On January 1st, Bristol Rovers will have the ability to purchase and sell players once more; however, their initial transaction may take place prior to the opening of the transfer window.
On January 1st, Bristol Rovers will have the ability to purchase and sell players once more; however, their initial transaction may take place prior to the opening of the transfer window.
On January 1st, Bristol Rovers will have the ability to purchase and sell players once more; however, their initial transaction may take place prior to the opening of the transfer window.
The transfer window is knocking for Bristol Rovers. Summer was a success in so many ways but you can’t help but feel as though the excellent recruitment was overshadowed to an extent by the deadline day collapse for a deal to re-sign Jonson Clarke-Harris from Peterborough United. After agreeing a club-record deal understood to be in the region of £800,000 with performance-based add-ons, the necessary paperwork wasn’t completed in time by a matter of seconds. That left the Gas with just one senior recognised striker in John Marquis after Ryan Loft’s departure for Port Vale with the immediate question then being whether the club would dip into the free agentAfter about three weeks, Rovers acquired Chris Martin, a former front man for Bristol City who had left Queen’s Park Rangers at the end of the previous campaign and was unable to find a new team. At the time, the Gas had just added a player with hundreds of Championship appearances to their team, and the general consensus was that it was probably the best way to get out of a frustrating situation.
The 35-year-old failed to score in his first four games despite displaying his individual brilliance very immediately and with very little assistance. But Martin’s signing came at the right time—just after Marquis had a strange hand break during practice that kept him out of commission for a few weeks.
In a dismal performance at home against Stevenage, Martin looked like he would be going five games without a goal and the writing was on the wall for former manager Joey Barton. However, Martin showed class by producing a lob from about 35 yards to equalize and score his first goal for the team. Given the subpar treatment he was receiving at the time, it
By scoring for the Gas, the seasoned striker demonstrated his pedigree by reaching 11 clubs scored for and scoring in a league lower than the Championship for the first time in over a decade.
Since then, the Football League veteran has scored three more goals, which is a significant contribution considering the goal-scoring problems Rovers had previously experienced. But things changed last week when the Gas won two away games against Crewe Alexandra and Bolton Wanderers, scoring six goals, two of which were scored by Marquis, who had stolen Martin’s slot. Martin only played nine minutes total throughout the two games.
