruitment meeting yet. But we had plans obviously for this window, the summer and everything but a big part of a head coach’s role is to be involved in that. So we’ll sit down next week and go through it some more.
I don’t think it will be anything like the summer. I really hope it isn’t because that was a big, busy summer. I don’t think it needs to be. I think it’s more tweaks here and there if I’m honest. I think, from what you can see, especially over the last few games, we’ve got a good enough squad to be able to do well in this league.
So, like I say, a few adjustments here and there, and yeah, we’ll be going up the table, I’m sure.
And if I can just return to you Inigo. How much are you looking forward to your first game in charge against Stevenage on Sunday and then here at the Mem on New Year’s Day when Leyton Orient are your visitors?
IC: Probably it’s not, in terms of training and trying to implement ideas, the best because you don’t have a full week to do it.
But the good thing [is] the games come so quick because yesterday you were feeling so bad because obviously you lost the game but you know that you have a game in two or three days. So that’s sort of good and the good thing about football. We have a good game on Sunday and specifically that one against Orient is going to be special being the first game at home.
But first on Sunday, we have to keep improving because I think yesterday there were good things from the game. We have to try to start good things and try to avoid doing the bad things.
But as I say, it is bad because we have too many games but at the same time, it’s good connecting with the players because all the players now have their chances. So I think it’s good and important for them because when the manager comes they start to see, ‘oh, maybe I haven’t been playing with the other one, maybe I can play now.’
So it is good because I think we are going to need all the squad for all these games.
Finally, what’s your message to the Bristol Rovers supporters watching this press conference and what do you hope to achieve at Bristol Rovers?
IC: Well, win on Sunday. That’s what I want to achieve and after we talk about the next one, and the next one, and the next one.
I learn a lot of that from [Diego] Simeone. It’s one game by game and I don’t want to look too much forward but the idea is to start improving. Even if I say that, even from tomorrow’s session, that’s how I see football, how I see coaching and I don’t see much follow up than the next game and after the next game.
Inigo, you said you won’t be naive with your style of football. How much adaptation do you actually think is needed to your style of play for a senior team as opposed to going from youth coaching?
IC: Well, I expected that question about being at the under-18s, but it’s easier for me with men’s football because I think they are more prepared. They are better players because they’ve been playing longer.
You can have better communication with them because you can say whatever you want, let’s say that, because with the kids you have to be aware of too many things. With men, for me it’s easier because they’ve been playing football more times.
Obviously the league is competitive and you have to play as well with the position and the points but for me it doesn’t change. The rules are the same and I think the players can play good football. As I say, it’s not going to change in one day, in two days, in one week but we have to start doing it step by step. But I think we can do it because I think we have the players to do that.
I thought it was really interesting that you have a degree in sports science and a masters in sports psychology. How do you feel those qualifications have helped your coaching?
IC: Well the idea at the beginning was that it was more for me, especially the sports psychology because I was a bit crazy when I was playing. Well still I am. But I think it’s really important. I think most of the players, you can see they can improve, especially if they have that right mentality. So I think it’s really, really important and the good thing is it’s nothing really, really complicated.
Most of the time it’s common sense but to have that, I think that helps to, to know, because I think it’s really important to see how the player…at the end of the day he’s just a person. So maybe they have feelings, they have emotions, they have motivation, confidence. So to understand that is really, really key.
It’s not easy because then they have to meet you and each one, they have things, but I think it’s really, really important to understand how they’re feeling to make them better.
There have been some huge managerial names who’ve come from your area in the Basque Country. Are there any coaches particularly that have influenced your style or your philosophies?
IC: Well, it’s true that now the Basque coaches, they have been really, really good. You have [Xabi] Alonso, you have [Unai] Emery, you have [Mikel] Arteta, [Andoni] Iraola, so many, so many, so many and I think it’s coming from the discipline, hard work that we have in the Basque Country.
It doesn’t mean that in the south they are different, worse or better. But we have that hard work mentality and the passion in the north of Spain, quite similar to England. That’s why I was too English to play in Spain and probably too Spanish to play in England.
But I think that’s the mentality and as I say, the English football has always been really, really strong in my area where I live. So I try to bring that, and as he said, try to mix that, obviously without losing that, we are in this country.
George, if I can move on to you, what was the remit for finding the next manager? What were the particular fundamentals that you were looking for in an ideal candidate?
GF: The board are very much about people with drive and that tends to be associated with more up and coming type coaches. The chairman isn’t particularly fussy about a serious extensive experience in management as you can see. But with the person and the character, we know that this is quite a special fanbase and the connection with the fanbase is important as well. Calde’s history of Brighton, he had one of the closest connections of any player to that Brighton fanbase.
The journey with Brighton and their old stadium and that side of it marries quite well and the board were really keen for us to find that drive and passion and when we spoke to Calde he certainly had that.
Then on the flip side they obviously have to have the tactical awareness and be astute on that side. He’s been coaching for six years but coached while he was playing as well. So I think it’s really important he connects with the players which he’d be able to do having worked with a lot of young players as well and players out in Spain.
So yeah, there was a mixture of a remit and then the best candidates made the shortlist and Calde was certainly on that so we’re really pleased to have him.
Obviously it’s not an ideal time of year with Christmas but how pleased are you with the swiftness and thoroughness of the process?
GF: I’m not going to lie, it’s probably the hardest time to do something because Christmas is at everyone’s speed, however much they’re enjoying Christmas. But Brighton have been good in that sense and Calde’s obviously been excellent.
He’s flown over and missed his own family Christmas so that shows his commitment to Rovers and, yeah, just delighted to get him in early before the influx of all other fixtures is really important because there’s a lot of games now and, although he won’t have the time on the grass, hopefully he’ll have the impact on the pitch on the Saturdays.
Just to touch on that, you missed your family Christmas to take this post? Talk to me about how chaotic the last couple of days have been.
IC: A lot. My Christmas lunch was cereal with milk. I was watching a game in the hotel room. That was my lunch. But seriously, I didn’t mind. I said to the boys, I didn’t mind because I wanted to be here and there was a chance that maybe I could be on the bench yesterday. So I wanted to just take the chance I could.
I know it’s a lot of work to do, as I say and yes, it’s fine to be with the family and I miss them and I did the FaceTime for the present with my kids but at that time, I have to be here and that’s what I wanted and what I need. So it was not a problem for me because when you want something that much, you cannot do that.
Obviously that whole thing culminated then in you meeting the supporters ahead of the game yesterday. What were your main takeaways from the conversations you were having with them? You posed for a lot of photos. They seemed to be really engaged with you.
IC: Yeah, I said before that for me it was even too much because they didn’t know me. I can just say thank you and they put a lot of pressure on me but it’s a good pressure because I know what they want and that will give us even more effort to have that cereal with milk as the Christmas lunch because you know they see something really good coming.
And listen, for me the fans are the most important thing in the club. The players, the managers, they go, they come back, but the fans stay here. Even the kids yesterday, I love when kids come and watch away and they are there with their Rovers shirts. I love it.
So, listen, if we can do something to make that day even better, we have to do it.
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And you have touched on it already, you’re saying you’re not looking too far ahead, but where does your ambition lie because this is a club with fantastic players, a massive fanbase, a big club in League One. Obviously, the league position probably lies slightly in terms of how big the club is. Do you agree?
IC: The table doesn’t lie what you do on the pitch. It’s true that you see the fanbase, the plans, the board, the staff and even the quality of the players. You tell me like that, yes, we should be higher on the table, but the reality is that we are not and we have to do better for that because it’s true that you have the tools to be higher on the table but obviously because we have to be better.
But, as I say, it’s important that you have the tools because if you don’t have the tools, you don’t have the facilities, then it’s a problem. But we have everything to do better. We have to make sure we do it.
And are you on social media at all? Have you seen the reaction to your arrival?
IC: I try to avoid [it] because when I was a player, media is quite difficult. I mean, I think it’s really, really important. You have to, as a club, be connected and that’s the way to connect with the fan base but at the same time you know that a bad comment can hurt you a lot and you have to be really strong.
To be fair, I haven’t looked too much because I don’t have time. I’ve been so busy. I’ve been just texting all the friends, just texting in moderation about that.
So, it’s something that I like to use to connect with them but I don’t really read too much in detail because I know it’s quite easy to criticise and to say bad things and I don’t want to disturb my focus on the work that I want to do and because I have a really clear idea of how I want to do things right here. So I don’t want to go away from that because someone says whatever.
You’ve already made history. You are the first foreign manager of this club in its history. How does that make you feel?
IC: That’s good. Listen, and as I say, those connections when I first came to Brighton, I was as well the first Spanish player and after that there came a lot. So I want to think there’s gonna be kind of the same situation here.
As I say, all the things are ready but obviously football is about results and we have to do them better.
And George, you know this club inside out, obviously you came through the youth academy here. What do you think the fan base will connect with here with this appointment?
GF: I think his energy and passion straight away, I think is important. I think the way he approached British football and the culture as well as a player and as a coach. I think it’d be really important.
I joined Rovers when I was nine and I know the area because of that. I know what the club is. The likes of Jamie Cureton, people like that were playing then and I know Calde, to be fair, knows all that history as well. So it’s not like you’re plucking a random person from the Basque Country. This is someone very knowledgeable of English football, knows the culture and is very excited and determined to do well.
I think if you get that blend right in the balance among with the connection with the players, I think it could be a really good sign for things to come.
Just finally, what’s your message for supporters. Is there a call for unity at this time?
IC: Well, I think we have that at the moment. Most of the time we ask the fans to support the players but sometimes we’ll have to tell the players to give them something. Listen, I don’t want to complain at all about the fans because I watched the game against Wrexham, the second half, even after the final whistle, they were clapping all the players and yesterday they backed us.
We are in a difficult situation because, as I say, we are there for a reason but I think the fans, they know that and we appreciate that they see that we are trying. And that’s the most important thing that we have to show that desire, that passion.
I’m sure that if the team keeps doing that, the fans are going to stay there because we are going to need them, especially when you are in bad times, you need them. But I don’t have any doubt about that.