Bristol Live picks out the stand-out talking points after Bristol City cut the gap to the top six with a much-needed win over Sheffield Wednesday
With his wife waiting to kickstart his 49th birthday celebrations, Gerhard Struber wrapped up his press conference after Bristol City’s win over Sheffield Wednesday with a smile, having checked his watch to realise that he was likely already running late.
For an evening at least, the head coach, who had cut a frustrated figure when fielding questions from the media on three separate occasions over the course of the week prior, was able to sit back and relax slightly having celebrated his birthday with a much-needed three points.
As was the case when the Robins got the better of the Owls at Hillsborough four months prior, there were no bombastic celebrations. Instead, having led his boys to a first win in four league games, the Austrian walked around the Reds’ house – as he puts it – applauding the home support whilst occasionally shaking a fist.
Against the division’s bottom side, it had been far from easy. With a tense feeling lingering inside BS3, City made their way back down the tunnel at the end of the first half to a splattering of boos, with Scott Twine coming the closest to an opener, having been denied from close range by an excellent stop from Murphy Cooper.
The opening exchanges of the second half followed a similar pattern, as the Robins applied pressure without ever really testing the Wednesday stopper. Then, just as talk began of how like Bristol City it would be to hand the Owls their first win since September, Twine cut the atmosphere with his eighth goal of the campaign.
Stationed at the back post, the 26-year-old met Ross McCrorie’s left-footed cross with his head to nod across goal and into the back of the net. Headed goals from Twine are a collector’s item, and in all honesty, this one couldn’t have come at a better time.
From that point on, it felt as though those on the field and in the home stands relaxed slightly. Fears of an upset and the scenes that could follow eased, and with 12 minutes to play, the result was put beyond doubt when Sam Bell turned home his first goal in red and white since February 2024 after a smart Sinclair Armstrong run.
Was it the Robins’ best performance or result of the campaign? No, but in a weird way, it felt like one of their most important.
Naturally, attention will now quickly turn back to the transfer window and next weekend’s clash with Derby County. Before it does, however, here are the stand-out talking points from City’s 2-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday.
Bristol City meet Gerhard Struber’s must-win challenge head-on
Typically, head coaches tend to play down the importance of games during pre-match interviews and press conferences.
Whether it be in order to manage expectations or to present as a source of calmness, most managers tend to present a relaxed and measured front in order to seem at ease with what the future holds.
Quickly, it feels as though it has become apparent that, in many ways, Gerhard Struber is not your typical head coach. The Bristol City boss isn’t one to hide behind cliches or white lies when in front of the camera, instead opting to wear his heart on his sleeve.
That was clear in the way in which he discussed the transfer window earlier this week – something we will touch on more later – but also in the manner he previewed Saturday’s visit of Sheffield Wednesday. There was no talk of the clash with the Owls being just another game; instead, Struber branded it a match that his side had to win.
The Austrian’s honest and open description couldn’t have been more accurate in the eyes of supporters.
After back-to-back poor results and performances against Ipswich Town and Oxford United, the departure of Anis Mehmeti and the exits of a handful of other players, Struber, his players, and – perhaps most importantly – the fans needed a lift, no matter how it came about or who it came against.
While they weren’t at their best, the Robins found a way to beat Wednesday. Even if only for a matter of hours, the feeling around Ashton Gate shifted, with supporters having something to cheer about at the end of a week that had left many with a sense of irritation.
Everyone present in BS3 and watching at home had a small glimpse at what a bad result could have brought to the ground on Saturday. Limited chants of ‘Sack the board’ and other songs directed to members of the Reds’ hierarchy were just beginning to become audible from in and around Section 82 in the moments that preceded Scott Twine’s opener.
With the result against the Owls – even if not perhaps with their performance – Struber’s side were able to put a lid on such a feeling before it truly bubbled over.
How long will that lid contain that sort of emotion? Only time will tell, but the fire lit under those unhappy fans will only be restricted for so long whilst the ‘issues’ – as they are labelled in their eyes – remain unsolved.
For now, though, that result has done enough to calm things down. South Bristol will be a happier place in the immediate future than it would have been had the Reds lost the game that they had to win.
Sam Bell steps up to grab opportunity after Anis Mehmeti exit
Understandably, so much of the talk in Bristol City circles leading into Sheffield Wednesday’s trip to Ashton Gate surrounded a player who was no longer in contention to feature against Henrik Pedersen’s side: Anis Mehmeti.
Away from the optics of such a departure – which again, is something we are getting to – the absence of the 25-year-old left a very obvious hole in Gerhard Struber’s side. I don’t mean a metaphorical hole, but a physical one, given the fact that the Albanian international had started every league game the Reds had played this term, prior to Saturday’s contest.
While the sale of Mehmeti is a blow for City as a whole, such an exit presented an opportunity for other members of Struber’s squad to take the Ipswich Town man’s place.
It may have been George Earthy who started in such a role, but this weekend, it was Sam Bell who staked his claim to step into that position, in the absence of an incoming replacement.
In the space of a 25-minute cameo, the 23-year-old was perhaps the Robins’ most dangerous forward player as he consistently ran beyond the Wednesday backline, brought his teammates into the game, and scored his first goal in red and white for nearly two years.
The Bell that took to the field against the Owls didn’t look like the same player who left for Wycombe Wanderers on loan nearly five months ago. This was a confident, energised forward who looked ready to make his mark again at Championship level.
Is he the long-term solution to filling the Mehmeti-shaped void in Struber’s roster? I, like the majority of City supporters, would say no, but that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t have a part to play both until such a replacement is found and beyond.
Of course, one swallow does not make a summer and, in turn, one goal does not make a world-beater.
What Bell did do, that not too many others did in the absence of their former star attacker on Saturday afternoon, was grasp the opportunity the last week’s transfer activity presented to those who remained in BS3, and for that, he deserves credit.
Sheffield Wednesday win doesn’t change Bristol City’s transfer need
Now, onto the elephant in the room. If we park matters on the field and focus on the transfer window, the last few days have been a testing spell for Bristol City supporters.
The week began with confirmation of Yu Hirakawa’s loan move to Hull City and the news that the striker who had been “close” to joining the Reds just days prior was now unlikely to make the switch to BS3. Shortly after, it was announced that Haydon Roberts and Max O’Leary had left the club permanently – moves which were met with apathy from most.
Then, Friday brought with it the kicker: confirmation of Anis Mehmeti’s exit.
Such an announcement came just hours after Struber had told the media stationed at the High Performance Centre that he was unable to make promises about incomings between now and the end of the window.
Bundle together the combination outlined above, and you create a cocktail that could only be dubbed: fan frustration.
As mentioned, such a feeling could be felt in and around Ashton Gate on Saturday afternoon. Conversation on the concourse, on the airwaves, and inside the press room almost entirely surrounded matters in the market, rather than what was about to unfold on the pitch, and some – and I must emphasise, only some – fans made their feelings known during the game.
While three points against the Championship’s bottom side may have put the aforementioned lid on the emotion and Sam Bell’s bright showing may have calmed supporters temporarily, neither has changed what needs to happen over the course of the next eight days.
City need reinforcements and quality reinforcements at that. One look at the squad deployed by Struber against Wednesday shows that while the Robins still have very good players at their disposal, they’re down to their bare bones – even with Joe Williams and Max Bird still to return.
A striker has been a priority since the final knockings of the summer, and that won’t have changed now that the Reds have scored for the first time in four league matches – just as it didn’t when Emil Riis scored a hat-trick against Watford. Struber also wants a Mehmeti replacement, and that won’t have shifted just because George Earthy and Bell were bright against the Owls.
In truth, the measure of if this City squad is equipped to compete for promotion isn’t whether or not they can defeat Wednesday. A much better barometer is how they fare against the teams in and around them in the division.
The evidence of the last few months, when the Robins had a player worth a reported £3million for the sake of 19 league games – in the eyes of Ipswich – at their disposal, is that Struber’s boys aren’t quite there yet. That won’t be altered, in a positive way, by Mehmeti’s departure.
Fortunately, the messaging from the Austrian appears to indicate that such a fact is recognised by both him and those above him at the High Performance Centre.
With that in mind, it is hard not to feel as though the actions of the next eight days will have a major bearing on one: how successful a season this can be, and two: how often those chants directed at the hierarchy remain on ice for.
All to play for as Bristol City move back towards play-off places
Perhaps this is the reason that next week or so feels quite so important for Bristol City.
Despite having their most challenging spell under the management of Gerhard Struber – both off and on the pitch – with their win over Sheffield Wednesday, the Robins have now moved to within a single point of the Championship play-off places.
Had it not been for two stoppage-time Wrexham goals, City would be spending the next week or so sixth on goal difference, having won just one of their last four league games. If that doesn’t sum up this mad, mad division, I’m not quite sure what will.
If the Reds are capable of reaching such a position with a squad that is missing what would be a couple of vital players, there is no reason as to why they couldn’t make a splash in the race for the top six if they are to make the right – not necessarily expensive – additions to their squad.
Of course, there is no such thing as an easy game in the second tier. However, based on the evidence of the fixtures played in the first half of the season and the current league table, City are more than capable of putting a run of form together as they take on Derby County, Hull City, Port Vale in the FA Cup, Swansea City, Blackburn Rovers, and Watford leading into March.
Come away with a reasonable points haul from their next five league games and Struber and his boys could well find themselves in a very good position to replicate last term’s heroics heading into the final 12 matches of the campaign.
Yes, a lot of what I have written above consists of ifs, buts, and maybes. While such a viewpoint isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, it is perhaps required to showcase just why there is a feeling that this is the time for the head coach and, more importantly, those above him to get the final knockings of January right.
With just eight days remaining of the window, supporters will likely have a better idea of whether or not it is worth dreaming about the potential of realising those ifs, but and maybes by the time Derby travel to Ashton Gate on Friday evening.
