Football Season Guide

Bristol Rovers had a poor last season filled with off-the-field issues as well as very poor defending from start to finish. The Pirates had the fifth worst defence in League One, they conceded 68 goals in 46 matches. The scoring record was decent enough though and pretty much from December onward Rovers were stuck in mid-table and played for nothing much but pride. The team found new rich owners last autumn and the ambitious ownership immediately sacked the hugely controversial Joey Barton. From December onward Matt Taylor was in charge and he spent the spring months testing players and formations. As it was expected Taylor revamped his defence this summer. He also added youngster Josh Griffiths to be the new number one. From the 3 new centre-backs added so far only Michael Forbes is likely to be a regular starter. In midfield replaced Rossiter with a similar player in Jamie Lindsay. Big money were paid for Kamil Conteh last January and he is expected to become the key figure in the heart of the midfield this season. Rovers stayed out of trouble last term thanks to the 14 league goals from veteran Chris Martin. He is now 35-years-old and to provide him with much needed help the Pirates signed Ruel Sotiriou. He should be the main starter up front, while Martin is likely to be used as an impact substitute in most games. Coach Taylor still lacks depth in the full-back positions. Also, he needs to add new physios and he is eager to do that urgently. Last term many players suffered with injuries and this has been an issue over the summer months too with Rovers currently having only one first-team physiotherapist.