Football Barton still wants ‘masses of change’ at club
JOEY Barton insists “masses of change” is still required at Bristol Rovers, citing his relationship - or lack thereof - with former director of football Tommy Widdrington.
Barton arrived at Rovers in February, and 50-year-old Widdrington - who joined the Gas in 2018 initially as head of recruitment was reassigned from his director of football role in June after the club’s relegation to League Two.
He remains on Rovers’ board, in the position of loan manager and “ensuring the strategic vision of the first team is adhered to at both under-23s level and within the club’s academy.”
Despite Widdrington’s reduced remit at the club, frustrations remain for Barton and the manager bemoaned a lack of access to a scouting network at Rovers’ prematch press conference on Monday ahead of last night’s trip to Colchester United.
Barton, asked if the club was working on contract extensions for the likes of Sam Nicholson, Cian Harries and Antony Evans - whose deals expire at the end of the season - replied: “We haven’t even got to that point,” before referencing his lack of contact with Widdrington.
“We’re still at the point where we don’t have any scouts,” Barton said. “We need an opposition scout and I haven’t got one. I’ve got no scouting team. Tommy Widdrington had them, but I don’t know where he’s gone with them. I haven’t spoken to him for a long period. The scouts he had, I don’t even know if they exist, I haven’t had a conversation with them, so at this moment in time, we’re pretty much doing everything.”
Widdrington was tasked with forming a scouting network at Rovers after joining from Coventry City. He helped sign players such as Jonson Clarke-Harris, Nicholson and Anssi Jaakkola, but he has faced significant scrutiny from supporters over the squad assembled for Rovers’ relegation season.
Barton has not suffered a shortage of backing at the Mem, with Wael Al-Qadi endorsing his vision for rebuilding after relegation. He has taken complete control of recruitment and has made sweeping changes to the support staff.
The manager says for Rovers to address long-term planning issues, such as proactively working on new contracts, more change is required.
“We’ve got to get the team that’s under contract firing because there’s no longevity in this game if you don’t get results,” he said. “It’s only a couple of weeks ago that you’re feeling the pressure and the squeeze yourself, so what’s going to happen next summer isn’t really a massive priority at this moment.
“The sooner everything settles down at the football club, the sooner we get absolutely clear direction - I think that comes from the CEO and I think that comes from the director of football, and I use that word loosely, I think it comes from those directions.
“At this moment in time, we’re focused on getting results and performances, and in the coming weeks and months those conversations will start to take place.
“At this moment, we’re focusing on recruitment for January, we’re focusing on the team that’s here, obviously with one eye on the lads who are running out of contract.”
Kevin Maher has emerged as the clear bookmakers’ favourite to take over at National League club Southend United, with the Bristol Rovers first-team coach now oddson to succeed Phil Brown at Roots Hall. Maher is a club legend in Essex as the club’s third-longest serving player having made 455 appearances between 1998 and 2008 and has leapt ahead of Darren Currie and former Gas manager Graham Coughlan in the bookmakers odds to lie at 1-2. Brown was sacked 10 days ago.