As George Friend accompanied new Bristol Rovers head coach Inigo Caldeorn to face Bristol’s local media just after Christmas, the Gas’ director of football was naturally asked questions about the then-upcoming January transfer window despite the purpose of his presence being to discuss the reasons behind appointing the former Brighton under-18s manager as Matt Taylor’s replacement.
“I really hope it isn’t,” Friend declared in response to a question about what to anticipate in the next window following a hectic summer of recruitment. “That was a big, busy summer. I don’t think it needs to be. I think it’s more tweaks here and there if I’m honest.”
Now, just hours after the close of the winter window, “tweaks” is probably the best adjective to use to describe the past month of activity, regardless of whether they’re seen to have either improved or weakened the squad.
Five players have come in, four of which on loan, with another two returning from loan spells while over the past month Rovers have seen three loanees return to their parent clubs, loaned out two of their own first-team players and extended the loans of two others at National League clubs. If we’re talking from a net perspective, the squad has grown by two players.
Realistically, had Josh Griffiths not been recalled by West Bromwich Albion on the final day of the window, that net figure would have been just one considering that the Gas seemingly felt obliged to add another goalkeeper in Myles Roberts on top of bringing back Jed Ward from his loan at Forest Green Rovers for extra cover to fill the gaping hole left by Rovers’ star player. That one would have been Jevani Brown who returned from his loan at Notts County but hasn’t been moved on elsewhere.
While fans started to get cautiously excited about the prospect of some exciting additions, few actually considered the possibility of what actually unfolded. Yet, in hindsight, Calderon had warned us all the day before.
The Gas head coach stated after Sunday’s 3-1 win over Peterborough United that while the window is open bad things could still happen. Bad things indeed.
When news first broke elsewhere that West Brom were expected to recall Griffiths after agreeing a deal to sell number one goalkeeper Alex Palmer to Ipswich Town, the mood around deadline day for Gasheads turned from faint optimism to major concern.
As is standard in the modern footballing climate, bogus rumours emerged, stating that Rovers couldn’t recall Ward which escalated panic.
There’s no hiding that losing Griffiths is a colossal blow for the Gas. The 23-year-old had single-handedly won points for Rovers and it’s not hyperbolic to suggest that without his performances the Gas would find themselves in the relegation zone.
However, the situation could have ended up being a whole lot worse. At two years younger, Ward isn’t at Griffiths’ level yet but his trajectory is certainly headed in the same direction. The 21-year-old was superb in tough circumstances for Rovers in the second half of last season and, although in an ideal world both goalkeepers would have seen their loans out for the entire season, it’s not a bad solution to a major predicament.
Admittedly, there won’t be any clarity on whether Ward has come back to replace Griffiths or to provide extra cover with new loanee Roberts set for the number one shirt until Calderon witnesses both in action and makes a call for next Tuesday’s game against Stockport County.
The 23-year-old’s arrival on loan from Watford was completed extremely late on Monday and could well have been an option that became available late on a programme such as WyScout.
Regardless of their ranking, along with current ‘keeper Matt Hall, the fact that the Gas have played over half of the season with just two goalkeepers has been incredibly risky. Matt Taylor confessed that they would only bring in a free agent stopper if the right option emerged with the former Rovers manager opting not to even name a back-up on the bench.
Meanwhile, when asked about the possibility of bringing in a third ‘keeper soon after arriving at the club, Calderon confessed that, in reality, the Gas would have to make do with two.
Away from the goalkeeping department, if you had asked supporters what the priority position to strengthen was, you’d have likely gotten a response stating either the midfield or a striker.
Admittedly, going into the window club-record signing Promise Omochere was starting to hit form with two goals in three games but less than 24 hours into January, the striker suffered a torn hamstring that is expected to keep him out until the latter stages of the campaign.
Midfield though has been a major problem area for Rovers though. After an underwhelming start to life on loan from Blackburn Rovers, Jake Garrett was effectively exiled by Taylor while Jamie Lindsay hasn’t gotten going in blue-and-white quarters yet either. Kamil Conteh has gotten better as the season has gone on but even he was susceptible to some poor performances in the first few months of the campaign. Meanwhile, Grant Ward wasn’t getting the deserved minutes.
It’s been too easy for opponents to cut through the Gas while there’s been a worrying lack of creativity in too many matches this term. In response, Rovers saw Garrett return to Blackburn, with the 21-year-old subsequently joining League Two side Tranmere Rovers for the remainder of the campaign, while Luke McCormick has joined Forest Green on loan ahead of an expected departure in the summer when his contract expires.
In their place, the Gas have brought in Romaine Sawyers on a deal until the end of the season and Matt Butcher on loan from Wycombe Wanderers. Between them, the pair have over 750 appearances whereas Garrett and McCormick had around 250 combined. There is no doubt surrounding the fact that, in the middle of the park, Rovers have upgraded.
What also has to be considered is the fact that improvement from a number of summer signings this side of the halfway point is expected. Based on the campaign so far, very few of the 16 summer arrivals have met or exceeded the expectations set of them.
However, already the likes of Isaac Hutchinson and Ruel Sotiriou have shown improvement under the management of Calderon which will hopefully encourage the attacking players in particular to shine more. What’s more, after his exclusion under the previous manager, Luke Thomas has become a regular again and feels like a new signing of sorts.
Defence has also been an issue, naturally when you’re at that end of the table, but many would argue that there have been more problems defensively out wide than in the middle of the backline. After Griffiths, Wilson has arguably been Rovers’ best player while Connor Taylor has produced some monstrous displays, making the odd poor performance even more frustrating.
As is always the case with loans, Sil Swinkels is a bit of an unknown but arrives in BS7 with excellent reports from Aston Villa. Where he ranks in the pecking order with Taylor Moore and Clinton Mola also available is yet to be seen. Based on numbers though, he’s a straight swap for Michael Forbes who returned to parent club West Ham United and has since headed to League Two side Colchester United loan.
However, following his return to the side on Sunday, Jack Hunt will hopefully be able to get a run of games with the right-back reminding Gasheads of his capabilities.
Meanwhile, Bryant Bilongo’s loan move to Harrogate Town should offer the left-back exactly what he needs at this stage of his development – minutes. He wasn’t going to get them in BS7 with Mola and Lino Sousa ahead of him in the pecking order.
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And then finally we have the striker department. With Omochere’s injury followed by a suspected hamstring issue for Gatlin O’Donkor against Peterborough, it was even more imperative that Rovers brought in another striker. Admittedly, one with more than four senior games under his belt would have been the ideal scenario but Michael Reindorf also arrives on loan from Cardiff City with impressive reviews.
The major concern for the remainder of the season will be how many goals the Gas can score in regards to ensuring that they are a League One team for next term. From January 1 to now, Rovers’ options up top are weaker than they were before which doesn’t bode well considering that before their three goals against Peterborough they had become League One’s lowest scorers.
However, that weakening was out of their control in the sense that two strikers have picked up hamstring injuries while the window has been open. Yes, we’d all like to have seen another forward come in but the reality of the January window is that prices are ridiculously inflated anyways while strikers are the most expensive players.
Additionally, and Calderon repeatedly noted this, you’re going to struggle to convince top quality forwards at this level to come to one of the teams battling relegation as Cambridge United reportedly found out with Jordan Rhodes leaving Blackpool for Mansfield Town despite reported interest from the U’s.
What will be interesting now is to see whether Jevani Brown gets any sort of a chance to impress under new management. It is understood that the 30-year-old has been back at The Quarters doing fitness work since returning from Notts County. Realistically, using the versatile forward should still be considered by Rovers despite an extremely underwhelming Gas tenure so far.
Although Rovers’ general remit for recruitment over the past year has been to identify young, high potential players that can be sold on for a profit, they didn’t get the balance between youth and experience right over the summer in my opinion and that has shown with their struggles so far this campaign.
However, they have addressed that issue by bringing in 33-year-old Sawyers and 27-year-old Butcher while we will hopefully see more of 34-year-old Hunt. Additionally, 30-year-old Ward has arguably been the Gas’ best player under Calderon.
The blow of losing star man Griffiths left a bitter taste as the window closed but, on reflection, the Gas business has been realistic and acceptable.
There’s not been a signing that’s made anyone get out of their seat and applaud in excitement, yet what could have been a real head in the hands moment with Griffiths’ departure was eased by the return of a fan favourite in Ward along with extra cover in Roberts.
Time will tell if their January business will ensure that Rovers have a squad that will stay up in League One but Friend and co. have stuck to that initially used adjective, “tweaks” and for that there can’t be any complaints.
Bristol Rovers’ major January transfer business in full
Ins:
- Romaine Sawyers – free
- Matt Butcher – loan from Wycombe Wanderers
- Sil Swinkels – loan from Aston Villa
- Michael Reindorf – loan from Cardiff City
- Myles Roberts – loan from Watford
- Jed Ward – loan recall from Forest Green Rovers
- Jevani Brown – loan return from Notts County
Outs:
- Michael Forbes – return to West Ham United after loan
- Jake Garrett – return to Blackburn Rovers after loan
- Bryant Bilongo – loan to Harrogate Town
- Luke McCormick – loan to Forest Green Rovers
- Josh Griffiths – loan recall to West Bromwich Albion