BRISTOL CITY BLOG: This is no time to be pressing the panic button at Ashton Gate With the new season now just days, rather than weeks, away and the pre-season tour to Portugal complete, Bristol City fans are increasingly starting to turn their eyes towards August 8th and our first day back in the second-tier of English football, after a brief but unwelcome stay in League One. After such an amazingly successful season last time out, it's natural that supporters will look at the huge differences between last summer's transfer dealings and this and start to question the lack of activity, or get concerned about how well prepared we'll be when the season starts. After all, weren't we told by boss Steve Cotterill that signing almost all of our squad up by the time we left for Botswana was so key for the squad's spirit and camaraderie? Weren't the senior figures at the club congratulating each other publicly at being so efficient at naming targets and getting them so quickly? Well yes, they were, but that doesn't mean this season will be a disaster just because the same recipe hasn't been followed. There was an increasing feeling of doom and gloom amongst large swathes of the fan base before the much-heralded signing of Jonathan Kodjia, and that will probably return if no further major additions are made before we travel to South Yorkshire. With Greg Cunningham leaving for Preston, City look desperately short of cover in a number of positions. Would Cotterill and Burt have liked more signings, earlier? Of course they would, but equally pressing the panic button right now is not going to help anyone and I would rather we spend more time getting two or three players we really know we want, rather than rushing and getting in five or six that we think we want. What needs to be remembered is as a League one club we were one of the big fish – arguably only Sheffield United please log in to view this image would have been a more attractive proposition than The Robins. The fact we signed a number of top, young league one players meant we were probably the biggest club to show an interest in that player at that point, and had the finances to back up the words to encourage early signatures. This time around the level of target is naturally much higher and the amount of competition we face much tougher. Rumours have seen us linked with players who have signed (or re-signed) for Premier League clubs in the case of Harry Maguire and Mark Bunn, and we can't compete with that. Numerous other enquiries have undoubtedly been made, but whereas for the likes of Korey Smith and Luke Freeman, swapping Oldham and Stevenage respectively for City was a no-brainer, the types of players we're now after have more options available and will bide their time – happy to wait until August 31st to get the deal they want. Secondly, Cotterill and Keith Burt had meticulously planned that six or seven of last summer's signings would be required to walk straight into the first-team and need to perform from day one. They had a clear vision of who they wanted and how they wanted them to play, and of a system which, being new to many of those players, would need a few weeks of bedding in. This time around, many of last year's successful side are rightly going to be given the first shot at staking a place in a successful Championship team and any new purchases this time around (with the exception of Kodjia) are more likely to be squad players initially. Although they may well materialise into first-team regulars, something which has to be the point of any new signing, they should have chance to mould with the squad, the system and the manager before needing to get their hands too dirty. Finally, with the players we are looking to sign being of a higher calibre, the financial commitment has increased. Transfer fees will be significantly higher, as will the signing on fees, which means agents cuts also go up, whilst the ongoing (higher) weekly wage in a three or four year contract is a commitment required to make the signings we want. If this was any other business no-one would be questioning the senior management team for spending more time over the decision on an asset investment of circa £3-5m as opposed to perhaps £1m a year ago. Equally, that sort of commitment makes it more economically viable to consider one or two season-long loans from Premier League clubs, and they rarely happen before the dust settles on the bigger transfer market and the big clubs know where there squad is come transfer deadline day. Perhaps that's not the ideal route, and we have suggested it's not an area we're that interested in, but we showed with Steven Caulker last time around how effective it can be as a policy and is an option we would be naïve to dismiss out of hand. Yes, the squad is smaller than anyone would like and more signings are inevitable. Cotterill and Burt's track record is hugely successful to date, and there is time yet before the transfer window closes (or "slams shut" in Sky Sports language) to give them more time and space to get it right. You can visit The Exiled Robin's website at http://exiledrobin.blogspot.co.uk/
No panic just yet,however get a injury or two and we will be up the creek without any paddles. The squad needs quality,not quantity,however we must trust our leader on last seasons showing.
Some very fair, well made and valid points in the post. That said it is the manager and the boards job to overcome these issues.
Although I appreciate that we want to swim with the big fish it would appear to me that our research and development pond has only a supply of tiddlers. By that I mean that the funds we have readily available to stock the new pond always seems to be at a lower level than most of the challengers we will face for the title of "fish of the year". Does our transfer limitations on the money front limit our chance of success or increase our chance of failure? I regularly wince at the tales of big money transfers who fall flat on their backsides in England and go whimpering back to mummy, or to some other club, where they will start their discontentment all over again because the manager didn't like them or use them in the way they wanted. Angel Di Maria is one of the latest to miss the mark, and although we are not, and probably never will be, big spenders (substitute fools if you want) I think I am happier to accept our lower lot in life if it means we stay viable as a football club and not have to endure the slings and arrows of transfer embargoes and possible administration caused by paying too much for players that will never respect the shirt. Two million pounds is loose change for a lot of our challengers and perhaps they are in a much better position to absorb the fact that the player might be a total waste of time and money, but for Bristol City the outlay of money and the required ROI are considerably more critical for the balance book. The future looks bright from my perspective and I look forward to seeing what ingredients are added to the mix in the coming days of August. Bring it on lads.
I've panicked enough for the past few weeks, and while this post raises some good points, we are still a weaker squad than we were last season. There's no hiding that fact. We still need at least two signings to put us on par with the squad we had last season. Ideally, we need four signings to replace each area we're now missing backups for. What worries me even more is that other Championship clubs are already exhausting the loan market. I reckon we would've been an attractive prospect to a lot of young players as they'd be more likely to get a game from us than anywhere else.
