Bristol City

David Pottier
Fan writer

Image source, Rex Features

You often hear the phrase 'progressive English coach' bandied around and in the Championship that could certainly apply to Liam Manning, Will Still and Chris Davies of Norwich, Southampton, and Birmingham, respectively.

It would be true to say that, based on the season so far, none are living up to the expectations of their owners and I would not be surprised if at least one of them is out of a job before Christmas.

The other thing this managerial trio have in common is that in the space of seven days they all suffered defeat against Gerhard Struber's Bristol City.

Gerhard's philosophy when it comes to playing the game is far removed from the patient, possession-based approach preferred by Manning, Still and Davies.

The Austrian's coaching ethos is based upon energy, playing on the front foot and creating chaos in the attacking third of the field.

His team may be short on strikers but only free-scoring Coventry City have found the target more often in the Championship and the Robins are undefeated on the road, which means it should be an intriguing game at the weekend when they play the team immediately below them in the table, Mark Robins' Stoke City.

Struber showed on Saturday that there is more to him than his gung-ho approach as coaching aficionados' might label it.

His squad is decimated by injuries with at least four out who would be first picks and added to the others there is little opportunity for rotation with the demanding schedule of the Championship.

What makes matters worse is that most of the absentees are in midfield where, with his style, an abundance of energy is critical – Jason Knight, Max Bird and Joe Williams, plus the promising Josh Stokes, are all currently out with no firm date for any as regards their future availability.

Defender Zak Vyner is playing out of position alongside Adam Randell so their legs were going to be very tired after two games in five days. A further complication was that main striker Emil Riis' name was added to the injury list having come off after 55 minutes against Norwich on Tuesday.

Step forward the much-maligned Sinclair Armstrong for his first start since March. Not only did he continue to build on the improvement shown in recent substitute appearances but he scored his first goal since last November as he latched on to the impressive Rob Atkinson's pass and raced forward before expertly placing the ball with his right foot beyond James Beadle in the Birmingham goal.

In the second half, Birmingham laid siege to City's goal and this is where Struber showed his mettle as his well-drilled team defended as one, saving their tired legs and doing it in such a way that City keeper Radek Vitek did not have to make a save worthy of the name.

There is still a very long way to go - 34 games, in fact - but older fans who remember the 1975-76 promotion campaign are thinking maybe, just maybe, some 50 years on the club might repeat that feat.

Image source, Shutterstock

Goalkeeper Joe Lumley has returned to Bristol City after his emergency seven-day loan at Sheffield Wednesday.

Wednesday were allowed to sign Lumley, 30, last week after Ethan Horvath's red card at Charlton left them without a senior goalkeeper.

Northern Ireland's Pierce Charles is still recovering from shoulder surgery and Lumley made his Owls debut against his old club Middlesbrough on Wednesday before starting Saturday's clash against Oxford, the south Yorkshire club's first game since going into administration.

The former Reading and Middlesbrough stopper has now gone back to City, where he has made two EFL Cup appearances since his summer move from Southampton.

Wednesday confirmed Lumley's departure on Monday and said in a statement: "Thank you for stepping in Joe and best of luck for the future."

Gerhard Struber praised match-winner Sinclair Armstrong for his goal and for his attitude in training after Bristol City beat Birmingham City.

The Robins manager told BBC Radio Bristol: "Results-wise it's been really, really good but in possession, on this level today, was not what we want.

"We defended really, really well together and in the end it was very, very difficult for Birmingham to use their typical possession game in a direction where they could realise many good chances.

"We were super-sharp in transition from Sinclair Armstrong, in exactly the way we want to go. I was happy with the boys but you could see with all the effort they have invested in the last few games, they are empty!

"I'm very pleased [for Armstrong}. He trained with high investment for the past few months without much game time, and he is growing, stepping in the right direction."

Bristol City manager Gerhard Struber will make a late decision on the fitness of striker Emil Riis for the visit of Birmingham City.

The Dane went off early in the second half during Tuesday's 3-1 win over Southampton and walked straight down the tunnel with the undisclosed injury.

Struber said he was due to have a meeting with Riis and the club doctor on Friday afternoon but would not play him if there was any "risk".

"It is 100 per cent not a bad injury - we have to look if he is ready tomorrow or if the risk could be too high," Struber told BBC Radio Bristol.

Sinclair Armstrong came on for Riis against Saints and made an impact but his goalless streak now stands at 33 matches.

Struber said he has seen improvements from the 22-year-old in his creative play.

"We saw that he make one or another jumps in his personal style and he helps the group," Struber added.

"This is what we want and we will see how everything is working tomorrow [with Riis] but we need consistency in the performance.

"I like it when players are consistent on a really high level and this is something we can see the last two weeks, we have a group of players on a high level and very reliable in the games."

Bristol City head into this game looking to win three league matches in a row for the first time since December 2023.

Birmingham are going for back-to-back away victories, having won 1-0 at Preston on Tuesday evening.

• Bristol City have won just one of their past six league games against Birmingham City (D1 L4), failing to score in four of those matches.

• Birmingham City have won 10 of their past 13 away league games against Bristol City (D1 L2), including five of their previous six (L1).

• Only Coventry (12) have won more home Championship games in 2025 than Bristol City (10).

• After beating Preston 1-0 last time out, Birmingham are looking to win successive away Championship games for the first time since September 2022.

• Only Brandon Thomas-Asante (11) and Oliver McBurnie (9) have more goal involvements in the Championship this season than Bristol City's Anis Mehmeti (8 – 5 goals, 3 assists), recording five in his past five games at Ashton Gate (3 goals, 2 assists).

Bristol City head coach Gerhard Struber said he was "happy" with the energy, press in attack and clinical edge in front of goal from his side as they came from behind to beat Southampton 3-1.

The win was only the Robins' second home victory in the Championship this season and moved them up to fourth in the table.

"We are happy, we dealt with a big opponent, we are on a really good level," Struber told BBC Radio Bristol.

"We struggled a little bit in the first half especially in the first 30 minutes, we were not always on the same page in the way we press. It was really good that we bounced back with Anis Mehmeti, showed them how difficult it is against us.

"The second half we changed the pressing line and waited for the right moment to come in transitions, we killed them today over this phase and I'm very happy with how the boys did it, how smart they dealt with them.

"We spoke with the boys that we should be at home on the same balance like [we are] away and today we had the same energy, the smart pressing and were clean enough to score."

Southampton will look to take their chances when they make the trip to Bristol City for Tuesday's headline act (20:00 BST).

The Saints squandered multiple opportunities in their goalless encounter with Swansea City on Saturday but will want to be more ruthless in front of the net when they face seventh placed Robins.

The hosts ended a four match winless streak last time out to keep themselves within reach of the top six and a victory here could see them back in the play-off places.

• Bristol City have won five of their last six league meetings with Southampton, losing the other 1-0 in November 2023.

• Southampton have lost each of their last four league visits to Bristol City, last avoiding defeat via a 1-0 win in December 1979.

• Bristol City have lost two of their last three home league games (D1), more than their previous 17 beforehand (W12 D4 L1).

• Southampton have earned more points in their last two away league games (4 – W1 D1) than their previous nine beforehand (3 – D3 L6).

• Bristol City are unbeaten in their last nine midweek (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) league games (W4 D5) since going down 0-1 to Watford in November 2024.

David Pottier
Fan writer

Image source, Getty Images

Bristol City secured their first win in five games and, in so doing, increased the pressure on former manager Liam Manning who has steered the Canaries to their worst start to a season in terms of home fixtures in more than 120 years.

Manning will be remembered for securing a play-off place for City last season but many fans were not overly upset when he jumped ship to join a club whose owners have deeper pockets than the Lansdown family when it comes to improving the team.

Why did supporters feel this way? Well, save for the last four months of the season when City's home form was very good, the type of football served up by Manning was not geared to getting the fans up and out of their seats through excitement.

Judging by the gloomy faces on the Norwich fans when the cameras panned to the crowd they are seeing the worst of Manningball.

Although City's keeper Radek Vitek had to produce a few smart saves, they pretty much controlled the whole game and deserved to win by more than a well-taken goal by Mark Sykes who is one of the many players out of contract next summer.

Another of those is Zak Vyner who, if reports are to be believed, was subject of a £3m bid from Wrexham in the transfer window.

The club turned that down and you can be sure that come January any hope of getting a similar sum will have evaporated.

Vyner is playing in an unfamiliar midfield role because of City's injury crisis and was a contender for man of the match.

Barring injury, he will move on in the summer for very good personal terms having not reacted to City's contract offer, a fact confirmed by technical director Brian Tinnion at the club's fans' forum last week.

Goalkeeper Max O'Leary returned to the squad for the first time since May having recovered from his ankle injury.

He will find it difficult to replace the impressive Vitek and it will be interesting to see if he, or summer signing Joe Lumley, are loaned out in the January window.

That would only happen on the basis that Manchester United do not exercise the recall option on their young keeper.

City are doing alright so far and if, by the turn of the year they are in or within two or three points of the play-offs then it will be an interesting second half to the season as the injured players return.

None of those absent are in forward positions, so expect City to delve into the transfer market in that area of the field.

That's based on Tinnion's admission at the forum that their hopes for the acclimatisation to Championship football and development of Fally Mayulu and Sinclair Armstrong has so far not materialised.

Marc Webber, BBC Final Score reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Bristol City's Austrian boss Gerhard Struber may be humming the tune of the nuns of Nonnberg Abbey in the next few weeks as he faces a selection dilemma.

For instead of singing 'How do you solve a problem like Maria?' like his compatriots, it would be 'How do you solve a problem like a keeper?'

The man with the number one shirt, Max O'Leary, looks ready to return after three months out with an ankle injury.

He was imperious in their run to the play-offs last season and played in an under-21s game before the international break as part of his rehab.

However, stand-in Radek Vitek has impressed both manager and fans alike, and it is hard to see how he could be replaced.

The Manchester United loanee earned his corn again at Carrow Road on Saturday, with two sharp reaction saves, leading boss Struber to say how he is very impressed with how good Vitek is.

The irony that the Red Devils - with all their recent goalkeeper woes - have loaned out a seemingly strong stopper is not lost on some Bristol City fans, who are already worrying about his parent club calling him back.

Image source, PA Media

Bristol City boss Gerhard Struber urged his side to transfer their impressive away from to home matches following a 1-0 victory at Norwich City.

The Robins moved into the top six after Mark Sykes' goal gave them victory over former boss Liam Manning's team at Carrow Road.

They are unbeaten in five games on the road - but the victory followed a run of only one point from their last three at home.

"The effort and how much the boys invested was on a very high level," Struber told BBC Radio Bristol.

"Every single player was so focused and concentrated in his own task and how we went as a team was brilliant.

"The boys left everything on the field - the belief was we would score a goal and the determination was at an outstanding level and I felt it was only a matter of time (before we scored.

"We now have to bring our away power to our home games, this is something that should be the next step."

The Robins return to Ashton Gate on Tuesday when they will take on Southampton.

Image source, Rex Features

Bristol City have recalled midfielder Jed Meerholz from his loan spell at Aldershot Town.

The 19-year-old made 14 appearances in all competitions, scoring once, and starting 11 National League games, utilised in the heart of the Shots defence.

Robins boss Gerhard Struber is dealing with a central midfield crisis ahead of Saturday's trip to Norwich with skipper Jason Knight, Max Bird and Joe Williams all unavailable.

Williams, 28, is set to be out until the New Year with an ankle injury sustained in the Championship play-off semi-final against Sheffield United in May, though Knight (groin) and Bird (calf) should be back sooner.

"With Knighty I would say the healing we saw on the scan is looking good but we must be patient with him and he will be out for six to eight weeks," Struber told BBC Radio Bristol.

"With Birdy it could be a quick comeback and we hope within the next few weeks he will be back but we have to be patient here as it's the second time he's had something in his calf."

Image source, Opta

The international break is finally over and Norwich City will look to get back on track when they welcome Liam Manning's former team Bristol City to Carrow Road on Saturday (15:00 BST).

The Canaries have lost all five home games in all competitions since Manning's arrival and went down 3-1 in the East Anglian Derby at Ipswich last time out to sit 19th, two points above the drop zone and with just one point from their past four league games.

Gerhard Struber's Robins are five points better off in 10th but also went into the break off the back of a defeat, going down 2-1 at home to QPR, and have taken just two points from their past four matches.

• Norwich City lost home (0-2) and away (1-2) to Bristol City in the Championship last season, after only losing one of their previous 14 league encounters before then (W9 D4).

• Bristol City could record successive away wins in the league at Norwich City for only the second time, previously doing so in February 2009.

• Since the start of April, only Sheffield United (12) have lost more Championship league games than Norwich City (9) and only Sheffield Wednesday (29) have shipped more goals than the Canaries (28).

• Bristol City are one of three sides unbeaten away from home in the Championship this season (W2 D2), along with Coventry and Millwall. The Robins' last away defeat came under current Norwich manager Liam Manning, losing 4-0 at champions Leeds in April.

• Josh Sargent scored in each of his first four Championship games this season, netting five goals. Since then, he's failed to score in five appearances in a row, last going more without a goal between February and April 2023 (7 games).

Image source, Rex Features

Bristol City technical director Brian Tinnion has revealed the club have offered new contracts to Anis Mehmeti and Zak Vyner.

Defender Vyner, 28, is closing on 250 City appearances since joining from Aberdeen in 2020 while former Wycombe winger Mehmeti, 24, has scored 21 goals in 116 appearances since arriving in 2022 and was their top-scorer last season.

At a Fan's Forum at Ashton Gate on Wednesday, Robins legend Tinnion joined CEO Tom Rawcliffe, head coach Gerhard Struber and defender Rob Dickie to take questions from supporters, many of whom were concerned about the possibility of the squad being broken up as contracts expire and with financial restrictions on incomings.

After it was revealed vice-captain Dickie had signed a two-year extension to stay at Ashton Gate until 2028, Tinnion added: "I think it's really important if we can't invest, that we keep the squad together.

"We have secured Rob, we have offered Zak Vyner a new contract, Anis Mehmeti has been offered a new contract and we've been in talks last week about extending a few who have two years left.

"We are looking to keep this squad together because it's a really good group of players. If we can't invest we have to try and keep what we have got until we can sell them on to reinvest."

Rawcliffe also revealed the club had enquired about signing Manchester United keeper Radek Vitek on a permanent deal when they signed him on a season-long loan in July.

Rawcliffe said: "He signed a new contract there in the summer. They have a right to recall him, we hope that isn't the case but that clause is in there.

"We asked about taking him permanently but were very quickly rebuffed. He's settled in really well, for a 21-year-old keeper we're really pleased."

Tinnion also admitted the club's strikers "have got to start firing" before the January transfer window, otherwise City might need to look at making moves.

Emil Riis has scored four goals in his first nine appearances since signing from Preston but no other forward has scored this season.

Sinclair Armstrong has found the net just three times in 48 appearances since joining on a four-year deal, while fellow 2024 recruit Fally Mayulu has been out of the first-team picture for long spells.

"We chose to keep Sinclair Armstrong [last January] and he's working very hard but if it doesn't work, if Gerhard decides (players) aren't going to make the impact we want, then we'll look at it again in January," Tinnion said.

"The Championship is a really tough division to get game time to develop players."

Struber also told fans some academy players were "knocking on the door" of the first team including under-18s forward Leo Pecover, who has been training with the squad.

Image source, Rex Features

Bristol City midfielder Joe Williams will not return to first-team action until the new year, says boss Gerhard Struber.

The 28-year-old has not featured for the Robins since injuring an ankle in the first leg of their Championship play-off semi-final against Sheffield United in May.

"Joe Williams is a long-term project and i don't think we will see him on the field this year," Struber told BBC Radio Bristol.

City are also still missing the injured midfield duo of captain Jason Knight (groin) and Max Bird (calf) with Struber only slightly more optimistic on their prospects.

"With Knighty I would say the healing we saw on the scan is looking good but we must be patient with him and he will be out for six to eight weeks," he added.

"With Birdy it could be a quick comeback and we hope within the next few weeks he will be back but we have to be patient here as it's the second time he's had something in his calf."

The head coach has confirmed goalkeeper Max O'Leary will be in the squad to travel to Norwich for Saturday's Championship match (15:00 BST) having been out since July following ankle surgery.