All of the talking points as Bristol Rovers concluded their 2023/24 season with a 2-0 defeat away at Wigan Athletic
And just like that the season is over. For a decent amount of Bristol Rovers supporters, that will come as a relief which is always a sign that the campaign didn’t quite go as planned but give it a couple of weeks and they will inevitably long for the camaraderie of a Saturday afternoon down the Mem once again.
It’s fair to suggest that Rovers’ final day trip to Wigan Athletic was a bit of a dead rubber given that a top half finish was unreachable while the Gas couldn’t finish any lower than 15th. However, there was still something to play for in the sense that Wigan were only two points higher meaning that a victory would’ve seen Matt Taylor’s men leapfrog their hosts. Unsurprisingly though, the game was a repeat of what’s been too frequent an occurrence over the past couple of months.
A 2-0 defeat means that it is a 15th place finish for Rovers in League One which we will dissect more later on but it does also allow the back cover to be closed and the almanac of 2023/24 shelved with focus now immediately turning to what happens next.
In the short-term, Tuesday afternoon will see the retained list published which will give a clearer indication of who is going to be involved in Taylor’s plans and the base at which the Gas will going into the summer with looking to build upon. Long-term though will be a case of who it actually is that comes in and how many new faces are in the building come September 1.
In all honesty, there really isn’t that much to say about the Wigan loss that hasn’t been said countless times over the course of the season, especially the last four months, so naturally the conversation relates more to the campaign as a whole and what the next couple of weeks and months will look like. Alas, here are some of the talking points for our final verdict of the season.
We all know the feeling even if there isn’t an precise scientific word or phrase for it. Whether you are a parent of kids in school or can remember the feeling from your own school days, when the holidays are on the horizon there’s always a bit of extra fatigue when getting through those final few weeks of term and there is enough evidence to suggest that that was possibly what Bristol Rovers had on Saturday.
Regardless of what the result had been against Wigan, Rovers’ season was always going to be reflected on with some degree of disappointment. Sure, victory would have taken them into the 60 points bracket which could have possibly changed overall perception to some extent but ultimately not much was going to change the campaign as a whole with many of those players inevitably wearing the badge for the last time.
That’s also a point to make later regarding how many are actually staying but, certainly speaking and listening to supporters, it was very much a case of, ‘phew, only 90 minutes of the season left’ as opposed to, ‘aw, only 90 minutes left.’
Everyone’s got their own plans that you would expect will begin immediately, whether that’s jetting off to somewhere with a tropical climate or cherished time back home with family, naturally every player would have longed for that given how little was riding on a result against the Latics.
Saturday was also a reflection of a game we’ve seen so many times recently. Five of Rovers’ final eight games of the season were 2-0 defeats, although the Gas were unfortunate in a couple of those, most notably Bolton Wanderers and Peterborough United. However, against Port Vale, Reading and Wigan, the opposition were evidently better on the day with Saturday another game where Taylor’s men managed just four shots with zero on target.
Academy Player of the Year earns a deserved debut
There have been a couple of opportunities for the youngster to make his debut this season having been on the bench but it was starting to look as though that was something that was going to have to wait until next year. However, fresh from winning Academy Player of the Year, the midfielder got a deserved cameo and has certainly been catching Taylor’s eye in first-team training lately.
Additionally, as part of being integrated with the first-team a great deal this season, Shaw has certainly built relationships with some of his senior teammates, particularly Jevani Brown who went on the record to say post-match: “I want to say congratulations to Kofi on his debut. I think it’s fully deserved. All season he’s been brilliant and I’m happy for him.
“I feel like it’s a long time coming. He’s been on the bench a few times. He should have had more minutes but I feel like he fully deserves it and has a bright future ahead of him.”
As for Taylor, the manager admitted that it was always the plan to get him some game time if possible at the DW Stadium and now the question will inevitably be regard how much the teenager plays next season. Expectations obviously have to be managed but you would imagine that there will be some decent chances in pre-season to impress and who knows what happens from there?
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