With promotion out of reach and the relegation zone 10 points behind them – albeit with safety not yet secured – Bristol Rovers are on course to spend next season in League One with nine games to play. And after successive defeats to Wycombe Wanderers and Portsmouth last week, Joey Barton admitted he wished he could look solely to the future.
"I'll level with you, I wish it was the end of the season,” the Gas manager told reporters after the 2-0 loss to Pompey on Saturday. "We can’t really get promoted, it doesn’t look like we’re going to get in the relegation battle. I’ve just got to the point where you want to set the targets for next year. There’s nothing worse with nothing to play for with nine games to go."
With Rovers seven points shy of his 52-point target, Barton has to think of the here and now as well as what the future holds. But while the Gas have a little bit of work to ensure a place above the dotted line, he is right to recognise that a crucial period looms beyond the end of the campaign, with another transitional phase on the cards on and off the training pitches at The Quarters.
