One of Joey Barton’s major missions last summer, beyond completely restructuring and improving the quality of the Bristol Rovers squad after relegation from League One, was raising standards of professionalism at the club, particularly in the dressing room.
Barton’s revelations towards the end of the 2020/21 campaign of widespread snus use caused a stir given its unique nature but it also spoke of a wider problem, a lackadaisical attitude, whereby certain individuals - who have since left north Bristol - weren’t behaving of an attitude befitting of a successful club.
A manager can only do so much in addressing this, setting rules and behaviours, but the best device for doing so is by implanting players with a certain mentality in the dressing room to affect culture through how they operate.
