A game against League One leaders Plymouth Argyle, in front of a packed and fervent Mem with momentum behind Bristol Rovers and a healthy away following are ingredients enough for a special atmosphere on Saturday.
But beyond his duties, responsibilities and obligations as Rovers manager, and a will to overcome the current best team in the division, there will be a personal quest behind what drives Joey Barton.
Common wisdom is that Barton’s professional career began at Manchester City which is true, to an extent, but the prequel to his time at Maine Road and now the Etihad Stadium was with boyhood club Everton, who he joined when he was eight, as a bluenose from birth, but was released when he was just 14.
It was a decision that crushed him, and very nearly ended a football career that hadn’t even begun and the man behind that call will be present in BS7 on Saturday - Plymouth director of football Neil Dewsnip.
Barton claims Dewsnip was behind the decision to release him in 1996, alongside Leighton Baines and Phil Jagielka, only for the Toffees to pay £9m to re-sign the latter two from Wigan Athletic and Sheffield United, respectively, and come close to paying £6m to bring the former back 10 years later.
Dewsnip moved on to work for the FA in 2013 and he has since performed an impressive job at Home Park as technical director, working with Ryan Lowe and Steven Schumacher in transforming them into League One promotion contenders.
As Barton admits, though, he very much still holds a grudge and that decision more than 25 years ago still burns deep as it’s a subject he brings up without any prompting in Thursday’s pre-match press conference at The Quarters.
“I don’t have a moment for him, and he avoids me like the plague,” Barton said. “I wrote about him quite frankly in my book and, to be honest, I still carry it around with me. I still carry grudges.
“I could have listened to him and given up on my dream. Luckily for me I knew he was full of [expletive] and didn’t know anything about football.
"He couldn’t ever really play football. Whenever he used to do demos, he wasn’t fantastic because he was a PE teacher and, luckily for me, I didn’t listen to him. But that doesn’t mean I haven’t forgotten what he did and the way he did it.
“And he obviously saddles up with Schuey and worms his way in as technical director there and then they’ve done great, so you can’t knock it.”
On a slightly friendlier note, Barton will also be reunited with Pilgrims head coach Steve Schumacher and his assistant Mark Hughes who, at this stage last year, was playing under the 40-year-old with the Gas.
Schumacher was a year below Barton in the Everton academy and although their paths never properly crossed in their respective professional careers, they will be adversaries on the touchline at the Mem.
Barton has been impressed by the job Schumacher has done, continuing to build on the foundations laid down by fellow Scouser Ryan Lowe before he left for Preston North End last season.
Schumacher has won 27 of 46 games in charge since making the step up from assistant to head coach and was discussed as a contender for the vacancy at West Brom this week, emphasising his profile is growing.
“I think Ryan Lowe did a superb job stabilising the club and I think they’ve done a great job in the aftermath,” Barton added. “Steven’s done a really good job in maintaining and building on the solid platform Lowey put in.
"And as a League Two promotion team - and you look up the sides that have gone up recently and done really well - Plymouth and Luton are the teams who have gone up and had a real go, they have to be sides they’re aware of and the way they did it.
“Schuey, he’ll be disappointed that they collapsed and didn’t get in the play-offs when I thought they were tracking for autos. They’ve obviously got the anger in them that has given them that fast start and, again, have given themselves a really good opportunity. But I can’t wait to play them and the challenge because you want to play the best teams and they sit top of the table.”
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