Football Why it’s not gone to plan yet for Joey’s Rovers this season
FIVE weeks of Bristol Rovers’ season are in the books, and so far things haven’t gone to plan for Joey Barton’s side.
The league table, they say, is an irrelevance at this point in the calendar, but victory for Sutton United on Tuesday has left Barton’s side just a single point and place clear of the bottom two.
That, certainly, will be a cause for concern for all involved and invested in the club. High standards have been set for Rovers and their manager, mainly by himself, and the club is falling way short of them early in the campaign.
Confidence will remain in Barton’s inner circle that things will improve and his wholly-changed squad will come good, but the start of the season has thrown up plenty of talking points, ahead of tomorrow’s home game against Leyton Orient.
THE GOALKEEPER BATTLE
BARTON wanted James Belshaw to bring competition to Rovers’ goalkeeping ranks, but few expected the contest to be so stiff, with the former Harrogate ‘keeper making an excellent case for the number one spot.
The 30-year-old got his chance at Rovers much sooner than expected, stepping into the breach with Anssi Jaakkola’s Achilles injury resurfacing, and the Finland international has a job on his hands trying to win back the gloves when he returns to training in the next week or two.
Belshaw has not only shown his reflexes but the all-round quality a goalkeeper needs, showing impressive authority in the penalty area, with dealing with crosses - a longstanding problem for the Gas something he appears a natural at.
So the manager has his wish;
Rovers have excellent competition for places and with highly-rated teenager Jed Ward coming through the ranks, the Gas are pretty stacked in the position.
INDIVIDUAL ERRORS
INDIVIDUAL errors are part of the game, but Rovers are committing them at an alarming rate and it is underpinning their poor start in the fourth tier.
Starting on the opening day when Jaakkola left his line to claim a cross but never reached the ball, Rovers’ performances have been littered with mistakes that have duly been capitalised on by predatory opponents.
Even in victory, there have been moments of sloppiness from Rovers where they have escaped punishment.
The stuttering and often unexciting performances are par for the course, given Rovers sent more than 20 players packing in the summer and brought in 17 new signings, but a lack of chemistry should
not lead to such a high number of costly mistakes.
This is an experienced group of players that should be performing much better than seven points from seven games, making basic errors along the way.
HOME COMFORTS BUT AWAY WOES CONTINUE
WHEREVER they played last season, Rovers were not a good side, failing to find enough form home or away to mount a credible bid for survival.
They have continued that terrible trend away from home, taking just one point from four games on the road, with the last league victory on their travels coming at AFC Wimbledon in December, back when Paul Tisdale was in charge.
This is a huge problem for Barton to sort in the coming weeks or the chances of a run towards the top end of the table - which Barton has claimed is a certainty - will become increasingly remote.
But at least the home form is showing signs of improving, with Rovers winning their last three games at the Memorial Stadium without shipping a goal.
TOWERING TAYLOR
THERE is plenty of experienced pros in and around him, but 19-year-old Connor Taylor has become the anchor of Rovers’ defence in recent weeks.
A difficult start to life at Rovers had him out of the team and out of the squad at Exeter, but the Stoke City loanee has responded brilliantly to the challenge. He was pivotal in the wins over Cheltenham Town and Crawley Town and, despite being the least experienced member of Rovers’ centre-back ranks, Taylor has cemented his spot in the side for now.
WHAT’S THE PLAN?
PATTERNS of play and methodology to win games is an increasingly in-vogue topic as the game becomes more nuanced and innovators at the top level lead the Xs and Os into new frontiers, but sexy, modern football is probably a tad over-discussed.
Because any good team, particularly in the lower leagues, has an excellent command of basic principles and adheres to a clear plan to maximise its strengths and minimise its weaknesses. At the moment, Rovers have put neither of those things into action.
When it comes to a plan, it is hard to recognise how Rovers are trying to hurt the opposition when in possession. Certainly away from home, they have been guilty of moving the ball too slowly.
Rovers rank in the bottom half of the league in terms of aerial duels per game, indicating the ball is on the floor more than it is for most clubs in League Two, but that could be explained by the inaccuracy of their passing.