Taylor Moore details conversation with Bristol Rovers boss and verdict on relegation 'disaster'

Taylor Moore spoke to local media ahead of Bristol Rovers’ final game of the season with relegation to League Two confirmedSport

Daniel Hargraves Bristol Rovers reporter

18:13, 30 Apr 2025

Bristol Rovers defender Taylor Moore looks on(Image: Tom Sandberg/PPAUK)

Taylor Moore has revealed that he had a “long conversation” with executive vice president Abdullatif Al Saeed this week after Bristol Rovers’ relegation to League Two was confirmed, while adding that his teammates have to have “nightmares” about this season.

Rovers were all but relegated on Saturday evening after their 2-0 defeat to Reading and Burton Albion’s 2-1 win over Cambridge United meant that the Brewers only needed a point to mathematically secure survival, although their goal difference was unobtainable. That point came on Tuesday night when they drew 1-1 against Wigan Athletic.

Alongside woes on the pitch, there have been rumours surrounding the way in which the club is being run and allegations suggesting that there has been interference from above with footballing matters with supporters calling for communication from the hierarchy now that relegation has been sealed.

Moore conducted pre-match press duties for the final time this campaign ahead of the Gas’ trip to Blackpool, reflecting on relegation. When asked by Bristol Live what he would like to see next, the defender shared that he spoke with Al Saeed on Tuesday.

“I had a long conversation yesterday with the owner who’s…obviously you hear all these rumors and you see a lot of stuff as well, but people don’t actually know the owners or they don’t know them personally like we do where some of the stuff you read on social media is clickbait, as we all know,” the 27-year-old declared.

“People are entitled to their opinions, of course, but they actually don’t know what goes on behind the scenes and they don’t know that they do actually have someone who cares.

“Now, we had a very open and honest conversation yesterday where I kind of said to the owner what I thought, and he gave me his thoughts as well where there definitely does need to be a structure in place with clarity going into the summer, going into the transfer window, going into the recruitment as well. And yeah, just an actual structure into our everyday lives and an identity behind the team and a culture behind the club, not just the team, the club.

“What direction are we going in? How are we gonna get there and what’s it gonna take? And have you got the people in the building to do that? So that is vital and that is what I told him yesterday. I see it like that, and I think it is important sometimes before even approaching the football side of things, you have to have a look at the culture and the identity, and it’s a workplace. You’re coming into a workplace every day. What are the standards?

“So yeah, [it’s] incredibly important to set the tone from day one of pre-season. Anyone who’s not on board, unfortunately this isn’t the place for you. We said that a few weeks ago away to Wrexham when we had three games to go, and we just weren’t able to do it which is incredibly frustrating, but that’s my viewpoint on it.”

That word ‘culture’ has been noted previously as something Rovers have suffered from a lack of this term and when asked if he agrees, Moore added: “I’d say it has [lacked], and I think that’s down to each and every single person that’s in the building.

“Now, if you’re all working together and driving towards a common goal, it makes it easier, but sometimes we’ve just been so disjointed on the pitch. We’ve been disjointed off it. We’ve had some very disappointing moments throughout the season for sure, but we’ve also had some good ones as well, and we just weren’t able to build on those.

“Culture for me is massive. I’ve seen it obviously in other clubs and I’m 27, I’m a bit of an older head now, where you probably see squads that are less talented than the ones that we have here for sure.

“However, the culture and the drive and the guidance and leadership from the top is clear as anything and you actually end up picking up a point somewhere where you probably shouldn’t. Those little details matter and that was the honest conversation I had with Abdullatif yesterday and that was my main viewpoint.”

It has been an emotional week for Moore who, after relegation was all but sealed on Saturday, had something to celebrate on Sunday when named EFL Player in the Community 2025 at the EFL awards for his excellent work with the Community Trust setting up and running ‘5k Your Way’.

Bristol Rovers defender Taylor Moore wins EFL Player in the Community 2025(Image: James Marsh/Shutterstock)

Although his first season in blue-and-white quarters hasn’t quite been a success on the pitch, off it the 27-year-old has made a significant impact and is looking to continue his community work after the season has concluded and into next campaign too which will be announced accordingly.

However, relegation has meant that, football-wise, this season has been unsuccessful. In fact, Moore went further than that, labelling it a “disaster.”

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“I think ending up in this situation that we are currently in as a club, obviously relegated officially as of last night is a disaster,” the centre-back admitted. “There’s no other words to describe it really.

“I think personally, I feel embarrassed and I feel ashamed that it’s happened and I think as a squad and as a group of staff, we all should be because this club deserves a hell of a lot better than what we’ve provided this year. Absolutely devastated, and there’s no hiding from it. There’s no excuses but, over the course of 45 games we haven’t been good enough and yeah, we’ve paid the price.

“I think the entire season from start to finish, we obviously had a little bit of success early on, very inconsistent, and then our form dipped off, especially going towards that Christmas period with all the busy games, and we just weren’t good enough,” Moore added.

“The manager change brought a little bit of energy and a few ideas, and then same thing, we just dipped off, and we got into the crunch end of the season where we were coming up against teams that weren’t better than us in any shape or form. Obviously playing teams in and around you like Northampton, Stevenage, Mansfield, Shrewsbury, Crawley, and we didn’t win. You do not win those games, you do not deserve to stay in the league. Simple as that.

“We had X amount of opportunities and it was obviously getting very tight towards the end. Six games to go, four games to go, but it should have been wrapped up way before then, and that’s where we’ve got to actually have nightmares about those kind of scenarios and situations because the opportunities were there.

“It’s no one else’s fault. The fans are brilliant. There’s been obviously a lot of chop and change but, in many ways, I kind of feel sorry for every member of staff as well because as players, we are the ones on the pitch across the white line. We have not done enough. We’ve not drawn enough games, picked up enough scrappy points, and we’ve not managed to hold onto wins either. So, yeah, incredibly disappointed.”

Taylor Moore details conversation with Bristol Rovers boss and verdict on relegation ‘disaster’

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