Bristol Rovers: Lee Cattermole will dream of Paul Trollope repeat | OneFootball

If the ex-Middlesbrough man does have secret desires of securing the position full-time, he will be encouraged by the story of Paul Trollope.

Having only joined the club's coaching staff on December 12th, former Sunderland captain Lee Cattermole has been entrusted as joint-caretaker of Bristol Rovers this week, following the departure of Matt Taylor.

Durham-born Cattermole, who was initially brought in as a set-piece coach, will share interim duties with ex-Forest Green Rovers boss David Horseman while the Pirates search for a new manager.

However, the chronology of the ex-England U21's temporary appointment may leave supporters to believe this was a premeditated move from the AlSaeed family. Arriving just four days before Taylor's seemingly inevitable sacking, perhaps his new superiors had always planned on giving their new high-profile name a trial in the dugout.

Gasheads will be unanimously demanding a proven coach to steer them away from an impending relegation battle, and with zero prior first-team managerial experience, Cattermole far from fits the bill.

If the ex-Middlesbrough man does have secret desires of securing the position full-time, he will be encouraged by the story of Paul Trollope, the underqualified interim who remains, perhaps, the most popular coach in the club's modern history.

Paul Trollope, interim turned Bristol Rovers icon

After a turgid start to the season found the Gas 19th in League Two, Ian Atkins was relieved of his duties in late September 2005.

Having spent the majority of the 1990s as a top-end challenger in the old Second Division, Rovers had spent the first four years of the new millennium struggling to escape the fourth-tier.

This was the club's fourth managerial failure in as many years, a trend that began with the dismissal of Ian Holloway in 2001.

While Holloway's departure was polarising at the time, the procession of short-term appointments that followed had all failed to replicate the good-feeling and atmosphere created by his deep-rooted connection with the club, a connection that was felt viscerally when times were good.

Rovers - much like today - needed their next appointment to be a success. However, in the meantime, they would entrust interim duties with Welsh international Paul Trollope, a 33-year-old midfielder who would suddenly become a first-team manager with no prior experience, which coincidentally is the exact set of circumstances that bestowed Holloway's appointment in 1996.

Trollope, a Wiltshire-born Swindon fan whose father played a staggering 886 times for the Robins, had returned to England's South-West in 2004, winding down a career that saw him play both Premier League and international football.

While he may have grown up despising the Gas, he represented a character with a deep ingrained knowledge of the obscure, underdog culture surrounding a West County side, with a footballing brain to match.

His first match, just two days after Atkins' dismissal, saw Trollope, assisted by director of football Lennie Lawrence, guide the Pirates to a 1-0 win over Darlington, their first home victory of the campaign.

Despite his dual-responsibilities, Trollope did not select himself for the fixture. In fact, he would not feature in a playing capacity again for the club, putting himself entirely into management, and quietly retiring.

After a two-month spell saw further victories versus Carlisle, Wrexham and Grimsby, the good feeling had seemingly returned to the Mem, and Trollope's tactics had suddenly forced the board's decision to call off the search party, as by November, the Welshman was appointed permanent first-team coach.

Paul Trollope's success at Rovers

Having steered the Pirates to 12th place in 2005-06, a respectable finish given their woeful start, Trollope and Lawrence's first summer transfer window saw the likes of Steve Phillips, Byron Anthony, Sammy Igoe and Rickie Lambert brought in.

The acquisition of Lambert from Rochdale was particularly noteworthy, as the £200,000 fee was a hefty sum for an intra-fourth-tier transfer. A statement from the duo, for sure.

The campaign started abysmally, as just two wins in their opening ten fixtures - and zero goals from their expensive Scouse striker - saw the club drop to 21st place by late September, a worse position than they were in upon Atkins' sacking one-year prior.

However, with supporters good graces now waning, the events that followed made for arguably the greatest year to be a Gashead in modern memory. The board stuck behind their young manager, and between October 2006 and May 2007, Paul Trollope's Bristol Rovers would win 28 football matches.

Beating four teams on the way to the area final of the Football League Trophy, Rovers were drawn against Bristol City. The two-legged tie saw a 0-0 shutout at Ashton Gate, while a fierce encounter back at the Mem saw Rovers reach the final thanks to - you guessed it - a Rickie Lambert winner.

This win alone carved Trollope into Bristolian footballing folklore. However, it wouldn't be the first time the side made it to a final that year.

An undefeated eight-game finish to the league season saw the Gas remarkably squeeze into 6th place, allowing them to take their form into the League Two play-offs. Convincingly seeing off Lincoln 7-4 in the semi-finals, Rovers and Trollope had given themselves the opportunity of becoming the first member of the 92 to win at the new Wembley.

They would secure promotion under the untouched arches in front of 37,000 Rovers supporters, as a nervy match against Shrewsbury finished 3-1. Paul Trollope had achieved, in miraculous style, what many experienced managers before him had not come close to, a return to League One.

He would settle into third-tier management comfortably, as with the help of a now free-scoring Rickie Lambert, three years of relative success saw two top-half finishes and an unprecedented FA Cup quarter-final appearance.

Having seemingly exhausted his influence by the turn of the decade, Trollope was relieved of his duties in December 2010 in hopes that - amid relegation troubles - someone better equipped would come in to stave off the drop... that would not transpire.

Paul Trollope left an indelible mark on the club's modern history, a period of stability and conscious identity in among an otherwise chaotic twenty years for the Gas. His time on Gloucester Road will always be remembered fondly.

Can Cattermole pull a 'Trollope'?

While having no previous relation to the club or the area, Cattermole is at a disadvantage if he wants to endear himself to the side's patrons. However, Trollope's story serves as a reminder that, while always a significant risk, up-and-coming talent could garner greater results than pressing shuffle on the managerial merry-go-round.

We must wait and see what the first iteration of 'Cattermole's Gas' looks like, though if it ends up anything like Trollope's, a half-season ticket may make for a worthwhile Christmas present around the blue and white side of Bristol.