Gerhard Struber will lead Bristol City into the 2025/26 Championship campaign having been named as Liam Manning’s replacement at Ashton GateGerhard Struber has been named as Liam Manning’s replacement at Bristol City(Image: PAUL GILLIS / Reach Plc)

It may be the off-season currently but the last few weeks have been as busy as ever at Bristol City in the run-up to pre-season.

The Robins’ play-off campaign came to an end a little over six weeks ago and in that time the Reds have: published their retained list, seen Liam Manning linked with a move to Norwich City, witnessed him depart BS3 for Carrow Road, conducted their own search for a new head coach, appointed their new boss, signed Adam Randall, signed Joe Lumley and confirmed the departure of Nahki Wells. Throw in a couple of contract extensions and it is clear there’s never a dull moment in south Bristol.

Now, the Gerhard Struber era is officially underway in BS3. City confirmed last week that the Austrian would be the man to succeed Manning in the Ashton Gate dugout having put pen to paper on a three-year contract with the Reds.

The 48-year-old’s managerial career has already seen him ply his trade all around the globe. Having first taken charge of Wolfsberger AC in Austria, he made the move to Barnsley in 2019 before stints at both New York Red Bulls and Red Bull Salzburg.

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Until last month, he was FC Koln boss, however, Struber was sacked by the German club just before they secured their promotion to the Bundesliga.

Now, he faces the task of building on Manning’s success at Ashton Gate. After seeing their side secure a first top six finish in 17 years, supporters have had a taste of competing at the top of the Championship and are understandably hungry for more.

While his time at Barnsley saw him operate closer to the foot of the table rather than the play-off places, it will have ensured the new Robins boss knows what it takes to be successful in the division.

To find out a little bit more about the new City head coach ahead of the new season, we caught up with Doug O’Kane from the Barnsley Chronicle to get the inside track of what Struber was like in his time at Oakwell…

How would you sum up Gerhard Struber’s playing style and what should Bristol City fans be expecting to see on the pitch?

At Barnsley, he often used the phrase ’Struber style’ to describe the way he wanted his team to play. The Reds, at that point and now, want their club ‘DNA’ to be high-pressing, energetic and quite direct football. Struber’s side played that style but they also played good, passing football at times as well.

Gerhard Struber was presented to the media by Bristol City chairman Jon Lansdown(Image: PAUL GILLIS / Reach Plc)City fans are keen to see their new head coach put faith in youth. Did Struber utilise younger players and academy prospects in his time at Oakwell?

Yes, to an extent. We have to caveat it by saying that almost all of Barnsley’s players were young when he took over. The oldest was 26 and their starting back four were all 21 or younger. He brought in some more experienced players in January which really helped, but that is more due to Barnsley previously going too far with their youth-focused policy.

Struber gave chances to four or five young players from the Under-21 squad who had barely featured before – the main one being Callum Styles who has gone on to play in the Euros with Hungary. There was some surprise for the first game back in lockdown at QPR when he selected Jack Walton in goal, who was previously third choice, and gave a debut to academy midfielder Romal Palmer.

Some fans have raised concerns about the length of Struber’s previous tenures. Is that something fans should be worried about or simply what you expect in modern football management?

I can only speak about the Barnsley situation. He came back after the brilliant achievement of keeping them up having been nine points adrift and the expectation of many fans was that he might stop them just constantly fighting relegation in the Championship.

However, he seemed distracted in that second season, with regular links to New York Red Bulls, and he said that he wanted Barnsley to ‘match my ambition’.

He left for the MLS after four games and one point. I think, at a lot of his other clubs since then, he was sacked rather than choosing to move on.

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What was Struber’s relationship with supporters like? He seems to have won over a lot of Bristol City fans already in his early interviews.

It was a weird season because they were struggling in the relegation zone then Covid came and the ‘great escape’ happened behind closed doors. But there is obviously an appreciation for the against-all-odds survival.

He was pretty popular for the way he conducted himself in interviews, most notably at Brentford when they stayed up and he cried while saying: ‘I am so proud of my boys,’ but the relationship soured slightly for some fans when he left.

It’s a shame supporters weren’t in the ground to see the last-minute winners against Nottingham Forest and Brentford to stay up because they would have been unforgettable scenes and memories.

What is Struber’s style in press conferences and interviews? Should fans be expecting a motivator?

I remember him as very passionate and intense at times, but in a good way. He definitely motivated Barnsley’s players in his short spell at Oakwell.

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