Joey Barton explains Bristol Rovers’ Charlie Austin stance after Swindon Town confirmation | OneFootball

Bristol Rovers manager Joey Barton has confirmed that striker Charlie Austin had been training at the club, but says that he opted against offering him a deal.

Austin has instead re-joined League Two side Swindon Town, returning to the club where he made his name after scoring 37 goals in 65 appearances between 2009 and 2011.

The 33-year-old went on to play for Queens Park Rangers, Burnley, Southampton and West Bromwich Albion, before moving to Australia to join Brisbane Roar in the summer, where he terminated his contract there earlier this month.

After returning to England, Austin was invited to train with the Gas, linking up with Barton, who he played with during the pair’s time at Loftus Road.

Barton is no stranger to signing high-profile free agents after recruiting Scott Sinclair following a similar training period earlier this season, but on this occasion he opted against the deal because of the strength in depth he already possesses in the forward areas.

“We had Charlie Austin in the other day, he came and trained with us,” Barton told Bristol Live. “He’s probably made the right call signing for Swindon but we needed to have a look at him to see what he’s about.

“I played with Chaz, great goalscorer, he’ll do a fantastic job at Swindon. For us, we’ve got a lot of players in that frontline and what I didn’t want to happen was Charlie come back from Australia, sign for Swindon, bag a load of goals and we didn’t get a chance to have a look at him. We’ve had a look at him, not for us, but that’s the area where we’re stacked.”

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The verdict

Barton probably made the right call in not signing Austin.

The Gas have a number of options up front who have been performing well, such as Aaron Collins, who is their top scorer with 12 goals this season and Josh Coburn, who has impressed on loan from Middlesbrough, finding the back of the net on seven occasions. Barton also has Ryan Loft fit again, in addition to Sinclair, John Marquis and Harvey Saunders.

There are also question marks about Austin’s age and fitness levels, as well as whether he can hit the heights he has previously displayed in his career.

A move back to Swindon seems the correct decision by Austin, to return to a place where he will be appreciated and is more likely to get game time, which could have been limited at the Memorial Stadium.

Scoring goals has not proven to be an issue for the Gas this season and given their poor defensive record, that is an area which Barton may be targeting next month.