Joey Barton believes "the two best strikers in League One" will be at the Mem on Saturday when Bristol Rovers host Peterborough United, and he is "not sure any of them play for Posh".
Former Gas striker Jonson Clarke-Harris, who was sold to Peterborough in 2020 for a fee that has risen to around £2million, is enjoying another strong season for Grant McCann's side, leading the third-tier scoring charts with 12 goals and two assists in 18 games. On the other side is Aaron Collins, who is tied at the top of the league with Exeter City's Jevani Brown for goal involvements, with 10 goals and seven assists in his 18 appearances.
And Rovers manager Barton believes Middlesbrough loanee Josh Coburn, who has four goals in seven appearances for the Gas this term, is in the same class, tipping the teenager to have a bright future in the game.
"On Saturday, we’ve got the two best strikers in League One in the stadium and I’m not necessarily sure any of them play for Peterborough," Barton said. "I think Josh Coburn’s as good as anyone you’ll see at 19 and he’s going to have a big future in the game, that kid.
"Obviously, Clarke-Harris is the top goalscorer and you’ve got the old established man, and you’ve got Azza, the new kid on the block, and a young whippersnapper in Coburn, who is as good as anyone with seven games and four goals. He’s 19 playing in League One against Men; I think the kid is going to have a big future.
"They are an attacking side with (Ephron) Mason-Clarke and (Ricky) Jade-Jones and Jack Marriot, but we’ve got some good players on the frontline. We’re a good side as well.
"Peterborough have historically built their teams around the front side or the wingers, whether it’s (Siriki) Dembele, Clarke-Harris or Marriott, scoring goals because that’s what they do, they build the team around the focal point on the front and then they demand a premium for them in the market and it has been mega successful for them.
"Barry Fry is a top football businessman and they have done a phenomenal job at Peterborough with their acquisition of players and then selling them on at a premium further up the chain. They have bounced between League One and the Championship.
"For us, we’ve got a slightly different business model. We’ve got a captive audience in terms of a big-city audience and for us I think it’s a good marker post to see whether we are legitimately a top-10 side in the division in the next couple of games."
Barton – who took charge at the Mem six months after Clarke-Harris' departure, has previously criticised the way Rovers managed the former Coventry City striker, who scored 27 goals in 49 appearances across an 18-month stay in BS7.
His goals dragged Graham Coughlan's side away from relegation danger in the spring of 2019 before firing the Gas into play-off contention as Christmas approached the following season until injuries to the star striker and a dramatic downturn in form after Coughlan's shock exit.
Barton nearly signed Clarke-Harris for Fleetwood Town in the same window he joined Rovers, and he is adamant he could have got more out of a player he believes has immense potential to be even better than he already is – winning the League One golden boot in 2020/21.
The Rovers boss says Clarke-Harris' fitness levels have cost him a big move in recent windows.
"I think Clarke-Harris is a helluva striker and I’d like to have him in our team, and I nearly got him when he signed for Bristol Rovers," Barton said.
"I think I would have gotten more out of him than people have got because with the greatest respect to him, he wouldn’t have the BMI and body fat he has playing for the teams he’s played for. Playing for us, we definitely would have got him trimmed down.
"That’s not a smite on the people he’s worked with. I would have been on him every single day, I’d have been going home with him, making sure he was eating the right food and everything because I know with power-to-weight ratio, he could be even better than what he is and that is probably Grant McCann’s frustration with him and Darren Ferguson’s and many other managers.
"It’s probably cost Jonno a move to a big club because he’s scored enough goals to make teams further up the pyramid (interested). I’ve seen him linked with Glasgow Rangers at times and there must’ve been a number of Championship clubs hovering around him, a 20-goal-a-season striker and it probably would have been the shape of him and how fat he looks in his kit that puts them off.
"When you look at Aaron Collins, he’s the real deal. The kid’s a proper athlete, 12km a game, low body fat and he’s getting better.
"This is what lads think, they think if they score goals people will take them but if you don’t look right in your football kit, you won’t play in the modern game, you just won’t. There are too many good athletes out there."
SIGN UP: To receive our free Rovers newsletter, bringing you the latest from the Mem
READ NEXT:
