It’s unclear exactly what Luke Ayling’s final words were as he left Ashton Gate for the last time in August 2016, bound for Leeds United, but it’s not outrageous to suggest that he may well have chanted some kind of ancient scripture.
Persona non grata after his involvement with indiscretions at the Cheltenham Festival and Lee Johnson’s apparent distrust in his reliability at Championship level, there was a school of thought at the time that the Robins actually did quite well in extracting £750,000 for a right-back who was great going forward but supposedly a defensive liability.
Even taking into account Leeds’ issues in the Premier League out of possession, that’s an opinion that has aged like milk because since Ayling left the club, it’s been a problem area and one neither Johnson, Dean Holden and now Nigel Pearson have been able to fix.
So much so, it’s justifiable to refer to it as a cursed position for City, and one that is starting to underline Pearson’s tenure, and for the wrong reasons.
On Saturday, as manfully as the manager understandably defended the teenager, placing his struggles as the responsibility of others, the decision to start forward Sam Bell as a right-back (in fairness Pearson did claim he was a “wing-back”) was a disaster.
His battle with Birmingham’s Onel Hernandez was barely worthy of the definition of the word proving a total mismatch and while, yes, Bell could have been given greater protection, surely better options were available? Tomas Kalas, with Rob Atkinson returning to the team, as Pearson hinted on Thursday, Zak Vyner, even in light of his own poor form, or Jay Dasilva, once again, fielded on the opposite flank all seemed better fits.
That’s also not written in hindsight, it looked a selection gamble and so it proved so disastrously, with City playing uphill after 13 first-half minutes. A start from which they never recovered.
The full-back area is becoming increasingly important for Pearson because of the sheer volume of crosses an already vulnerable defensive line is having to face as only Reading average more conceded per game than City’s 21.
He’s referenced this very fact several times in press conferences of late and that, in itself, given he very much picks and chooses what detail to provide publicly, is ample evidence that it’s a source of extreme annoyance to him.
The volume of goals City have conceded from crossing situations has been amplified in 2022 and while predominant criticism has been focused on those defenders either not properly tracking runners, getting the wrong side of their men, beating beaten in the air or not reacting quick enough to second balls, ultimately the problem can be addressed at source.
Preventing those balls into the box is paramount. It’s not the only job of a full-back, and some would say the narrative of this piece is slightly skewed given it’s not something that was Ayling’s strength, at all in fact, but for a manager who openly likes his defenders “to defend”, it’s a No1 requirement of anyone who plays in that area.
Which makes it all the more baffling as to Bell’s selection. While impressive against Middlesbrough and reasonably encouraging in the defeat to Coventry City, albeit slightly culpable for the first goal, he doesn’t seem the right fit for a Pearson-constructed defence. He is an attacking player, there’s no doubt about that, so by nature shouldn’t (and isn’t, let’s be honest) be as good defensively as the specialist players in that area of the field.
What then must that say about the manager’s faith in those that do have that position on their CV: Vyner, Danny Simpson (more on him in a minute), Kalas and Dasilva, who’s done okay in that role, in the absence of a genuine right-back.
There’s something of a mixed message in fielding Bell in an area you already know is of primary concern in terms of conceding goals, overlooking defenders to do it, all the while insisting defenders should be there “to defend”.
Clearly something was sensed in the final third, and Pearson did note Bell’s creativity but that, much like City’s recently-discovered attacking flair is irrelevant if it means starting with a two-goal handicap as has been the case for far too many games now.
Not only that, and while it may be fair and just to blame, without naming him, Kalas or one of the deeper-lying midfielders to provide cover, risking a teenage forward there, knowing the potential side-effects, only places greater pressure on those individuals who already are in vulnerable department on the pitch.
Bell’s selection and the absence of Simpson from senior match action since October drew the manager into hinting - albeit hardly breaking news - that the 35-year-old is unlikely to be around next season.
Forty eight hours later and his first signing as City manager was no longer at the club after a grand total of 499 Championship minutes. Rather sadly, Simpson also only appeared on the winning team once in eight matches in a Robins jersey.
That is unfair to a degree because the former Leicester defender was never really a major signing in the sense of being able to make a significant first-team impact, at least regularly anyway. His signing - which was steeped in controversy at the time and even more so now makes you wonder if it was all really worth it - was as much about mentorship, or at least that’s how it was sold to the fanbase.
As Pearson frequently says, “the best coaches are players” and if that was true of Simpson’s role in the squad, fair enough. Except he’s been released from a contract four months before it expires. Maybe it’s to join another club, and City have simply done the right thing by the player, as they have done with individuals in the past.
But whether he is to earn a new contract elsewhere, move into the media or do something else, it doesn’t say an awful amount the intangible impact he was supposed to have with the younger elements of the squad. Because if that existed, he’d surely have been retained until the end of the season.
Having entered September with three recognised right-backs, Pearson may have none available once again for Blackburn Rovers on Saturday with Simpson gone, Vyner out of favour (which is understandable, admittedly, given his form) and caution being exercised over George Tanner and his return from a second hamstring injury.
Even if the 22-year-old is to come back into the side, he’s very quickly transformed from a first-year project player, who was expected to make around 15-20 appearances, allowing him to gain experience in the Championship, to the apparent answer to a deep-seated problem, and that’s also with him returning from a concerning recurrence of an injury.
But discussions in this area of the field have been commonplace for almost six years now. Post Ayling, City have used a variety of players in the position: Mark Little (amid injury problems towards the latter stages of his time in BS3), Taylor Moore, Bailey Wright, Eros Pisano, Pedro Pereira, Steven Sessegnon, Jack Hunt, Vyner, Tanner and Simpson, without anyone categorically making the role their own.
That is ignoring context and is being a little unfair to Hunt who was a model professional, Wright, as good a teammate and club man as you can imagine, and Pisano and Pereira when called upon. But even when presenting that list, no name truly stands out as the one , since Ayling moved on. If you were drawing up a City dream team of the Championship era, it’s a position in which there is no obvious answer.
With Simpson gone, trust seemingly evaporating in Vyner and Pearson himself trying to downplay the significance of Tanner’s eventual return, City will definitely be in the market for a right-back this summer. But the desire will likely be, as Pearson hinted last month regarding his transfer hopes, a more established and senior professional. Someone therefore who will command a higher wage if on a free transfer, and potentially greater free if from the open market.
Plucking talent like Tanner, and someone like, for example, Kane Wilson from Forest Green Rovers is a low expenditure move. But when you want a 26-year-old with triple figures in league appearances, you’re competing against several other clubs at your level, raising the wage ceiling and also impacting your ability to sell the club as City drift closer towards the more unpleasant regions of the Championship.
There’s also the concept that when you go into a summer transfer window, with multiple positions to address, rightly or wrongly, you don’t want to be affording significant proportions of your budget on full-backs.
That might be missing the value of investing in that position, (and perhaps partly why City have got into this situation), but with this summer likely to be another “creative” one for the club, you’d rather your financial focus be through the middle than on the flanks.
Then again, it’s an eerily familiar conversation to be having around City who, since Ayling departed, have signed at least one right-back every season but yet this curse remains unbroken.
