Why Gerhard Struber’s footballing ethos will “excite” Bristol City supporters

National World - LocalTV

Daniel Wales looks at the brand of football new Bristol City Head Coach Gerhard Struber will employ at the Robins.

Transcript

00:01Now for Bristol City, obviously a massive campaign on the horizon

00:04and Gerard Struber coming in as manager.

00:08Obviously, we know a few things about him and his former tactical emphasis,

00:14his identity in terms of the way his side's set up.

00:17We're very high fitness levels, a lot of tactical discipline,

00:21off-the-ball intensity, but there are a few things that in terms of Bristol City,

00:25he needs to come in and implement straight away.

00:27Now, firstly, their away form was sort of faltering last season.

00:30I mean, that's clearly a bit of a fragile area that they need to make sure they have strength.

00:35Obviously, they were stronger at Ashton Gate, but in terms of when they go away from home,

00:43they need to make sure there's emphasis on continuing some dominance

00:46and really sort of adjusting to those circumstances

00:50and trying to get more points on the road this season.

00:52But then again, on the home side, the top home goal-scoring charts in the entire division,

01:00so they were fantastic at home.

01:02They want to continue that.

01:04In terms of Gerard Struber and what he brings, Dan, our Bristol correspondent,

01:09Dan, just give a look at what the sort of tactical ideas he's going to bring,

01:15how they're going to maybe press and how exciting it could be this sort of period for Bristol City fans.

01:22Obviously, a massive change in managerial setup from Lee Manning,

01:26but can they be confident as a fan base?

01:29Can they understand and get behind the manager straight away from day one?

01:33And what can we expect to see from Gerard Struber and his setup?

01:37Well, Charles, I think that Gerard Struber is coming into Bristol City wanting the club

01:43to play an attractive and attacking brand of football at Ashton Gate.

01:48Certainly, he's going to be taking a lot of his inspiration from his days in the Bundesliga at FC Köln.

01:53And of course, he does have experience of English football with Barnsley in the past,

01:59so he'll draw on that too.

02:00But I think certainly going from what the new assistant head coach Craig Fleming has made clear

02:05is that he wants to play, as I say, an attacking brand of football,

02:09which will, of course, excite everyone at Ashton Gate for the upcoming season.

02:14There were lots of worries going into this campaign before Struber was appointed,

02:18after Liam Manning had left, because, of course, he was leaving not only the club,

02:22but leaving for a championship rival in Norwich City,

02:26which made a lot of Bristol City supporters fear the worst in terms of the club,

02:30in terms of the direction and the ambition that the club had as a whole,

02:33because, of course, he was leaving to a championship rival,

02:36and that perhaps suggested that Bristol City was not the place to be

02:39in terms of potential success and promotion from the championship,

02:43and that Norwich City was a more attractive option for Liam Manning,

02:46especially after Manning had just got Bristol City into the championship playoffs last season.

02:50Of course, Norwich hadn't got into the championship playoffs last season.

02:53Bristol City had, under Liam Manning, with a squad that was, if we're brutally honest,

02:58probably an average championship squad,

02:59but Manning had perhaps got a lot of players over-performing,

03:03or performing more than they were capable of,

03:05or some people perhaps thought they were capable of.

03:07But, certainly, the chairman, John Lansdowne,

03:10seems very happy with the appointment of Gerhard Struber at Bristol City,

03:14and I think, certainly, the word is that Struber is going to be playing a brand of football

03:19that will excite the supporters at Ashton Gate and get them out of their feet.

03:23And, well, Jason Knight, after speaking after a recent friendly,

03:28he said that they want to go one better this season,

03:30and that's certainly good for supporters to hear after what I've just mentioned there,

03:34that the fears they had after Liam Manning had left.

03:36Of course, they had the foundations to build on Bristol City,

03:39but losing their head coach in Liam Manning was a big blow for them.

03:43Now, though, things seem a bit more positive.

03:46What they certainly do need, though, is new signings.

03:48They've brought in, of course, Emil Rees-Jacobsson from Preston North End,

03:51a striker who knows the championship well,

03:53played against Bristol City just last season.

03:55They've also brought in Lumley, the goalkeeper who has Premier League experience,

03:59and he's also spoken himself of wanting to play in the Premier League for Bristol City.

04:04So, that's big ambition you've got from the signings coming in so far.

04:08It's just now what Gerhard Struber can enact on the training pitches,

04:12and then what he can enact when Bristol City kick off their season in mid-August.

04:16They probably could do with some new signings, it's fair to say, as well.

04:20I think, as mentioned, the squad last season was average at best for the championship,

04:26and Liam Manning did well to get them where they were,

04:28and they really could use some new additions just to add to the depth,

04:31but also, perhaps more importantly, the quality of the squad as well.

04:34That's not to say they don't have some good players at Bristol City at the moment.

04:38They do, but of course, players like Naki Wells have also left the Robins now,

04:42so they will need replacements.

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