After a barren period of precious transfer gossip, Dion Sanderson entered the Bristol City consciousness this week with both the Daily Mail and The Sun linking the Wolves defender to the Robins as the 22-year-old prepares for the third Championship loan of his career.
In fairness, the report did just say “monitoring”, which is a wholly subjective term as to assessing its definition that can mean anything from wanting to know daily updates on the player and actively scouting them or simply that they’ve been made aware of his availability and haven’t categorically said no yet.
In City’s case with Sanderson, it seems they very much fall into the latter interpretation of the phrase. In both the player’s and Wolves’ position it makes sense to have, at least in theory, as many clubs interested as possible, no matter the variance in option.
The reasons for City’s reluctance in exploring a loan deal for Sanderson aren’t definitively known but the fair and educated assumption to make is Nigel Pearson’s indifference to the loan market.
The City manager has continually emphasised that the reality of the situation is that no loan is free, especially at Championship level; there will be financial obligations either through a fee or a proportion of the player’s wages.
Sanderson wouldn’t be at the Manchester City-end of the scale when clubs contacting Premier League champions-elect once quoting £5m for a nine-month hire of their best talent, but he would cost something.
There are also obligations in a sporting sense, and parent clubs - in this case Wolves - wouldn’t send a player out willy-nilly without some semblance of a plan and a desire for them to play a certain amount of games.
Sanderson started 14 of a possible 24 matches for Birmingham City in the first half of 2021/22, they undoubtedly expect a similar ratio between now and May; ask yourself, is Pearson the sort of manager to have such selection terms dictated to him?
But that’s not really the point of all this. However spurious the link has proven to be, Sanderson makes a lot of sense for Bristol City, and even more so since Pearson appeared on Geoff Twentyman’s Sound of the City on BBC Radio Bristol on Monday night.
After a few largely vague updates (for obvious reasons) surrounding Nathan Baker’s prospects of recovering from a second concussion of the season, Pearson offered some greater detail to close the matter off.
“If we see him again this season I'll be delighted but I might be a bit surprised as well. I think we have to be prepared there may not be another appearance for him this season and we'll see how it goes,” he said.
It shouldn’t have come as a huge surprise but having drawn a line under that particular line of enquiry, opens up a new one: namely, can City get through the season with three senior centre-backs, one of which is out of favour and the other who has struggled for consistency?
To spell it out in more obvious terms, a simple depth chart will read that Pearson’s centre-back options read: Tomas Kalas, Rob Atkinson, Zak Vyner, Ryley Towler and Cam Pring, who before being drafted into the role in the second half against Millwall had never played the position in his entire life, at least in a competitive sense.
Kalas’ position as City’s premier centre-back is well-established and well-founded and despite the Robins’ struggles, he has a strong and credible case to say he’s been the club’s best player over the last 18 months.
Atkinson is in his first season of Championship football, has suffered with an illness in October that rendered his involvement in November and December almost irrelevant, such was the drop in performance, and now can’t seem to get back into the starting XI.
Pearson doesn’t seem to trust the 23-year-old in a back three, which has been his favoured formation of late, albeit with the nagging feeling that there is still no such thing as a “favoured formation”.
In that system the manager requires his wide centre-back to play very wide in, and often out, of possession, covering the space behind the wing-backs.
It’s no coincidence that Atkinson failed to do that against Huddersfield, and was publicly lambasted for it, he’s only played in the middle of a three since.
That theory is precisely why Pearson feels Pring is capable of doing it, as his natural instincts to play wide, as he’s done throughout his career, mean that providing he uses the middle man - Kalas or Vyner - as his reference point, he can drift towards the flanks.
But what the above means, in discussing Vyner, is that Pearson doesn’t have much choice right now but to play him, irrespective of his own form.
He himself will admit he struggled against the might of Aleksandar Mitrovic last Saturday and has previously held his hands up over previous transgressions but such is City’s squad situation, even if Pearson thought about taking Vyner out of the firing line, he doesn’t have much flexibility to do so.
The 24-year-old’s versatility is such that with George Tanner out injured until the end of February, at the earliest, Danny Simpson’s appearances reserved solely for Robins Uncut and Alex Scott increasingly wasted on the right, he’s needed every game one way or the other.
Which is why, earlier in the season, when Pearson said about players either having to play their way back into form, “toughing it out” or being prepared to play when they’re not necessarily ready - circumstances dictate they don’t have much choice.
This does run somewhat contrary to the manager’s mantra earlier in the season of owning the shirt. Not that Vyner or anyone else should deliberately play poorly, but sometimes it happens. The issue right now in defence is, that Pearson doesn’t have the tools to compensate for more than one defender being off-colour.
Towler was recalled from his Grimsby Town loan rather abruptly in December, which was pleasing to an extent and affirmation of his progress, but as his performance against Millwall showed, he’s probably not quite ready for the cut and thrust of the Championship in that role just yet.
As it stands we won’t be getting a wider sample size to establish if that theory is correct because the teenager has a back problem, dating back to his younger days, which the club need to be careful with. A long-standing back problem isn’t exactly an ailment that can be run off, for all Dave Rennie’s skills.
The prospect of Robbie Cundy has been quietly lurking in the background as the 25-year-old has recovered from his knee injury but after back-to-back appearances for the under-23s, he wasn’t in the squad at all for Monday’s 2-2 draw against Swansea City and Pearson said, rather cryptically, the club need to remain “open-minded” over his future.
True to the concept of Pearson not being able to accommodate too many individuals being out of form, he most certainly can do the same regarding injuries and, as many City fans have pointed out (and it’s at this point we should probably credit the Forever Bristol City podcast for hammering home the issue), the team are just one more injury away from disaster.
With Baker sidelined long-term, Tanner in the medium-term and Towler potentially the same, what if Kalas - whose warrior-like approach to the game does make him susceptible to various muscle strains, as he stretches for every possible tackle and block that can be made - was to sustain any kind of injury? All of a sudden that depth chart looks anything but.
Which brings us back to the matter at hand and the transfer window, with 12 days before the opportunity to add to the squad closes until the postseason.
After January 31 there is simply no more room to manoeuvre. That will be it and Pearson can only work with what’s already in the building, which is looking increasingly threadbare.
We know quick-fixes aren’t the answer, as while an individual might deliver the required levels of performance for 10-15 games in the immediate, making a snap decision on simply getting a body in to fill a hole with little regard for his contract in 2023 or 2024, isn’t particularly prudent.
But that is also looking at the situation in the worst-case scenario and, let’s be honest, three-year deals were given to Matty James and Andi Weimann last summer, players who while are clearly deeply important first-team players do have notable injury histories and there’s every chance their salaries won’t look so appealing in 18 months time.
There is a balance to be struck, and City’s desire to look to the lower leagues for value probably isn’t it at this stage of the season. It’s hard enough to find an Atkinson-type and negotiate with a team potentially within sight of promotion, let alone then integrate them into a Championship set-up in January.
The only avenue which looks available to City is the very one Pearson appears so uncomfortable with. It’s admirable that he does, in a way, given it is the most short-term of devices to strengthen a squad with little regard for the bigger picture, beyond the chance perhaps of enticing a player long-term ala Kalas.
But there are individuals out there who will run contrary to his slight generalisation of it all; someone with a degree of experience who wouldn’t be of such considerable financial burden.
As we know this remains largely academic until someone, anyone, of substance can be shifted off the wage bill which is looking increasingly less likely as the window progresses.
But for the calls, and Pearson’s slight nagging desire, for a striker - a scratch still not itched from the summer - Weimann, Chris Martin, Nahki Wells and the nicely developing Antoine Semenyo looks a strong-enough complement to get them through the campaign, especially in a position when you sometimes only have to play one of them.
The same cannot be said for the centre of defence and the ever-thinning resources available with City also in possession of the second-worst goals against (45), clean sheets (3), shots conceded (14.5) and expected goals against (1.63 per game) in the division.
The Robins remain relatively safe with a 11-point buffer on Peterborough in 22nd, and FiveThirtyEight consider them to have only an eight per cent chance of being relegated. But that projection will only increase in size and the gap on the bottom three narrow, if further issues beset a defence that is in a delicate state of affairs, in more ways than one.
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