The latest Robins Uncut was lost a bit amid the announcement of Queen Elizabeth II’s death on Thursday and the subsequent postponement of Bristol City’s Championship fixture against Preston North End on Saturday.
But the short clips and snippets from the High Performance Centre always present an intriguing glimpse into daily life among the squad, admittedly one that the club want to present but still, some observations can be made.
With focus now switching to Wednesday’s trip to Carrow Road against second-place Norwich City - City’s toughest assignment of the season so far - here are four things we spotted from Failand…
Knock on Wood
Dylan Kadji became the 10th academy player to make their Bristol City debut when he was named in the starting XI for the Robins’ Carabao Cup tie at Wycombe Wanderers last month, and it’ll be interesting to see who becomes No11.
Josh Owers is a solid bet, having been training and travelling with the first team for much the year, while Joe Low continues to impress at Under-21 level and should a few unfortunate injuries befall City’s centre-backs, the 19-year-old could be thrust into contention.
But another to keep an eye on is Callum Wood with the defender pictured in the opening exchanges of Robins Uncut as the squad warm-up, and Nigel Pearson making a beeline for him, before a strong low-five greeting.
Wood is ostensibly a left-back, and excelled there during his loan at Bath City, but has been used as a left-sided centre-back, and on that flank of a back three as well, showcasing his versatility - not dissimilar to Cam Pring, of course.
Bristol Live understands the teenager, along with academy teammate Joe Porton, is also on standby for Wales Under-21 squad, a further indicator of his progress.
No doubt if we put the prospect to Pearson he’d very much downplay it, but there does seem to be a role potentially up for grabs down City’s left side as the No2 option to Jay Dasilva, with Pring increasingly in and out of the matchday 18.
Then again, as Kadji, Conway and the rest that have come before him are evidence of, these are just the first steps into first-team consideration and it’s a long-term process. He is clearly in Pearson’s thoughts though, however far back in the hierarchy he may currently be.
Bajic bouncing about
On the subject of patience, City fans are having to display the virtue over one of their four summer signings, in Stefan Bajic. It’s approaching 10 weeks since the France Under-21 goalkeeper arrived at the club and he’s yet to be involved in any competitive action.
That’s because of wrist surgery undertaken at the end of last season which has clearly taken longer than anticipated to heal, hence the u-turn over loaning out Max O’Leary with the 25-year-old remaining at City as Dan Bentley’s No2.
That option of having a relatively established figure such as O’Leary means the Robins can take their time over Bajic, giving him the maximum opportunity to get the requisite strength back in his wrist, and then ease him into action via some Under-21 games before he starts to be considered for the first-team.
The 20-year-old also hasn’t had any kind of pre-season, and granted as a goalkeeper you don’t need to reach the same intensity in terms of fitness levels as an outfield player, there is still a high standard to get to plus the need to get match sharpness and activate all those muscles and tendons that contribute to you being a professional athlete.
Bajic is seen being put through his paces by Pat Mountain, alongside Harvey Wiles-Richards, leaping over a small hurdle before launching himself across his goal and tipping the ball over the crossbar with his leading arm, with encouragement of, "yes, Stef, we're off" and "allez, allez, allez".
He then took part in the finishing drill, led by Jason Euell, diving low to deny Nahki Wells and then quickly getting to his feet to deny the Bermudian once again on the rebound, in what was an impressive double save.
Pearson said Bajic is a “few weeks away” and with U21 fixtures on the horizon against Cardiff City (September 13), Reading (September 19) and Swansea City (September 27), the latter date looks a possibility for when he’ll be able to take his place between the posts for the first time since signing.
Massengo on the mark
With Han-Noah Massengo a City player at least until the January transfer window - although if he is to run his contract down before making a decision, then it’s more likely to be the full season - it opens up the opportunity of seeing what is going to be a collector’s item and a “I was there” moment - a Massengo goal.
No player has the cry of “shooooooot” on his back than the Frenchman, every time he is within scoring distance of the opposition goal, something that may or may not be putting additional pressure on him.
But his record for City, of course, reads: 106 appearances in all competitions, 0 goals. And so far in the Championship he’s had 47 shots, without causing too much alarm for the division’s goalkeepers.
Whether it be his own natural progression or Nigel Pearson’s encouragement, Massengo has been venturing forward and trying to impact the penalty area more than in his early days at the club. It’s very evident he’s developing a final pass that was missing from his armoury initially.
With City the second best attacking team in the country in terms of goals scored, while their expected goals is one of the highest in the Championship, it stands to reason that the 21-year-old should get at least a few good chances this term to break his duck.
Because it would be a real shame, should he depart - which of course we hope he doesn’t, with a contract offer still on the table - to leave having never witnessed the volume of roar that will inevitably accompany his first strike.
During the aforementioned finishing drill with Euell, Massengo shows good composure and technique breaking forward onto his right foot and then slotting a finish past Wiles-Richards, with a knowing look and feeling of satisfaction once it rolls into the corner.
And although his second attempt on his left foot, is denied by a smart save from Wiles-Richards, we’ll take what we can get at this stage. With 39 games to go of the Championship season, surely his time will eventually come.
Bamba still on the beat
Sol Bamba’s situation at City remains of interest given his profile and the fact it’s been more than three weeks now since he joined the rest of the squad at the Robins High Performance Centre with no contract offer seemingly forthcoming.
Pearson has been honest and indicated it’s to help keep the 37-year-old fit and try and earn a contract, somewhere, which may not be at City… which you could translate to mean it’s some kind of favour. Although it’s, of course, probably a bit more than just that.
Bamba is filmed very much part of the furniture in the warm-ups, sharing jokes with his temporary teammates and Pearson offering some droll banter in the background.
Reading between the lines, the situation seems to be this: with four senior centre-backs and Tomas Kalas not back until October/November time, City are one serious injury in defence away from being severely stretched. And although Pearson has a number of academy players to call on in the position - Low, Raphael Araoye and Jamie Knight-Lebel as standouts, with Ryley Towler and Duncan Idehen out on loan - ideally he doesn’t want to throw them in at the deep end this soon in their careers.
Bamba therefore represents a quick plug-in-and-play option (theoretically, at least), on a short-term contract, for a small amount of games, should injury befall any one of Kal Naismith, Rob Atkinson, Zak Vyner or Timm Klose, with George Tanner also potentially an option in the middle of the defence. There’s no point offering him a contract now, because he isn’t needed in the squad, so it’ll be lost money.
The manager hasn’t said this, of course, and we’re hypothesising to a degree but it does seem a smart insurance policy that the manager hopefully won’t have to turn to because Kalas returns or the January window opens, whereby a new player can be found or Towler and Idehen could return having had half a season of competitive football in their legs.
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