Bristol Rovers: How Matt Taylor's win percentage compared to Joey Barton and Ben Garner | OneFootball

Having left the club this week, where does Matt Taylor now rank among fellow Bristol Rovers head-coaches of the ongoing decade?

Matt Taylor's departure from Bristol Rovers marks the beginning of a new era for the Gas. However, with the book now closed on his year-long stint, his time at the club must first be compared in retrospect.

The former Exeter and Rotherham manager spent exactly 12 months on Gloucester Road, though after poor performances saw the Pirates plummet into relegation contention, the Lancastrian gaffer was officially relieved of his duties earlier this week.

Taylor was the side's fourth permanent boss of the new decade, following on from Ben Garner, Paul Tisdale and Joey Barton. The latter of the three, predictably, has been unapologetically vocal towards his successor throughout the tenure.

While Taylor's departure has received near unanimous approval from supporters and reporters alike, exactly where does he rank among fellow Bristol Rovers head-coaches of the ongoing decade?

Excluding the desperately short stay of Paul Tisdale in 2020/21, let's take a more in depth look at the overall win percentage of the above managers.

Ben Garner - 25%

A sore memory for Gasheads. On December 17th, having taken the club to an unprecedented fourth place in the third-tier after 19 league matches, then-manager Graham Coughlan made the decision to leave the South-West in favour of League Two Mansfield, on grounds of returning to live with his family in nearby South Yorkshire.

Tasked with continuing the streak of overachievement for a now starry-eyed Rovers fanbase, whoever was to take the vacancy would find themselves in an immediate uphill battle for fan approval.

The appointment was a surprise one, as former West Brom coach Ben Garner, who had never previously experienced first-team management, was entrusted with the role.

His credentials, while worryingly scarce, came mainly from his track-record of nurturing youth. While at Crystal Palace, he was credited for the development of Wilfried Zaha, Nathaniel Clyne and Victor Moses.

However, what followed was a dismal capitulation of what was set up to be an historic year for the blue half of Bristol. Garner's guidance would see the Pirates drop all the way to 14th by March, winning just twice.

The season was curtailed by the COVID pandemic, perhaps saving further blushes. He would start the following season comparatively well, with ten points out of a possible 15 in October. However, three successive home defeats in 18 days would see him relieved of his duties in mid-November.

Ironically, Graham Coughlan had an even worse time of it at Mansfield, sacked one month prior to Garner following just four wins in 27 matches. From a purely footballing perspective, a disastrous chain of events all round.

Matt Taylor - 31%

Having achieved League Two promotion with Exeter City at the same time as Rovers, Taylor was a known quantity at the Memorial Stadium.

His Devonshire heroics earned him a move to then-Championship Rotherham United, though he would struggle tremendously, and while avoiding relegation himself, would set the club up for a rock-bottom finish in 2024.

His mixed reputation upon arrival played perfectly to type during his Rovers tenure, achieving surprise wins and egregious defeats in equal measure. Eventually, however, the bad began to heavily outweigh the good, resulting in his departure from the club.

Taylor's year in charge presented constant difficulties in goalscoring and creativity, issues that became perpetually harder to justify despite his ability to claim points from unexpected places. Finishing his stint with an overall League goal difference of -28 (45 scored, 73 against), goes some way to showing the eventually disparate levels of highs and lows.

Joey Barton - 37.1%

Ever-polarising, outspoken and never far from a headline, Joey Barton joined Bristol Rovers in February 2021, tasked with steering a then-21st place Gas from impending relegation. This did not transpire, as Rovers finished convincingly bottom of the league.

Life in League Two didn't begin much better for the former Man City midfielder, as the side found themselves in 22nd place after eight matches.

However, to his credit, Liverpool-born Barton succeeded in rescuing the season. 19 wins in the final 26 matches of the season saw the Pirates miraculously scrape into automatic promotion, with the help of a certain final day miracle.

Seemingly meeting limitations in lower mid-table, he was relieved of his duties in October 2023 after almost three years in charge.

Barton's contribution to the club's current existence in League One cannot be ignored. However, his record for the club in the third-tier alone is sub-par.

While Garner doesn't come into the conversation, it is difficult to compare the two recent-most managers.

Thankfully for Gasheads, Taylor didn't have a chance to reproduce his League Two form for Rovers, spending his tenure entirely in the third tier, so it is only fair to judge them on their acumen in their current division.

Even with this in mind, it is almost impossible to seperate the pair. One thing is for sure though, whoever is to take the helm next, will be expected to far exceed the numbers shown here, as Rovers attempt to finally compete seriously at this level.