To a certain extent, every footballer is a fan of the game, but some are more than others. If there is any player in the Bristol Rovers squad who gets the ups and downs of being a supporter, it is Sam Finley.
The midfielder is a huge Liverpool fan, taking in every game he can when they don't clash with his Rovers commitments. He was at the Merseyside derby last week, he was at Ibrox for a Champions League away day in October and he was at Wembley for the Reds' FA Cup final triumph in May.
Simultaneously, both of Finley's clubs are in a rut by their relative standards. The Gas have lost five of their past six games, falling to 16th in the table ahead of Saturday's trip to Oxford United, while Jurgen Klopp's side are eighth in the Premier League and a Champions League exit appears inevitable after a humbling at the hands of Real Madrid on Tuesday.
Obviously, there is a chasm between the clubs and what they would perceive to be underperformance, but they are both falling well short of the standards they set for themselves. Finley is philosophical about it.
"It happens in football," he said. "I'm a massive Liverpool fan and I'm looking at Liverpool at the minute thinking we've turned a corner after winning two games, but we're sitting eighth in the table.
"It's at any level, from the top down to non-league level, it happens in football and it's about trying to get out of that rut and winning football matches, which is what everyone at this football club wants to do.
"We don't want to be coming in and losing football matches and arguing with each other and ranting and raving and saying 'This is the problem' or 'That is the problem'. That is not what we want to be doing. We want to be coming in and enjoying our work and getting back to winning games.
"It's about driving standards (in training). If we do a passing drill out there, it is about driving standards. If someone is sloppy, they need to be told 'Be better, sharpen up, liven up'.
"For me and most of the experienced lads, it's about telling the younger lads 'We need to get out of this'. We do that every day anyway, so it's not as if anything has changed.
"If I could put my finger on why we are in this rut, I probably wouldn't be in this room with you, I'd be managing in the Premier League or playing and winning Champions Leagues. If you had a magic cure for why you are losing football matches, it would be invaluable, but I cannot give you that answer.
Finley has a clear message for Gasheads. He has felt the benefit of their support throughout his 18 months with the club and he believes their backing will be vital for Rovers to turn their form around.
"I'm sure there will be a great away following, as there always is," he said. "Matty Taylor has left but there will still be a bit of a rivalry and it will great.
"The fans just need to stick with us. I know it's hard, it's hard to stick with Liverpool, but I went to the Liverpool vs Everton game and the atmosphere was unbelievable. Recent games at Anfield had been a bit dull and quiet, but we picked the atmosphere up in the ground and you could see it on the pitch.
"It affected the players, so it's just sticking with us. I know it's hard times but the fans are always brilliant at turning out and if they carry on and stick with us, it will help us massively."
Finley has endured a frustrating fortnight, serving a three-match suspension for violent conduct in the defeat to MK Dons after retrospective action was taken by the FA. Rovers and Finley accepted the punishment to avoid the risk of an extension of the ban with an unsuccessful appeal, but the 30-year-old does believe he was hard done by.
He believes the perception that he is a player with a discipline problem is outdated. With age, he says he has learned to channel his innate fieriness when it may have got the better of him in years gone by.
But that does not make processing the suspension any easier. Paradoxically for someone who spends plenty of time in the stands supporting his team, he says he is not a good watcher of the game.
"It hasn't been great," he admitted. "It's only been a week; Saturday, Tuesday Saturday, so it's not been too bad. I could have missed three weeks or a month, so that is the positive I can take from that because there is nothing worse than watching football, especially when you're not winning games and you're frustrated. There's nothing worse; I go and watch my mates play on a Sunday morning and I get frustrated, never mind getting frustrated from a job I'm getting paid to do. That's just me.
"I think I've settled down a lot compared to when I first came in and when I was a lot younger. I am not going to go into the decision that got made; it was out of my hands and there were referees on the panel so was it worth appealing and getting an extra-game ban? Probably not because you're not going to win, but I don't want to go into that.
"I'd like to think I have settled down a lot. I hadn't had any suspensions this season. I've picked up six or seven yellow cards, missed the cut-off for five (bookings) and I am probably going to miss the cut-off for 10 (bookings). This was my first suspension this year and, hopefully, it's my last.
"People know me for playing on the edge but I would like to think I have changed a little bit. That natural aggression is in my game, but from the suspension side of it, I am a changed person from what I was four or five years ago."
Finley is back in time for Saturday's trip to the Kassam Stadium, where Finley has great memories after scoring a superb goal in a 2-2 draw in the FA Cup last season. He followed that up with a goal in the replay triumph and an assist in the league game at the Mem earlier this season, and he is hoping for more of the same.
"I don't know what it is with Oxford, but I always seem to play well against them," he said. "Maybe it's because they've got a scouse manager (Karl Robinson), but I'm not sure why.
"If I'm selected, I will hopefully keep that form that I've got. I was involved in the goal at the start of the season with the short free-kick that I clipped to Azza and we've scored off it.
"Hopefully, it's the same again and if we do win the game on Saturday, that will be a kick-start to our season and we can carry on."
Finley is a pivotal member of Joey Barton's squad on and off the pitch, but he is closer with fellow midfielder Jordan Rossiter than most. Both Liverpudlians and former Fleetwood Town players, they have a lot in common.
Rossiter's absence since December with a meniscus injury has been a big problem for the Gas, Finley admits, but he says the players that are available just have to crack on with the job.
"He's a massive miss," Finley said. "He's totally different to every other midfielder we have got at the football club when it comes to breaking up play and protecting the back four.
"Grant Ward has come in and done a good job and Couttsy is similar, more of a ball-playing number four rather than Jordy. Wardy is a bit of both, he is a ball-playing four and he can mix it and get about the pitch and cover some distance.
"But Jord is a massive miss. I've played with him at Fleetwood and he was brilliant there, but what can we do? He's injured until the end of the season, so we can't dwell on that. We have just got to improve as a team and try to turn our results."
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