Luke McCormick speaks with a purposeful, typically southern accent - a mixture of his upbringing on the outskirts of Portsmouth and his football education south west of London at Chelsea’s Cobham training base - that carries its own sense of audible swagger.
The Bristol Rovers midfielder communicates with clarity and carries himself with the air of someone who’s more than content with themselves in their own skin, and with just about the right level of confidence that threatens to creep into arrogance, but doesn’t quite get there; although he idolises Liam Gallagher probably with good reason.
The sheer competitiveness of professional football is such that it’s often an arena where overtly-confident characters tend to rise to the top, given the constant mental challenges the sport presents, and at least at surface level, McCormick is evidence of that.
He is not someone you’d expect to ever be ridden with self-doubt or experience a loss of self-belief. And yet, the 23-year-old’s first three months as a Rovers player again - after his initial loan during the 2020/21 campaign - have been underpinned by exactly that.
McCormick arrived at The Quarters after a protracted transfer saga that started in June and finally ended on August 24 at McDonalds in Filton, soundtracked by Mark Morrison, after he had been exiled by AFC Wimbledon’s first-team and had missed most of pre-season.
He needed time to build his fitness and match sharpness, but also to re-integrate himself into a squad that had changed considerably from his first time in BS7. Anssi Jaakkola, Alfie Kilgour, Zain Westbrooke, Josh Grant and Jed Ward are the only survivors from that campaign, while Luca Hoole was still in the academy.
So while there was familiarity with the coaching department, the club staff and his surroundings, it was a very different group with a very different atmosphere that he was coming into as essentially the Gas’ marquee summer signing.
His six-figure transfer fee and his previous body of work in the quarters also created its own expectation for him to make a seamless return, while he was still getting over what he describes as a “strange summer” of a second straight relegation and then being left to train with the AFC Wimbledon youth team.
His early forays for the Gas proved underwhelming. McCormick knew that more than anyone. But the more he pushed himself, the worse it seemingly got and the inner-questioning of himself began to take over.
Tuesday’s 90 minutes against MK Dons was only the second time he’s completed a full game since signing a three-year contract in August and proved his most impressive. Granted, it was in the Papa Johns Trophy in front of a tiny crowd, but that’s not to say the pressure wasn’t intense.
He needed to deliver a performance not just for Rovers or Joey Barton, but for himself to start to lift that mental burden. And with plenty of energy and guile to his play, always looking to move forward and not opt for the easy pass, it was a necessary small step for the midfielder to make bigger strides forward as he looks to force his way into the starting XI on a more regular basis.
Indeed, with Sam Finley ruled out of Saturday's trip to Charlton Athletic and Jordan Rossiter a doubt after jarring his knee against MK Dons, McCormick could line up in midfield alongside captain Paul Coutts.
“It’s the hardest thing,” McCormick said, of the frustration of not being able to recreate his idea of what his best form is. “You get on top of yourself and I’m quite hard on myself and my own standards because I know what I can produce. Listen, it’s good to get out there and show myself what I know I can do and I’ll build on that.
“That’s the key - just doing the daily habits that I know can recreate that form and just grafting and doing what I’m doing. The culture and the competition here is massive; even when we’ve had big names out here, the competition is still tough and that’s credit to the boys and the culture and I’m adapting to that, as quick as I can.
“I had a bit of a strange summer, which was a bit of a learning curve for me as a professional and as a man. I’m still trying to settle myself in and learn everyday and that can only be a good thing.
“For me, it’s just playing off instinct and having that self-belief within myself. Being on the front foot and my energy, my quality. If I could bottle confidence, it’d be lovely, but you can’t, so I’m having to graft through this period and it’ll only be good for me.
“Confidence in football is definitely a thing; a lot of the forward boys get it. But, for me, it’s more getting on myself because I know what I can produce and then obviously when you’re not producing that it’s difficult.
“It’s a difficult moment when you’re frustrated with yourself more than the outside noise - that doesn’t phase me at all - but knowing what I can do and not producing is obviously difficult and you get into a bit of a hole when you’re getting on yourself and that’s never any good.”
It’s testament to McCormick’s attitude that even though he was arguably the Gas’ standout signing this summer at least in terms of reputation and investment, that almost four months later he possesses the self-awareness to know why he hasn’t played more football.
Rovers are relatively stacked in central midfield with Finley, Coutts, Rossiter and Antony Evans all enjoying varying degrees of positive seasons, and inevitably there’s at least one odd-man out.
That’s mostly been McCormick because the others, quite simply, have been too good to leave out, unless injured. The former Chelsea academy player fully understands that rationale by the manager and although that seems perfectly logical, plenty of footballers with bruised egos wouldn’t.
There’s been no knocking on the manager’s door or drops of the head. He’s just continuing to graft his way back into form and into Barton’s thinking.
What’s also helped has been the weekend spent together in Dublin, as McCormick was afforded the opportunity to get to know his new teammates as that August 25 date and the individual fitness sessions he initially undertook left him further isolated from the first-team as he played catch-up.
“For me, it was a chance to bond with the boys more, have more personal conversations rather than the standard stuff you talk about football,” McCormick said. “So it’s just getting to know people on a more personal level and, in any walk of life, over a couple of Guinnesses, it’s not a problem. We were professional - we’ve come back and had a good performance at Port Vale and against MK Dons.
“There’s a lot of big characters, so it’s good to get to know everyone on a personal level, whether that’s a game of golf or whatever that might be - it isn’t always a Christmas do. But that came and, as is the case, in most jobs, you go for a little social and ours happened to be Dublin and it was really good to get to know the boys on a personal level.”
Barton admits McCormick's performance against MK Dons wasn’t perfect but there was an impetus to his play that indicated he’s starting to find his groove again. As evidenced by Rovers’ fourth goal as he drifted into almost a left-winger’s position, received James Connolly’s pass, drew in two defenders and then sent in a cross from which Harvey Saunders scored.
An inhibited player probably wouldn’t have taken up that position, nor had the confidence to hold onto the ball, they would have elected to make a straightforward pass.
“He’s just taking players on again,” Barton said. “He pops up in that wide channel, and he’s just in that ascendancy. He wasn’t perfect, there’s still work to do but he looked more like the player who was a huge player for us when he first came to the football club.
“He accepts the position he’s at - the lads are going well. He’s an honest boy, he’s the first to accept his standards haven’t been his standards. He’s suffered back-to-back relegations, head’s spinning all over the place, he comes in late because he’s having a bit of a dispute with his former club. It just takes you a bit of time to settle.
“The key for us, was him settling as quick as he can, but also you have to be patient with them. Luckily for Macca, it’s not like he’s a new player for us; we know him quite well, we know his qualities. These lads have these moments of self-doubt sometimes and you have to remind them what good players they are and what makes them good players and get them back to it.”
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