Football Get a grip Rovers, it’s one self-inflicted error after another
BRISTOL Rovers need to get a grip. This is a club that, for two years, has lurched from one mistake to another and the need to stop the rot is becoming increasingly urgent.
On the pitch, it is a disastrous spell for the Gas, plunging from the top end of League One to the swamp-like depths of League Two in just 23 chaotic months. Their bullish expectation that promotion was inevitable appears terribly misguided with 14 games on the board and Rovers just four points clear of the bottom two.
Off the pitch, the club is finding new ways to alienate supporters and harm its image in the wider football community.
Sunday’s decision to stay silent when asked for an explanation of Joey Barton’s Holocaust analogy beggars belief. The manager probably used the term in a more general context than specifically citing the Nazi genocide of Jews and other minorities in the 1940s, but it is a word that has no place in the vernacular of a football manager bemoaning his players’ propensity to commit errors.
I’m sure some Gasheads took no
offence whatsoever to Barton’s comment, but that word carries significance for millions around the globe. To use it in such a trivial context is wrong.
The BBC reports Bristol City councillor Fabian Breckels has labelled Barton’s choice of words “appalling” and he believes the manager should consider his position.
A simple, brief apology or, at the very least, explanation from the
club for the manager’s poor choice of phrasing would have sufficed. People would have moved on, but to bury heads in the sand and say nothing shows a lack of accountability and professionalism, prompting only more disillusionment from supporters. Saying nothing has made things worse.
Rovers, historically, have been amateurish at times, almost charmingly so. But recent episodes have been different.
After all, this is a football club that has been inclusive of all colours and creeds. It is a communityfirst club, so for Rovers to not recognise that a slip of the tongue from the face of the club could be perceived as greatly offensive to some people in Bristol and beyond is another self-inflicted error.
Only a few months back, the club’s communications caused outrage when commenting on Barton being charged with assaulting his wife - which he denies and will contest at Wimbledon Magistrates’ Court in December - and owner Wael Al-Qadi was required to save face with an open letter a few hours later. It is sad to say it, but Bristol Rovers is a club that is not conducting itself correctly often enough. Last week, for example, the manager was taking aim at board member Tommy Widdrington in his prematch press conference - his opportunity to galvanise supporters and try to lift their spirits. Instead, he was airing dirty laundry in public when the question he was asked was completely different to the one he answered.
Where is the unity, the synergy required to be successful in the most competitive of industries?
Bristol Rovers need to get a grip.