Although it hasn’t worked out the way everyone would have liked it to for Matt Taylor at Bristol Rovers, if there’s one thing the outgoing manager will be remembered for, it’ll be for some of his comments in press conferences.

Honesty can be a bizarre trait in the sense that it’s a good one to have, but can still be measured as something that can be in excess quantity and that was certainly the case on occasions for Taylor.

While being very professional, the now-former Rovers manager was a pleasure to deal with when it came to media duties while also often coming out with some fascinating lines.

Over the course of his year in charge, Taylor experienced a great deal at the Gas and some of his comments in press conferences reflect the natural course of his tenure in BS7 pretty well and how it, ultimately, ended prematurely.

Although there was a catalogue to choose from, we’ve picked out some of the stand out interviews from the 42-year-old’s time in charge at the Mem which seem to reflect the story of his tenure pretty well.

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‘This is a good group of players’

Three weeks on from being sacked by Rotherham United, Matt Taylor could have easily taken a break from football, especially considering he arrived at Rotherham while in a job at Exeter City which he’d had since 2018.

As he said to local media upon meeting them for the first time, the then-new Bristol Rovers manager wanted to work and was quickly itching to get back into the game. A major reason for that was the players that Rovers had at their disposal at the time.

Taylor was asked a few times during his period at the club whether the job was different or tougher to what he had anticipated and he never bit onto that hook if you like. However, with hindsight, surely there was a major difference between what was seen on the surface and the reality of the scale of the job.

Hindsight will play a big part throughout this piece, but it’s particularly prevalent here considering that the majority of that good group of players ended up departing.

When asked in that first press conference what attracted him to the club, Taylor said: “The size of the club. The history, the supporters, the squad - that was a big one in terms of where I see them within this season's league now. Obviously, working at Championship level, I've not had too much time or opportunity to see too much of League One football but I've got an affiliation with a few members of the squad.

“I've played against enough of them to know they're good players. Where we are in the league at the moment is literally in the middle of the table. We're about seven, eight points away from relegation, nine points away from play-offs. But there is a feeling there that we can hopefully get a little bit more out of them and start producing winning football, as opposed to just good looking football some of the time, but not getting the end out of it.”

Additionally, the club’s media team put out a video of Taylor’s first presentation to players in which he said, “Is this the right time to take a job? Probably not. I took it for one reason and that’s the people in this room. This is a good squad of players but, as we all know, it’s got to be a winning squad. It’s what football’s all about.”

Considering that most of those players are no longer at the club, the suggestion is there was something internal that wasn’t visible from the outside until he took the job and was in the environment.

'There's a bigger picture we all know about'

Three months into the job and Matt Taylor had already overseen the sale of fan favourite Aaron Collins as well as the arrival of Kamil Conteh and a couple of loanees. He addressed travelling fans after a comeback win at Stevenage about the weight of the shirt on his players and said a few times in press that Bristol Rovers had to change.

However, the real stand out moment of last season was the 5-0 thrashing at Lincoln City. The Gas found themselves 3-0 down within 23 minutes but had a hatful of chances themselves that they squandered; that game could have easily finished 6-4.

At that point, the narrative that Rovers’ season was effectively over and most of their players would likely be gone come the end of the summer was fully ingrained and engulfed the final few months of the campaign. This was where Taylor was possibly too honest at times as he alluded to what was to come once a ball had been kicked for the last time.

“That's my responsibility,” he said. “I coach them, I train them. Young, old, senior. Whatever they are, whatever their situation is next year, they're still my responsibility. All I ask from them is a bit more personal pride from their performance because for that first half an hour that was too poor a showing for me to accept.

"There's a bigger picture that we all know about. Is that affecting some players on the pitch at the moment? You only damage yourself by playing like that. You only damage your own futures so clarity is all I need going forward and that's told me a little bit more about the personnel today.”

When asked whether he thought some players had mentally checked out, Taylor added: “I'll be asking that question. I can see what they can see. Let's be honest, it's a constant battle to get them where they need to be in terms of being up for a game.

“That's a damning statement of where some of them are but some of their situations is out of my control. I've inherited it and it's always difficult when a manager comes in mid-season and there's a big expected turnover at the end of the season but has anyone done themselves any favours?”

‘I had an honest conversation’

This is a pretty big jump ahead now but, as we know, the season ended with Bristol Rovers in 15th and the expected major squad overhaul followed that summer. The first quartet of matches were decent with two wins, a draw and a defeat but four consecutive losses but Matt Taylor on the brink.

Had Rovers lost a fifth game in a row, at home to Charlton Athletic, then it looked almost certain that the 42-year-old would have lost his job at that point.

Instead, the Gas put in their best performance of the season so far in terms of total domination over a team and being able to score three goals, the only issue was that their dominance didn’t last for the full game. In fact, they almost threw the result away, conceding twice when 3-0 up and comfortable.

That’s an example of the quality that this group can produce and proved to be the last of many moments where you thought that the Gas would kick on under Taylor.

However, it was his post-match comments that really told the story with reporters in the room well aware of the severity of the scenario had his team not won that football match.

Taylor explained that he had an “honest conversation” with his players pre-match and you can guess what was said. The difficult thing for him though was that week seemed to be the start of the narrative towards his job suggesting that it was inevitable he would eventually lose it, it was just about when.

"I had an honest conversation with them in terms of where I felt I was at in terms of my stature of the club and my position at the club," the then-Rovers manager declared. "They know that, they're not stupid. As a manager, you can't keep losing games. I just thought the way they went about their business tonight and yesterday to a certain extent, led by Scotty and the senior ones. They pulled and drove and pushed that team to where they needed to be.

"You can't keep losing games and when the fans turn like they did at the weekend, I'm not stupid and the players aren't stupid. But I just wanted to make sure that they understood that at the start of this season, I was a big part of it. We tried our hardest to build something positive and something good and for that to end sooner rather than later, I think we wouldn't have done ourselves justice, myself included.

"So I was honest with the players. I'll always be honest in relation to that. And like I say, I was so pleased with the way they went about their work tonight."

‘Some of them are lucky to be with us’

Just a week on from the Charlton victory, which was followed up by a 3-1 win at Burton Albion that weekend, a much-changed Bristol Rovers team were on the end of an embarrassing 4-0 defeat away at League Two strugglers Swindon Town in the EFL Trophy. To make matters worse, Swindon had also made a number of changes.

Matt Taylor was subject to a few pelters again from some of the travelling fans but, really, on that occasion it was the players who should have taken most of the blame.

Although the summer recruitment largely received strong praise from supporters initially, outings such as the Swindon battering suggested that their depth wasn’t as strong as it might have seen on the surface and Taylor had some very strong words in regards to that.

"I'm getting stick and I will get stick because fans will always give the manager stick," he declared. "Who do you put on the pitch as a manager? And not many of those players tonight said pick me in the next league game.

"I think that's a fair assessment of the game. I can go into all the detail of the world in terms of individual players and performances and opportunity X,Y,Z. The game always tells the truth.

"People were saying the manager's opinion, the manager not giving you an opportunity. That game told a lot of people the truth tonight.

"Let's be honest, we can't just carry people through seasons. Some are in a lucky position to train with us, let alone be with us, football club. It's got to mean more than it did to them tonight. They're young. They don't quite know what the game really stands for as yet. And I certainly felt like that tonight in terms of where a lot of them were, but they'll quickly learn, I'm afraid."

‘Whoever’s in charge of this football team, the same patterns will occur’

Naturally, we have to end where it concluded for Matt Taylor at Bristol Rovers - Birmingham City. There’s no shame in losing 2-0 at the League One heavyweights, but it was once again a game where any attacking threat was non-existent and seemed to foreshadow what was to come within the following 48 hours.

After defeats, Taylor would naturally come across frustrated and angry. Although, he wouldn’t let his emotions stop him from giving proper answers and sometimes they actually fuelled his responses.

However, considering his team had just lost again, the Gas manager didn’t seem as emotional as he has been a number of times following a loss.

Naturally, given the predicament of dropping to 20th in the league he was asked about his future at the club and his response suggested that the end was night. When a manager starts talking about the possibility of another person looking after his squad of players, you often know what’s on the way.

Asked if he was concerned for his future on Saturday, Taylor admitted: “Yes but I can’t control that. Whoever’s in charge of this football team, I think the same patterns will occur. People will just say, ‘kick it and chase it’ but we haven’t got the physicality to do that.

“In terms of the plan at the very start, a slightly younger profile. Quite different in terms of using the ball and manipulating it. So we have to still believe that they can improve.

“Confidence is now a big factor and the fact that it constantly gets highlighted in these discussions and when you watch the game back and feedback to the players, you can’t hide away from it. You can’t hide away from the training pitch.

“So you need the ones who are going to stand up and be counted and take a breath in all moments of the game, despite how hard they’re working without the ball, work even harder with the ball.”

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