Bristol City's 2022/23 pre-season is up and running and there is a feeling of positivity and optimism surrounding the High-Performance Centre.
Having been proactive in the transfer market so far this summer and beating plenty of their Championship rivals to acquire Kai Naismith and Kane Wilson, Robins’ fans are beginning to look up the table rather than peering behind them.
All those positive thoughts can feel slightly vindicated as Nigel Pearson’s side ran out 2-0 winners over Cheltenham Town in their first outing of the summer.
There was plenty of action for all the Robins’ new signings so far, bar new goalkeeper Stefan Bajic, while the likes of Andy King and George Tanner made first-team appearances having missed much of the second half of last season through injury.
However, it is not time for City to get ahead of themselves as both Pearson and his coaching team have repeatedly said this pre-season is not about the results but preparation, fitness, and performance.
That being said, City have got the ball rolling and hopefully the momentum has already begun. Here are the moments you may have missed from the High Performance Centre.
Naismith leads from the back
For the last few seasons City fans have been asking for a vocal leader at the heart of the defence. It looked as though this problem was solved with the introduction of Timm Klose in January, but the early signs show Kai Naismith may raise that bar.
The Scottish centre-half was placed in the heart of the Robins’ three-man defence and could be heard bellowing instructions to all of those around him offering a sense of audible direction that Pearson’s defence have often missed.
Indeed, speaking last month, among his obvious defensive attributes, Pearson also praised Naismith’s qualities as a “communicator”, something that was in full effect at Failand with the wide open spaces allowing for his instructions to be picked up.
After Rob Atkinson had let the ball roll out for a Cheltenham throw-in, Naismith sounded more like a coach at the heart of the defence, shouting: “come on Rob, expect that header.”
On another occasion, as Kane Wilson had the ball in hand, ready to launch a throw-in, the 30-year-old bellowed: “Kane can you hit Nahki? Have a go, have a go.” Dictating play from his position on the pitch.
He was also constantly reminding Wilson of the space behind him, as the wing-back drifted forward, mindful of a 2v1 situation developing. There were also demands for Joe Williams to come deeper and take the ball off the defenders to get City moving.
With this City side still having plenty of youth and inexperience throughout it, Naismith’s leadership and organisation should only help tighten what was one of the leakiest defences in England’s second tier last season.
Family comes first
Veteran striker Chris Martin was seen throughout the early pre-season social media posts, but some eagle-eyed fans noticed he was absent from the vast amount of footage from the pre-season training camp at Bad Radkersburg. That’s because Martin’s partner is expecting, with the birth of the new baby imminent and being more than 1,000 miles away in Austria for almost a week wasn't ideal.
But City's No9, who continued training back at the HPC with his teammates in Europe, has been very much back amongst it this week and led the line alongside Nahki Wells against Cheltenham.
Martin had a golden opportunity to break the deadlock just after half-time when Atkinson was brought down in the Cheltenham area, but the striker’s penalty flew over the bar as he spurned his best chance.
It wasn’t the best of performances from the former Derby frontman as he struggled to have a major impact on proceedings - perhaps understandably given his absence - but he will have been encouraged by the quality of delivery into the area from all four of City’s wing-backs on Wednesday afternoon especially from new-man Kane Wilson.
New first-team coach Jason Euell said after the game, “all the new boys have settled in well and with Chris re-joining the group having missed the trip to Austria it would’ve been nice for him to get a goal.”
Pearson opts to watch from the stands
It hasn’t been unusual for City boss Nigel Pearson to take in proceedings from the stands whether it be at the High-Performance Centre or Ashton Gate, particularly for much of the start of last season, and that was the case against Cheltenham.
For the majority of the first half, he was stationed in the stands before making his way around the outside of the pitch to the dugout after the half-hour mark, to hover over the fence in conversation with his coaching staff.
There was plenty of advice passed on from the City manager at half-time showing that he wasn’t leaving all responsibility to his coaching team, despite Euell being the one to face the media at the conclusion of the game.
Despite Pearson returning to the stands in the second half, he was still in conversation with his players throughout, first calling over Cam Pring during an injury break to offer some thoughts on his display so far.
There were also slightly louder calls to Ryley Towler to not “mess about” with the ball in defence as Pearson showed it won’t matter where he’s sat, he’ll continue to have a big role in these pre-season fixtures.
No minutes for Max
Having featured on Tuesday night at Paulton Rovers in a youthful City side, it may well have been the plan for Max O’Leary to miss out against Cheltenham, but the 25-year-old was sat pitch side in full playing kit only for Bentley to be the only player to feature for the full 90 minutes.
With the signing of French keeper Stefan Bajic on Tuesday it’s expected that O’Leary will once again leave Ashton Gate in search of regular first team football. MK Dons are believed to have an interest in taking the 25-year-old on a temporary basis which would be his sixth loan spell.
However, it could well just be that Pearson wanted his relatively inexperienced defence of Duncan Idehen, Towler and Zak Vyner to have the leadership of Bentley to help them combat the attacking presence of their League One opposition.
James is still Pearson’s figurehead on the pitch
Although the main voices you could hear throughout the match were those of Dan Bentley and Naismith, James still has a clear role as one of the players to coach while on the pitch.
The City players remained on the HPC pitch throughout the half-time break and the ex-Leicester City midfielder was engrossed in conversation with both Pearson and new first-team coach Euell. Having been one of the 10 changes at the hour mark, James spent plenty of the final 30 minutes in conversation with Curtis Fleming on the sideline.
With Bentley in goal, Naismith and Klose in defence, James and or King in midfield as well as Martin up top, Pearson looks to have completed his spine of experience and guidance throughout the starting 11 that he has desperately wanted.
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