Welcome to the dying embers, Gasheads. Deadline days under Joey Barton have, so far, have never failed to be eventful and another busy one awaits Bristol Rovers.
While many clubs lament doing deals at the last minute, it is something Barton is entirely comfortable with and the Gas have done it to great effect in recent times, swooping in late to find value and quality. And with several areas to strengthen, the Rovers boss hopes to repeat the trick in the hours ahead.
Outgoings are on the cards, too, with Barton vowing to be ruthless in the wake of Saturday's "embarrassing" 5-1 defeat at League One strugglers Morecambe. Here is the state of play before tonight's 11pm deadline...
Barton's wishlist
Many managers keep their cards close to their chest when it comes to the players and positions they are after in the market, but Barton has been upfront about what he wants.
"I’m looking for a centre-half, a left-back, two centre-mids and a left-footer (winger) who comes off the right," he said before the weekend. "Will I get all of them? I’m not sure."
Since then, former Blackpool and Ipswich Town midfielder Grant Ward has put pen to paper and made his Gas debut, making it one down and four to go for Barton if he is to finish the window with all the resources he wants.
Admittedly, he is pessimistic about the chances of signing a winger in that mould, due to a scarcity of quality options, but he is confident about the rest.
Centre-back has to be a priority with Lewis Gibson – arguably Rovers' most convincing defender this season – being ruled out for at least a few more weeks with a thigh injury. Without him, the Gas have looked increasingly uncomfortable and their defensive record has gone from bad to worse.
At left-back, Trevor Clarke has been loaned out and Lewis Gordon is still learning his trade. As a result, Scott Sinclair has often been deployed as a left wing-back and another option would be welcome.
In midfield, the impression Barton gave after Saturday's defeat was he wants more legs and energy to fill the void left by Jordan Rossiter, who has been sorely missed as he recovers from a meniscus injury that will rule him out for several weeks yet. The Gas have experience and creativity in their midfield ranks, and Ward is a good all-rounder, but a player with Rossiter's tenacity and engine would go a long way to tightening things up off the ball.
Brighton prospect Marc Leonard and Jake Doyle-Hayes of Hibernian have been reported as possible targets for that role, but they are thought to be on a long list of players considered.
The pursuit of a winger is in search of variety. In terms of central striking options, Rovers are stacked with two of the division's best in Aaron Collins and Josh Coburn, and Ryan Loft and John Marquis are a strong supporting cast, but a left-footed playmaker – a Luke Thomas-type – would bring new methods of unlocking stubborn defences to ease the burden on the frontmen.
Departures on the cards
"A couple I’ve made my mind up on today that we need to move on out of the football club," Barton said in his press conference after Saturday's defeat. "They are just not going to do what I need them to do."
Quite whose place at the club is under threat remains clear, but it feels like very few members of the squad enjoy complete security when it comes to their futures in BS7 with the manager in the mood to be "ruthless".
The three new signings, plus Collins, Sinclair, Coburn – although the clock ticking to 11pm will be hugely welcome in the context of Middlesbrough loanee staying for the second half of the season – and a few others have cemented their place, but the defence and midfield have come under the microscope after pair of disappointing displays – continuing a concerning trend for the backline – in the past fortnight.
Many players at the club have served Barton well over the past 12 months, but his comments on Saturday indicate surprise departures are possible.
"I’ve given them ample opportunity," Barton said. "I’ve said to them in there ‘I’ve given you loads of opportunities to have a jersey, keep your jersey and take it’.
"Now I’ve got to be ruthless because I’m looking at next season and what that looks like as well as trying to finish this season strongly. You’ve got to have one mind on the job to come."
As for Collins, in particular, his is Rovers' most prized asset and in the past the Gas have been fearful of being raided on deadline day, but this time they are in a good position with their star player.
Despite fanciful claims on social media, there is no release clause in his contract, which does not expire until 2025, meaning the Gas are in control and they can set their price for a player surely worth several millions – a fee almost every club in the Championship cannot afford mid-season in the current climate.
Another rabbit out of the hat?
Signing Coburn and Elliot Anderson on consecutive deadline days represents incredibly shrewd business from Barton and Eddy Jennings, his right-hand man and head of football operations.
Do they have another one up their sleeve? They will certainly hope so, and the feeling at Rovers is their recent good work with loan players has been noticed higher up the pyramid, underlined by the fact that Liverpool have trusted them with Jarell Quansah – a fixture of their under-21s side and a European Championships winner for England under-19s.
The Gas missed out narrowly on a highly-rated defender from a 'big-six' club last week having worked out a deal, only for the player to take up the chance to play abroad instead. Frustrating, certainly, but Barton feels the club is getting access to better youngsters as a result of the progress Anderson, Connor Taylor and others have made under his leadership.
It seemed impossible to replicate the remarkable success of the Anderson deal, which sparked Rovers' promotion charge last season, but Coburn has been similarly impactful since signing on the last day of the summer window with nine League One goals.
Another last-gasp addition of comparable quality would be a welcome lift after a pair of concerning performances.
It's going to be busy
With a significant shopping list and scope for players to leave the club, too, it promises to be a busy day at The Quarters.
Mercifully, there is no midweek game for the Gas to complicate matters further, unlike in the summer of 2021 when three signings – Antony Evans, Leon Clarke and Junior Brown – were unveiled after the final whistle of an EFL Trophy win over Cheltenham Town.
If Monday was the calm before the storm, Tuesday is set to deliver chaos and you can follow all the news in our deadline day live blog here.
But with so many spinning plates and factors to consider internally before contemplating what is going on at buying and selling clubs, it is impossible to predict how deadline day will play out. Rovers will be opportunistic and open-minded and it would be foolish to say anything is off the table or is definitively on the table.
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