Bristol Rovers capable of bouncing straight back up to League One

Following a rather dismal campaign in League One, Bristol Rovers is now a League Two club once again. This time, though, positivity around the Gas seems to be surging given the fact Joey Barton will have a full pre-season to work with the team and essentially put his stamp on the squad and how he wants them to play.

Barton came in under tricky circumstances last season. No manager coming into a club with the league campaign well underway can truly stamp their authority on a side, especially one that was in and around the relegation zone and fighting for their lives. It was about grinding out results, playing ugly, getting the job done, and then looking to kick on again this upcoming season. Sadly, it wasn’t to be. Fine margins are a thing, especially in a League One relegation scrap involving quite a few clubs.

Some Gas fans are yet to be convinced by the hot-headed boss who has been in trouble for assaulting then Barnsley manager Daniel Stendel in April 2019. Whether or not Joey Barton is the man to lead the Gas straight back up to League One at the first time of asking remains to be seen, but club is more than capable of providing him with the resources needed to get there. It’s a tough division, it won’t be pretty at times, and the Gas will have to scrap their way to victory on occasions, but fans are expecting them to be there or thereabouts.

It’s the time of the year now where the football community have been indulging in non-stop Euro 2020 action, but soon, scrutiny will be fully aimed at Barton and his staff and the subsequent signings the club is expected to make. Premier League fans are regularly coming up with a today prediction, given the current state of their clubs and making demands around signings, whereas, in the lower divisions, it really can be hard to judge where a side is at until the season draws closer. In a few weeks time, Barton could have dramatically transformed his squad with six additional acquisitions, for example.

In the meantime, the early work that Barton is putting in seems to be encouraging some sections of the fanbase. Big changes were certainly required after a dismal end to a forgettable season. The loan signing of defender Connor Taylor from Stoke City appears to be a shrewd move, alongside the signing of quick and energetic forward Harvey Saunders from Fleetwood Town who Barton knows well from his time at the Cod Army. Another new signing joining up with Barton’s troops is striker Aaron Collins who joins from Forest Green Rovers just in time for pre-season.

A few players have departed the Mem, too, although nothing as painful or as controversial as Matty Taylor leaving the club to join rivals Bristol City in 2017. George Williams is a player with League One pedigree who Barton perhaps wanted to keep hold of, but when a club from that division in the shape of Cambridge United comes calling, then it’s inevitable that he’d want to play higher up and stay in the division. Still, a big loss, perhaps, but ultimately one the club can bounce back from and replace.

Preparations are certainly underway for what promises to be a season of progress for the Gas. Questions will always be asked of Joey Barton until he delivers that much-needed promotion, but there can be no doubting of his intentions to turn the clubs’ fortunes around with his own brand of football and an identity the Gas so desperately require. Over to you, Joey.