Bristol City’s ambitions under scrutiny, but Robins determined to prove doubters wrong

Local TV Sport

Daniel Wales looks at the ambitions of Bristol City this coming season.

Transcript

00:00Now for Bristol City, obviously we've mentioned before the bit of a shock,

00:04a Manning exit in terms of him leaving the club

00:08and getting them to stick them to the championship at their best for 17 years,

00:13which was an incredible last season for Bristol City.

00:18It's obviously been a bit of a shake-up,

00:20Liam Manning departing and then the new manager coming in,

00:25Schreber coming in and making sure that he's got a lot to sort of go about his business at Bristol City.

00:33I mean, the Robins have a very strong foundation.

00:35You have to be sure of that, you know, finishing sixth, a bit of momentum as well.

00:41They haven't tasted playoffs for a very, very long time,

00:43so their fans are going to be really excited for the season ahead.

00:47Yes, the manager behind, you know, a lot of it is gone, but the squad core is there.

00:53The ambition remains high, the backing needs to be essential from the sort of ball

00:59and the hierarchy as well at the Robins.

01:02Dan, our Bristol correspondent.

01:04Dan, just over to you in terms of where Bristol City currently sits,

01:08their ambitions for the season ahead, their ambitions as a club now,

01:11because, you know, a managerial departure like this,

01:15you need to start thinking a bit more about the future ahead,

01:18you know, not just the season ahead, but, you know, into a few years,

01:21where do they want to be? They obviously want to bridge that gap to the Premier League,

01:24but, I mean, as a side that are going to be spending loads every summer,

01:29that makes it almost an unthinkable task.

01:32So where do you think they lie? Do you think they go for the playoffs again?

01:36And can they sort of bridge that gap towards making sure they are a consistent

01:40playoff contender? Because, you know, with how competitive the championship is,

01:45that is a massive task.

01:47Well, Charles, I think they have to go for the playoffs again.

01:50You can't just have what you've had last season in getting there

01:54and then not try to build on that.

01:56And I think, to be honest, that's been reflected in what John Lansdowne,

02:00the chairman, has said when he was introducing the new head coach, Gerhard Struber.

02:04They want to build as a club and they want to build in this upward trajectory

02:08and they don't just want to have that really one good season that they had last year

02:13under Liam Manning and then just think, oh, well, that's it.

02:16You know, we've had one good season in five or ten years or so

02:19and now we'll just go back to sort of mid-table mediocrity.

02:22No, they want to build and they want to keep progressing as a club.

02:26Gerhard Struber and John Lansdowne have both talked about the academy

02:30and they're wanting to bring in young players to the club

02:33and to make sure that the Bristol City way of playing and the style of the club

02:37is very much youth-focused and that they drive this through

02:41and there are opportunities for the young players to get through the academy

02:44and into the first team.

02:45But, of course, in the here and now as well,

02:47they also want to make the first team very much a viable place

02:50for players to come and to thrive

02:53and to make sure that Bristol City are a good club going forward.

02:57So, it's positive when you think about it that way.

03:00Of course, it was negative losing Liam Manning

03:03and what does that say about the ambition of the club

03:05if he's going to go to a rival in the championship in Norwich?

03:08Clearly, he felt as if he'd get more backing there

03:11so that's something to weigh up

03:13because, you know, you don't want to lose a manager like Liam Manning

03:16to a championship rival

03:18although you could argue that Liam Manning does tend to jump ship quite quickly

03:21and has done so far in his career.

03:23Of course, when he was at Oxford then, he went to Bristol City

03:26and now he's done the same going from Bristol City to Norwich City.

03:30Obviously, Norwich themselves do have a more recent history

03:32of being in the Premier League

03:35against Bristol City in that regard

03:36but still, it does put the ambition under scrutiny a little bit

03:41but then you've had that sort of quashed by Gerhard Stuber coming in

03:44who's come in from a Bundesliga side in FC Cologne

03:47so it's a hard one to try and weigh up and understand.

03:51I think we can only really judge

03:53until we get to the season getting underway in August

03:56to see exactly who they've brought in by that point

03:59and of course, more players could still yet come in

04:01after the season has started

04:03but also to see their style of playing under Gerhard Stuber

04:05are they still playing in a similar way to the way Liam Manning was playing

04:09because of course they'll still have probably a lot of his core group

04:11but at the same time, will Gerhard Stuber want to bring in a new ethos

04:15and in keeping with this sort of youth focus

04:17bringing in a lot of new players and young players

04:19to make sure that they're sustainable as a club

04:22but also vicious, attacking and ferocious against teams

04:26with all this, there's youth in their side

04:28who can, you know, they play with no fear for example

04:31and that's probably what they're trying to create

04:32and that's what they'll want to create

04:34I think ultimately they want to be sustainable as a club

04:36and that is a good ambition to have

04:38but their supporters will want them to be winning in the here and the now

04:42and not having to wait for the long-term future

04:44and that's what they're trying to do

Category

Transcript

Recommended