Wael Al-Qadi rose. He had, in his own words, just witnessed a “football miracle” but there was also a look of knowing complacency on his face as the final whistle went. The Bristol Rovers leaned forward, acknowledging those sat in front of him, turned and gave CEO Tom Gorringe a hearty handshake before then looking to his left and embracing a man in a pale blue shirt.
The pair tightly clasped hands, hugged closely while rocking side to side, with the Jordanian then receiving a playful rub on the back of the head and a few considered words of congratulations in his ear. It lasted for a few seconds but was a moment of genuine comradeship and show of respect.
That man in the pale blue shirt was Eddy Jennings. “Ed” to most at Rovers who, by now eagle-eyed and eared Gasheads would have realised has gradually become an influential and important individual at the club since the arrival of Joey Barton last February.
Outside of those privy to the inner workings of the club or the occasional visitors to The Quarters, most won't know what the Liverpudlian looks like. He eschews any publicity and attention to the point that of more than 9,000 pictures taken of the Gas last season by photographic agencies JMP and Getty Images - who supply Bristol Live and other media organisations - not a single one features him, not even in the background.
He was very much amongst the celebrations on May 7, following that historic win over Scunthorpe, sharing in the joy with the squad, but again not one official video or image taken by the club identifies him. Even a fan photo doing the rounds on Twitter of Wael Al-Qadi standing, arms aloft in Box 10 at the final whistle, has the president’s left arm obscuring Jennings’ face. You’d have to say it’s quite a talent.
That’s not to say he isn’t a visible presence, far from it. He is, and it is a big part of his skillset, an absolute world class operator, making himself known to visiting club representatives; that could be scouts or coaches or senior figures checking up on loanees or agents. Everyone knows Eddy.
There have been Easter Eggs along the way, hinting at his involvement, of course. As far back as last season, Luke McCormick paid tribute to his role in helping his progression, Sam Finley has referenced him in interviews, Barton has even sometimes been seen wearing a tracksuit bearing “EJ” on it, while fans who have enjoyed a tour of the training ground in Almondsbury have posted on Twitter of a warm, friendly and cheerful Scouser called Eddy.
Street smart and with devilish sense of humour, players have embraced him as a part of the backroom team, akin to Andy Mangan, Tony Warner, Kevin Bond, Tom Short or James Aitken, while his corporate sensibilities have helped form strong bonds with Wael Al-Qadi and Gorringe.
But in a wider public sense he has previously been heard to jokingly say he prefers to stay “in the shadows”, allowing others to take the limelight and be front and centre. Most notably Barton, with the pair’s relationship dating back to their teens, as casual acquaintances, but more substantively the manager’s time as a player with Newcastle United when they became close friends.
Jennings and Barton knew each other in Liverpool but only through mutual pals, after the latter moved away from his home city to pursue his football career with Manchester City, it wasn’t until several years later that they met again in the north east.
Jennings was then working for Puma as a sports athlete manager, acting as a link between the brand and the footballers they had sponsorship deals with, and that area of the country a particularly important part of their business strategy.
In 2011, and now a Newcastle player, Barton switched from adidas to Puma boots and he and Jennings crossed paths, sharing hometowns, a love of golf (both play off a low single fingers handicap), sport in general beyond just football, and possessing personalities that meshed and complimented each other.
Over the next decade they grew increasingly close with Jennings moving into the agency world with Wasserman, the company who have represented Barton throughout much of his career, before going it alone in the industry for two years.
That allowed him to amass a considerable contacts book of influential players in the industry, from players to executives to fellow agents, and when Barton was appointed Fleetwood Town manager in 2018, so followed Jennings as a “consultant”, working with the rookie head coach on recruitment but also acting as a sounding board and close confidant on matters, both professional and personal.
After becoming part of the furniture at the Highbury Stadium - not dissimilar to how things are playing out at Rovers - and earning the trust and respect of owner Andy Pilley he was eventually given an official club role as director of football. A position he held throughout Barton’s tenure, until he left in January 2021.
Jennings was there when Barton first travelled down the M5 to meet with Martyn Starnes and Tommy Widdrington at the Gloucestershire Football Association, before being shown around the Mem. And Jennings was there when Barton, Mangan and Clint Hill rented a shared house in Montpelier, just off Gloucester Road to begin life as the Rovers new coaching team a week later.
His role for the Gas has been as “consultant”, but that’s both relevant for the football club and Barton himself. In a professional sense, Jennings has increasingly led the recruitment operation but has also been a presence pastorally, providing counsel and support to the manager. Both men are natives of the north west, living away from the families, and sharing such experiences with somebody else, alleviates the stress just that little bit.
Matchdays are 100 per cent “the gaffer’s” domain but outside of the intricacies of those 90 minutes on a Saturday afternoon or Tuesday evening, Jennings has been there to offer his opinion on player welfare, managing personalities and also helping Barton stay in the headspace to coach the team to the absolute maximum of his abilities.
For whatever reasons, the Barton-Widdrington dynamic never worked. Both would probably conclude it was down to their reluctance to embrace one another's principles and history, professional on one side, personal on the other. It always appeared doomed to fail from those first exchanged handshakes at the GFA last February.
By contrast, Jennings' close tie to Barton has invariably led to a greater and wider involvement within the organisation as time has elapsed; just from a media perspective, he’s regularly present at press conferences to monitor matters. While he’s also offered his opinion on a whole host of club activities. The group of Wael Al-Qadi, Gorringe, non-executive director Chris Gibson, Barton and Jennings is the powerbase of the football club and all are said to be exceptionally close.
Barton’s interview with BBC Radio Bristol, when for the first time he spoke openly about Jennings’ role, has now moved him a little more into the light, with the Gas set for another busy summer.
"We've just got a really tight-knit group; myself, Ed Jennings, the guys at the football club, the analysis guys. We run quite a tight ship and lots of people gather lots of information," Barton told Geoff Twentyman. "For us, it's about filtering through that and whittling lists down and this is where you rely on other people who you've played with or have good relationships in the game.
"I'm fortunate. Eddy and the guys at the club filter the list down then your contacts in the game filter a list down. And then they give you some good information which helps you get your hands on good players: Elliot Anderson, who was an incredible signing for us, James Connolly - Eddy Jenno's contacts in the game have produced James and he was an outstanding acquisition in January."
Thursday’s retained list has emphasised the need for potential double-figures additions once more, including loans, for Rovers to be a proper League One outfit; and, as Barton repeatedly said, they don’t intend there to just compete, there is a drive to be much more than perhaps what people would perceive the Gas to be at that level.
The strategy 12 months ago was driven by a need to bring players in who were “above the level”, that is capable of operating beyond just League Two. It sounds desperately obvious, but too often clubs who fall into the fourth tier, succumb to stereotypes with the type of player they think they need - big, strong, physical and experienced.
It’s also incredibly hard to execute given you’re pushing yourself into a marketplace above your station, and having to sell a concept to certain type of player of being in a big, strong, physical and experienced league. But that is where the allure of playing under Barton comes into the sales pitch.
You only have to look at the recruitment from the 2021 summer window to see how successful it was: Paul Coutts, Sam Finley, Antony Evans, Harry Anderson, Aaron Collins, James Belshaw, Glenn Whelan plus the five loanees. Of the 21 players signed over the course of the campaign only Mark Hughes, Junior Brown, Jon Nolan and Brett Pitman can be credibly categorised as misses in the market and even the latter provided some sense of a stopgap to allow Collins to mature into a goalscoring No9, while also scoring a few important goals.
Jennings’ principles also guided the decisions to bring in James Connolly and Elliot Anderson in January. With regards to the latter, putting so much faith in a 19-year-old loanee with precious first-team experience isn't traditional winter window logic. Even the aborted attempts to sign Callum Camps and Liam Sercombe display it, given they are League One players.
In the case of the former, it went against all perceived football wisdom. A League Two team… needing to tighten up at the back and already largely populated by players in the early stages of their careers… loaning a 20-year-old centre-back with no senior experience spelled certain disaster. Why not look for a tried-and-tested player in his late 20s who “knows the league” and can deliver a few kicks to the backside?
Hindsight now makes it all look seamless but it was a big call to make and one that played a major role in Rovers’ defensive revival and subsequent promotion. There's no doubt he can clearly spot a player.
League One is a different arena, though, with other and more varied challenges and Rovers are no longer one of the big fish in the pond - speaking in both a football and financial sense. Subsequently, the strategy may have to be tweaked.
The “week to 10 days” timeframe Barton has placed on Evans’ contract decision is relevant to matters far beyond the midfielder’s situation because these are the critical moments in the summer window when early moves need to be made. Not necessarily to secure a player, that would be very ambitious, but put various plans in place should certain deals not happen or someone like Evans decide to move elsewhere.
Contact is being made daily as the physical and mental whiteboards in Jennings' mind are constantly wiped, redrawn and realigned, depending on what circumstances permit is possible. It's a never-ending puzzle but one that Rovers hope the solution could lead to another congratulatory embrace in Box No10 in 2023.
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