The former Tottenham, Newcastle and Portsmouth manager is leaving Bristol Rovers after his second spell

Kevin Bond has left Bristol Rovers, Bristol Live understands, after initially joining the club on a part-time basis in November to assist Andy Mangan during his interim manager’s tenure.

Although he returned to Rovers to help Mangan, the first-team coach remained as part of Matt Taylor’s backroom staff when the 42-year-old was appointed as Joey Barton’s successor in December.

However, Bond is understood to have made the decision to leave the club despite being offered the opportunity to continue as part of Taylor’s coaching staff in the new season.

The former Tottenham, Newcastle and Portsmouth manager first joined Rovers in 2021 as part of Barton’s backroom staff, helping the Gas to promotion from League Two before leaving in October 2022, the former Rovers manager stating at the time that he needed to streamline his staff.

Bond then returned 13 months later to support Mangan, who had also been part of Barton’s coaching staff, during his spell as interim manager, which lasted seven games until Taylor was appointed.

That saw Mangan leave the club, as well as coaches Danny Ventre and Glenn Whelan, but the experienced coach stayed and has since been part of Taylor’s backroom staff alongside Jamie McAllister, Wayne Carlisle and Anssi Jaakkola.

Speaking in January, Bond said: “Matt was happy to talk to me. I’ve met him and I’ve met him a couple of times and I’ve been in opposite camps before. Obviously I don’t know him on a personal level, I have to be honest, I was kind of surprised.

“But obviously I was more than happy to agree to have a conversation with him and at this stage of my football life the most important thing for me will be my relationship with him. If he thinks it works and I can add something, whatever, and I’m happy with that, then I’m happy to continue. It’s never at this stage, for me, other than the relationship and how I can help Matt predominantly.

The manager is expected to be replaced during the summer, but the 66-year-old is highly thought of at the football club, offering plenty of coaching experience at several top clubs.

Goalkeeping coach Jaakkola left the club, confirming his departure on social media last week, as did head of data and analytics Adam Mahoney, while 13 players left with Rovers expected to experience a summer of major change .