Football Gould: We’ll be looking to strengthen the squad in January
BRISTOL City CEO Richard Gould has revealed the Robins’ decline in results over the last five weeks has caused the club to reassess their transfer strategy for January.
City have lost five of their last six games and from a position of optimism in the Championship in September have fallen to 19th in the table, with concerns re-emerging about the potential for another winter of relegation-related discontent, similar to last term.
That’s also against the backdrop of uncertainty around Nigel Pearson’s short and long-term future at the club, which Gould has indicated is also related to the firstteam’s decline in results.
City have eight games between now and January 1, starting with the visit of Blackburn Rovers and culminating with QPR at Ashton Gate on December 30; three of their first five games in that period are against sides around them in the table - Sheffield United (18th), Hull City (22nd) and Derby County (24th).
Pearson added four new players in the summer - Matty James, Andy King, George Tanner and Rob Atkinson - but did also request a striker in June only to be left frustrated by the options on offer.
The manager has maintained his wish to work with a smaller squad, and 20 players have started matches this season, with a further four used as substitutes so far, but there are also clear gaps and concerns regarding squad resources.
In particular in attack where Chris Martin and Andi Weimann have started all 17 Championship fixtures. Although they have been productive, with 12 goals and five assists between them, it’s surely not a sustainable situation given both are in their 30s.
James’ recent absence and the increased vulnerability in City’s defence has also potentially heightened the need for an aggressive ball-winning midfielder who can provide a suitable shield in front of the back four.
Callum O’Dowda is also the only orthodox winger in the first-team squad, although Antoine Semenyo is nearing a return, potentially by early December.
Pearson has maintained a message of realism in trying to manage expectations around what may or may not happen in the new year but City’s form throughout October and November is concern enough for the Robins board that action is likely to be taken.
“We always want to bring in players that are better than the players we already have here, and we have some very good players,” Gould told the Bristol Post this
week. “We’ve played down expectation because January tends not to be the ‘best’ window to operate within, and also because results have been relatively promising. But the last five or six games we’ve seen a reversal of that.
“We have to deal with the facts in front of us, not how we would wish them to be, and the facts in front of us are, we are lower down the table than we would expect to be and therefore we will be looking to strengthen the squad if that opportunity arises.
“We have to be realists in terms of where we are and the league table tells us where we are, and it’s not where we want to be. We therefore will always be seeking to add strength.”
Of the four players City brought in the summer, James and King were free transfers, while Atkinson and Tanner were signed at a combined cost of around £1.9 million.
A modest figure, but that was true of nearly every Championship side last summer as only 37 of 126 deals across the division were completed involving a figure and eight of the 24 teams didn’t spend anything on transfer fees.
City’s accounts are due to be published before the end of the year and will no doubt show considerable losses but Gould is confident resources will be there to strengthen, if the situation requires it, albeit in a transfer market that is unlikely to deliver much movement. Tellingly, the CEO also referenced Atkinson and Tanner as the “types” of signings the club will be focused on. Atkinson was signed from League One Oxford United after just one full season in the third tier, while Tanner arrived after impressing for Carlisle United in League Two.
Both were affordable, in their early 20s and with a considerable ceiling for which a coach - in this case Pearson - can raise them to, delivering strong performances for the Robins over time and boosting potential resale value.
The latter is an important part of the Lansdown model for the club as one of the other impacts of Covid has been City’s inability to sell anyone for a significant fee, with Josh Brownhill the last in 2020 for about £9 million.
Plans to move Niclas Eliasson and Famara Diedhiou that following summer, as they entered the final 12 months of their contracts, were curtailed by Covid, with the
Swede eventually sold for just £2.1m and the Senegalese departing on a free.
“Without the investment of the owner we would not be able to support, sustainably, the salary levels that we have and the support that comes in is very, very significant,” added Gould.
“Now, things are changing because we have crowds back in, so that is a positive. We also have in the past relied on the transfer market to raise revenue, to help the clubs bring in more players and help cover salaries.
“At the moment, I see no reactivation of the transfer market in the way it was before Covid and I think the transfer market will be very slow to return in terms of transfer fees outside the top divisions across Europe.
“So that is a factor for us but that doesn’t stop us from recruiting, and I can’t think of too many other clubs in the Championship who paid fees for players, in Rob Atkinson and George Tanner. That is the kind of recruitment we are likely to continue because those players offer short to medium-term upsides but also long-term upsides; they’re young players, very talented, still learning their game but will go on to provide great service for us.”
We are lower down the table than we would expect to be and therefore we will be looking to strengthen the squad if that opportunity arises