Taylor Moore on strong Bristol Rovers start, falling back in love with football and senior role..By Daniel Hargraves
Taylor Moore has been outstanding in Bristol Rovers' opening four League One matches with the Gas benefitting from three clean sheetsi2-prod.bristolpost.co.uk/incoming/article9526070.ece/ALTERNATES/s1176b/0_PPAUK_Bristol_Rovers_v_Northampton_Town-_090824_012JPG.jpgWe may only be four games into the new League One season, but the early narrative surrounding Bristol Rovers' start to the campaign revolves around the defensive improvement the Gas have shown compared to last term, especially in the second half of the season.
Rovers ended last campaign with the fifth-worst defensive record in the third tier having conceded 68 goals and were prone to conceding ones of a notoriously soft nature. Defeats to the likes of Burton Albion, Fleetwood Town, Northampton Town, Lincoln City and Port Vale in the final months of the campaign were examples of just how exposed the Gas left themselves at times last term and highlighted where the major area for improvement over the summer was.
Four months on and after a quartet of league games in 2024/25, Rovers have won two, drawn one and lost one while keeping three clean sheets and conceding just twice. Only Stockport County, who scored those two goals in a 2-0 defeat at Edgeley Park, have shipped fewer with one.
A shift to a back-three has seemingly worked so far from a defensive standpoint while goalkeeper Josh Griffiths, on loan from West Brom, has also been outstanding with the 22-year-old almost earning Rovers a point in a goalless draw at Rotherham United himself with a number of stunning stops.
The fact that a defender of Connor Taylor's quality and stature hasn't been able to start a league game yet this season emphasises just how effective the trio of Taylor Moore, James Wilson and Clinton Mola has been, with the former, in particular, quickly becoming a fan favourite.
Despite his Bristol City past, the 27-year-old has become a popular figure amongst Gasheads for his superb performances across August. Good with his feet, never shying away from a challenge, effective in the air and notably mobile, the centre-back has fit perfectly into this new-look backline.
What makes Moore's strong start to life up in the north side of Bristol particularly impressive is the fact that he hadn't played a competitive game since February before the opening day win over Northampton last month, having left French side Valenciennes mid-season.
i2-prod.bristolpost.co.uk/incoming/article9526075.ece/ALTERNATES/s1200e/0_PPAUK_Bristol_Rovers_v_Northampton_Town-_090824_075JPG.jpg"It's all gone quite well but I think I genuinely was the most nervous I've been for a football game before my first game here at home, the first game of the season," Moore said. "Just because of everything that's happened in the past six months and you come here and you know how hostile it can be when things aren't going well but thankfully, for me, things are going well.
"I probably feel the fittest I've ever felt in my life at the age of 27 now off the back of a fresh six months with no football. I'm just really enjoying my football and getting to know good people that we've got at the club. It's just a nice environment to come into every day and I'm 27 years old so I know what I've got to do from now on to really progress my game as well so I'm just full focus on achieving something good.
"It's like any job," Moore added. "You fall in and out of love with it and also it depends on your colleagues and it depends on your boss and there's a lot of factors that obviously are very similar to any given job. But I'm really enjoying my football, falling in love with football again and just really proving to myself what I can do and where I can take my career as well.
"I think the ambition at this club is showing at the minute by signing 16 players in the transfer window shows that they've got ambition as well. I feel like I'm at the right place, it's the right fit and everyone is, for the moment, pulling in the right direction so long may it continue."
Moore also demonstrated another side to his game in Saturday's 2-0 win over Cambridge United, volleying the ball towards the penalty area for Bryant Bilongo to bring down and set up Promise Omochere for a clinical finish.
Although Omochere's turn and hit was impressive alongside Bilongo's touch to set the striker up, the defender's volley played a significant part in the goal being picked up by the official League One social channels as one of the best in the league of the weekend, earning the centre-back praise external of Gasheads.
When asked about the pass, Moore didn't necessarily state that it was deliberate but explained that he doesn't like keeping things safe in his game, saying: "I think we're in situations every day where the ball comes at you at different trajectories, different flights and you have to be able to read it and try different things. Ultimately, that's probably what I like doing in my game, I don't like keeping things safe. Sometimes they'll come off and sometimes they won't but I don't think I'll ever be able to change that.
"Yeah, it just bounced up nicely for me and I just thought 'right, thing is going in the box'. A bit of luck mixed with a bit of technique but thankfully the boys in the box got on the end of it and was able to get the second goal to put us 2-0 up which is always a great cushion."
Everywhere you look, every defensive statistic is currently improved on last season. Admittedly, the sample size is four games compared to 46 but already you can identify the fact that Matt Taylor has instructed his players to be solid at the back first and then build upwards with there seemingly more appreciation for having a rigid base.
According to SofaScore, Rovers are currently averaging 0.5 goals conceded per game, 18.3 tackles, 13.5 interceptions and 33 clearances compared to 1.5 goals, 16.9 tackles, 8.7 interceptions and 19.6 clearances from last season.
Even after their best attacking display of the season so far on Saturday, it's clear that the final third is still where the most improvement is needed with this very much a work in progress still in its early infancies.
Before the Cambridge win, the Gas' only league goal had come via a 92nd minute Bilongo header from a corner to seal a win over Northampton dramatically on the opening day. A combined four shots on target from trips to Rotherham and Stockport suggested that Rovers still had plenty of progress to make with their offensive output.
Saturday was a notable improvement as the Gas got two goals thanks to Omochere who's now off the mark, but based on some of the positions they got themselves into, they probably should have won even more comfortably. However, according to Moore the defence also have a role to play in that as well as the players installed at the top end of the pitch.
"I think there is an emphasis from the manager, he used to be a centre-back himself, on having the solid base and then we have players at the top end of the pitch who are good enough definitely to create something," the defender said. "But also, as well as saying that, we can't just rely on them to have a little bit of magic, we all have to contribute in our own way as the centre-backs or midfielders or wing-backs. Even the goalkeeper to a certain degree, like Josh has got demands from the manager on how he's going to play out from the back and how he's going to kick the ball.
i2-prod.bristolpost.co.uk/incoming/article9467130.ece/ALTERNATES/s810/0_TAYLOR-15-1.jpg"I do also think that it's us as people. Obviously, like new teammates let's say, the recruitment that they've done here, George Friend, the gafffer, has not been done lightly and I think they've emphasised on bringing people into the building who want to do well, who really want to push this club forwards.
"We've got a really good balance in that dressing room at the moment and we're trying to fit everyone in and make sure as more time goes by, it stays like that. But I definitely think that a solid defence is going to give you a solid base in this league especially where you're going to come up against some very good teams for you to actually go and compete at the top end of the table."
At 27, although you would assume Moore is likely only just creeping into the second half of his playing career, the centre-back is already being expected to lend a hand to his juniors and be a senior figure in the squad, a profile Rovers don't have many of.
Despite a whopping 16 signings over the summer, the ethos in the transfer market was largely to recruit young, high potential talent that can improve while wearing the blue-and-white quarters and then grow into profitable assets in the future. That leaves only Jamie Lindsay (28), Grant Ward (29), Jack Hunt (33), Scott Sinclair, James Wilson and Chris Martin (35) as players older than Moore in this Gas squad.
Being a centre-back, you would always expect the 27-year-old to be one of the more vocal figures in the group but he is now being entrusted to lead by example and develop into a role that, possibly, he hasn't had before, admitting that it's something Taylor expects of him.
"I think that's where you have to really rely on the senior players in the group to lead by example," Moore exclaimed when initially asked about the significant number of new players in the squad. "I'm 27 but I think in this group of young players I'm in that bracket as well and I think the manager expects that of me and a few other boys as well and that's our role to kind of get all these boys in together to make sure they hit the ground running and that they understand what the club's about, what the manager wants us to do and how we want to play and it's a work in progress, it's a project..
"All the boys are signing two, three year contracts. This is not just for the next six months, so people are going to have to be patient in many ways as well but it's also nice to tell people to be patient and we're also winning.
"We're all gelling really well together, the staff have been fantastic whether that's the manager, coaches, the S&C staff, you've got Tom Short who is absolutely fantastic at his job and all the medical staff that are around us on a daily basis. It's literally just got that feel-good factor to it at the moment and we need to work hard at keeping that."
