Joey Barton and his players held a collective moment to say thank you for the support of the Bristol Rovers fans in a new routine before kick-off that represented a notable departure from their usual pre-match process.
On Saturday against Accrington Stanley, Barton was on the pitch during the warm-up observing his players being put through their paces by first-team coaches Andy Mangan and Danny Ventre, whereas usually he remains in the dressing room.
Mangan traditionally has then led a huddle on the pitch before the matchday squad returns down the tunnel for their final preparations before kick-off but on the weekend it was the manager who delivered a public teamtalk before the squad then knelt together, almost in prayer.
That was followed by the players then collectively running to the East Stand, down the touchline and then turning past the Thatchers End to try and draw more noise out of the home support.
Unfortunately, of course, it offered little in inspiring Rovers’ performance on the day as they were beaten 1-0 by Accrington but it will be interesting to see if this becomes the team’s new routine on a matchday.
“We just spoke about how thankful we are that our fans turn up and pay their money and support us. Last week, we were nowhere near our best and they stuck with us and I felt it was important that we drew down off the energy and thanked them at the end of the warm-up,” Barton said.
“It was almost like the warm-up is finished now and the time for all the thoughts we’ve worked on all week are gone and now it’s time to get down to business.
“Disappointingly for us, I don’t think we were anywhere near our best. You have to give Accy credit, I thought they played well and came with a game plan and I can’t have any complaints, I don’t think we were good enough to win a game of football in our stadium and that’s disappointing.”
Rovers’ relationship with the fanbase is going to be critical in dragging them out of this slump as there was a notable dip in the atmosphere on Saturday with a sense of exasperation replacing all the optimism and excitement at the beginning of the campaign.
Barton knows the only way to properly energise the crowd, as they did so successfully last season, is through performances on the field and by delivering aspirational and exciting football.
At the moment, the Gas are a little stuck between wanting to try and be the entertaining team of the second half of 2021/22 but with a concern that the increase in quality in League One means, as evidenced by the 6-3 defeat to Lincoln City, they can’t invite pressure nor allow too much space to open up at the back.
That very basic dynamic is also against the backdrop of Rovers’ injury issues and the integration of several new players into the squad as Barton also deals with mitigating against the absence of Connor Taylor and Elliot Anderson’s influence.
“It’s our job to stop them being quiet”, Barton added. “We’ve got to feed the fanbase and it’s our job to get that energy in the stadium.
“We can’t expect the fans to lift us, that’s completely the wrong way of going about it. They pay their hard-earned wages to come and watch us and it’s our job to entertain and get them off their seats.
“I apologise to the Bristol Rovers fans, the Gasheads. We were nowhere near the levels and as a group we’ve got to be better.”
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