Joey Barton had an unexpected visitor at Vale Park in the wake of Bristol Rovers’ brilliant win last month, as one of his proudest projects came to say hello having also inadvertently influenced one of the Gas’ big success stories this season.
In January 2019, a tall and rangy centre-back called Harry Souttar joined Fleetwood Town on loan, possessing plentiful talent but little EFL experience, and over the subsequent 18 months Barton and his coaching team transformed him into one of the best defenders in the third tier.
Returning to Stoke in the summer of 2020, Souttar has since blossomed into one of the Championship’s most consistent performers in the position and, as a result, when Rovers came calling last summer, they were first in the queue to take Connor Taylor from the Potters.
