Following this weekend’s 3-1 away loss to Fleetwood Town, Bristol Rovers dropped two more places to 17th, with their promotion aspirations taking another blow amidst the run of form Steve Evans’ men find themselves in.
Defeat at Highbury now means Rovers have gone all through October without a win, last coming away with maximum points on September 26 when they beat Exeter City 1-0 at The Memorial Stadium. Since, the Gas have lost 17-4 on aggregate across seven games in all competitions, claiming just a single point in the goalless home draw against Swindon Town.
After the latest defeat – Rovers’ sixth in the league, winning just once on the road – Evans told Bristol Live he can take the fans’ frustrations. “What I would say to them is when they go home in the cold light of day, criticise me,” he said. “I’ll take the criticism for the dressing room.
“I’m big enough to go and sing and dance in front of them and go into the Thatchers Bar. I’m big enough to take the criticism. I’ve taken it all my career. There’s always ups and downs in a manager’s career. But what you have to then do is have a logic or a rationale behind it.
“I’ll go home tonight, and I’ll sit down and say now, if I wrote my team out of my squad, how many of the ones I couldn’t pick today would be in that? I know everybody gets injuries, not six or seven big ones, and suspensions.”
Key personnel missing has continued to prove costly for Rovers, who’ve struggled for goals compared to in the earlier parts of the season. Against Newport County at the end of August, the Gas overcame Harrison Biggins’ opener after 13 seconds to win 5-3 in a thriller at The Mem, as Fabrizio Cavegn scored twice, and Bobby Kamwa once to ignite his Emmanuel Adebayor inspired celebration.
Shaq Forde and Tommy Leigh also both had good afternoons, though the pair have struggled for form and availability since, with the latter twice seeing straight red cards for reckless challenges, costing him seven games in suspensions. And his loss has in turn been costly, as Rovers have evidently lost some of the creative spark and drive that saw them top of the league in September.
“If he wants to progress his career,” Evans started, “and he wants to be at serious football levels going forward, he needs to cut that nonsense out.” The Scot isn’t wrong: despite only playing for the Gas on loan from January last season, Leigh quickly became a fan favourite for his maverick nature and game-winning ability.
All of Rovers’ problems can’t be pinned on that, but certainly a portion of the month’s form can be put down to the loss of one of their key cogs – albeit completely at his own doing. Of the others in the attacking lineup, Forde has looked promising in moments but hasn’t quite found the form he managed at the back end of last campaign, while Kamwa now finds himself with a short-term injury.
At the other end, Kofi Balmer was suspended for the trip to Fleetwood due to him accumulating five yellow cards. Centre back partner Riley Harbottle – who partnered Balmer last season, both key January additions – is also out for now, with he and attacking midfielder Jack Aitchison not expected back until December.
Of course, Gasheads are understandably concerned at the club’s current trajectory, though as Evans put it after Fleetwood: “What I’d say to them is, get a little bit of paper, a piece of paper. And write them down. And how many of them would start for them? Without me getting emotional. How many of them would start for them? I suggest six or seven. So don’t tell me this is a Steve Evans team, because it’s not.”
However, it can’t solely be blamed on absentees – as important as some of the sidelined figures are. One of the most alarming parts of Rovers’ run is their lack of clean sheets, despite all four of the previous victories coming with shutouts. The 0-0 with Swindon was, in fairness, the Gas’ fifth clean sheet of the season, but only their sixth league draw since the start of last campaign. If Rovers want to achieve promotion, or at the moment re-gain some form, pulling points out of poor form is essential – as I noted in the summer.
Although calls for Evans to be sacked are ever more frequent, it feels like a heart over head call given that the Gas are still just four points off the play-offs. Admittedly, it’s an equal gap to the drop zone. But just a month ago, Rovers were third after successive weeks top of the division; the current run is obviously unacceptable and needs fixing, but removing the man who achieved a club record 11 straight wins in September still feels hasty.
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