“Being a football fan entitles us to a temporary, recurring retreat, a short holiday from real existence. Our lives can be in chaos and nothing seem fixed. Nothing except how we feel on a Saturday at 3pm, when we are elevated into blissful and infuriating distraction. What a privilege that is.”
As written by Daniel Gray in his book, ‘Saturday, 3pm: 50 Eternal Delights of Modern Football’ as a paean to the idiosyncrasies and whimsical joy of being a match-going fan. Because, for all its athletic achievement as a sporting spectacle, football, at base level, is escapism - a brief afternoon portal away from the humdrum, banality and frustration of life.
Which is why when reality and the game collide, it can be confusing, confounding and, to be perfectly honest, a bit annoying.
Joey Barton delivered such a clash of worlds earlier this week when he admitted that Bristol Rovers’ recruitment this summer has been directly impacted by the cost of living crisis, specifically rising rent prices in the Bristol area which have, in some cases, proven a deal-breaker between a player choosing a club in more northerly confines and travelling down the M5 to sign for the Gas.
Without getting too bogged down in the detail (and these are largely arbitrary figures), quite simply an offer of £2,000 pound a week from Rovers, compared to the same amount to club already close to where a player lives, in an area whereby a three-bedroom house can be rented for less than £1,800 a month, will always be a factor in that individual’s decision-making, even more so if they have a young family; as so many footballers in their early to mid-20s do.
Tied to that challenge, Barton has also bemoaned Bristol’s position in a geographic sense, far beyond the football heartlands of the north west, Midlands and even London, with the nearest Premier League clubs being the 80 miles to Bournemouth in the south and 100 to Aston Villa in the other direction.
Of course, these are not the only reasons why Rovers came up slightly short in the transfer market this summer - and is something that has been hinted at previously, before Barton was even at the club - but they remain factors, all the same, and for all the criticism of excuse making, it’s something that wouldn’t be completely invented out of the ether, there is merit to both set of circumstances.
However, as the manager himself likes to preach, it’s about finding solutions, not dwelling on the problems and the negatives and given such obstacles are never going to go away - Bristol will remain very much in the south west and, at least in the immediate sense, is unlikely to become less affordable than other cities, especially with the creeping London overspill.
However, while Rovers have mined Cardiff City in the last nine months with a loan and then permanent deal for James Connolly, a player known to Barton and Eddy Jennings following his time at Blackburn Rovers (north west, again), there is a location considerably closer to home that continues to be overlooked - although, it’s no great secret as to why. It’s just probably time to consider whether or not that’s a healthy position.
Before we continue, it needs to be clarified there is no subtext here celebrating any apparent success for Bristol City, at the expense of the Gas. Nor - as is a constant accusation - further evidence of the “Evil Post’s” apparent inherent and inescapable City bias. We are simply stating facts and applying them in the context of Rovers' slight transfer predicament as described by their manager earlier this week.
And the facts are that over the last 2-3 years, admittedly influenced by the Covid-19 pandemic and the drain on football finances that has created, particularly for a club like the Robins whose business model was built around the concept of creating revenue in the training market, they have produced a significant number of Championship-level and likely beyond players via their academy.
In the first team alone this season: Zak Vyner, Alex Scott, Antoine Semenyo and Tommy Conway can all be classified as important players, Max O’Leary was No2 goalkeeper last season, Cam Pring made 34 appearances in all competitions in 2021/22, while just below the surface of the regular matchday 18 is Sam Bell, Dylan Kadji and Josh Owers, with Ayman Benarous - who could potentially prove the pick of the bunch - recovering from an ACL injury.
Owura Edwards (Ross County), Ryley Towler (AFC Wimbledon) and Duncan Idehen (Carlisle United) are on season-long loans that are designed to springboard them into first-team reckoning next season.
Then further into the Under-21 and Under-18 set-up, defenders Joe Low, Jamie Knight-Lebel, Callum Wood and Raphael Araoye, midfielders Omar Taylor-Clarke, Ben Acey and Tommy Backwell, and forwards Seb Palmer-Houlden and Prince Henry all appear set for good careers in the game, whether that be in south Bristol or somewhere else in the country. It’s a production line that is showing more than just a few smatterings of promise right now.
All, bar Guernsey born and raised Scott and Acey, having been brought to the club from within a catchment area of within 50 miles, with Conway’s home town of Taunton the furthest outpost.
Rovers, of course, have their own academy but, with the greatest of respect and not in any way to downplay the hard work and expertise of Byron Anthony and his team, the facilities and resources are simply not on the same level. That, therefore, restricts the Gas from being able to present the sales pitch when recruiting local talent. It's not a fair fight. [And as a side point this discussion is also a strong argument for greater investment into the Rovers academy, where possible].
We don’t want to get into an academy vs academy argument here because that’s not really the point at hand but, for balance, it should be highlighted that Rovers did create significant transfer revenue last year, and will continue to as they progress through the age groups, from the sales of Bradley Burrowes and Kyrie Pierre to Aston Villa, Luca Hoole and Alfie Kilgour are very much in the first-team squad, plus have their own talents also on the periphery - most notably goalkeeper Jed Ward and midfielders Jerry Lawrence and Ryan Jones. In many ways, the club punches above its weight.
However, Barton himself has admitted that none are likely to be ready this season and this is the nub of the issue. Yes, an academy can generate transfer funds if you get the scouting and development right but ultimately it should serve as a means to provide the first-team with a regular stream of players.
And, right now, that is happening at one Bristol club and not as much at the other. That shouldn’t be ignored and sooner or later Rovers need to ask themselves, maybe we should consider taking advantage of it.
It was just over two years ago when former director of football Tommy Widdrington declared to Bristol Live he would be open to the idea of loaning players from City, “Whether the fans like to hear this or not, I'd like to see there be a little more of a cordial relationship between the clubs - we can help them and they can help us". A proclamation he was castigated for and, in many ways, possibly never recovered from in the eyes of some Gasheads (something we’re very much aware we may not either…).
But consider when Widdrington said that, to this period in time now. Technically, Rovers could - and that remains very much the operative word - have loaned any one of Semenyo, Scott (although he was very much fast-tracked under Nigel Pearson), Conway, Bell or Benarous plus Robbie Conway or Jojo Wollacott, who have since left City and are both impressing for two of Rovers’ League One rivals in Barnsley and Charlton Athletic.
We’re not even administering a heavy dose of hindsight here - all those players were very visible and known talents progressing through the Under-18 system and into the U23s but were sent out elsewhere to work on their trade before returning to their parent club where they have made varying degrees of impact.
Of course, we completely get the argument against such a bonkers notion - why should Rovers help develop City’s players for them? It’s not dissimilar to the apathy and anger around the EFL Trophy and the presence of Premier League Under-23 teams and the EFL being used as a vehicle for the betterment of the top flight elite.
But, really, when you look behind pride, does that matter? Those players are going to go on loan somewhere else anyway with that club then likely giving them the best possible opportunity to succeed, quite possibly with Rovers in opposition, so why can’t it be for rather than against the Gas?
Is it necessary to completely block off a possible avenue for improvement, amidst the issues Barton has touched on, simply to avoid social media goading or the odd joke at work or over the family dinner table? Pride is important to an extent, but it’s one of the seven deadly sins for good reason. It clouds judgement.
So what if accusations of "feeder club" become a thing, we're talking about the odd individual now and again, should they be the right profile of player as determined by the head coach and his recruitment team, not any kind of requirement to take a certain number on every season. Let the teenagers call each other names. Who cares, really?
There are, of course, some more micro reasons at play in all this - Matty Taylor’s transfer clearly created significant disquiet in the corridors of power at the Mem to the point Wael Al-Qadi essentially forbid any future transfer dialogue between the clubs.
But that was - checks notes - more than five years ago now. At some stage, things have to be moved on, emotions dealt with, and decisions made for the greater good. Richard Gould is not Mark Ashton and Tom Gorringe is not Steve Hamer.
There is also the concept of whether a loan move for a young player from south Bristol to BS7 would be healthy for the individual due to the likely pushback from the fanbase, however much of endorsement Barton gives them. That, in turn, no doubt would lead to reticence from City of releasing one of their players, albeit something that would be dependent on an individual's character.
But somebody at some stage has to do it, and one maybe enough to break what is essentially now a stigma. Granted, they’d have to be good and there isn’t likely to be a great deal of patience afforded - another tick in the “potential cons” box for the loaning club - but crowds can be won over. Goals, wins and success ensure that.
There are also internal political forces which, in many ways, are the biggest obstacle because what sense does it make temporarily bringing in a player from a “rival” academy and blocking the pathway of one of your own.
That is a fair argument but, again, is rooted in emotion not rationality and it has never once been raised when any of the nine loan players Barton has brought to Rovers have arrived immediately under consideration for the first-team, effectively all ahead of a club-raised player.
Alfie Kilgour has struggled for his injuries but we can't remember too many complaints when not one, but four centre-backs - Connor Taylor, James Connolly, Lewis Gibson and now Bobby Thomas - walked through the entrance of the Quarters. Why? Because they're good players who can make the Gas a better team.
Look, we're not naïve or foolish enough to dismiss the rivalry, or even trivialise it. It matters. Undoubtedly and unquestionably. It's part of your identity and, in this period of eight years without any kind of Bristol derby, it has in many ways been accentuated; fuelled by online sniping, no doubt. Something that you could make the case is an artificial approximation of the strength of feeling, rather than an accurate study of such.
That being said, the reception Steve Cotterill received last month and the greeting Marlon Pack received from the Gasheads on his now home turf of Fratton Park is more than enough hard evidence to tell you what the sentiment is. There is clear and present hatred and dismissal from both sides of the river.
But this is about adapting and progressing as a football club, not being potentially held back by archaic attitudes, at least not in the case of bringing in good players to make a team better. Even if it may mean so many years down the line that player is doing the business for your biggest rival.
Barton has changed a lot about Rovers. He's helped modernise methods and break stereotypes around the club. Clearly he's also a coach who has an increasingly strong record of developing other club's talent. That again, may make you wince as to the prospect of a head coach in blue and white boosting the career prospects for a man destined to wear red. But, honestly, that's a future hypothetical against what would be a reality in the moment.
It should also be said that few coaches not named Darrell Clarke over the last 20 years have enraptured the majority of the fanbase with every word spoken. If anyone can sell such an alien concept to Gasheads, Barton can.
Should the challenges he speaks of genuinely be a thing and not a generalisation via one or two cases over the course of the window, then it's only going to get worse, folks. Whatever your faith in the economic policies of Liz Truss, things aren't going to get any easier in the immediate future and football will be impacted, whether that be by reduced attendances, merchandising or in the transfer market, as continues to be witnessed in various forms.
Reality bites and it eats into the glorious escapism. Fewer players over time may want to make that trip down the M5 and it could increasingly be prudent and wise for Rovers to, at least, explore the concept of making their own journey down that motorway from junction 15 at Almondsbury to 19 for Failand, and seeing what the other lot have to offer.
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