“When Bristol City knock on the door of course I jump”
Bristol City have finally ended weeks of speculation and named Gerhard Struber as the new head coach of the men’s team with a three-year deal this afternoon, Thursday 19 June 2025 at a press conference at Ashton Gate.(Image: PAUL GILLIS / Reach PLC)
Bristol City’s new manager promised fans bravery and intensity on the pitch and called for the backing of supporters in the stadium as he took charge of the Robins.
Gerhard Struber arrived in Bristol yesterday and was presented as the new head coach on Thursday (June 19) by chairman Jon Lansdown at a press conference that was livestreamed by the club and included questions from supporters.
The Austrian was unveiled after around a week of speculation which saw him replace former Luton Town boss Rob Edwards as the frontrunner to take over from Liam Manning, who departed Ashton Gate for hometown club Norwich City at the end of May.
Jon Lansdown described the process of recruiting Struber, a 48-year-old coach with Champions League experience, as ‘fairly smooth’, and told fans that they had identified him as their preferred candidate quite soon after Manning’s departure.
The Austrian was surprisingly sacked as manager of German side Koln with just two games to go in the season just last month – surprising because the side had been top of the German equivalent of the Championship, but suffered a dip in form and looked like they might miss out on automatic promotions. They won the two games after Struber was fired, and were champions.
Struber told Bristol Live he was actually looking forward to a break from football when ‘ Bristol City came knocking’, with a series of Zoom calls that initially involved Ashton Gate technical director Brian Tinnion presenting the club to Struber and urging him to be involved.
Then followed virtual meetings with club chairman Jon Lansdown, before Struber arrived in England only yesterday (Wednesday) to sign a three-year deal.
Known for his high-press, high-intensity and more direct attacking football, it will be something of a change from former boss Liam Manning’s more technical and methodical approach on the pitch.
“What can they expect from me? I love it to have players on the field who have left everything on the field, they are brave in all moments, they are convinced how we want to come in with our typical style of play, which is with a very good intensity, with a very vertical style, but also in the end we want control, we want domination and this is what we start in the middle of next week,” said Struber.
“I like to play with high intensity on the field. We will control, we will dominate the game, and we’ll play attractive football for the fans. We need them behind us, we need them over the whole season and with us through the ups and downs. We need the twelfth man behind us to help us achieve and take the next step,” he added.
Bristol City have finally ended weeks of speculation and named Gerhard Struber as the new head coach of the men’s team with a three-year deal this afternoon, Thursday 19 June 2025 at a press conference at Ashton Gate.(Image: PAUL GILLIS / Reach PLC)
Struber admitted he knew little about the players when he agreed to join, but said he recognised the club had a successful season in reaching the play-offs with a sixth place finish. He stopped short of proclaiming that the target was promotion to the Premier League, but spoke at length about how it was important to work day-to-day rather than focus on long-term dreams.
“I am very excited for the job here with great fans and a great team. I’m looking forward to a new task,” he said. “The style of play here fits completely, especially developing young players.
“This is a very interesting group, and I think they did a great job last season and were very successful. Right now is the time to build and do everything we can to take us to the next level.
“The big responsibility is in the first team, to build, develop and create results but at the same time it is a duty to bring players from the local area and into the academy and give them a pathway to become a professional footballer at Bristol City,” he added.
Struber has Championship experience – he saved Barnsley from relegation in the Covid-disrupted season of 2019-20 – and said he remembered well the visit to Ashton Gate that year, before Covid hit, which saw his team lose to a late Niclas Eliasson goal, despite dominating the game.
He left at the end of that season for the Red Bull franchise, first in New York then Salzburg, which saw him take a young Austrian team into the Champions League, before taking the reins in Cologne a year ago.
Bristol City chairman Jon Lansdown(Image: PAUL GILLIS / Reach PLC)
The odd manner of his departure from Koln opened the door for City, themselves unexpectedly finding themselves without a manager, and technical director Brian Tinnion was tasked with persuading Struber of the Ashton Gate vision.
“Our initial conversation, which I wasn’t part of, was us presenting to Gerhard ‘this is what Bristl City Football Club is about, this is what we’re looking for, this is why we’re interested in talking to you,” explained chairman Jon Lansdown. “It was a very open, very quick and both sides could see very quickly there was an interest,” he added.
Struber admitted he was preparing to have a break from football after the bruising sacking from a title winning team. “Quite frankly my feeling was much more that I wanted to take a break after Cologne, but when England are calling and Bristol City knock on the door, of course you start thinking, and then I come into these conversations and these conversations trigger me completely, so in a way no I jump back and I have energy,” the Austrian said.