Bristol Rovers’ wait for a second home win of 2023 will enter a fourth month as the buoyancy of the win at Forest Green Rovers last weekend has been considerably deflated with back-to-back defeats at the Mem - both by the same 2-0 scoreline and with similar themes.
Having declared this final fifth of the campaign is as much of a fact-finding mission as it is to get points on the board, Joey Barton at least has gleaned that this incarnation of the Gas can’t consider themselves a top-half League One quality side yet.
Like Wycombe Wanderers before them, Portsmouth were strong, resolute, organised, committed, had a good goalkeeper between the posts and took their chances when presented to them. Not that the Gas didn't offer any of those characteristics, but the last one is becoming an increasing issue for a team who have lost a large part of their attacking verve and vivacity.
With plenty to ponder and a significant amount of time to do so following the postponement of scheduled games against Shrewsbury Town and Plymouth Argyle, here are the talking points from the Mem…
Decisions, decisions
Joey Barton was asked 10 questions during his 14-minute post-match press conference, three were related directly to the officials’ decisions during the match and yet on four of the other non-referee specific ones, he turned it back to the same discussion point.
True to his usual demeanour, the Rovers manager wasn’t ranting or raving, he spoke with his usual calm, albeit several times having to hold his tongue and check his language, but throughout it he simply couldn’t get the performance of referee James Bell out of his head.
Now, you would have justified reason to suggest this was a distraction tactic to take some focus away from the fact that the Gas have now gone seven games at home without a win and are increasingly slipping down the League One table from a position of strength.
There could be some merit in that because whatever was probed about deficiencies in the team and performance was quickly brought back around to the referee and his assistants and therefore naturally took over how Barton’s reaction was presented to you, the reader or listener.
But such a bending of the narrative only tends to occur when teams have dropped a particularly poor performance which reflects on the manager. We’ll talk about this in the next part but Rovers didn’t play like a side falling apart at the seams, weighed down by the pressure of this barren run in BS7; they, again, didn’t take their chances and made a few individual mistakes that led, directly and indirectly, to goals.
And, ultimately, while Barton probably stretched his point slightly beyond the realms of credibility when he said Jarell Quansah’s reckless challenge wasn’t a red card, insinuating it was as much a symptom of their incessant protests throughout the game, rather than anything particularly dangerous, for the first goal, you can understand where he was coming from.
Rovers were increasingly looking the better side in the opening 15 minutes as Lewis Gibson and Jarell Quansah had shown their threat at set-pieces and Aaron Collins had stung the fingers of Matt Macey from range - momentum was building.
But assistant referee Ian Cooper’s decision to keep his flag down as Colby Bishop got the wrong side of Quansah to run onto Ryan Tunnicliffe’s through ball to open the scoring, not only put the Gas on the back foot but it completely altered the dynamic on the pitch and in the stands.
It looked debatable at the time and even worse on replay, and led to fury among fans and on the bench, where coaches Andy Mangan and Glenn Whelan was booked, Barton delivering a monologue on the touchline to Cooper whenever he was in range of the dugout and Rovers lost any control they had initially generated.
This was, of course, only the 18th minute and Rovers had ample time to put it right plus, as professionals, ultimately you have to just get on with it. Which they did, to a point, only to be hit by the blow of the penalty for Calum Macdonald’s tug on Paddy Lane.
Yes, the Pompey winger knew what he was doing and helped generate the contact but without the Rovers left-back’s very clear pull of his shirt, there’s every chance he could have got to that loose ball before James Belshaw’s recovery from his initial spill. Had it been the other way around, and the Gas denied a similar spot-kick, Barton would have been apoplectic.
The decision for the first goal was an unfortunate additional obstacle for Rovers - which is easy for me to write - but it wasn’t a fatal blow and, as we’ll see, it didn’t decide the game for them, either. It was however something you can understand why the manager was, in one of the more polite words used, aggrieved about.
We’ve been here before
There’s an element of Tuesday’s post-mortem against Wycombe Wanderers that can be copied and pasted here because Rovers had more than enough moments to get something out of this game, whether the officials were incorrect in their decision-making or not.
The Gas produced 17 shots to Pompey’s seven, seven on target to three, Macey was credited with making seven saves to Belshaw’s one and in terms of expected goals they led the visitors 1.75 to 1.05. It wasn’t a 2-0 game over the balance of play but it was simply because, just like the Chairboys, Bishop managed to score at key times and when presented with the opportunity to.
Antony Evans’ set-piece delivery yielded three opportunities for Jarell Quansah and Lewis Gibson, John Marquis fired over the bar just before half-time after finding himself well-placed, in the middle of the box with a considerable amount of the goal to aim at, Grant Ward placed a header wide, Luca Hoole headed straight at Macey after Macdonald’s excellent cross and Sam Finley directed a volley from a dropping ball cleanly over the bar by a good few yards, plus there were at least two goalmouth scrambles that could have landed anywhere.
All the chances were good to great and yet once again there was a zero in the goals column and of that winless run of seven at the Mem they’ve only found the target once - Marquis’ early goal against Burton Albion. That is more than just bad luck and perceived poor officials.
Belshaw spoke post match of consciously sticking to a more rigid shape when out of possession, particularly their rest defence when they lose the ball, which can mean that naturally when they attack they’re subconsciously preoccupied by what they need to do should the opposition get it back, therefore an element of the previous attacking impetus is lost. Which makes sense but they are still conceding goals and producing enough chances to flip the dynamic in their favour. It’s just that players are looking increasingly out of sorts, at least when they look up and see the posts in view.
Josh Coburn didn’t enjoy quite the same space as he did in midweek but the Middlesbrough loanee certainly could do with a confidence boost, but then this is a natural repercussion of playing young players, the distance between their floor and ceiling across so many different aspects of the game is so pronounced.
Even Collins and Loft, who are both 25, are largely new players at this level and the former’s red-hot streak was always likely to cool off, while the latter is only receiving piecemeal minutes and clearly finding it hard to play himself into the pace of a game.
It’s perhaps in moments in this where Barton needs one of his more experienced heads to take the lead; for Marquis or Scott Sinclair, among the attacking players, to show the others the way because the opportunities are being created, they’re simply not being taken and that is then putting additional pressure on a defence that has its own sense of self doubt.
Left for dead
Lewis Gibson can be a difficult player to judge at times because, on the ball, he looks every inch the young talent with the way he carries it at speed and with purpose, happy to motor infield or look to take his man on the outside (although sometimes you do wish he’d do more of the latter than the former). He controls the ball with greater confidence and his passing and overall decision-making in possession seems to have improved as he’s earned more minutes, as it should.
But, as was the case against Wycombe, Pompey very clearly targeted his flank in the first 45 minutes which didn’t deliver any direct results for John Mousinho’s side but certainly forced Barton into the half-time change of introducing Macdonald.
Visiting right-back Joe Rafferty enjoyed plenty of joy down that channel, as Lane often moved inside to make space for the overlap and Gordon appeared a little trapped at times as to who to track, leaving enough space for a cross to then be forthcoming.
It wasn’t quite like Tuesday night when he had to contend with the wheels of Garath McCleary but it was a different kind of challenge and something Barton is no doubt mindful of moving forward so that it doesn’t become a trend of opposition teams. Macdonald, penalty aside, managed to shut down that supply line a little better after the break and could have given his manager some food for thought over the next few weeks before Charlton Athletic arrive at the Mem.
Break comes at the wrong time
You can easily form an argument that nearly three weeks off, 46-matches into a season, with Rovers having to contend with injuries to a number key players, particularly in midfield and, as a result, some individuals either having to be overplayed or remain in the team when perhaps they could do with a game or two out of the line-up, is a good thing for the Gas.
Finley, for example, got 17 minutes against Pompey but it was a tough ask for the midfielder after so long out and it’s no surprise he was a little off the pace, albeit his endeavour and willingness to get to the ball and be available could never be questioned. But after around two weeks out with illness, this 20-day gap should do him the power of good.
Likewise, Lamare Bogarde, Gordon, Coburn and Quansah - who will now be suspended for one or three games depending on the referee’s report and the nature of the dismissal which nobody was quite sure of after the game - could do with a bit of a mental reset in what has been a hectic and challenging introduction into senior football.
Collins, very evidently, hasn’t been at his potent best and the miles in his legs this season have taken a toll in terms of his explosiveness in recent weeks. Barton praised his response but conceded that something is very clearly missing from his performances.
Time will tell if this is of benefit, but in terms of Rovers’ league position and the growing anxiety around their form, ideally they’d be playing again before April 7. Rovers now have this break with the home form hanging over them, the lack of goals and with the growing concern that maybe a few individuals are, or least are in danger of, switching off by a few per cent with the season apparently safe.
Barton delivered an odd line when he said he wished it was all over so he could focus on the next, a strange comment to make given they are on 45 points, only 10, above the bottom four, but similar to how he’s dealt with Collins this week it does speak of an awareness that there is a loss of intensity within his squad at the moment, or at least he feels there is.
By the time they take to the field against the Addicks, they could have slipped a few more places. Of the teams below them and within striking distance: Port Vale (44 points) are at Portsmouth and then host Cambridge United; Cheltenham Town (43 points) host Sheffield Wednesday and Burton; The Brewers (41 points) take on Cambridge and then Cheltenham.
Of course, what matters is the advantage on the bottom four, which should be at least three results. But given the Gas’ issues in taking chances, as a result of a loss of confidence among individuals and potentially focus, should any pressure and anxiety increase around this young group, who increasingly rely on having to generate self-belief rather than instantly producing it, the pressure of looking over their shoulders won’t help.
Lest we forget the strength of the teams on the horizon with six of the top 10, all of which are currently playing for some kind of promotion outcome and the intensity of playing nine matches inside just over four weeks. There’s nothing they can do about it now, and the rest and recuperation is important, but they need to use it to their advantage and come out of the traps firing all the concluding weeks to the campaign could get a little uncomfortable.
Relegation remains highly unlikely - 100/1 with most bookmakers, while FiveThirtyEight give Rovers less than a one per cent chance of finishing inside the bottom four by May 7 based on current projections - but that 52 point target imposed by the manager definitely feels further away than it did a fortnight ago.
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