Bristol Rovers fans emphatically believe that Joey Barton is the best man to lead them back into League One, following a survey conducted by Bristol Live.
More than 450 supporters responded to the poll last week which covered the summer window, issues at the club, life in League Two and their verdict on manager Joey Barton.
The Gas may have tumbled into the fourth tier after a dismal 2020/21 in which Barton succeeded Paul Tisdale and Ben Garner, and was in charge for Rovers' final 18 games of the season, winning just three.
But Gasheads want to see continuity in the dugout and, of those who responded to the survey, have clearly been energised by what either Barton has brought to the club, or they think can bring to the club.
In response to the question, "how confident are you that Joey Barton is the best man to get Rovers back into League One?", 23% of respondents replied 8/10, 16% said 7/10, 13% 10/10 and 12% 9/10. The highest placed "negative" scores were 9% replying 5/10 and 5% saying 1/10.
With regards to what Rovers fans like most about Barton's management, which was an open answer, by far the two most common responses were his honesty, passion and straight talking.
Paradoxically, his honesty was also something that Gasheads also found the least appealing about his coaching style. Barton has regularly called out his predecessors in the job, players' performances and aspects of the club.
Barton is hoping for an active summer in the transfer market as he looks to build a squad in his image, accepting that the focus and responsibility is now firmly on him.
The brief for next season is to quite simply get the Gas back up, as potentially only Salford City will have a budget similar to Rovers.
In terms of where Rovers fans believe the team will finish next season, and we have to accept the fact that this is well before any new players have been signed and there is any idea on what the starting XI will look like, 33% believe play-offs and 22% automatic promotion.
Top 10 would be seen as failure but 21% put that as their early prediction while 12% fear a mid-table finish with lower mid-table and relegation battle both on 6%.
