Matt Taylor sits down with BRTV to reflect on the first month of the Sky Bet League One season, the summer transfer window, his squad and the upcoming matches in September...
Here we sit at the end of August, a very busy month full of fixtures, transfers and a lot of excitement, how do you reflect?
"It’s been a work in progress throughout the off-season and pre-season. When I came into the club, in December of last year, you're straight into the helter skelter of the league schedule and trying to get the identity of the team going.
"The way the back end of the season drifted away from us and away from myself was deeply disappointing and it really hurt.
"It was during that time we made a few decisions in terms of the club internally, in terms of certain roles. But also, with a real ideology in our minds of what we wanted to achieve. Not just in terms of results, but what the team looked like on the pitch. Then you get through to the end of the season and obviously the big news, I suppose, who leaves, who stays, contract negotiations, everything in relation to that.
"The loans go straight back to their clubs, so that was straightforward. Then there’s almost a deep breath, whilst presentations, conversations, ideas are put forward and our targets are identified. Then, the board and George [Friend] will work as hard as they possibly can to obtain those targets.
"We could sit here and speak for hours about the number of players who’ve passed us by or gone elsewhere, which we totally understand and we accept. But the general feeling has been that we’ve brought in good people.
"We’ve brought in players with a certain age and profile, who are going to benefit the club for the long term as much as the short term, and, who wants to really succeed and needs to succeed as this football club.
"The hunger aspect probably trumps all. For myself, for my staff and the players we’ve now got. Then you come back in pre-season and the new faces are there, but in a lesser number and they come in drips and drabs throughout pre-season.
"Then in amongst the league schedule starting up again, it’s about winning games of football and not being distracted elsewhere. I have to say, George and the board have been incredible in terms of their support but also their understanding of certain situations.
"Sometimes you need to be patient, sometimes you need to be strong, but generally, we feel in a good position right now with the work we’ve done. But there’s still a little bit of unknown and a little bit of what’s next for this group of players."
Did you ever expect we would have sixteen new faces coming in?
"I was always working between the twelve and fourteen number. I thought that was realistic and could be expected on the back of the departures.
"We’re probably a couple over in terms of my personal and private expectations, but we all feel they’re needed. It’s been incredible to see the consistency of who we’ve brought in, and they all look very similar. We’ve only really signed Jamie Lindsay and Taylor Moore, who you’d say are established professionals at this level and have experience at this level.
"Everyone else has got that something inside them where you don’t quite know what you’re going to get every minute of every game. But they’re going to give it absolutely everything because they’ve got to prove themselves.
"Whilst they’re trying to prove themselves, we’ve got to develop them as players and turn them into established first-team players for us. But then there’s also another understanding that if we achieve that, then their bandwidth and their potential might be above this level and this club.
"Then they become assets to this football club, and it all goes into the package of exciting times to be involved in Bristol Rovers.
"Testament to the work that’s gone on behind the scenes. I’ve been in a lucky position this window and this time around because George has offset so much of that work. I have kind of done the easy job of just presenting to the player. The other conversations behind the scenes have taken care of themselves."
The transfer window for the entire league has been pretty crazy. What have you made of it?
"The league has improved. There’s a better calibre of players on the pitch. We’ve seen that in our first four games. The league has gone to another level.
"The strength in depth in this league is absolutely incredible. You naturally have the boost of the relegated teams and the promoted teams, but then within it, there are some incredible ex-Premier League clubs and several teams with aspirations to go back to the Championship.
"We must understand where we are and almost do our work in isolation for what we can achieve and not get carried away with the league. Everyone would have seen the headlines in terms of what Birmingham have done and what other teams have brought in.
"We can’t be distracted by that, overalled by that or affected by that in any way. Stay true to the plan we put in place at the end of last season and keep working towards the bigger picture of building this club alongside the stadium, the training ground, this good group of young players and the academy to make it a brighter future for all."
We have had four league games, seven points and three clean sheets. It's been a positive start to the season...
"Managers are greedy, and they always want more. There would have been times in those games when we rode our luck a little bit. Against Rotherham, we probably showed a different side to ourselves. I actually thought we started the game well against Cambridge United as we did at Stockport, but we got the goal today, and it settled everyone down.
"It always affects the opposition; the first goal is huge at this level. I think we’ve probably shown where we are and what we’re going to become. But like I have said time and time again, it’s what this team can become on a longer-term basis.
"I’ve always said football managers never get time, but I do feel the fans are starting to see a certain identity within the team and on the pitch. I’ve used the word ‘hunger,’ but intent will trump everything for me into the players this season.
"The moment the fans see that intent just draining a little bit, then they’ll be right to moan at me. I’ve got to make sure that doesn’t happen and then try to add layers of quality on top."
What's been the biggest positive so far in these first four weeks from what you've seen from the lads?
"We’re talking about four weeks and four league games, but probably the six weeks previous. We had a positive pre-season. Testament to Tom Short, his brothers, the new physio staff and Andrew Proctor.
"The majority of the group stayed fit and stayed healthy. We worked them hard and got them fit. The way the ones who were here last season allowed the new ones to be integrated. We had a good trip away, there’s been a good social aspect to the group.
"Scott Sinclair being club captain has played a big part in that and there’s a good feel at the training ground at the moment.
"My job is to maintain that as long as possible and keep all players hungry even when they’re not playing, get pulled off or don’t get into the eighteen-man squad. That’s a challenge in itself. But there’s a good feel at the training ground, certainly a different feel to the one we felt we had last season.
"Then, putting pressure on them in training, trying to develop their understanding that we’re trying to practice, replicating as many moments in the game as we can on the training pitch and putting a big emphasis on that.
"The team needs coaching; it needs constant attention. David Horseman has come in and done a fantastic job alongside Wayne Carlise and the trusted group I’ve already got.
"So, just the general atmosphere makes it a good place to work. As a player or a member of staff. But then you need that boosted by performances and results.
"We’ve got some good ones in pre-season, which lifted the mood and the expectation, and we tried to carry that on into the season. A 90th-minute winner in our first game, we could not have scripted that any better. Then we backed it up with another good home performance."
You've talked about competitions for places, different partnerships and dynamics on the pitch in the team. How important is that for you and the group?
"It’s massive, but as you’ve probably seen with the two team sheets in the two cup games we’ve had, the depth of the squad, we’ve not looked totally different in those games.
"It’s different opposition in different competitions, but there have been some good players and some good things on show in those games. So, competition is everything, but you can only put eleven players on the team sheet to start a game. I think I’m making more subs this season than I’ve ever done at any stage of my career and that’s trusting the bench a little bit more.
"Some good players are missing out on the squad. We have been affected by a couple of injuries and some have had a disjointed pre-season in terms of game time and match sharpness.
"But we’re moving in the right direction. It will be really interesting and key to see how the group grows together. Naturally, when you grow you might leave some behind, some might grow at a different rate than others.
"Bryant Bilongo is a perfect example, isn’t he? He hadn’t played a football league game until his debut against Northampton, and what a debut it was. There’s still so much to learn from Bryant, but there's still so much we don’t know about him.
"We like a profile, and that’s a lot of time in terms of recruitment. You go towards a profile of a player. Then you try to learn about a character and have they got that to back it up? Then what layers of the game can you add as a coaching group and the player develop over time?
"But he’s already shown that he can be a football league player, and if he continues in the mould that he is, he’ll get attention elsewhere because he can run like the wind, he’s six-foot-three and he heads the ball.
"But there's an attraction in that and that’s got him in the team to start with. There’s a simplicity in that and if he adds more to his game then let’s see where it takes us. But he’s not the only one, there are probably several players who fit that mould and I just need a little bit of seniority to help them along the way.
"As much as I’m talking about ourselves as a coaching group, the best coaches for these young players are the pros alongside them. Scott Sinclair, James Wilson, Jamie Lindsay, Taylor Moore, and Chris Martin. People like that are just going to help them act in the right way daily."
Looking ahead to September with four tough Sky Bet League One games, are you looking forward to it?
"I’m looking forward to it. I don’t know if we wanted the game next week to be off. We were borderline. We've got two going away and might have had a third.
"I think Barnsley were the same, so there’s been a bit of communication back and forth on whether the game would be on. It’s obviously on now.
We’re looking forward to going there and putting on a performance. But then in the end we go to Barnsley and Wigan, a playoff team from last year and an ex-Premier League team.
"They are monstrous clubs, but we’re not daunted by that task; we’re looking forward to it.
"We’re buoyed by our previous performances; we know we have to improve in certain areas, but we’re really looking forward to it, and I suppose like we’ve spoken about, this group can now settle a little bit, settle into their own company without the worry or expectation of players coming in or players going out.
"The changing room is what it is now until January. It will come around pretty quickly, but they can just settle into their life together. But whilst they’re doing that, drive each other onto better things."
I've noticed players coming into training and leaving with smiles on their faces. You've been a player yourself. How important is that?
"It’s the food. The food is the best thing in the training ground! That’s why everyone gets there early and fills their boots, and everyone leaves happy because the catering staff at the training ground are excellent. They really are.
"We haven’t mastered it in the space of twelve weeks by any means. There’s still so much work to do in relation to that, and George is as big in that as I am, as are the owners.
"So that’s going to continue to build over time, over seasons, over a long, long period of time. But I want our fans to know that it’s a workplace, and the players are there to work. But they are enjoying their work. They’re getting their biggest satisfaction out of working hard for each other."
