The Championship Side That Are Defying Expectations... Again

The Championship Side That Are Defying Expectations... Again

When the Championship season started again in August and everyone made their predictions for the final standings, Bristol City resumed their place in mid-table for many, a position they spent the best part of a decade lying dormant in.

This came even after the Robins achieved their first Championship play-off position in 17 years, the last time seeing their dreams come crashing down courtesy of THE Dean Windass wonder goal.

Liam Manning guided them to fifth place, only to be embarrassed by Sheffield United in the semi-finals with a 6-0 aggregate scoreline, then jumping ship to Norwich who promised him more ambition in the transfer market. Not a good decision in hindsight.

Frankly, the main contributing factor to Bristol City finally breaking their duck and finishing in the top six wasn't their improved performances, but that everybody else around them was just weaker than usual.

Of course some credit lies with the players and staff, as you can't climb that far in the table without your own merit, but the likes of Middlesbrough, West Brom, Norwich and Watford, sides who would usually compete for play-offs, were just completely off the pace come the end of the campaign.

For that reason, plus a slightly unconvincing summer transfer window, Bristol City looked destined to return to a life free of peril at the end of the season, where 11th-15th place would be a guarantee.

They've rewritten the script.

Back to winning ways! 🤩@fever_uk | 🤝 pic.twitter.com/6ozu2XikB8

— Bristol City FC (@BristolCity) November 22, 2025

With this weekend's emphatic 3-0 win against manager-less Swansea City, the Robins have ascended to fourth. They've spent the best part of the season so far in and around the play-off positions while playing exciting, high-pressing football, something that the fans will be incredibly grateful for after almost 10 years of mid-table mediocrity, which saw them considered to be the most boring club in England.

Cue one of my favourite posts about the day:

The biggest insult for me is that Bristol City had a player down injured and they didn’t put the ball out, they carried on because they thought they could score, and then they did. Pathetic performance, waste of a day

— Steven Carroll (@StevenSOS1987) November 22, 2025

Playing With Promise

Fans of the club were delighted with the summer announcement that Austrian head coach Gerhard Struber would take the reins at Ashton Gate, owing to his attacking style of football and successful time at Barnsley.

He looks to be getting the best of out the forward minded players at the club for the most part, transforming the side into a formidable force on the attack, with plenty of players capable of finding the net.

Wingers Anis Mehmeti and Scott Twine have been firing on all cylinders for much of the campaign so far, the latter becoming widely regarded as the best free-kick taker in England. Step aside James Ward-Prowse.

Did you know this fact about Scott Twine?👀#BristolCity | https://t.co/T9oiaf6JOm pic.twitter.com/tkVS8YBrWo

— Bristol City StatZone (@BristolCitySZ) November 21, 2025

Sinclair Armstrong cost the club £2 million to join from QPR last season as a replacement for Tommy Conway, but largely struggled to find his feet in his first year with the club. Struber looks to have figured out how to turn him into a menace going forward though, where his stature and imposing presence offer enough to create space for other players to exploit, making up for the lack of goals he has scored himself.

Opting for experience has been a move in the market that has bred a plethora of results for the Robins in recent years, from the disasters that were Ashley Williams and Danny Simpson to the dependability of Tim Klose and Matty James, but the signing of Emil Riis from Preston is one that has paid off magnificently.

With five years of Championship football under his belt already, City were undoubtedly delighted to have picked him up on a free transfer, where the striker quickly got off the mark in his new colours and introduced himself as a new fan favourite.

Emil Riis' fifth goal of the season! 👏 pic.twitter.com/pkVvYdXCbu

— Bristol City FC (@BristolCity) November 22, 2025

In fact, the only player that has really been underperforming at the club has been Fally Mayulu, older brother of Champions League winner Senny Mayulu. He has yet to win the fans over since his signing alongside Armstrong last year, so he'll need to find form soon to keep his place in an exciting frontline in South Bristol.

Problems Waiting To Arise?

Playing energetic pressing football is great on the eyes, and in Bristol City's case has brought some positive results, but it requires excellent squad depth and versatility all throughout the ranks.

Such a demanding style of football can often cause fitness issues and injuries for players, and this is an issue that was playing on Struber's mind just before the most recent international break.

At one time, nine of the general starting XI were injured, which saw comparatively weakened lineups and players in mind-boggling positions, such as established centre-half Zak Vyner stepping into midfield for three games.

We are currently in the middle of an injury snowball at Bristol City

Injuries lead to players having to play more minutes leading to more injuries

I’ve asked the question before - can do more at the root cause or are we just unlucky?#BristolCity pic.twitter.com/jUiGEYkrss

— The Robin’s Nest (Tom) (@RobinNestBCFC) November 4, 2025

As you can imagine, the form slipped and results worsened, and pretty considerably so. The heavily embarrassing 5-1 loss to fellow promotion candidates Stoke, followed by a poor performance against Blackburn that also resulted in defeat, left the fans begging for the international break to come sooner to allow some time for the injury list to decrease.

The only moment stopping them from losing three on the bounce before the break was yet another Scott Twine free-kick against Watford to rescue a point at Vicarage Road.

Players of huge importance to Struber's set up have started to return to first team action, with Mark Sykes and captain Jason Knight making appearances off the bench in their resounding win against Swansea, commencing both a cheer and sigh of relief around Ashton Gate.

Great to see pring, knight & Sykes make the bench after injuries… #BRCSWA #BristolCity https://t.co/FRRuyyCMZi

— Phillippa Jane (@pgillett2024) November 22, 2025

Though results have been good and performances have been promising, it's important to point out that the Robins haven't had the most difficult run of fixtures by any means. The 4-1 win against Sheffield United on the opening day of the season initially looked like a huge statement of intent by Struber, but it quickly became clear that they were simply awful under Ruben Selles, leading to his sacking only a few games later.

The 4-2 win against Hull is also a good result, but apart from that, they've not really beaten any strong oppositions.

December is going to be a telling month for Bristol City's prospects, as they face plenty of teams chasing promotion, including Leicester, Coventry, Middlesbrough and Millwall twice.

If they can maintain their excellent start through the Christmas period and into the new year, then we may well be looking at a genuine title contender in Bristol City, which could see the city finally have a team play in the Premier League.

The burden of achieving that milestone rests solely on the shoulders of the Robins for the foreseeable future, as cross-city rivals Bristol Rovers are fighting for their lives at the foot of League Two.

Their loss against Cheltenham Town this weekend, who were led by ex-City boss Steve Cotterill, has meant they have dropped to 20th in the table and are staring National League football next season in the face.

It's yet another exciting time to be a fan of Bristol City, with the potential of the Premier League on the horizon, but it's going to take a lot more than hoping the teams around them slip up.

A tough period lies ahead, but they've defied expectations before, who's to say they won't this time round.