The three items remaining on manager Barton’s shopping list
AFTER a flurry of business over the past week, Joey Barton’s vision for his Bristol Rovers squad is taking shape.
A much-needed injection of speed and creativity in wide areas has been administered with the additions of Luke Thomas and Harry Anderson, while Trevor Clarke satisfies a need on the left side of defence.
In Sion Spence - a player who who has racked up goals and assists in development football at Cardiff City and Crystal Palace but is yet to be tested in men’s football - the manager has an attacking wildcard.
With seven other new signings already through the door, things are starting to take shape on paper.
If the miseries of last season taught us anything, it is teams which appears exciting on a sheet of A4 can easily crumple under the pressure of the EFL, but Barton will feel confident the dearth of leadership, character and nous which saw Rovers relegated so meekly last season has been addressed - Mark Hughes and Paul Coutts should see to that.
How the team actually functions, well we won’t know for sure for a few months yet, but an examination of the club’s depth chart shows the squad has areas of increasing strength. Out wide, where Rovers provided little threat beyond Luke Leahy’s useful goals return from wing-back last term, particularly when Sam Nicholson and Alex Rodman were sidelined, the Gas have a much more dangerous cache of attacking weapons. There is midfield steel and competition for places at centre-back, but Barton’s work is not done.
A three-man shopping list must be ticked off for Rovers to justify their place as the consensus second-favourite for the League Two title with the bookmakers, behind only big-spending Salford City in the odds.
BACK-UP GOALKEEPER
ROVERS have close to the ideal situation when it comes to their goalkeeping resources.
They have a star number one in Anssi Jaakkola, sure to be among the best goalkeepers in the fourth tier, and they have a prospect they rate very highly and want to progress in 18-year-old Jed Ward.
What they need is a conduit between the two, a safe pair of hands to mitigate for Jaakkola’s international duty trips with Finland and any potential injuries but not a player who is going to stymie
Ward’s development. Veteran keeper Stuart Nelson has been on trial with the Gas for the past three weeks, but the club is assessing other options.
Whoever comes in, it will likely prove to be the least talked about signing of the window, but Rovers’ number-two keeper will have a vital role to play next season - with Jaakkola possibly missing six games from international commitments alone - and it’s important Barton gets this one right.
RIGHT-BACK
ANDERSON is principally a winger, but he is also an intriguing option at right wing-back should Barton deploy a back three.
With Alex Rodman also suited to that role, the Gas appear well stocked at wing-back, but Luca Hoole remains the only true rightback on the books after the release of Josh Hare and Mark Little and the transfer of George Williams to Cambridge United.
With 19-year-old Hoole yet to make his league debut, the manager cannot - with the resources he has now - deploy a back four with confidence. Sure, the Gas would love it for Hoole to break through, and Anderson or Rodman could do a job their if asked, but last season was a warning of the dangers associated without having proven and reliable options in all positions.
THE GOALSCORER
BARTON has gone some way to addressing the scoring shortage in his team. Anderson and Thomas should be expected to chip in along with Sam Nicholson from wide areas, and the signing of Aaron Collins three weeks ago added a player who scored and created at a healthy rate - 11 goals, seven assists - in League Two last season.
But if this reporter’s Twitter notifications could talk, they would ask “Where is the striker?” Those words will be playing loud and clear in the manager’s mind, as will the visions of the blunt strikeforce he was unable to sharpen after his February arrival in BS7.
Brandon Hanlan and Jonah Ayunga are trying to make the most of a second chance after a season where the pair mustered a league goal for every 546 minutes between them. With a record like that, they will know it is inevitable Barton’s striking additions this summer will not end with Collins and Harvey Saunders, no matter how much the survivors of last season impress in the upcoming friendlies
A proven striker remains Rovers’ transfer priority, but they are willing to be patient.