The season may be over but it's been a busy week of action at Bristol City with the preparations in place for a summer of change.
Monday saw City announce their retained list in which it confirmed the news midfielder Callum O'Dowda will leave the club on a free transfer on the expiration of his contract on June 30.
That was followed by confirmation the Robins had made their first notable signing of the summer following the arrival of Mark Sykes on a free transfer from Oxford United.
Before the announcement, manager Nigel Pearson went on Geoff Twentyman's BBC Sounds of the City radio show in which he all-but revealed the done deal before the official announcement. During a 30 minute chat, Pearson approached a whole range of topics from the players out of the contract, Antoine Semenyo's future, learning from Luton and the importance of cutting the wage bill.
Here, we pick out five talking points from his interview.
Andy King's coaching role
Bristol Live reported how Pearson was eager to keep Andy King at the club next season and were in negotiations to extend his contract beyond the summer, despite an injury record that included two hamstring issues during his debut season.
King and Pearson worked together at Leicester in which the duo won two promotions in League One in 2009 and from the Championship four years later.
When King signed for the Robins at the beginning of the season, he spoke of how he wanted to join the club following Pearson's appointment, telling the club channel: "As soon as I saw Nigel had the job [as Bristol City boss], I wanted to call him."
Now it's roles reversed, with Pearson keen to use King's qualities both on and off the field by offering a player/coaching role. King will be aware he'll be down the midfield pecking order with Matty James, Joe Williams and Alex Scott ahead of him before any new arrivals in central midfield.
Pearson said: "I'd like to bring him onto the staff to be a player/coach. I think that is a really good way of not just allowing but making an easier pathway for players who have an awful lot to give still in terms of on the pitch, but their knowledge and their aspirations in terms of staying in the game to help their development.
"Kingy, for instance, is a no-brainer for me, he's a really intelligent football and I think he has a bright future in the game as a coach or manager so I think it's in our interest to help him with his development."
Surely his decision will come down to whether King still has the appetite and the fitness to be playing regularly but with his experience and know-how in the dressing room, including winning the Premier League with the Foxes, he will undoubtedly be able to offer plenty of advice to the young crop of players if he agrees to be taken under Pearson's wing.
The three-year plan update
After signing his three-year deal last May, Pearson spoke about the ambitions to guide them to the Premier League within that timeframe.
Just over a year down the line and a 17th place finish doesn't inspire confidence that City will be mixing it with Europe's elite by the beginning of the 2024/25 season. Pearson's tenure has undoubtedly been met with its fair share of obstacles throughout the season, injuries, his battle with Covid and the challenges of changing the culture around the club.
So where do City lie in his plan and are they still on track? "Probably still a little bit behind if I'm really honest," he said.
"It's been a really difficult year on lots of different levels. What happens on the pitch and the feeling that I can't always judge is how the mood feels externally. It's been a frustrating season for everyone because we've shown promise, we've looked as though we've laboured from time to time and there have been some huge positives too.
"It's been a bit of a slog just because of how things have panned out, whether that be player's availability, or our form. In our first game of the season, we concede right at the death and it takes until October to get our first win at home.
"I always look back at the difficult times in my career and it's easy to reflect after quite a considerable time but I think the best work you do sometimes is through the worst times when you're going through them.
"I'm sure the work that's being done will pay dividends. If we are serious making a cultural change it has to have a lasting effect."
Nahki Wells and the "wage equality"
"I've spoken to four players who know that their futures aren't going to be with us and that doesn't include Nahki Wells,"
It's clear the relationship between the player and manager remains strong despite Wells' lack of football last season. With one year left on his contract, City are stuck in a transfer quandary with the experienced striker.
"I'd love Nahki to stay with us," Pearson added. "But there are players within our squad who still have another year on their contracts who have been told that their futures won't necessarily be with us."
Pearson was consistent throughout last season in making his point clear by praising Wells for his attitude and commitment during training and among the Under-23s when he put himself forward to play with the youngsters to ensure he maintains his match fitness.
Whether Wells will want to stay at Ashton Gate and spend another long season sitting on the sidelines twiddling his thumbs and waiting patiently for his opportunity ahead of the front three remains a different matter - in reality, almost certainly not.
Despite Pearson's comments, City are understood to be open to letting him leave if they receive an offer. Bristol Live revealed last week how the process is likely to be a long, drawn-out process because he remains one of the highest-paid players in the squad with rival clubs also looking to cut their cloth accordingly amid the financial difficulties and uncertainty of the market.
City also rejected two loan offers for Wells in January, reiterating they are not keen on letting him leave temporarily to help strengthen a rival club.
Keeping him at Ashton Gate for another 12-months is likely to cost City around £1.2million in wages. Levelling out the wage bill remains one of Pearson's priorities this summer which is part of the reason why Kasey Palmer is free to leave.
Later in the interview, Pearson said: "An aggressive type of culture promotes togetherness and that's what we need here and we'll get that when we achieve our targets in terms of equalities in the wage bill, where people know where they sit."
That also leaves the question of what the club's plan is in regards to Tomas Kalas. Another one of the club's high earners with a contract expiring in a year's time, do City stick or twist with their £8million record signing? Can they afford to keep him on beyond next season?
Kalas missed the tail end of last season through injury with Robbie Cundy coming in and earning himself a new contract - the club performing a U-turn in their decision to keep him after being told he was free to leave in January.
Like the situation with Palmer and Wells, City are likely to find the process difficult and complicated to move these players on, a previous complacency to offer high wages coming back to bite them.
Pearson understands the situation, adding: "I've already spoken about players who we may want to move on but we can't and the expenditure of that becomes a heavy factor in what we can and can't do. But it's not the player's fault. I'll never begrudge them for earning good money."
What he does to relax and the hatred for Sky Sports
Well, in short, Pearson won't have much time to relax as the Bristol City manager this summer.
If he is eager to keep his heart rate down, then it's safe to say Sky Sports certainly won't be on the box inside his home.
"I make sure Sky Sports is banned in my house," was the comment when asked what he does for downtime away. "I'm the only person in our house that never watches it. I steal one of Craig Shakespeare's lines and that is 'Get Murder She Wrote on.'"
Known to be a keen hiker in the hills and perhaps a short period of time soaking up the sun away from the United Kingdom, Pearson's phone will undoubtedly be kept on loud as he turned the conversation to the amount of work that he will have to engage in during the off-season.
"No I don't, I don't have a total break," he said. "I would like to think that I could but I can't and the bottom line is that I think with the type of summer that we've got...
"Messaging and Whatsapp, not that I'm a dinosaur totally but there are benefits to be able to get reached... everybody needs a break of some sort but the bottom line is that there are going to be important decisions to be made and we're putting into action now the strategy that we put in place in the months prior and it won't always go the way we envisaged it going."
There you have it, even when asked how he plans to stick his feet up and recharge the batteries, Pearson still managed to turn the question into the real priorities that he has over the summer. No rest for the wicked, then.
Keeping fans in the loop
Just as Twentyman called time on the interview with Pearson, thanking the supporters on their behalf for coming onto the show, Pearson was eager to have one final say on the proceedings over the summer.
"What I will say to our punters, our supporters out there. I think what is important from time to time and I'm not saying it's going to be every week..." he said.
Then he went on to make a comment towards our direction on the local media, adding: "I'm also aware of how the local media works these days, it used to be with the local media that the manager and the clubs were best friends, but they're more aggressive now than the nationals is the bottom line." A little debatable, but anyway...
"We'll try and keep our fans updated in a realistic way. Throughout this summer period I think it's important that we do keep our punters up to date with what's happening but not with speculation, I think that's the biggest problem that's happening in the modern world, there's too much false news in football."
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