Derek McInnes' Bristol City signings - here's what became of them Here's what happened to the players the Scot brought to Ashton Gate Former Bristol City manager Derek McInnes rejected the chance to leave Aberdeen to join Rangers this week, bringing an end to a long-running saga. The Scot's future was of interest to Robins supporters who remember his time at Bristol City between October 2011 and January 2013. He struggled in his 15-month spell at Ashton Gate before finding success with the Dons in the SPL. McInnes made a total of 20 signings during his time in charge of the Robins - some of who were hits and more who were misses. Jordan Wilkins looks back at his arrivals and where are they are now. please log in to view this image Former Bristol City Manager, Derek McInnes Stephen Pearson Centre-midfielder Pearson was McInnes' first signing, coming in from Derby on loan in November 2011. He began his City career well, with a goal on his debut, and joined the club on a permanent basis in January 2012 after having his Rams contract annulled. From there he struggled and only made 36 appearances across three years at the club, before being released. Since then he has traversed between the Indian Premier League and the SPL. He played for Motherwell earlier this year but is now a free agent. At 35, it's possible his playing career is reaching a conclusion. please log in to view this image Stephen Pearson Richard Foster McInnes went back to Scotland to sign right-back Richard Foster, landing him from Aberdeen in January 2012 for an estimated £250k. Foster would make 47 appearances between January 2012 and July 2013 before being released. He joined Rangers a month later, before heading to Ross County and his current club St Johnstone. He has become a regular in the SPL and at age 32 still has some significant football ahead of him. Chris Wood At the time he signed on-loan in January 2012, Chris Wood was not well known in English football. He played 19 times from January until the end of the season, scoring three times. He didn’t shine whilst at City, but since then his career has progressed upwards. He went on to join Leicester and Leeds before this summer earning a move into the Premier League with Burnley. Wood has netted four times in eleven appearances for the Clarets. please log in to view this image Chris Wood Stephen McManus Yet another early signing from Scotland was centre-back Stephen McManus. He joined on-loan from Middlesbrough in February 2012 until the end of the season, but only made six appearances for the Robins. Despite not playing much he impressed McManus, who rejoined City on loan the following season. He made eleven appearances before returning to Boro in January 2013. At the end of that season, he moved to SPL side Motherwell, playing for four years at the club before announcing his retirement this summer. He has taken up a coaching role with the club. Sean Davis Davis is one of the forgotten signings of the McInnes era, with the midfielder only playing three games for City in a one-month loan spell. He returned to parent club Bolton Wanderers but has since faded out of the professional game. Andre Bikey Bikey was out of favour at Burnley before joining City in March 2012. He played regularly as City finished the season strongly and avoided relegation to League One. He was released by Burnley at the end of that season, before bouncing around the football league. The 32-year-old defender now plays for Jamshedpur FC in the Indian Super League. Hogan Ephraim Winger Ephraim was another short-term loan that McInnes brought in to help City with their push to remain in the Championship. He only played five times for the club, the most important contribution being scoring in City’s 1-1 draw with Middlesbrough on his debut. Since then he has slid down the football league, and last played for National League South side Whitehawk last season. please log in to view this image Hogan Ephraim in action for QPR in 2008 Dekel Keinan Central defender Keinan was the last of the short-term loans McInnes brought in. Much like the others, he struggled to make an impact for City, playing only once for the Robins. After City, he returned to Israel and has played for Maccabi Haifa ever since. He is set to move to Cincinnati FC for the 2018 season. Jody Morris Morris joined City in June from 2012, reuniting him with McInnes after their time together at St Johnstone. Morris failed to impress, however, only making four appearances and was released by the club in January 2013. He has returned to Chelsea and has been managing their academy teams since 2014. Greg Cunningham Cunningham signed for City in the summer of 2012, with the left-back becoming a regular starter in his three years at the club. He is the first of McInnes signings who was a regular contributor to the team. He left City in 2015 and has since cemented the left-back role at Championship rivals Preston North End. please log in to view this image Greg Cunningham. Paul Anderson Anderson signed from rivals Nottingham Forest in the summer of 2012 and was a regular in the team throughout that season. The winger failed to significantly impress and at the end of the season moved to Ipswich Town He now plays for League Two Mansfield Town. Mark Wilson Wilson was another Scottish player brought in under McInnes, who struggled to make any impact for City. Joining as a trialist, he was signed by the club but only made eight appearances in his only season in Bristol. He was released at the end of the season, returning to Scotland before retiring in 2015. He has since moved into coaching, but is currently without a club. Tom Heaton One of the few McInnes' successful deals was keeper Tom Heaton. He signed for free after being out of contract with Cardiff City. He went to be one of the more impressive City players in the 2012-13 season but rejected the chance to stay and joined Burnley. Since then he has become a Premier League regular for the Clarets and has flirted with the England national side. please log in to view this image Tom Heaton played for Bristol City during the 2012/13 season in the Championship Steve Davies Striker Davies joined City for £750 000 from Derby County and went on to score 13 times in 37 appearances during the 2012-13 season. At seasons end, he joined Blackpool and currently plies his trade for League One club Rochdale. Sam Baldock Arguably McInnes best City signing, Baldock immediately made an impact at Ashton Gate. In two impressive seasons he scored 34 goals. At the end of his second season, he signed for Championship club Brighton & Hove Albion for a reported £2million. He has been a regular for the Seagulls but has struggled for minutes after their promotion to the Premier League. http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/derek-mcinnes-bristol-city-signings-906438
Totally agree - and most of the other were "experienced" guys on their way down Not great journalism really because they are implying that it was not good
Bit early to judge Djuric , I think we will be more able to judge once he's had his operation and had a run of games. He does win a high percentage of high balls , but for me isn't mobile enough and doesn't score enough.
one of SL'S hard earned lessons! trying to do things to fast, when he had said... " need to build a base" it became a struggle that we lost ... without dwelling on last season, we now have done it in a logical and stable way, .......... to be honest, if we lost 10 of our next 20 games I would be happy ! mind you would like to win 7 of them! just back from the NW, storm Caroline was not that bad, first day on the mountain, managed to stay on feet in 40- 60mph winds gusts stronger! torrential periods of rain ( 5 mins at a time) with horizontal bullets of granular snow as an aside! Temp varied between -3 and +4 c day 2 4" granular snow, temp -4 to +2 c horizontally driven by 20-30mph winds day 3 4" of real snow flakes in 6 hours, a white out again short periods of horizontal temp -5 to -2 c day 5 it was very short a minute of ice crystals blown in the wind 10-15 mph -6 to -15c ON DAY 5 I walked on the top of 10" of frozen snow ! without breaking the surface! A fantastic experience, this am caught up on the football ...well done Flinty AND CITY
A bit early - the guy has had near as damn 12 months and spent most of that injured. I thought Wood was very ordinary for us, but he has certainly gone on and proved himself since then, so I would have to agree with the comment of taking Wood over Durjic right now.
we seem to burn out through injury our strike force ! the list goes back quite a long way in recent times, even Tammy had a spell. This week we are able to showcase ASHTON GATE, with Man Utd our guests we could impress enough to get the odd loan of a potentially quality player!!!! I am not condoning the wholesale use of loans but the odd one or 2 is always a benefit and Man UTD do have a few in the back pocket.
