Bristol City fan column: New manager must be appointed quickly to help Robins find their way again

The view of our man watching from home as Bristol City finished the season in 12th place and now step up the recruitment of their new manager

So that’s it, nearly 12 months after the season opener against eventual and deserved champions Leeds United, the 2019/2020 season is all over for us.

This has been a season unlike any other for very obvious reasons. The way that this year has unfolded has made me appreciate my family and friends more and has put so many things into perspective. It has made me appreciate just how much I love football and being a Bristol City fan.

Expectations were so high back in August, we had spent big on a number of Premiership players, the buzz and excitement around the player reveals up on the roof gave us all a real feeling that we had a squad capable of mounting a serious play off/promotion campaign and yet it fizzled out and as a result we saw the end of the Lee Johnson era.

Despite a largely uninspiring campaign there were a few highlights – the performances away at Derby County, Cardiff City (with Josh Brownhill’s screamer) and Fulham all stand out but there were also some absolute shockers.

We really seemed to lose our way. Gone was the high tempo, high press and we never knew from one game to the next what side was going to take the field.

Teams always evolve and in our position and financial fair play when a big money offer comes in as it did for the likes of Adam Webster, Lloyd Kelly, Josh Brownhill and Marlon Pack you invariably have to take it but the truth is that we never replaced any of these with like for like replacements both in terms of on the pitch and in the changing room.

For me in the stands it felt like we lost the team spirit and camaraderie. Korey Smith was the last man standing of the Steve Cotterill double winning side and whilst I am hopeful that he will sign a new contract at the club it looks unlikely and if he doesn’t, I would like to wish Korey all the very best and thank him for his commitment and 100% effort during his time with us. What a man and what great memories, thanks Smudge.

One thing that stayed forever constant was our failure to beat Preston North End, that’s 14 matches stretching back to 2011, since our last victory against them.

The first half wasn’t much to write home about for City, we did improve in the second half and it was more entertaining. It was great to see Famara get his 14th goal of the season and he was rightly awarded the Player of the Year before the game.

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I’ll admit to feeling a little uneasy tonight, not sure what the 2020/2021 season will bring. We don’t have a manager and have a number of players whose loan periods have finished or whose contracts are up or only have a year left on them and the squad next season may look very different.

I hope that we haven’t seen the last of Famara or Nic Eliasson or Benik Afobe, but if we have, thanks for the memories and we move on and find new heroes to support.

The managerial situation is from the fans point of view no nearer to being resolved. If you believe the media, we were going all out to persuade Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard to leave Rangers and take charge and that appears to have failed.

It has all the hall marks of the Eddie Nketiah fiasco when we did all we could to sign him in the summer and again in January only to be turned down. I do wonder just how good Mark Ashton’s PowerPoint presentation skills are?

I sincerely hope that now the season is over the new manager whoever he is, is appointed quickly as pre-season is likely to start in a few weeks and we need the new man to take stock of what he has and decide what he needs and hit the ground running.

Finally, an acknowledgement to all those of the Bristol City family (and the Bristol Rovers family) who passed away during this season may you rest in peace and I hope the football up there is full of goals and excitement.