Wael Al-Qadi has revealed he has to quash an “inner revolt” to ensure success this season, as Joey Barton led Bristol Rovers to promotion into League One at the first time of asking.
Rovers secured their return to the third tier earlier this month following a sensational 7-0 triumph over Scunthorpe United on the final day of the season, leapfrogging Northampton Town and taking third place by virtue of goals scored.
That was the culmination of a brilliant run of form from the start of 2022 as the Gas took more points - 54 of a possible 75 - more than any other team in League Two. That was after a desperately disappointing start to the season, with Rovers falling to 22nd and Barton verbally tendering his resignation in the wake of a 3-1 home defeat to Leyton Orient on September 18.
But Wael Al-Qadi stuck by the head coach he had appointed last February and, in an interview with Arab News , has indicated it wasn’t a decision that was universally welcomed across the corridors of power at the Mem.
The 2021/22 campaign was also marked by far-reaching changes across the club; from various staff departures at a lower level to the exit of CEO Martyn Starnes in November 2021, as he was replaced by Tom Gorringe, and director of football and board member Tommy Widdrington a month later.
Although the Rovers president doesn’t say those individuals by name, his words indicate those changes were necessary given the opposition to Barton. Indeed, Bristol Live understands that Starnes and Widdrington never supported the decision to appoint the former Newcastle United and Manchester City midfielder from the start - for reasons beyond just football - and relations became quickly strained upon his appointment last season.
Barton and Widdrington rarely spoke, eventually leading to the latter’s reassignment as loans manager in June, as the head coach effectively took charge of recruitment, while there was tension with CEO Starnes towards the end of the 2022 transfer window.
“It was one of the most crazy, demanding seasons, really tiring because we went through it all, the lowest of the low to the highest of the high,” said Wael Al-Qadi . “In a normal season, I’m here 50 per cent of the time, I attend 50 per cent of the games, but this season, because of what was going on, the upheaval in the club, going from rock bottom, I was here a lot more.
“And as a result, negativity and stress and lots of problems arose from within the club, and around the club there was pressure on me to get rid of the manager (Joey Barton). It was basically a revolt from within the club to make change.
“I stuck with him and as a result, I cleaned house in the club, everybody was just pushed out and I appointed the new CEO (Tom Gorringe) who was with us as a commercial director, he became the youngest CEO in English football. Sweeping changes all across the club in all the departments brought in new, young, energised people.
“The combination of Tom, Joe, and me we rode out the storm, and results started to happen. It went from a total negative dark place to be, to a ride of success which was fantastic.”
Change across the club was ultimately most notably felt at first-team level with 21 players signed over the course of the campaign, and 20 departing on permanent deals, leading to a complete overhaul of the squad.
Barton also made a number of backroom appointments, including nutritionist James Aitken and Strength & Conditioning coach Tom Short, who he had worked with at Burnley who primed the Rovers squad for the rigours of League Two.
Wael Al-Qadi hails Short as an “unsung hero” of the promotion drive, his work perhaps best evidenced by the fact that no team in the division scored more than Rovers in the final 15 minutes of matches (21).
“When Joe came in, he realised that we were way behind in standards in fitness and sports science and nutrition,” he added to Arab News . “So he did a complete overhaul in that department and he brought in people who he knows and trusts and who he’d worked with before.
"For example, we got in Tom Short, ‘Shorty,’ from Premier League Burnley. He had treated Joe when he was a player at Burnley and got him fit again, so he knows his capabilities.
“Joe built a super fit team that lasts beyond the 90 minutes, you could see it throughout the season, where other teams drop off around the 75th minute, and we keep on going. We’re fitter, we’re stronger, and the results speak for themselves.”
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