Bristol City must address identity question if club is to recruit well for next season

Bristol City have a big question to address in the transfer market this summer. As pointed out by their own manager.

What does the club want to do and how are they going to do it?

“We’ve made really good progress on some areas and we’ve unfortunately been back pedalling in other areas and I think the club is still, not talking about the team now, I’m talking about the club, the club is still struggling to find the identity that it really wants,” explained Nigel Pearson in February ahead of facing Middlesbrough.

Recruitment remains at the heart of every successful football club, and Pearson has asked for three years to get things right and lift City into the promotion picture.

Progress so far has been slim to non-existent from last season’s 19th place finish, but when you’re putting the foundations into place, it can take time to get things right and improve results.

“Our aim is still to get there [the Premier League]. It might take longer than we’d hoped but what’s really important at the moment is we get the foundations right, because the foundations haven’t been right,” Pearson has said previously.

The Robins must improve their defence and midfield this summer as Pearson’s side are too easy to play through, weak in the challenge and conceding goals at an average of two a game.

The attack is functioning fine and at least one area that doesn’t need to be tinkered with, though will any replacements be needed?

The club’s work in the transfer market this coming summer will be of paramount importance, both incoming and outgoing.

BristolWorld understands that several rival Championship sides are already well down the line on their summer plans already, in terms of positions and even specific players they wish to recruit.

Hopefully Bristol City are one of those sides, as the West Country side cannot afford to miss out on prime transfer targets to rival clubs this coming window.

Last summer’s recruitment saw a mix of EFL talent and seasoned pros brought in, the latter being players Pearson had worked with previously and trusted. The success of those transfers some eight months on are mixed. In some cases, that’s very generous.

It will sure be an interesting watch as to which direction things go this coming summer.

As reported recently, there is to be no head of recruitment or sports director to arrive ahead of the next transfer window, though the manager did explain recently to BristolWorld that the plan is to ‘tweak’ things regarding recruitment for this summer.

“My aim is not to develop players, my aim is to help them develop themselves in a structured way,” said Pearson ahead of the win over Middlesbrough too, in one possible suggestion of the direction he would like to travel.

“You know, we’re not the academy, once you get into the first team, the environment, the, if you like the ground rules changed somewhat, and the players are aware of that,” he explained.

In an ideal world, no doubt Pearson would like the tried-and-tested, as any manager would. But will he be handed such Championship oven-ready players this summer? And can the club do that even if they wanted to, with the difficult task of making ends meet hanging overhead as well?

Mixed in with all that, what of the City players’ ambitions too?

According to our sources, one of the club’s top players aims to depart this summer for a club higher up the football pyramid, if his valuation is met. That scenario must be factored in to the thinking and planned for.

And so the Robins must get their act right behind the scenes. The pressure is on. Another year like this one will not be tolerated by many supporters and City could drop into a relegation battle, if other sides behind them progress or they slip up further themselves.

Especially if Bristol City sell or lose key players, which the club may well need to.

So it does not help that BristolWorld has heard external suggestions from several of the biggest player agencies that City still do not know which way they wish to go forward in the coming months.

To be fair to the Ashton Gate-based side, Bristol City prefer to talk club-to-club via the Transfer Room network and cut out the middle man. And by and large, the club got just who they wanted last summer.

Regarding the deal-making, Nigel Pearson has explained previously that he won’t speak to agents. The networking and go-between is left to CEO Richard Gould, while head of technical recruitment Sean Gilhespy still has a very important role to play in helping to find Pearson his transfer targets.

Every transfer ultimately requires sign-off from the owning Lansdown family.

Mistakes cannot be made and the game beyond the grass must be won, if City are to reach their aspirations. One example relayed to us: a top defender was offered to the Robins in the January transfer window, on a loan from his parent Premier League club.

City do not have any interest in loans and there was no interest in the player, but Bristol City were said to be unaware of the player, because he was young with few first-team appearances.

That shortfall in knowledge will be exploited by other sides, if true. Likewise, a top EFL talent has been offered to the club for this summer, in building a market, but Bristol City have yet to respond. Why is that?

We would suggest that the Robins must come up with a 7/10 window this summer, or have a nervous look over their shoulder next season.

At least, Bristol City’s younger players - if all retained - should develop and be even better for 2022/23, with Alex Scott, Cam Pring, Antoine Semenyo, Ayman Benarous, Sam Bell and Tommy Conway all expected to develop further.

And there may be fresh talents from the academy pushing for senior inclusion, possibly midfielder Olly Thomas, defender Duncan Idehen or incoming youth recruit Ben Acey.

As the manager himself has explained, some delicate footwork will be needed regarding senior recruitment in the coming months, much like an Alex Scott glide across midfield.

The high-earners may need moving on and that is easier said than done. Players with just a year to go on their deals are unlikely to attract fees, so the Robins may have to agree to free transfers or pay off anyone they don’t wish to retain.

Will that be palatable given that the Robins may need to make a profit this summer? What if those players sit out the last year of their deals? The questions are many.

“We’ve got to be very, very mindful of what our future looks like in terms of the progression, the steps that we take to make sure that we can be a successful team and a successful club because that’s what we want to be,” said Pearson recently.

Regarding this coming summer transfer window, the heat is on.