Gerhard Struber spoke to Lansdown Club members a week on from being named the new Bristol City head coachGerhard Struber is preparing for his first pre-season in charge of Bristol City(Image: Rogan/ Bristol City)

Gerhard Struber has explained his early goals for his first pre-season as Bristol City boss, insisting he will aim to use the coming days to build “trust” and a “relationship” with his players after the squad returned for testing.

The Robins named the Austrian as their new head coach last week following Liam Manning’s move to Norwich City over two weeks prior, with former Koln boss Struber putting pen to paper on a three-year contract until the summer of 2028.

While the 48-year-old was unveiled to supporters and the press at Ashton Gate last Thursday, he officially got to work in BS3 this week when the squad also arrived at the High Performance Centre for pre-season testing.

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Although the first two days back at the training base will have served as a chance to check the fitness of Struber’s squad, attention will turn to implementing the new boss’ style on the pitch from next week.

Speaking in front of Lansdown Club members and club partners on fixture release day, Struber said: “It’s a busy day, so many faces on the training ground but I got a warm welcome from all my colleagues and my staff. Right now, I come more and more in touch with the players and I’m super excited with my new role and to come and touch with the players.

“I had some conversations right now with different players but we will start today (Thursday) with testing, tomorrow (Friday) with testing and then we go into an important week,” he continued. “We want to use every training day on a high level so that we bring the style of play that we want in the brains and in the bodies.

“I hope the boys learn quickly, we have not had such a long time to prepare every single player to be ready for a big game when we start against Sheffield United so we have to use every game, every day and every training session.

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“Of course, now is the time to come in touch with players, with staff to build a trust, build a relationship. This is, first of all, the most important topic.”

City now know the make-up of their league schedule. The Robins kick off the campaign with a repeat of last season’s play-off semi-final against Sheffield United at Bramall Lane on Saturday, August 9 before attention turns to the Carabao Cup meeting with MK Dons a matter of days later.

The home league season then gets underway later that same week when newly-promoted Charlton Athletic travel to Ashton Gate on August 16, with games against both Derby County and Hull City to come before the September international break.

Before the domestic campaign gets underway, however, there is a set of pre-season fixtures to be played. In a little over three weeks’ time, the Reds play their first friendly away to Bournemouth before welcoming Newport County to the HPC on July 22 while they will also take on MK Dons at Stadium MK that evening.

The final few friendly outings currently on the current calendar will see Struber’s side make the short journey up the M5 to face Cheltenham Town on Friday, July 25 before they face Plymouth Argyle at Home Park the next day.

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Though the new head coach knows both he and his playing squad have an awful lot of work to do before a ball is kicked at Bramall Lane in a little over six weeks, he is relishing the challenge.

“The next weeks are super important for us,” he continued. “I think the pre-season, we have in the end enough games to prepare the style of play, to of course come in touch with all the strengths from the team.

“We have many to-dos, but I’m super excited to come in touch and create with my boys a good relationship and build a style of play that creates in the end an atmosphere here in the stadium where everyone has a good feeling when they step in the stadium and go home from the stadium with a good result and also with football that entertains a little bit.

“This is my goal and I work with my coaching team in this direction.”

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