Joey Barton is keeping his calm amid the chaos of Bristol Rovers' run of poor form as the Gas manager has opted for a back-to-basics approach in training this week with a lightened schedule to try and free his squad’s mind of any anxiety and lack of confidence that has naturally built up.
Rovers have lost their last three games in League One - to Accrington Stanley, Morecambe and MK Dons, all teams positioned in the bottom half of the league in a cluster of matches that represented a chance to push towards the top six.
Instead, Rovers have drifted back to mid-table and, as a result, there’s been a slight reset of aspirations in the short term as Barton is now focusing on delivering a performance at Lincoln City this Saturday, rather than indulging in any grand pronouncements about where his team could be headed.
Barton prides himself on the intensity of his training sessions, claiming some individuals have fallen by the wayside during his time at the club because of their inability to work in such an environment, but this week at the Quarters has seen the manager try and foster a more serene mentality.
Crucially, Barton also doesn’t think this disappointing run is the result of any underlying issues within the squad, it just comes with the natural ebb and flow of the season coupled with a slightly destabilising January window and the invariable inconsistencies that come with possessing a young squad.
“The kind of little spell we’re in now, it started in the second half of the Cheltenham game; we were so dominated, gifted them a goal but hung on to win that game even though we had some good defending and goalkeeping to fight for it,” Barton said.
“Cambridge, we find ourselves a goal behind, and managed to get ourselves in a winning position albeit in the second half against the wind, we didn’t have a single shot. Then we had a game postponed. Then we go to Accrington and the referee alters the course of the game with the first goal. We have a bad afternoon where everything goes wrong at Morecambe and then we’re 1-0 down after two minutes last Saturday. It’s just one of those moments.
“When you’ve been in the game as long as I have you understand there are ebbs and flows, sometimes everything you account for goes out the window and things go wrong. You have to keep your head in the midst of that and understand what you’re doing.
“My learning as a manager is - simplify it. So this week has been a lot lighter than what it would normally be. Just to try and declutter the lads’ minds, get the new lads into it, understand who they're working with, what type of people they are. Also, trying to get them to integrate into our team and culture as quickly as we possibly can.
“For us on Saturday it's just about getting into the contest. Going into the game, doing the basics of football really well. One of them is… don’t concede a penalty after two minutes!
“We’re aware of where we are. We were in a great spot, eighth and looking up the table, a few poor results can alter that but we have to remember there are lots of winnable games out in front of us and that starts on Saturday. You’re one win away from the whole picture changing. We’re lucky we’re in League One because pretty much everybody can beat everybody.”
Penetration is key for the Gas as Barton was quick to point to their passiveness in possession over these last three matches in which they’ve enjoyed plenty of the ball but have found the target just once; Aaron Collins’ consolation at Morecambe. A far cry from their form throughout winter when they’ve been among the most consistent scorers in the division.
The missed opportunities to strengthen the squad in January still sting the manager but so does the fact that he’s been without three consistent starters as Bobby Thomas’ loan was terminated, while defender Lewis Gibson and midfielder Jordan Rossiter has been absent for extended periods. Consequently, some rebuilding work through the core of his team has been required. Something that takes time.
“We’ve had 1,750 passes in the last three games and had 11 shots on target and the lion’s share of them came in the Morecambe game,” Barton added. “It’s frustrating but we try and play, and I get when teams are low on confidence, which ours is at the minute, or you’ve got new people trying to come in, it can throw you out a little bit.
"You have to understand, like anything, when you’re trying to build something, sometimes it gets a little bit worse before it gets better.
“ The January window should have been a strengthening window but as it was it was a firefighting window and getting-bodies-in window. We lost a starter in our team in Bobby and that was compounded in losing two others starters in Jordan Rossiter and Lewis Gibson and, at this level, losing three starters makes it very very difficult to maintain momentum.
“We’ve just got to keep building and the job is constantly a moving target in front of you; you’re job is to stay in the division, you have a slow start, you’re then delighted to have a good middle ground and then all of a sudden you think, ‘okay, there’s a promotion chase on’ and next minute you’ve slipped down a bit of a snake and you’ve lost three winnable games.
“The disappointment of that is felt by everybody in the group and when they’re a younger group they feel it a bit more, they’re a bit more emotionally volatile than what a more senior group would be.
“But, on the other side of that, I just see it that it makes me a better coach; you have got to get in and find another way of coaching the group, another language to spread through the team and once it starts to get underpinned by performances, and performance naturally lead to results, you go ‘okay’ that’s another learning curve for me as a coach.”
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