Exclusive: Bristol Rovers take former Birmingham City and Middlesbrough favourite on trial
The Barnstaple-born defender can play as a left-back or left-sided centre-back and fulfils a positional need for Joey Barton with Lewis Gibson having returned to Everton following his loan spell and Calum Macdonald’s exit on a free transfer, meaning Lewis Gordon lacks competition on that flank.
Friend played in front of Rovers fans at the Mem just over a month ago as he was part of Marcus Stewart’s charity match having worked alongside the Rovers hero at Exeter when Paul Tisdale was in charge.
Should he sign for the Gas, Friend would not only fill a gap in the squad, but also bring considerable leadership skills in the dressing room following a 17-year career. Towards his time at Birmingham he was also operating in an unofficial player/coach capacity.
Friend emerged through the Exeter academy and starred for the Grecians during their promotion from the then-Conference National in the 2007/08 season.
He earned a marquee move to Wolves when he was just 20 but could never make a sustained breakthrough at Molineux as they became a Premier League club and following loan stints at Millwall, Southend United, Scunthorpe and back at Exeter, eventually settled in Middlesbrough following two seasons with Doncaster in the Championship.
He became a regular at the Riverside making 299 appearances as they made the play-off final in 2016 and he was twice named in the Championship Team of the Year.
Although in the twilight of his career, providing he can prove his fitness and hunger, he could have plenty to offer a Gas defence that was light on experience last season, contributing to their porous defence.
He would also continue Barton’s shift in transfer policy this summer as, so far, James Wilson, Luke Thomas, Jevani Brown and Friend – should he sign – can all be considered established performers at this level and higher up the pyramid, rather than emerging talents which has tended to drive Rovers’ business over the previous two summer windows.
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Bristol Rovers manager Joey Barton has turned heads on Twitter once again as he unveils radical plans of launching his own subscription platform.
The former midfielder is known for his Twitter rants and controversial opinion but plans to make followers pay for the privilege going forwards after an onslaught of criticism over recent posts.
On Wednesday, Barton was questioned for labelling a recent interview with human trafficking and rape charged Andrew Tate as ‘food for thought’. In a separate post, The Gas boss praised Dele Alli for speaking out about addiction and believed that the sport was ‘riddled with prescription medication addiction’.
On Friday morning, the 40-year-old then shared a seething Tweet claiming that he had started to bock users for acting ‘like a sausage’ on the social media platform. He also shared plans to put his content behind a paywall, with profits going to charity, to defeat haters.
That idea had grown by Friday afternoon as the manager shared an extensive Tweet explaining his plans to charge for his headline-making opinions.
Barton promised that subscribers would ‘unlock the mind of a football maverick’ on the platform with ‘exclusive insights, engaging conversations, and an unparalleled experience of the beautiful game’.
The ex-Manchester City and QPR pro also promised to share his exclusive tactical breakdowns and mentor users to ‘unlock your full potential on and off the pitch’. Barton also teased ‘monthly prizes that money literally cannot buy’.
He added: “Join my premium Twitter community and let’s embark on a journey where we unravel the mysteries of football together. Engage with fellow fans, gain exclusive access to my expertise, and become a part of a community that celebrates the sport we love.”
The post is believed to be genuine, although no evidence of such a platform existing yet has been shared.
Replied to the idea from followers was largely critical with some struggling to believe the idea of the Bristol Rovers manager starting his career as an influence.
One user said: “In my experience, if Joey has an opinion that is worthwhile and some thoughtful insights to back it up he is never shy of sharing it for free so in that sense a paid-for subscription is probably superfluous.”
Another asked if Barton was ‘struggling for cash’, to which the star shared a photo of his expensive watch as a comeback. Others wrote ‘no thanks, Joeseph’ and ‘sounds terrible’.
One Bristol Rovers fan joked: “We’ve got to pay for Connor Taylor somehow…”
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