Ruel Sotiriou has confessed that Bristol Rovers’ decision to change manager just before Christmas has been one of the main contributing factors to the forward’s upturn in form in blue-and-white quarters following a difficult start to life in BS7.
The 24-year-old was one of the Gas’ major signings out of the 16 arrivals last summer having scored 11 goals and registering five assists in League One for Leyton Orient last term but struggled to make an instant impact at the Mem, scoring just once in 19 appearances with the forward finding himself in and out of the team.
Sotiriou is certainly not the only Rovers player to have found it difficult at times this season with results in the first half of the season simply not good enough, culminating in the Gas being dragged into a relegation battle and subsequently making the decision to sack former manager Matt Taylor in mid-December.
Rovers then appointed Inigo Calderon on Boxing Day and, although the Gas still very much find themselves in a relegation battle, 17 points from 15 games since the Spaniard’s arrival has kept the West Country side’s heads above water with Sotiriou scoring four goals.
“It’s just manager change,” the 24-year-old confessed when asked what has led to his improved displays. “Him [Calderon] putting confidence into the team. Him allowing us to be a team and togetherness and just coaching us. Actually doing some shape.
“Just not getting along, that’s all I can say. It was hard, obviously coming here, being told things and then obviously it was not getting delivered on the pitch and then this new manager comes in and it’s a breath of fresh air.
“I felt like I had a good season [last season]. I want to kick on again. Obviously, it hasn’t worked out until recently where the fans and the club have seen what I can actually do. I always believed in my ability. It’s not that. It’s more of the confidence side and just going week in, week out and getting consistency.”
Sotiriou made the decision to leave his boyhood club Orient where he had been for 10 years during the summer after helping the East London outfit win League Two in the 2022/23 campaign before impressing in the third tier and helping the O’s to a respectable 11th place finish last term.
With the forward already having to deal with adapting to a brand new environment on and off the pitch, the struggle for form in a different setting was naturally tough.
“It was tough because obviously, I know what player I was last year,” he added. “It felt like I wasn’t being used to my best advantages on the pitch and when you question things and then it gets immediately shut down, you just fall back a bit as a player.
“Obviously there was a problem there but I don’t really want to talk about him any more and the new manager’s been top. Really good.”
Sotiriou’s four goals under Calderon have all come in his last six home appearances as results at the Mem have been considerably better than away from home with struggles on the road being an issue all campaign.
The forward’s latest goal came on Saturday as Rovers secured a major boost to their survival hopes with a 1-0 win over Huddersfield Town.
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A poor Huddersfield clearance allowed Clinton Mola to head into the 24-year-old’s path before rifling a fierce effort into the back of the net after just 10 minutes.
Defensive endeavour and resilience, an under par display from their opponents and some missed chances of their own meant that Sotiriou’s goal was enough for three points which, with results elsewhere, increased the Gas’ advantage above the relegation zone to six points with 11 matches remaining.
“Massive win. Obviously coming in and seeing results kind of went our way as well, so it’s a big result for where we wanna be.
“We’ve got a good set of younger players like Kofi and Ollie coming on, I thought they were brilliant. Just running about. That’s all you want from the young players.
“Then you’ve got Willo, Scotty, Chrissy, Butch, Hunty as well. They’ve been really good just motivating us every single day, telling us football’s short and you don’t want to waste seasons and obviously if this club goes down, not to be disrespectful, but we’re going to waste a year in the lower league.
“Obviously our goal is just to stay up. It’s nowhere near done to be honest. We’ve got to keep going until Blackpool away. Yeah, that’s just the aim to be honest.”