'This is me' - Bristol City's Sinclair Armstrong on rediscovering himself, faith and what's next

EXCLUSIVE: Bristol Live sat down with Bristol City forward Sinclair Armstrong to discuss his first 18 months at Ashton GateSinclair Armstrong has impressed for Bristol City ahead of the November international break(Image: Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images)

“I’ve had it a lot this season, when I’ve played,” Bristol City forward Sinclair Armstrong smiles when Will Still’s description of him is mentioned. Following the Robins’ impressive Ashton Gate win over Southampton, the Saints boss labelled the 22-year-old “an absolute unit and a pain in the backside to defend against,” a tag he is more than happy to bear.

“When you get these compliments, it is what you want as a striker,” he says. “You do feed off of these compliments and knowing that I can do that to top defences, it obviously brings confidence into myself.”

Confidence has not always been something the Ireland international has benefited from at Ashton Gate. Having made the move to BS3 from Queens Park Rangers last summer, Armstrong was part of the team that, under the management of Liam Manning, ended City’s nearly two-decade wait for a play-off finish, but as an individual, he didn’t quite make the splash he had hoped to in red and white.

OPINION

Things started well for the forward, with his first goal coming on his home debut against Millwall and a second following soon after against Oxford United. However, Armstrong’s third of the campaign, the Robins’ fourth in a 4-0 win over Wayne Rooney’s Plymouth Argyle in November, proved to be his last. An injury sustained against Sunderland early in December saw him miss the majority of the festive period, and in the second half of the season, Nahki Wells found himself at the top of the striking pecking order as the Reds booked their place in the top six.

“The team was obviously doing very well last season, and I was frustrated with myself and the performances,” Armstrong reflects. “When I look back at some of the performances I had and when I’ve had difficult games, I look back and think that’s not myself.

“I think it’s more so me getting frustrated that I’m not maximising what I have. I feel like God has given me everything to play at the highest level and when I look back to last season and being frustrated that I was being left out – I understood why I was left out, I can take accountability of that, I wasn’t stupid and I wasn’t naïve – I understood that I was dealing with a bull in Nahki Wells.

Bristol City looking to build on last season’s play-off finish under Gerhard Struber and you won’t miss a beat with our free newsletter.

All the latest news, views, interviews, gossip and analysis concerning the Robins, delivered straight to your inbox.

It’s completely free and you can sign up HERE

“Of course, it was frustrating, and I did let out my frustration towards the end of the season, but I look back and with reflection and with accountability, I understand why I didn’t play in the biggest moments.

“It was just up to me in the summer to say, ‘Okay, no one is going to work harder than me this summer.’ To come back with a fresh mindset, a new mentality to take into the new season.”

While there is no such thing as a quiet summer in the modern game, it was a busy off-season in south Bristol. A matter of weeks after the play-off semi-final defeat to Sheffield United, it was confirmed that Manning would be leaving Ashton Gate to take over the reins at Norwich City, with Gerhard Struber named as the 40-year-old’s successor.

The Austrian, a student of the Red Bull school of coaching, brought a very different playing style to the West Country that has been noticeable in the opening months of the campaign. Rather than the possession-based and occasionally pragmatic style often on show last term, Struber has built a team full of what he describes as ‘monsters’ who thrive on ‘merciless moments’ in transition.

Bristol City boss Gerhard Struber during the Robins’ draw with Watford(Image: Bradley Collyer/PA Wire)

That shift in intent has been welcomed by supporters who have been entertained in the early months of the former Barnsley boss’ tenure, but it has presented a different sort of challenge for those looking to impose the style on the playing field.

“When he first came in, we knew straight away what he wanted,” Armstrong explains. “He wants us to be an exciting team, really and truly. He wants us to be a team that keeps the ball, but he wants us to be a very, very aggressive team as well, and I’m not going to lie, at the start, I probably did struggle with that, in terms of the press.

“He told us this press called gegenpress, which is where you win the ball after six seconds, and I’m not going to lie, I’m obviously not perfect in terms of the pressing. Sometimes I lose the ball, and I’ll make a fuss, and it will take me five seconds to get going again, but I think what he’s kind of instilled into me is that he doesn’t care if I lose the ball; he just wants a reaction.

“With the pace that I have, I feel like if I do go at a defender, it’s more than likely that I will probably get them to kick the ball off the pitch, or we will win the ball back. It has been good and I’m still learning a lot under the gaffer as well, so long may that continue.”

Up until the October international break, however, it wasn’t often Armstrong who was responsible for leading that press. As had been the case for much of the season prior, the 22-year-old had found himself playing a supporting role to summer signing Emil Riis, who was viewed by most as the first-choice number nine having joined the Reds following confirmation of Wells’ release.

Emil Riis and his Bristol City teammates celebrate in their defeat to QPR at Ashton Gate(Image: Bradley Collyer/PA Wire)

The Dane started and impressed in all of the Robins’ first 11 Championship matches, with Armstrong having to settle for cameo appearances from the bench. His impact in such showings was limited until last month’s trip to Carrow Road, where he played a crucial role in securing all three points. A similarly eye-catching showing followed three days later against Southampton, with the City support cheering the forward’s name as he made his way off the field on both occasions.

“The first few games I’d been playing 10, 15 minutes, and you feel like you can give a lot more,” Armstrong says. “But I think it was just up to myself to continue to tell myself to just keep going. Situations can change; I’ve had situations before where I’ve thought I’m completely out of favour, and then I’ve found myself back in the mix again, so I just told myself that I know I’m a good player.

“I just had to keep telling myself that. If I tell myself I’m good, I know I’m good. It was just about persevering through the challenges early on in the season. Whether I was getting five or 10 minutes, I’d tell myself to make sure it was the best five to 10 minutes of my life, and the rest will take care of itself.

“It felt like maybe after the Norwich game, after the Southampton game, I felt a bit more like myself. I was looking back and thinking, ‘This is actually me.’

Content cannot be displayed without consent

“But in this game, you get nothing for oos and aahs; you want to be on the scoresheet, you want to get the headlines. That’s just my opinion, and I look at the Birmingham game and, you know what, in terms of performance, this is me.”

The Birmingham City game mentioned came a matter of days after the win over Southampton. With Riis ruled out through injury and after two impressive displays from the bench, Struber opted to hand Armstrong his first start since March against Chris Davies’ side in front of a busy Ashton Gate.

From the first whistle, it felt like the home crowd were willing the 22-year-old to find the net for the first time in nearly 11 months, with even Armstrong’s header past Max O’Leary in the pre-match warm-up cheered by those already in their seats. With 42 minutes on the clock and having linked play well for so much of the first half, the striker broke beyond Blues’ backline and onto a Rob Atkinson through ball before slotting past James Beadle to send BS3 into celebration.

“You can see I let out my frustration on the corner flag,” Armstrong grins when asked about the emotion of that moment. “It’s been a long time coming.

“It was difficult knowing that I had so much more to give and that I wasn’t maximising what I had, but in terms of the lead-up to the game and when I found out I was starting, I felt like, ‘Okay, this is my time to show what I’m about.’ That wasn’t to anyone else, but to prove to myself that I am who I say I am.

Sinclair Armstrong featured off the bench for Bristol City in their win over Southampton(Image: EFL)

“As soon as I was in, I knew it was in because I’ve been working on that so much in training, those one-on-ones. I felt like they’d been kind of letting me down last season, in the sense that I’d get myself into very good areas, but that end-product was what I was missing.

“When I’m on the training pitch with Alex Ball and when I’m training with Flem, I’m telling them that I want to work on this, because when I work on these certain details on the training pitch, it means that when it comes to the games, I’m like, ‘Okay, I know that I’ve been in these situations,’” he adds.

“Last year, to tell the truth, I wasn’t working on this kind of one-on-one in training where it’s almost like I’m coming up to the goal and thinking to myself, ‘Okay, where am I going to go?’ When it came to the goal against Birmingham, I knew that I had to pick my spot and hit it is hard as I can, and obviously it went in.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m still trying to improve on it as well, but as soon as I was in and I was one-on-one with the goalkeeper, I said it was going to go in.”

The noise from three of the four sides of Ashton Gate when the ball found the bottom right corner was only matched when Armstrong made way for Fally Mayulu in the 74th minute, and at the full-time whistle. The home crowd rose to their feet and chanted the forward’s name when he was withdrawn, before the Irishman led Section 82 through a course of fist-bumps after some encouragement from Atkinson.

Content cannot be displayed without consent

His relationship with the fans has been far from straightforward over the course of the 15 months he has been a City player. While Armstrong has done what he can to ensure that it hasn’t impacted him in the bad times, he’s made sure to enjoy the good moments.

“I was really appreciative of the support that I’ve got from the fans as of late, because I know I’ve got a lot of stick recently,” he honestly admits. “Which is obviously deserved, and when you’re not performing to your best, you’re obviously going to get criticised.

“But it’s up to me as an individual to understand that you’re either going to let that tear you down, or you can say, ‘No, I’m going to keep going and prove to myself that I believe that I’m good.’ Not only to show people, but to show myself that I can be so resilient, and persevere through the challenges.

“You can see the reception after the goal and when I came off, which is obviously really appreciated. It means so much when you have fans behind you.”

The joy of Armstrong and the supporters was echoed by Struber after the full-time whistle, but the City head coach’s praise came alongside another challenge. Perhaps in a demonstration of his own drive, the Austrian didn’t want to focus on a single goal and was instead eager to push his forward to repeat his heroics against Birmingham on a more consistent basis.

Sinclair Armstrong scores Bristol City’s only goal in their 1-0 win over Birmingham City(Image: Photo by Rogan/Bristol City)

For some players, that approach may have had an adverse effect. For Armstrong, however, the ambition of his head coach is no different from his own hunger to grow and succeed.

When asked about Struber’s post-Birmingham comments, he replies, “People can obviously push you in terms of the gaffer, his assistants, and your teammates, but you have to push yourself. I don’t believe God has brought me this far to only bring me this far; I still have so much more to give, and it’s just down to myself to be motivated and be disciplined in everything that I do every single day.

“But the gaffer is 100 per cent right; you can’t introduce a vibe to somebody that they can’t maintain. You look at the Birmingham performance, and everyone is like, ‘Wow,’ and now, for me, it’s like, ‘Okay, I need more performances just like that. If I can get one, it’s a case of trying to get two, trying to get three. That’s the next challenge for me.

“Right now, I’m focusing on having a good performance and knowing that if I have a good performance, the goals will come as well.”

But what would represent a successful season for Armstrong? “Essentially, to just play football,” he smiles. “I think that’s success.

Bristol City Live on Whatsapp

Join Bristol City Live’s Whatsapp community for all the biggest Bristol City stories sent straight to your phone

Bristol City Live is now on WhatsApp and we want you to join our community.

Through the app, we’ll send the Bristol City news, live match coverage, team news, transfers, fixtures, analysis and more straight to your phone.

To join our community you need to already have WhatsApp. All you need to do is click this link and select ‘Join Community’.

No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Bristol Live team.

We also treat community members to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out at any time you like.

To leave our community, click on the name at the top of your screen and choose ‘Exit group’.

If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.

Click here to join our WhatsApp community.

“I’m already winning in life; I think I have the best job in the world, I wake up in the morning with a smile on my face and thank God that I’ve been able to do what I love since four years old. I think playing is a success.

“Of course, if you ask the gaffer, if you ask Knighty the skipper, if you ask the CEO, the owner, they’ll have ambitions of where they want to take the club to, and they’ll have ambitions of where the club needs to be at the end of the season. I’m not the one to answer that, but if I talk from an individual standpoint, my success would be to just play as many games as possible and just see where we’re at, at the end of the season.

“You look at the season and the teams in the league, everyone’s all over the gaff,” he laughs. “You get three points and you’re in the play-off spots, you lose three points and you’re out of the play-off spots, you’re out of automatics, you’re in the relegation zone, which just goes to show that the league is absolute chaos. But listen, you don’t win the league in November, you win the league in May.

“There’s still a long way to go, and we will see what happens at the end of the season. It’s up to us as players to just focus on what we do on the pitch and the rest will take care of itself.”

‘This is me’ – Bristol City’s Sinclair Armstrong on rediscovering himself, faith and what’s next

Tags: