Bringing in a 34-year-old centre-back on a free transfer may not fall within the traditional parameters of what constitutes a “statement signing”, but Bristol Rovers’ pursuit of James Wilson further indicates how important Joey Barton and his staff feel he should be in this team.
Wilson will arrive at the Mem with considerable EFL pedigree - 378 career appearances in the Championship, League One and League Two, promotions with Brentford, Sheffield United, Lincoln City and, most recently, Plymouth Argyle - on the back of one of his best seasons as a professional but, what’s significant, is all those attributes and achievements are something the Gas missed last season.
With Paul Coutts having left the club, there is a leadership void among an already young and emerging group. Wilson should step into that role and relish the opportunity to guide the squad.
Defensively, while talented in an individual sense, Rovers regularly lacked cohesion, consistency and organisation at the back last term and, as blunt as it may sound, often just needed someone to take control and get the thing clear. Step forward, Wilson.
Since the final ball of the 2022/23 season was kicked, and with his contract at Home Park expiring, the veteran centre-back has been on Rovers’ radar and they have had to remain patient throughout negotiations but look to have got their man.
To find out a bit more about the defender, we spoke to Chris Errington, who has been covering Plymouth Argyle for Plymouth Live and the Plymouth Herald for the last 26 years…
For those unaware of James Wilson, could you sum up what sort of a player he is and the impact he’s had over the last two seasons at Plymouth?
James Wilson is an experienced, dependable defender who has good leadership qualities too. He joined Argyle from Ipswich in the summer of 2021 and was a regular member of the team which narrowly missed out on the League One play-offs in 2021/22 and then finished top of the table last term with 101 points. Overall, he made a total of 90 starts and five substitute appearances over his two seasons at Home Park.
What sort of defensive system did he play in under Ryan Lowe and Steven Schumacher?
He lined up on the right of Argyle's three-man central defence under both Ryan Lowe and Steven Schumacher, but has played as an orthodox centre-back in a four in the past.
What are his standout strengths?
Wilson is commanding in the air, a strong tackler and his distribution of the ball, particularly over long distance, is a good way of either switching the play or putting a speedy striker in behind the opposition defence, as was the case with Ryan Hardie at Argyle.
And what are the weak points of his game?
He does not score enough goals, getting just one in his two seasons at Argyle. Centre-backs ideally need to be able to chip in with goals from set pieces and Wilson is good enough in the air to be an attacking threat.
What’s been the general reaction from the Plymouth fans that he’s leaving the club?
The fans have generally been disappointed to see him leave because he was a reliable performer for Argyle but given the team's promotion to the Championship there is also a feeling it was time for the 34-year-old and the club to go their separate ways.
What sort of character was he around the club?
Very easy to get on with and a leader by example. He and Argyle captain Joe Edwards are good mates and Wilson was the stand-in skipper whenever Edwards was not in the starting line-up.
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