Joey Barton has revealed Rovers unsuccessfully tried to re-sign Stoke City defender Connor Taylor on a permanent transfer as he graded the Gas' business across the January window as a disappointing 5/10.
Rovers recruited five new players - goalkeeper Ellery Balcombe, defenders Jarell Quansah and Calum Macdonald, midfielder Grant Ward plus the versatile Lamare Bogarde - but Barton reflected on their business as one of opportunities that got away from them.
Loan targets Bashir Humphreys (Chelsea to Paderborn) and another unnamed talent from a Category 1 Premier League academy went elsewhere, while their fresh attempts to bring Taylor back failed. Bristol Live also understands the Gas were confident of a late deadline day move for an experienced centre-back in League One, only for his club to then offer him a new contract amid the interest.
Taylor was a huge success during his season on loan in League Two last term and the Gas wanted a similar arrangement for the 2022/23 campaign but former manager Michael O’Neill elected to keep hold of the centre-back. But since O’Neill’s dismissal in August, and the appointment of Alex Neil as his successor, Taylor has played just 227 minutes for the Potters, indicating the opportunity would arise in the New Year.
The 21-year-old is understood to have been open to the idea of a Rovers reunion but circumstances were against the Gas due to Stoke’s wish to off-load Aden Flint, with the veteran joining Sheffield Wednesday, while Leicester City paid an initial £15m to sign Harry Souttar on deadline day, leaving the Championship club short in the position.
Barton says he was also conscious of the club’s financial position in light of the investment into the squad and the amount of of new contracts that have been signed since promotion, which limited their flexibility in January.
“We made a couple of offers, we felt we could get big Connor out of Stoke but they were trying to move Aden Flint on, they had Harry Souttar bubbling away,” Barton told BBC Radio Bristol. “We thought if we made an offer at least they’d know how serious we were about it. They didn’t want to sell him, so that’s tricky. There’s no amount of money we can offer Stoke that’s ever going to turn their eye to selling a prospect of theirs but we had to be active in the market.
“We haven’t got an abundance of money to splash around because we’ve got to do it in a sustainable manner. I don’t want to get the owner to chip loads of money in that won’t sustain the football club, medium and long term. Because very, very quickly you find yourself out of this division and it won’t allow ourselves to consolidate the gains we’ve made.
“Two years in February, the club’s in such a different spot and it has a solid foundation to work at. Just because we feel we have an outside chance of promotion this year… you go and blow the summer’s budget out of it and I think that’d be stupid of me to do so. I’m only a custodian of the club and I have to look after the well-being of the club.”
Rovers host MK Dons at the Mem on Saturday as they look towards the final 18 games of what has mainly been a promising return to League One with the Gas 12th in the table, although back-to-back defeats and the transfer window has slightly tempered optimism about a play-off drive.
As well as securing top-scorer Aaron Collins for at least another six months, Barton was pleased to have freshened up the group which included the departures of fringe squad members Alfie Kilgour, Trevor Clarke, Zain Westbrooke and the loan return of Bobby Thomas to Burnley, while they also regrettably sold Harvey Saunders to Tranmere Rovers.
“5, I think,” Barton said, when asked to grade their window. “We could have done a bit more, that’s for sure. Hit the bar on a few. Cat 1 lads who decided to go abroad; one to a Scottish Premier side and another to a Bundesliga 2 side.
“It’s tough, you do feel this is the best place for them but you do understand there’s a bit more at play, teams that can offer a bigger salary or a bigger stage to play on than division three in England.
“I felt they would have really given us a bit of a boost into the second half of the season but, as it is, we got five in and five out and allows us to clear out a little of the, and it sounds horrible to say about footballers, deadwood; lads who are not pushing the first team.”
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