STICK WITH JOEY AND GIVE HIM A CHANCE
GAS LEGEND’S VIEW
THE only time I have met and spoken to Joey Barton was back in 2006 and he was trying to catch some fish.
The new Bristol Rovers manager has been a conscientious worker on behalf of charities over the years and was taking part in an angling event in Cheshire to raise funds for the Sporting Chance Clinic.
Most of you will know of that particular charity, which offers counselling, treatment and aftercare for people with a sporting background, who suffer from addictive illnesses such as gambling, drug abuse and alcoholism.
I was Queens Park Rangers manager at the time and because one of my players, Clarke Carlisle, had spent time at the clinic a few years earlier, I was asked to bring some of my squad to the lake where the celebrity fishing competition was taking place.
As a great admirer of Joey’s playing style and ability, I made a point of approaching him for a chat. He was with Manchester City at the time and had also spent a short period at the Sporting Chance clinic as a patient in 2005.
By then he had developed a disciplinary problem and was widely regarded as a troublemaker. That was my preconceived idea of him, but the longer we chatted the more I liked him.
You could see his competitiveness, even when it came to fishing. My goalkeeper at QPR, Simon Royce, ended up winning the trophy on offer and Joey was clearly cheesed off at not coming out on top!
But as we spoke, I found him to be a typically bubbly Merseysider, with a high degree of intelligence and an infectious enthusiasm for life in general. I remember feeling better for having met and talked with him.
Not for a moment am I defending some of the scrapes Joey has been involved in over the years, which have been well documented and do him no credit.
If we had played against each other, I am sure there would have been fireworks because I see in him the same passion and desire to win that were part of my make-up. I like that about him, and I know from experience that when you meet him, the first impressions are off a really nice guy, exceptionally articulate, with widespread interests.
While I still don’t understand what possessed the decision-makers at Rovers to sack Paul Tisdale after just 12 weeks in charge, I am encouraged by Joey’s appointment.
I believe he is the sort of character who can lift the place quickly for the last 17 games and guide the team to a top-three finish in what is now looking like a mini-league of seven at the foot of League One.
It certainly won’t be easy, as Joey’s first game in charge against Wigan Athletic proved on Tuesday night. Again, Rovers found it hard to find the back of the net at one end and conceded from set-pieces at the other. In my experience, one of those problems leads to the other. When teams are consistently missing chances, it puts pressure on defenders to keep clean sheets and they get nervous, which leads to mistakes.
With only three points separating the bottom seven, the relegation battle is likely to go on until the final games. Even so, Joey has little time to secure the necessary 25 points or so to beat the drop. Sadly, he has to do it without the help of home fans, who over the years have made the Memorial Stadium an intimidating place for opposing teams to visit. A full ground might well be worth several points to the team under normal circumstances. As it is, there is little difference in playing home or away.
I have no hesitation in saying now that, even if Rovers do end up being relegated, they should stick with Joey and give him a fair chance to build for long-term success.
As I made clear in last week’s column, I believe both Bristol clubs have changed managers or head coaches far too often for their own good.
Joey has brought in his own coaches, but we have yet to see how his working relationship with director of football Tommy Widdrington develops. It has to work out positively if both are to remain at Rovers
and help the club stay in League One and push on from there.
Tomorrow, Rovers face Shrewsbury Town, whose form has been transformed since Steve Cotterill took charge. All Gas fans will be hoping Joey can have the same effect.
ICAN’T help looking at all the goals Jonson Clarke-Harris has been scoring for Peterborough United this season and wondering where Rovers would be if he had stayed.
Like City, they are seen as a selling club and that has to change if we are to see top-level football in Bristol.
It is a perception that I feared would make it difficult for both clubs to recruit new managers with the experience and ability to take them forward.
I was wrong. While Rovers fans have every reason to welcome Joey’s arrival, City supporters can also relax in the knowledge that Nigel Pearson has the attributes required to take them into the Premier League.
He has been there and done it with Leicester City and I felt he was also doing a decent job turning things around at Watford when they decided to dispense with his services.
I know Nigel has only signed a short-term contract, but I sincerely hope he stays on beyond the end of the season. Like Joey, he is a winner by nature and I can understand why his appointment has proved popular with supporters.
Both our clubs have brought in men capable of helping them achieve their ambitions. Now let them manage without interference and give them time to make a significant difference.
BRISTOL POST
I think we can get stuck into him over the next few weeks on the training ground and I’m really excited about what he brings
BRISTOL Rovers have problems in both boxes and Tuesday’s heartbreaking 2-1 defeat to Wigan Athletic at the Memorial Stadium was a microcosm of their miserable season.
They had control of the game but again it failed to translate into points. Their defensive Achilles heel - set-pieces - was again evident as they conceded two soft goals to gift their relegation rivals three invaluable points.
It was a familiar tale at the other end of the pitch, as Rovers’ 20 shots culminated in a single goal. Over the course of this season, Rovers have dramatically under-performed their expected goals, scoring at an average of 0.97 goals per game versus an expected goals of 1.46. The chances they have created in the 29 games played have merited 42.34 goals. Instead, they have 28 goals, 27 points and almighty fight to avoid relegation on their hands, with Shrewsbury tomorrow’s opponents at the Mem.
Both the data and visual evidence raises many questions of coaching and recruitment, but Joey Barton believes the Gas already have the answer to their problems in the building: Brandon Hanlan.
The 23-year-old is Rovers’ top scorer this season, but his confidence has doubtless been bruised since his last goal on January 2. He has not scored in 12 games in all competitions. But the new Gas boss holds him in high regard, and he believes the right care and attention on the training ground could nurture Hanlan into a top number nine in League One.
“A thing that’s been labelled to the team before is that they’re a little bit goal-shy. If you want that 15-20 goals-a-season player, I think we’ve got that in Brandon Hanlan,” said Barton.
“I’m really pleased with many aspects of his game, he just needs one to go in off his backside and that could be him away and running.
“I’ve had Ched Evans and Paddy Madden at Fleetwood, who were 15-20 goals-a-season men, so, when I look at Brandon, I think we can get stuck into him over the next few weeks on the training ground and I’m really excited about what he brings.
“If we’re going to be successful this season, we need Brandon Hanlan firing on all cylinders. If he starts to get that feeling of putting
the ball in the back of the net, which we’ll get him to, I look at Ivan Toney and I think he’s physical and great. I swear to you, I’m so impressed by him and we were tracking him at Fleetwood.”
Hanlan joined Rovers from Gillingham in the summer and has eight goals in all competitions. There have been flashes of his talent, and he is blessed with the raw
physical attributes to excel in the position.
Barton said Hanlan’s play with his back to goal will be a primary area of focus on the training ground, and in the brief time he has had with the club the manager has instructed the striker to be more self-centred.
“He got the assist (McCormick) with a for little
Luke flick around the corner, and I spoke to Brandon before the game and said in certain areas he could be a bit more selfish in terms of driving into goalscoring areas centrally.
“You could see he was trying to take that on and I look at the potential of him as a young man and he’s a really good player. We’ve got five or six young lads, it’s up to them how far they want to go.”