Just 55 days since Tyreeq Bakinson was granted a contract extension in the same week he marked his 50th appearance for Bristol City with the winning goal against Stoke City, the midfielder has more than likely played his last game for the club and it’s hard to think of a more acrimonious split between player and club in recent years.
What originally seemed an innocuous loan move soon snowballed into something far larger with Nigel Pearson’s damning words laying bare the sentiment from management, while the club’s position was made clear over the modest 61 words dedicated to confirmation of the switch.
Granted it is only a temporary transfer and he remains a City player, but at least Sam Bell and Ryley Towler were afforded “good luck” messages, Bakinson’s statement concluded with confirmation that there’s an option to make the move permanent. Cheerio, then.
Of course, as we know from the now deleted Instagram post from the midfielder, as he responded to a slightly unnecessary message from a fan celebrating his departure with the phrase, “feeling’s mutual my friend”, this wasn’t a case of the 23-year-old being shown the door against his own will.
Based on Pearson’s evisceration, without saying it in literal terms, Bakinson increasingly appeared that he no longer wanted to be part of the squad, and therefore by extension, the club itself.
Indeed, if you were being particularly mischievous (and we, the media, are known for it from time to time) you could even conclude that his claims over Ipswich being a club “going in the right direction” was a subtle dig at the situation he leaves behind in the West Country. Although, that probably needs to be fact-checked to a degree given the Tractor Boys have two wins in their last eight games and are only 11th in League One.
It was notable during the press conference on Thursday that when asked if Bakinson’s situation was similar to Adam Nagy in the summer, when the Hungarian asked for a transfer away from the club, Pearson paused, clearly holding back further words of condemnation, and then ruled them completely different.
Respect still remains for the way Nagy conducted his departure from Ashton Gate. The same clearly can’t be said for Bakinson.
And while supporters, by and large, celebrated the move - further enhanced by the manager’s stinging character reference - it should also be laden with an element of disappointment that this has been somewhat of a failed experiment, albeit one that could be rescued by a decent transfer fee in the summer.
Bakinson was brought in just over four years ago as a midfield prospect from Luton Town and had made the progression via the loans system to catch the eye of Dean Holden during the summer of 2020, having done enough at Plymouth in the previous season for Ryan Lowe to want to keep him at Home Park.
At 21, he looked to be making the breakthrough and, at base level, possessed all the attributes to be a Championship-level midfielder, from an aesthetic point of view with his size and physique but also the way he moved the ball across the pitch and had a fine passing range and occasional long-range effort to trouble the opposition.
Pearson had even commented in November, as he became in effect, a key player due to the injury absences of Matty James, Andy King and Joe Williams, that the “penny had dropped with Tyreeq” in terms of how he needed to adapt his qualities to his surroundings.
Unfortunately Bakinson’s languid style was also something of an Achilles heel because it appeared, at times, like he was playing in slow motion or, as Pearson alluded to, his own rhythm; as games rushed around him at 160bpm, Bakinson was a more serene 112.
He also probably didn’t make enough use of his physical gifts, tall and broad shouldered and with those long limbs, the components are there to dominate on the ground, in the challenge and aerially (although his record for aerial duels this season isn’t as bad as has been thought: won - 17, lost - 17).
That period in November was a bit of a missed opportunity for him because although that run of starts in place of James, King and Williams did lead to his 12-month option being taken up, it didn’t do enough to convince that he had made the necessary step up as a midfield leader.
As much as James’ absence was magnified through City’s scattergun performances during that period as they resembled a cruise liner in particular turbulent waters, the ball moving rapidly from side to side with no sense of stability in the middle, that was also damning of Bakinson’s role, or at least how far down the line he was as a player.
To be fair to him, though, whereas Massengo’s displays were often mitigated by, “he’s better with James in there”, Bakinson wasn’t quite afforded that privilege as just five of his 10 starts this season have been with the veteran and once he returned it was an either/or for Pearson. Massengo, also, has 52 league appearances to Bakinson’s 34 so, on that metric alone, is the more “experienced” player in a Championship context.
But, of course, there have never been any question marks about Massengo’s character, application or the general selflessness in which he conducts himself around the club.
Bakinson always had his detractors, in-part through his playing style, but also because there was a feeling that was linked to something else, rather than just being a symptom of the way he’s built - i.e there was a correlation between his speed of movement and competitiveness in the tackle and his general attitude.
It’s hard to clarify that definitively from our position but certainly Pearson’s comments sought to confirm many of those opinions and if there’s one way of getting fans on your side, it’s telling them what they want to hear.
That’s maybe being a little (again) mischievous but there was something of the “red meat policy” - to coin a current favoured political term - about Thursday, as Pearson has firmly got the supporters behind him with this decision and further reinforced his position as “the leader” of this football club.
Each defeat has brought doubts and City’s sporadic results - they’re still yet to win successive games - means opinions have wavered consistently throughout the campaign. But those sort of authoritative moments from the manager reinstall confidence in him and also taps into long-harboured fears, many of which rooted in evidence on the pitch, that the atmosphere at the club has been a little too easy and safe at times.
Certain Bakinson, as a direct example of the Johnson/Ashton transfer model, feeds that assessment; although there are plenty of other examples that run contrary to it.
However, after declaring in November - somewhat curiously exactly a week before Bakinson’s extension was granted - that he would “get rid” of anyone not onside, he’s made true on that promise and it clearly serves a bigger purpose than the discarding of City’s fifth-choice central midfielder.
As it was in November, it’s a reminder to the rest of the dressing room of what’s expected and what can happen if those standards are not met.
When he said it then it was when he had returned to work from Covid for a second time, so there was an element of reinstating his presence, but also it was following a truly dreadful defensive display at Coventry City, as the Robins collapsed against 10 men to lose 3-2.
What transpired in the first half at Fulham provokes similar alarm and while players may not have to explicitly say whether they want to stay at the club or not, Pearson is reading minds to an extent and application and effort on the pitch and on the training ground are the biggest indicator of an individual’s desire.
It was as much a dissemination of character requirements as it was a disintegration of Bakinson; the touch points of “negativity” was particularly pertinent and at times of slight adversity, which these are for a club 16th in the Championship and only 11 points above the bottom three, the manager needs the opposite.
Bakinson has found sanctuary at Portman Road and there is every reason to suggest he can be a high-level midfielder for them but what was said about him can't have been pleasant for him to hear, given the knock on his reputation. Any potential dissenters still lurking in the ranks will undoubtedly have taken note.
City are a fundamentally young and small squad who are not creating enough periods of strong form to ride out any internal ill-will, any gripe from within the group will become magnified and threaten to influence others.
Pearson has been in the game long enough to know how devastating that can be and he is an excellent reader of people and situations and although the Bakinson transfer was swift - with talks opening just the night before he left - clearly frustration and concern had been slowly building.
Time will tell if it’s been too strong, as there is extra pressure now to ensure that at least two of James, King and Williams remain fit at the same time, but the message accompanying it could also prove to be vitally important.
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