Never a dull moment at Bristol City
Never a dull moment at Bristol City
David Pottier - Forever Bristol City PodcastWed, August 19, 2026 at 11:11 AM UTC
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2026 has certainly been an eventful year for Bristol City fans, perhaps more for what has been happening off the pitch than on it.
Wind the clock back to January, City's chances of getting into the play-offs were still alive but the transfer window saw them sell key players Zak Vyner and Anis Mehmeti to rival clubs Wrexham and Ipswich respectively as well as loan Yu Hirakawa to eventual play-off winners Hull City.
Owner Steve Lansdown received some criticism and seemed to react to it as, within weeks, the club appointed CEO, Charlie Boss. His first task appeared to be sacking Austrian coach Gerhard Struber but what happened after that shocked the whole football world.
When Roy Hodgson was announced as interim coach until the end of the season, first reactions thought it was a hoax. The 78-year-old former England manager had left his last job at Crystal Palace on health grounds two years previously but he did a good job lifting the club from 16th to an end of season placing of 12th.
CEO Boss had also announced the club was going to hire its first sporting director and that came when James Ellis joined the club. Very shortly after that they were able to tempt Michael Skubala to become manager after he had guided Lincoln to be runaway League One title winners.
If you include offering a new contract to Sam Bell, City are now into double figures when it comes to fresh faces in the dressing room. Disturbingly for some fans only Jed Wallace has Championship experience.
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The signing of strikers Lorent Tolaj and Dom Ballard is a bold move. The pair amassed over 50 goals and assists in League One last season but, for an estimated cost of £8m it is a risk on whether they can repeat this at a higher level.
Apart from the new arrivals the club also approached the new season knowing star players Max Bird and Jason Knight only had one year remaining on their contracts. They would not want a repeat of what happened in January. As of today, Bird this week joined Birmingham City while Knight seems no closer to putting pen to paper.
There is also what to do about Scott Twine - 10 goals and almost as many assists last season, he has hardly featured in Skubala's team selections to date. He has two years left on his contract and right now his transfer value is at its likely maximum.
When Skubala's team beat Newcastle 4-1 in a pre-season friendly it was the worst result possible as it raised fans' hopes that the start of a much heralded 'three-year project' was getting off to a fine start. Since then things have rather sadly gone downhill.
After two competitive games, City found themselves dumped out of Carabao Cup by League Two Walsall and then lost their opening Championship game against Millwall.
The hierarchy at the club will say for the investment they have made in the playing squad eighth place is the goal. That may be a big ask.
Only this week there was media talk of the club being in 'advanced talks' with an unnamed businessman about possible investment. One thing is for sure, there is never a dull moment if you are a Bristol City fan!
Source: “AOL Sports”
