ROVERS EAGER TO KEEP WHELAN AS THEIR MIDFIELD LYNCHPIN
GLENN Whelan has been asked to play on for at least another season after helping secure the fourth promotion of his career.
The 38-year-old midfielder is already held in high esteem at Sheffield Wednesday, Stoke City and Aston Villa and now he has helped Bristol Rovers pull off a remarkable run to go up from League Two. Rovers were still in the bottom half by mid-february but they had started picking up serious form a couple of months previously and maintained it until an incredible final day. A 7-0 romp over Scunthorpe was their 17th win in 26 games and just enough to draw level with Northampton Town on goal difference and seal a top three place by virtue of goals scored.
Whelan made 31 league appearances and his old Manchester City youth team buddy Joey Barton hopes he will sign a new contract and come back for more. Barton told Bristollive: “He lost his mum this year in the midst of the run we were on. We were away at Swindon and he wasn’t with us. She was a big instigator in his football career in driving him on.
“I genuinely thought he was outstanding against Scunthorpe. I can’t remember anything he did wrong. Me and Whelo played in the same youth team together and he was a much better player than I was. “To see him play like that, I want him to play on next season but you’d have to ask his missus about that. “But I thought he was unbelievable. His mum will be smiling down from heaven with Steve Black there as well, certainly really proud of his performance.”
Praise from teammates Bristol Rovers captain Paul Coutts heaped praise on the Stoke legend too. He said: “Whelo has been out there, he supports me in my position, he helps me; we do some longer range passing, some shorter passing,” Coutts added. “He does that for me, so it was only the right thing for me to do for Whelo.
“He’s been unbelievable. I know the gaffer has given me a lot, in terms of leadership etc, but I lean on Whelo loads. His guidance for me has been incredible.
“He’s a fantastic leader, a fantastic professional and he showed against Scunthorpe, he’s a fantastic player. You don’t play that many games in the Premier League and on the international scene unless you’re top, top level.”
At the other end of the spectrum Stoke prospect Connor Taylor has won Bristol Rovers’ young player of the season award after an impressive year on loan.
The 20-year-old centre-back, also nominated as League Two young player of the season, picked out a moment in late September as the highlight of his first taste of regular league football.
He said: “It’d have to be the Walsall goal, my first professional goal and it turned out to be so important as we went on to win the game. That probably was one of the turning points of the season because we were in the doldrums a little bit at that point in the season and that win was vital in terms of confidence.”