Football Friendly workout offers few clues as to Rovers’ prospects
IT was hot, too hot, as Bristol Rovers and Plymouth Argyle completed their latest pre-season assignment at the Memorial Stadium on Saturday.
As a footballing spectacle, this was forgettable as it gets with each side profiting from a naively-conceded penalty in a 1-1 draw.
In almost three weeks at Mansfield Town, the feel will be very different, but for now Joey Barton’s Rovers are merely sparring ahead of the meaningful battles to come.
Perhaps it was fitting that the final game, we hope, Rovers play in a silent stadium was not was like this, and next Saturday’s friendly with Swansea City in front of thousands in BS7 should be more palatable than the ersatz football all fans have tolerated for 16 months.
That game is likely to see Barton deploy something closer to his strongest team, and with increasing availability the manager will have a chance to knit his muchchanged group together and lay important foundations.
New signings, including a striker, will arrive, but departures, too, are needed and with a refined group the manager will hope to breed cohesion. They are winless in three pre-season outings so far, but he will not be concerned, only eager to get his best XI on the pitch in time for the League Two opener.
Rovers’ recruitment has pointed to a three-man defence being Plan A, and that’s how they started here - the back six being made up by five new signings and a trialist goalkeeper.
The changes at the Mem have been sweeping since Rovers were last here, but the gelling process is going to take time.
Barton urged patience in possession in the sapping heat, but Rovers were often rushed and imprecise when they tried to advance through the lines.
Connor Taylor had a difficult afternoon but a valuable learning experience at the back, struggling to keep the ball under duress from the Plymouth press, and Harry Anderson was both unfortunate and a tad silly to give away a firsthalf penalty for an innocuous nudge on Luke Jephcott, who converted from the spot.
Any moments of joy for the Gas came in flashes. One move saw Anderson, Aaron Collins and Zain Westbrooke link superbly to work an opportunity, and Harvey Saunders grafted to earn a penalty immediately after the break. Collins converted to make it two goals in three pre-season appearances since a move from Forest Green Rovers.
Saunders was impressive throughout his 45-minute cameo, providing a different option up front. He was able to exert more influence on the game than Jonah Ayunga in the first half, though the substitute may have benefited from facing some second string and youth players.
Therein lies the point. These games do not make for solid evidence to build reliable conclusions, particularly with Covid in play and its ability to cause more chaos than any injury crisis could through close contact rules alone.
Rovers played the second half with central midfielders Lucas Tomlinson and Cam Hargreaves as wing-backs, and 16-year-old Jarmani Langlais joined Saunders and Collins in the front three against a backdrop of more than a dozen players missing due to injury or coronavirus protocols.
With Luke Thomas and Paul Coutts sat socially distanced in the East Stand, Sam Finley nursing a minor niggle and Anssi Jaakkola just back in training, this is far away from the side Barton will take to Field Mill on August 7.
Until then, Rovers have three more workout exercises to tick off before we can see the manager’s plan in action.