Western Daily Press (Saturday)
Elliott bolsters his defensive options
Cheltenham chief takes two Taylors on loan after adding Jackson permanently
CHELTENHAM Town boss Wade Elliott has strengthened his defensive options with two loan arrivals following another signing on a permanent deal.
The Robins yesterday swooped for West Bromwich Albion centre-back Caleb Taylor and namesake rightback James Taylor, from Bristol City, having secured the services of fullback Ryan Jackson on Thursday.
Nineteen-year-old Caleb Taylor, right, made three appearances in all competitions for the Baggies last season, while James Taylor, 20, has been part of the Robins’ Under-23s but has yet to play a first-team game.
Meanwhile, Jackson, 31, was released by Gillingham at the end of last season, having played more than 400 career games in the EFL.
Jackson said: “I’m delighted to sign. There’s a short space of time until the season starts, but I’m really looking forward to getting started.
“I feel like my experience can help the team and contribute to winning games, but this season is a challenge I’m looking forward to taking on.”
James Taylor, who takes the list of new arrivals in Gloucestershire this summer up to eight, added: “I’m very excited, and I can’t wait to get my opportunities here. I can learn lots from the staff and players here.
“It’s so important to learn as much as you can from these experiences. The gaffer has experience, but the players as well – Ryan (Jackson) has joined recently and he has over 400 appearances, so I’ll learn a lot from him too.”
Cheltenham play Northampton Town this afternoon in their final pre-season friendly before League One kicks off next weekend.
LOUIS Britton claims he was “thrown under the bus” with Nigel Pearson’s criticism of his fitness and believes he was never given a fair crack of the whip within the senior set-up before his release from Bristol City.
The young striker, who recently signed for Cork City in Ireland, saw his three-year spell at his boyhood club come to an end this summer. It came just over a year after realising his dream by coming off the bench to score against Brentford in a 3-1 defeat in the 2020/21 campaign.
Britton, and many supporters, thought that moment would be the catalyst to help force his way into the first-team, after becoming one of eight academy prospects handed his debut towards the end of that season.
It was the next step in his journey from working as a painter and decorator alongside his dad Geoff and playing non-League football with Cadbury Heath, Brislington and Mangotsfield United, pictured right, before City picked him up.
Britton had to earn his stripes before making his debut. He had loan spells with Yate, Bath City, Torquay and Stockport. He scored 16 goals for the Under-23s before knocking home Tomas Kalas’ header to mark his only senior appearance for the Robins.
But it was what followed that left Britton bewildered, frustrated and wanting to have his say on how he felt he was left hung out to dry.
In September 2021, four months after Britton’s debut, Pearson went public with his reasoning for leaving him out of the senior side at the beginning of the new season by claiming his fitness levels were not up to the required standard to make the step up.
Pearson said: “If he’s going to be considered at first-team level he’s got to make adjustments to how fit he is. Our first team are now at a level of fitness where he wouldn’t be able to deal with training.
“That’s the honest answer, and he knows that. We’ve had a discussion about where he’s at, physically, and there will be times where he’s taken out of games so that he can work at the physical aspects of his game.
“Scoring goals at Under-23 level, or whatever level you play at, is nowhere near the same as it is in the first team. What Louis has got going for him is he’s game-effective but he can’t sustain it, not at a high level.”
Looking back on it now, Britton told Bristol Live, the sister website of the Daily Press: “It’s just not nice being a 20-year-old and seeing that the manager has come out and said you’re not fit enough in public. I felt like I was thrown under the bus.
“I feel a lot happened after I scored on my debut. The week after, I played for the Under-23s and tore my MCL and I was out for nine weeks. I was due to train with the first team that summer and I couldn’t, and when I came back, those quotes came out about me being unfit.
“I came back from injury and he said I wasn’t fit enough to train with the first team, but I was never going to get to that level of fitness by training with the Under-23s because it’s completely different. I never got the chance to prove I was fit enough because after my debut, I never trained with them again, and not many people know that.
“I wasn’t given the chance to prove myself. I backed myself, I thought I would go on to make an impact in the first team, but I didn’t even get the chance to train. I wasn’t getting a look in. It wasn’t the best for me seeing as how I’d come off the back of my debut, I was ready to push on.
“To be honest after the summer, I didn’t really speak to him (Pearson). I spoke to him once or twice about what the situation was and he explained to me that I wasn’t fit enough and then it came out in the article. I was basically gone and that is what it felt like. I think another young player could have been really offended by that and it was a bit harsh, but it’s been said now and we’ve moved on.”
One month prior to that, Britton was told that a number of League Two scouts were watching during an Under-23s pre-season friendly with Yate, and the striker scored the game’s only goal. It was expected he would head out on loan for his first real taste of the Football League before suggesting that the club pulled the plug on the switch.
He added: “I was told by other staff that I was supposed to be going on loan and I had a few League Two club’s offers waiting and one day we played a pre-season against Yate and I got told there were teams coming to watch me today, make sure you do your best. I scored and got taken off and then was told ‘You’re not going on loan, you’re staying here because we want you to get fit’ – it was disappointing because I would have liked to have gone out on loan in League Two to prove myself and I probably wouldn’t be in the situation that I’m in now.”
Britton took Pearson’s comments on board and hired a personal trainer outside of his club training regime to help achieve the standards asked of him, but by January, with just six months left on his contract, Britton was told to look for a new club. He joined Woking on a month’s loan in December before signing for Irish side Waterford, impressing by scoring ten goals in 17 appearances.
Cork won the race over their rivals Waterford to sign him permanently, after which he was inundated on social media with snake and rat emojis from Waterford supporters angered by his decision, but it is not something that bothers Britton.
He said: “I didn’t think the rivalry was that big until I saw all the comments on Twitter, it got a lot of people talking that’s for sure. I could have headed back to England but I thought this was the best decision, especially off the back of playing for Waterford.
“I feel like I’ve got a point to prove. That’s why I came out here.”