Two seasons at Bristol Rovers have given James Belshaw ample time to understand his surroundings, his teammates and the strengths and weaknesses of Joey Barton's squad. Through the highs and lows of an eventful chapter in the club's history, the goalkeeper believes there is a trend the Gas need to arrest to make it to the next level.
There have been brilliant bursts of form and incredible moments mixed in, but long-lasting consistency has never quite been found. This season, the Gas have lurched between winning and losing runs repeatedly, which proved to be more than enough to secure their place in the division with several points and a handful of games to spare.
But Barton's ambitions are for Rovers to be much more than mid-table also-rans. He wants to see his team challenge in and around League One's top six next season and he is well aware that a crucial summer transfer window awaits if the 15th-placed Gas are to make the leap.
There have been encouraging signs this term with Rovers showing they can go toe-to-toe with the best teams in the league over 90 minutes – although Antony Evans' red card at Plymouth Argyle on Tuesday took away their chance of matching the champions-elect – but not over the course of a season.
Ultimately, signing better players and continuing to add good people will bring the level of consistency which Belshaw believes the club has lacked in his time between the posts, and the No1 believes the summer ahead will be decisive for embedding the quality and mentality required to reduce Rovers' streakiness that has seen points earned in spurts with some barren runs in between rather than a steady accumulation.
"Mistakes are punished more heavily at this level," the 32-year-old replied when asked what he has learned from his first season in the third tier. "You have got lads on £10,000-15,000 a week that are paid to put the ball in the back of the net, so if you give them chances, you’re going to get punished. The game is a bit quicker and lads are a bit stronger.
"We’ve had a young group this year and the gaffer likes to have a good core of young players. It’s a young group and there are not many older lads in there, but the gaffer will be looking with one or two eyes on next season, looking at who he wants to bring in.
"The gaffer’s recruitment will be a big thing this summer with who he wants to move on and who he wants to keep here and he will do what’s best for the football club. But the remit this year was to stay up and we’ve done that pretty comfortably without a few scares.
"The one thing I have seen patterned over last year and this year is the consistency. We started poorly and then we go on a good run, then we go on a bad run, and then we go on a good run.
"It’s a ‘Lose one, don’t lose the next one’ way of thinking for it. We even did it last year; we had a bad run at the start and picked up a bit, then dropped off and then had that big run at the end.
"It’s building that consistency, but with young lads, young loan lads and those who aren’t as experienced at this level, it’s going to take time, but the lads will learn a lot from these next few games.
"The gaffer, I imagine, is going to look at a few lads who haven’t had much of a go of it in the next few games, but it’s exciting times for the football club.
"I think if you asked any of the Gasheads – and a special shout to the fans who have travelled on a Tuesday night; we’ve got four away games in a row and the cost of living crisis is unbelievable – but if you asked them ‘Would you take being safe this year?’, 100 per cent, they would have taken it.
"After the relegation and promotion, the club wants a bit of consistency, so a bit of mid-table mediocrity is pretty welcome for the Gasheads."
Still in his early 30s, Belshaw is in his prime years as a goalkeeper and he wants to make the most of them as a Rovers player.
The former Harrogate Town No1 recognises the Gas have faced a significant step in standard this season, with a gulf in class between the third and fourth tiers, but with plenty of experience banked, Belshaw says Rovers are "not a million miles away" from where they want to be.
"I think there is a big step up from League Two to League One, especially when you look at the top 8-10 sides who wouldn’t be out of place in the Championship and some of them have been Premier League sides relatively recently," he said.
"It’s been a big learning curve for me going and playing at bigger grounds. All my career has been in non-league, pretty much. I have only been in the Football League for three years.
"To play 40-odd games, I love playing for the football club and I think everybody knows that. I’ve got a good rapport with the fans. These are going to be my best years now, 32, 33, 34. They are your best years as a keeper and you want to play as high as you can. I’ve worked hard to get here with the promotions and long may it continue.
"I think there is work to do at the club. I don’t think we’re a million miles away and I’m sure the gaffer has got one or maybe even two eyes on recruitment for next year and looking how to bridge the gap between us and the top sides.
"Budgets and money are a big difference, especially in this league when you look at the top sides, but for us, the goal was to stay in the league and we’ve done that pretty comfortably without being in any real danger of going down.
"We’ve had a team with a lot of young lads that needed time to bed in and even the older lads like myself, it’s our first time playing in League One and you learn a lot about everyone over the course of the season.
"But I don’t think we’re a million miles away if we recruit in the summer. The gaffer is going to go away and look at boys he wants to keep and lads he wants to move on and that’s the football merry-go-round in the summer."
Rarely is a player ever happy to lose their place in the team, but Belshaw could not conceal his delight for his "best mate" at the club Jed Ward when he got his chance at Port Vale at the weekend. Despite a 13-year age gap between Belshaw and 19-year-old Ward, they have grown to be good friends through the club's goalkeepers' union and he is more than just a mentor to Rovers' brightest young talent.
Academy graduate Ward impressed in his second league appearance for the Gas and Belshaw believes he is destined to have a bright career, be it at Rovers or at a higher level.
"I was absolutely buzzing for Jed," Belshaw said. "The gaffer pulled me at the back end of the week and said he was going to start Jed but I was coming back in for the Plymouth game. He said we have to have a look at Jed.
"Jed is a fantastic keeper. We’re roommates, we room together, we’re so close. After the gaffer pulled me, I sat down with Jed and said ‘Look, I’m buzzing for you, I’m 100 per cent in your corner’.
"He will go on to have an unbelievable career. Hopefully, it’s here as a Gashead, but with the potential he’s got, it could far exceed these parts.
"Buzzing for him. The way the gaffer has handled it, there might be an opportunity. We’ve had chats about what games I’m going to play potentially. As a keeper, I’m 32 and I want to play every game, of course I do. But when it’s one of your good friends and probably your closest mate at the club, I want to see him do well and I don’t mind that."
SIGN UP: To receive our free Rovers newsletter, bringing you the latest from the Mem
READ NEXT:
