Football Season Guide

League 2
England
League 2
2021/2022
Bristol Rovers
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Bristol Rovers

In


James Belshaw (Goalkeeper, Harrogate Town); Connor Taylor (Defender, Stoke City, Season-long loan); Mark Hughes (Defender, Accrington Stanley); Nick Anderton (Defender, Carlisle United); Trevor Clarke (Defender, Rotherham United); Harry Anderson (Midfielder, Lincoln City); Paul Coutts (Midfielder, Fleetwood Town); Sam Finley (Midfielder, Fleetwood Town); Sion Spence (Midfielder, Crystal Palace, Season-long loan); Aaron Collins (Attacker, Forest Green Rovers); Brett Pitman (Attacker, Swindon Town); Harvey Saunders (Attacker, Fleetwood Town); Luke Thomas (Attacker, Barnsley, Season-long loan)

Out


Alexis Andre (Goalkeeper, released); Joe Day (sp) (Goalkeeper, Cardiff City, Loan ended); Jordi von Stappershoef (Goalkeeper, released); Liam Armstrong (Goalkeeper, released); Ali Koiki (sp) (Defender, Northampton Town); David Tutonda (sp) (Defender, Gillingham); George Williams (r) (Defender, Cambridge United); Josh Hare (Defender, released); Luke Leahy (k) (Defender, Shrewsbury Town); Mark Little (Defender, released); Max Ehmer (sp) (Defender, Gillingham); Michael Kelly (Defender, released); Tom Davies (Defender, Tranmere Rovers); Abu Ogogo (Midfielder, released); Ed Upson (r) (Midfielder, Newport County); Erhun Oztumer (sp) (Midfielder, Charlton Athletic, Loan ended); Kyle Bennett (Midfielder, Notts County); Luke McCormick (r) (Midfielder, Che

Joey Barton has been in charge of Bristol Rovers for barely five months and has yet brought controversy, chaos and failure. He might talk a good game but completely failed in his attempts to keep the Pirates in League One, lashing out at his predecessors, players and anyone else he could find. Lashing out is repeated theme having taken the job on with a court case hanging over his head for an alleged assault on former Barnsley manager Daniel Stendel in April 2019. With less than two weeks before the start of the new season he has now been charged with assault on a woman, with serious questions being asked of the clubs hierarchy in employing Barton in the first place. Several new signings have been made in an attempt to bounce straight back to League One at the first attempt. Midfielders Paul Coutts and Sam Finley and striker Harvey Saunders all played under Barton at Fleetwood Town whilst a trio of loanees in defender Connor Taylor, midfielder Sion Spence and striker Luke Thomas will be hoping to make an impact. Loan midfielder Luke McCormick’s return to parent club Chelsea was expected so the only real loss on the playing side this summer is Luke Leahy’s decision to reject the offer of a new deal and join Shrewsbury Town. He was a rare shining light at left wing-back and no-one would blame him for wanting to leave the club. Rovers still have a bloated squad and several more players will be hoping to leave before the end of the transfer window.

Target


Play-offs. Relegation wasn’t part of the plan and the pressure is on to bounce straight back. Whether Barton is the right man however is highly doubtful.