Abdullatif AlSaeed offers verdict on Bristol Rovers' season so far and details pre-season target

Bristol Rovers executive vice president Abdullatif AlSaeed has admitted that this season so far has been "a mixed bag" while also calling for supporters to be patient after a summer of mass recruitment.

The Gas signed 16 players over the summer and currently find themselves sat in 18th place just two points clear of the relegation zone after 18 matches in League One.

Matt Taylor has, at times, been under significant pressure over the course of the campaign so far with sections of supporters heard chanting for a change after some matches.

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However, although he's not been delighted with the season so far, AlSaeed believes that there will be improvement in time.

Speaking in an in-depth interview with GasCast Podcast, the Kuwaiti said: "I think it’s a mixed bag. I’m not going to sit here and say that I’m happy or at the same time not happy. I think it’s been inconsistent. I would love to see three wins in a row because I’ve been here nearly a year and a half now and it’s not happening.

"Sometimes you think ‘okay we’re there, we’ve got two [wins] in a row, we’re turning the corner’ and then you get a disappointing result and it puts us back and then you beat Barnsley and it puts us up again.

"So it’s been tough but fans also have to understand that they have to be patient with the team. 16 players is a big number. It takes time to gel, to build the team chemistry and to get where we are.

"Honestly speaking, our target was always a top half finish for this season," he added. "Eighth to 12th mark was where we targeted for many reasons. First of all what we want to do is a simple aim really. We had 57 points last season and we want to improve on that. How much to improve or how fast really depends on the season but we want to improve, we want to get up.

"If we get up to 65 points then we can build on that. Also, in terms of recruiting players, when you tell them ‘look, we started 17th, we’re 15th, now we’re 10th’ they can really believe there is a project happening here and the team is going in the right direction.

"So it’s really important for us to finish in the top 12, top half this season and I think it’s achievable. I would say we’re four or five points away from where we would love to be this moment in time."

Rovers have finished in the top half of League One just once in the past 14 seasons with that 10th place finish in 2016/17 their highest since finishing seventh in the old Division Two in the 1999/00 campaign. Therefore, historically speaking, if the hierarchy's target for this season was achieved it would mark one of the Gas' best campaigns in recent history.

However, having laid out targets to get promoted to the Championship within three seasons last term while also having significant plans to redevelop both the Memorial Stadium and The Quarters, most would consider it a reasonable ambition.

The Gas also invested significantly in the squad over the summer and therefore the board will no doubt been keen to see Rovers' league position improve swiftly.

Admittedly, this has proven to be one of the toughest League One crops ever but, at the same time, there hasn't been an abundance of matches where Taylor's men have well and truly been blown away.

It is worth noting that the interview was recorded before Rovers' 3-0 defeat at Leyton Orient in which they produced their worst league performance of the season while the Gas fell further down the table when their game against Bolton Wanderers on Saturday was postponed due to safety concerns following red weather warnings.

"It’s a tough division. We’re doing alright but we could do better," the Rovers executive vice president declared. "If you look at the sides and say they’re tough. But if you look at the games, Wycombe, who are flying right now, I think they stole the game here. It could have easily been 1-1 and if we had played a bit more defensively towards the end and then stopped the goal at the end it could have ended 1-0.

"We’ve been in games. I don’t think we concede much differences. It’s just small details. I think small details in League One make a big difference. Set pieces I think is another thing that we could improve on and I think a lot of teams are really winning games [with set pieces]. I mean, look at Wrexham. They’re really strong at set pieces. And I think that’s been lacking. I think we have the physicality in the team in order to affect it or score more. It’s not really been happening, yet we take the positives on the defensive side. We’ve been okay in terms of defending our box.

"This is where the team needs improvement and I think it will happen with time. But we’re not in a bad spot, not at all, we’re hopeful of good results and push up the table. We can look forward to the second half of the season."

You can listen to the full 'GasCast' podcast episode by clicking HERE...

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