Bristol City face crucial 36 hours as Emil Riis truly arrives to fire Reds into break on the up

All the stand-out talking points from Bristol City’s 4-2 win over Hull City at Ashton Gate on Saturday afternoon

Dan Carter is the Bristol City reporter at Bristol Live. He joined the title in November 2024 having previously been a football reporter at Breaking Media. Before that, he was a sports journalism student at the University of Gloucestershire where he also covered the Robins whilst on placement. In his role, he wants to keep supporters informed with the latest news in and around Ashton Gate whether that be on matchdays, during transfer windows or everything in between.

Bristol City’s Emil Riis and Scott Twine celebrate in the Reds’ win over Hull City(Image: Photo by Harry Trump/Getty Images)

As Gerhard Struber made his way over to the Bristol City fans packed into Section 82 following the Reds’ win over Hull City, there was no bouncing around or massive fist bumps. Instead, the Robins’ boss just clapped the supporters before waving a hand gently in their direction to celebrate what he viewed a good job well done.

The head coach later told the press stationed inside Ashton Gate that, “as a striker should score, a coach should win at home.” While for the Austrian, Saturday’s victory against the Tigers may have been just a case of meeting expectations, it felt like another real statement of intent from Struber and his squad.

In truth, things couldn’t have started much worse for the Robins. Within just three minutes, they had found themselves trailing when a Rob Atkinson error led to Joe Gelhardt lifting past Radek Vitek to break the deadlock.

Though the early goal boosted the morale of the Hull fans who had travelled from Humberside to see their team in action, those of a red and white persuasion within BS3 continued to chant as the ball made its way back to the centre circle and play got underway once again.

With that atmosphere behind them, after the restart, City didn’t play like a team that had fallen behind. The Robins produced wave after wave of attack, and after knocking on the door for the best part of 15 minutes, they found a way through when Emil Riis turned home a Ross McCrorie cross to level.

Having cleared the deficit, the Reds truly began to put their stamp on the game. Anis Mehmeti’s third of the season had Struber’s side in the driving seat midway through the first half before Riis put the home support on cloud nine when he broke free to score his second and the side’s third just before the break.

More of the same followed after the interval, and Max Bird’s first of the campaign on 78 minutes, which came via the woodwork, ensured that things were comfortable even when Kyle Joseph pulled one back for the visitors in second-half injury time. In truth, the 90 minutes went by in a flash with both sides leaving everything they had out on the Ashton Gate turf.

Could it have been even more comfortable for the Robins? It certainly could have, but with three points in the bank and the unbeaten streak still intact heading into the first international break of the season, things are feeling rather positive in south Bristol currently.

Before I let your attention turn to the upcoming break, however, as I’m sure you’ll all no doubt be desperate to see Thomas Tuchel’s England – and your other respective national teams in action – here are the stand-out talking points from City’s 4-2 win over Hull City…

Emil Riis truly arrives

Strikers are signed to score goals. Of course, they can do an awful lot more than that, but when Bristol City moved to bring Emil Riis to Ashton Gate this summer, their hope was that they had managed to find that much-coveted consistent source of goals at the top end of the pitch that they have lacked at times over the last couple of years.

In his first three league appearances for the Reds, the Danish forward was a nuisance for defences as he ran the channels, held the ball up, and linked up play, but he hadn’t managed to find that all-important first of the season. Against Hull City on Saturday afternoon, he did all of the above and came away with two goals for his troubles.

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Riis’ first was a real striker’s finish. The way in which he hovered in the penalty area so that he was in the perfect position to tap home Ross McCrorie’s cut-back showed a level of awareness that is hard to teach a forward. His second was the product of an intelligent piece of pressing as he pinched the ball inside the Tigers’ half before racing into the box and slotting into the bottom left corner.

The former Preston man will have likely left Ashton Gate this weekend feeling as though he could have had a hat-trick and definitely an assist to his name on top of his brace, as he did well to lay a clear-cut chance on a plate for Anis Mehmeti in the second half, only for the winger to rattle the crossbar.

While supporters have seen hints of just what sort of a player they could have on their hands in City’s win over Sheffield United and draws with Charlton and Derby, Saturday was the day Riis really showed his quality in red and white. He is so much more than a goalscorer, but he isn’t half bad at that as well.

“One more time, performance-wise, he was good, but he was also in the last few games, performance-wise, on a really good level,” Gerhard Struber said when asked about the Dane post-game. “Of course, we have to be honest with ourselves, strikers should score, and in this direction, I am very happy for him that he comes today, in this moment, and scores.

“For his self-confidence, maybe this makes the door open for more? I think this was a good release for himself, especially with the international break now.”

Getting off of the mark in front of the home crowd will have no doubt done his confidence a world of good. Hopefully, with that monkey off his back and the tally up and running, he will return from the international break with the bit between his teeth and hungry for more.

Get used to some chaos

As Hull City boss Sergej Jakirovic took his seat in the Ashton Gate press conference room after the full-time whistle on Saturday, he looked as though he had played the full 90 minutes himself.

Now the Tigers’ head coach is an animated figure on the touchline, usually, but even the most relaxed person inside BS3 will have felt as though they needed a lie down having watched the action unfold.

Hull City manager Sergej Jakirovic (Image: Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images)

Over the course of the game, the two sides managed 49 shots on goal between them, more than there were in any other Championship game on Saturday afternoon.

Jakirovic described the manner in which the game was played as a “coach’s nightmare,” given the frenetic nature. For Gerhard Struber, on the other hand, that element of chaos was “exactly the football that he likes to see.”

Now, as somebody who has to try and keep the live blog up to date while such a game unfolds, I probably fall a bit more into Jakirovic’s camp… but as someone who watches City play each and every week, up and down the country, the gung-ho approach Struber has instilled in this group has been a joy to behold.

For a spell in that first half, it felt like the Robins could score each and every time they ventured forward, whether that was the result of winning the ball high up the pitch or a more structured attack. Had they been more ruthless in the final third, Struber’s side could have scored six or seven, something which was also true on the opening day at Bramall Lane.

However, because let’s be honest, there always has to be a but in football, such an all-action approach is going to mean the Reds can be picked at defensively. Hull had nine shots on target in the game, and had it not been for some inspired work from Radek Vitek between the posts, and at times some poor finishing, the Tigers could have quite easily taken a point from the game.

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There will be teams over the course of the season who don’t let the Reds off the hook like Jakirovic’s side did this weekend. There will also be sides that don’t let the Robins express themselves in possession like the Tigers did on Saturday. However, the opening weeks of the season have shown that wherever they can, Struber and his players are going to look to bring that sort of organised chaos to games, as it is what allows them to be at their most destructive.

Will it work every week? Of course not. Will it be fun to watch? When it works like it did at Bramall Lane and this weekend, you bet it will be.

Vital 36 hours

This article is being published at 7:00am on Sunday, exactly 36 hours before the summer transfer window closes at 7:00pm on Monday. While I would love to focus just purely on the quality of Bristol City’s performance and result against Hull City in this piece, it would be wrong to ignore what is a crucial part of the football calendar, especially at this point in the summer.

Anyone who has been in and around Ashton Gate often enough over the last few years will know not to expect complete mayhem in the final hours of the window. To put it simply, that is not how the Robins tend to operate, and the suggestion from those high up in the football club throughout the summer has been that it won’t be the case this time around.

In truth, the results – and performances – in the opening weeks of the season have shown that major changes are not needed before 7pm on Monday. The core of Gerhard Struber’s squad is strong and capable of challenging at the top end of the table, so loads of additions aren’t necessary, but keeping that nucleus together and adding a sprinkling of further quality would be ideal.

Gerhard Struber has made four signings as Bristol City boss so far(Image: Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images)

Reports emerged from Sky Sports during Saturday’s game to suggest that Wrexham had seen a bid rejected for Zak Vyner – someone who has started every game under Struber so far. The Austrian told Bristol Live he was hopeful the 28-year-old would still be a City player come the end of the window, but when he has less than 12 months of his contract, a decision would likely have to be made if a big offer landed in BS3.

The same would almost certainly be true of Anis Mehmeti and Mark Sykes, who both find themselves in similar contract positions. All three of those players have been crucial to the Robins’ early success under the guidance of Struber, and losing them with such little time to find replacements would be a challenge and a blow when the boss has so openly expressed his desire to keep them.

Similarly, the Reds head coach has been honest about his ambition to add one or two new faces to his ranks in the final days of the window. Naturally, the expectation is that players will need to move on for that to be the case, but adding some depth and quality in the lighter areas – such as up front and at left wing-back – should only improve City’s chances of sustaining this early-season form across the marathon, which is the Championship campaign.

The work done over the course of the summer has been impressive so far, but I am someone who has always been of the belief that such windows can only be judged once they are done and dusted.

Just who the Robins are able to keep, sign, sell, and loan out over the course of the next 36 hours will determine just how I, Struber, and supporters view the window as a whole, and because of that, the coming day and a half still remains vital for everyone in post in BS3.

Heading into the break on the front foot

If you would allow me to turn the focus back to some actual football at the end of this piece now, Bristol City defender Rob Dickie said in an interview with BBC Radio Bristol earlier this week that the September international break would serve as a marker to assess just where the Robins are at this early stage of the campaign.

Well, with that break now upon us, it feels like the right time to take stock. If we take the Carabao Cup out of the equation, City have played four matches, won two, drawn two, scored nine goals (the second highest in the division), conceded four, claimed eight points, are one of just three teams yet to taste defeat, and sit sixth in the table.

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How much all of that above matters so early in the campaign is up to you to decide, but from my point of view, the Robins are heading into the September break on the front foot, and that is a verdict shared by the head coach.

“Performance-wise, I think we are on the right way,” Struber told Bristol Live post-match. “We did a good job in the last few weeks and also today. I think this looks good.

“Results, I think we could have two points more, especially with the painful moment in Derby with how we conceded in the last minutes; this was painful. So I think we should have two points more, but overrall I am really happy with our development in the group and also the spririt within the group, the togetherness in the group.

“Let us hope for more.”

Yes, the two draws with Charlton Athletic and Derby County should have perhaps yielded more points, but those sorts of bumps in the road are to be expected over the course of the campaign. While they are frustrating, City deserve credit for finding a way to take something from such matches, and for bouncing back with a win soon after.

In Sheffield United, the Addicks, John Eustace’s Rams, and Hull, the Reds have had four completely different tests and have come through with positive, if not consistently spectacular, marks. Throw in the fact that this is a team, by Ross McCrorie’s own admission, still adapting to Gerhard Struber’s methods and way of working, and there is every reason for fans to be optimistically looking up the table, rather than over their shoulder.

Of course, you can never get too carried away in football, and it would be naive to be booking coach tickets to and hotels at Wembley nine months in advance – especially considering just how mad this division can be – but City supporters can enjoy the next two weeks knowing their team have started to the new season, and a new era, on the front foot.

Bristol City face crucial 36 hours as Emil Riis truly arrives to fire Reds into break on the up

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