In terms of outright ranking, it’s up for debate, however there’s no doubt that Josh Griffiths is currently amongst Bristol Rovers‘ best performers so far this season with the West Bromwich Albion loanee thriving in between the sticks for the Gas.
The 23-year-old shot stopper has added to his showreel of top saves a number of times already this campaign with big stops securing points on their own for Rovers, something the Gas didn’t get enough of from their last loan ‘keeper.
Eyebrows were certainly raised by a number of supporters when the decision was made to send academy graduate Jed Ward out on loan to Forest Green Rovers on the back of playing 19 times for his boyhood club last season while replacing him with a goalkeeper technically owned by another club.
However, the shot stopper has been as colossal in goal as he is in stature and, while Rovers have had a goalkeeper that has gotten them out of jail on a handful of occasions already this campaign, the player himself is getting the most valuable commodity for someone his age and in his position – minutes.
“I am enjoying it,” Griffiths declared. “It feels like I’ve been here a long time, although it’s only November. Obviously a lot of games. But no, really enjoying it. Really enjoying consistently playing which is why I wanted to come out and learn. It’s a nice place to live as well, which always helps.
“You listen to all the pros and they always say you get out and learn as quickly as you can and obviously they’re right, they know the game inside out. So it’s been brilliant for me to play a decent amount of games before 23 and yeah, I’d like to think I’ve got a decent bit of experience. [I’ve] played in the three leagues and it’s always good to play as much as you can and coming to different teams always helps, different styles, meeting different people. It’s good for your people skills getting to know everyone as well, so it’s been good.”
The ‘keeper has five clean sheets to his name in 15 League One appearances at a ratio of one every three matches which is something his manager Matt Taylor has been pleased with while he himself also sees it as a good start with room for improvement.
“Content, I’d say it is okay,” he added. “It’s a decent start. It’s probably what, one in three games, something like that? So yeah, we’ll take that. Obviously it’s something we want to build on and keep climbing up the clean sheet table so to speak. But yeah, I do keep a little on it. I’d be lying to you if I said I didn’t. So not a bad start.
“I don’t personally [set targets]. I’m sure there are some that do. I think it’s more about coming and being at my best and performing as well as I can and then hopefully the clean sheets are a result of that. But yeah, it’s always nice to have something to sort of grade your season, I guess.”
Of his own admittance a late bloomer when it came to his love for football, the now-23-year-old has been contracted to West Brom since the age of 10. This is his fourth loan having also had spells at Cheltenham Town, Lincoln City and Portsmouth with the Baggies’ number one shirt still proving tough to come by.
The young ‘keeper managed to earn 10 Championship appearances in the second half of the 2022/23 season when recalled from his loan at Pompey prematurely but last term really emphasised how difficult it has been to dislodge Alex Palmer from his position as outright first choice at the Hawthorns.
Also a product of the youth system at West Brom, Palmer played all 46 league matches as well as both legs of their play-off semi-final with Southampton, keeping 19 clean sheets in the process. As for Griffiths, he was also present for those 48 games but was an unused substitute watching on from the bench in every single one, subsequently getting three opportunities in cup competitions including a fiery Black Country Derby with bitter rivals Wolves.
On the back of such a season while entering a crucial development phase, the remit for this term was pretty clear with Palmer still the undisputed number one for the Baggies having played every minute of their Championship campaign thus far.
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“I sort of brought the conversation to them end of last season because, as good as it is being at a Championship club, I want to be playing and I knew Alex was doing so well that it was probably more likely looking like a loan spell this year,” the goalkeeper confessed.
“So that conversation happened quite early and then it was just deciding where I wanted to go and which clubs would suit me and vice versa. So Bristol [Rovers] was very attractive and they approached me and presented well and at the end of the day, it was probably quite an easy decision.
“Obviously I’ve played against Scott [Brown], the goalie coach here, so I had a bit of common ground and it’s quite close to home, which always helps.”
Although there are still 31 League One matches left to play for the Gas, assuming West Brom aren’t forced into a surprise January recall, Griffiths knows that after this campaign there will likely be a big decision to make should his main aim continue to be unobtainable.
“There does, yeah, and I think that’s probably maybe where I’m going to be at after this loan,” the Rovers loanee added when asked if there’s a point where he wants to stop going on loan at fight for the shirt at West Brom. “I think at some point I’ve got to sort of stamp my feet down and say, ‘look, I want to fight for my position.’
“But that’s a conversation I need to have with myself and yeah, I’m not super young anymore, not old. So ultimately that is my end goal, I want to be West Brom’s number one. So yeah, that’s probably a decision I need to make.”