Joey Barton believes Bristol Rovers will be rewarded for their patience in the transfer market with the Gas manager optimistic there could be movement into the club this week, as his wish for wingers increases with every game.
Rovers have made six new additions to the squad so far this summer, in defence, midfield and attack and although Barton said last week he would still like six new faces, that number now appears to have been revised to five, unless there are significant outgoings.
One area of the field that appears to be an area of focus for Barton and his recruitment department is in attacking wide areas with the Gas yet to replace either Elliot Anderson, Luke Thomas or Sam Nicholson from last season, with that particular trio worth 12 goals and 15 assists in League Two.
That lack of offensive width was emphasised at Fratton Park on Saturday as Rovers starting XI against Portsmouth didn’t contain a single natural wide player, outside of right-back Luca Hoole, who was stationed at centre-back, while Harry Anderson has been mainly filling in at full-back this season.
Rovers would love to take Anderson back on loan but he continues to be used by Eddie Howe in the Newcastle United matchday squad, albeit without using him yet this season. Thomas was considered an option earlier this summer but talks have since all-but ended due to the winger playing his way back into contention at Barnsley.
“Yeah, we’re short. We’ve lost three wingers in Elliot Anderson, Luke Thomas and Sam Nicholson and we haven’t really replaced any of them,” Barton said, in the wake of their 3-1 defeat on the south coast.
“We’re short in that department and we’re fully aware of that and the owner is fully aware of that and we’re aware of that as a group.
“Again, when you want quality, you’ve got to wait, you’ve got to be patient. Without getting too far ahead of ourselves, the wait will be worth it.”
Rovers’ six signings this summer have tended to arrive in pairs in the space of a week or a few days, with Jordan Rossiter and James Connolly within three days of each other on June 21 and 24; James Gibbons and John Marquis on July 1 and 4; Lewis Gordon and Lewis Gibson then on August 6 and 12, respectively.
Barton has previously accepted the fact that such is the volume of business he’d like to conclude between now and September 1, and his desire for more Premier League loans ala Elliot Anderson and, most recently, Gibson, the club may have to wait until the “dying embers” of the summer window as top-flight clubs make decisions on their younger talent.
In an ideal situation, Rovers would have a significant number of their targets “off the board” before the visit of Shrewsbury Town to the Mem on Saturday and Barton seems reasonably optimistic he can secure at least another two over the next five days.
“Yeah, I don’t know how confident I am, we’re ticking in the window now but we’ll see what happens,” Barton added. “I imagine there will be some movement this week and I hope we don’t wait until the last day of the window to take them off the board. I’m hoping we can get at least two, maybe even more over the line.
“But if not, I know I’m five short and I’ve got five to do and that’s on the back of no-one going out. We might lose one or two as well and in that case we might have to replace them.
“We’ve got a bit of work to do in the market. We’ve got Shrewsbury at home and after that we can bed the group in and start to make progress.”
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