As Andi Weimann himself admits, his ascension to the position of Bristol City captain feels natural to the point where it hasn’t made much of a notable difference in terms of his role within the squad.
Universally liked and, more importantly, respected throughout the club, across the various generational lines, a pleasure to coach, an intelligent listener, consumer and activator of a manager’s game plan, a vocal presence in the dressing room and somebody who consistently sets standards in terms of commitment, effort and professionalism.
It’s what he’s always tended to do, and be like, since he first set foot through the doors of Ashton Gate in July 2018, albeit he’s a more outwardly confident and level-headed figure than the one signed from Derby County almost five years ago.
He’s matured as a player and person over the course of his 190 appearances for the Robins, experienced frustration at two failed promotion bids, crushing lows such as his ACL injury in 2020/21 and then the individual highs of his remarkable goalscoring campaign last term, graduating to the position of senior pro having worn the scars of nearly half a decade at the club.
But, however suitable and seamless he may have been to replace Dan Bentley following the goalkeeper’s sale to Wolves in January, and whatever the importance you may place on “the captain” in football, which does tend to be a little overstated at times, there’s still one aspect of the job he’s getting to grips with that has taken him out of his comfort zone.
Not the standard captain’s admin of having to sort of matchday ticket requests for his teammates - as much of a pain as that must be - but the seemingly straightforward but stressful act of speaking in an open forum in front of his peers.
Weimann has played in front of tens of thousands of people at Emirates Stadium, Anfield, Old Trafford and at the Stade de France over his career, but holding the attention of a small but select group of people still fills him with dread.
To the point that when Thursday’s press conference concludes a joke is made about the lengthy speech he may have to give to assembled guests at the forthcoming end of season awards which he sheepishly laughs at, while looking tentatively for recognition whether that will actually have to happen. But he knows it’s all part of the job in what is a new phase for him in his time at City.
“I’m enjoying it,” Weimann says when asked about the captaincy. “I said when I first got it, I don’t think a lot has changed, I’m still the same person and the same around the team and the training ground - apart from sorting all the tickets out for the lads I haven’t really done anything else (different).
“I get on with everyone in the team, whether that be younger lads or older lads. I think I can connect with everyone - good relationships with the younger lads and speak with the older ones about how we can help them. I have a good relationship with the manager and the coaches, so just being around everyone, just trying to help as much as I can.
“I still try and work as hard as I can, try my best and try and be an example but I was like that before I was captain. Okay, I may now speak in the huddle before a game but we have loads of people before a game who will say stuff in the changing room; obviously when Dan was the captain, he was doing it, I was doing it, Matty James, Andy King, Nahki Wells, the younger lads - everyone says what they feel.
“Even now, speaking in front of people is probably one of my worst fears. I can play football in front of however many people, but standing on a stage and having to speak, that’s probably one of the worst things I can think of doing but I’ve gotten better at that with age.
“I think everyone respects me so you can say what you think and I know they won’t laugh at you, they’ll take you seriously. When I first came in maybe I was too shy to say stuff that I really thought, but now it’s almost like, I’ve been around the lads and played nearly 500 games - I know what I’m talking about. I’m more confident in myself to open up a bit more and say how it is.”
Having been a key figure in several iterations of City under Lee Johnson, Dean Holden - albeit interrupted significantly by injury - and now Nigel Pearson, Weimann is well-placed to offer a credible assessment of the atmosphere within the camp compared to previous years.
Granted, he’s extremely unlikely to reason that a squad of the past is better than the current group but he speaks with genuine enthusiasm over the bonds that have been formed and what has been the catalyst behind it all.
The financial restrictions the Robins have been operating under throughout Pearson’s time in charge has meant, as we all know, the manager has had to consistently lean on the academy to make up the shortfall within the first-team squad as contracts have expired and savings have needed to be made.
As has proved, the talent coming through the club hasn’t been just for placeholder reasons, each and everyone has more than justified their position. As the group matures and improves, and results have followed, naturally that leads to a happier group. That part is a given irrespective of the ages within a squad.
But with such a prevalent young core at the heart of not just the squad but team and dressing room, as Alex Scott, Tommy Conway, Zak Vyner, Cam Pring, Sam Bell and others aren’t just wallflowers deferring to the older heads, it’s created a unique dynamic that has inadvertently influenced the more senior members.
Cliques seem few and far between and away days are marked by group sessions prior to matches either watching games or engaging in various games, darts being a favourite. Players seem to be genuinely enjoying each other’s company rather than being thrust together in uncomfortable circumstances.
“All the younger lads just bring the energy,” Weimann adds. “They just love playing football. When you’re younger and you start playing, everything is just about playing football. I love playing, don’t get me wrong, but I’ve also got children. Every day they come in with energy and just ready to go, always smiling, always joking.
"And all the lads are enjoying it, just being around it - for two or three hours we can get away from it and be kids again. It just works. We all just get on. We’re happy when we travel, we’re all downstairs in the players’ lounge, everyone together watching the football or playing games.
“The squad has just clicked, it’s really really good at the minute. Everyone is happy in everyone’s company. It’s not like you finish and you’re off home, everyone stays here (the training ground) until 2-3 o’clock and hangs around with each other.”
As well as taking something from the young players, including creating that sense of competition Pearson is eternally looking to foster, Weimann knows he must give back, especially as captain.
He admits the use of praise is an increasingly important part of his job, particularly on the training ground, where a simple clap and appreciation of a pass from him, an established member of the squad, can go a long way in building a young player’s confidence, and once again speaks of the specific culture Pearson felt was lacking in his early days at the club.
Beyond that, though, is also the sense of reality and keeping emotions in check when reflecting on matchday performances, something he’s learned as he’s gotten older - no win should leave you too elated and no defeat should cause a crushing low.
“Maybe I can look at things a bit differently now,” Weimann said. “When you’re a little bit younger, everything is either really good or really bad. Maybe now I’m a bit more, we’ve lost the game but this was good, we did what we wanted to do but sometimes the other team was better than us.
"And then maybe the next day when you come in you can talk up to the lads a bit more, and maybe be a bit more positive. When you’re younger you maybe lose a game and you come in the next day and everything is bad. Maybe in that sense I’ve grown a bit.”
Weimann’s role in the collective is an interesting one beyond his position of “leader” and wearer of the sacred armband because true to his time at the club, there’s been a positional and structural shift for him to adapt to over the course of the campaign.
One day we’ll be able to talk about the Austrian without immediately pivoting to such a discussion but once again he’s experienced a season where he’s fulfilled multiple roles.
It’s, of course, to his credit he does so - all the while maintaining, as he always has done, he’s best deployed through the middle - but it can count against him.
After sustaining his hamstring injury in January, Pearson switched from a 3-4-1-2 to a 4-3-3, leaving Weimann back on the right flank upon his return - that was when he was able to start - but Alex Scott’s injury over the last fortnight has allowed him to return to his cherished central berth in what has more resembled a 4-2-3-1 or 4-2-1-3.
With Scott back fit for Saturday’s trip to Watford, where Weimann spent 22 games on loan as a teenager at the start of his career, including a 3-1 defeat to City in February 2011, which he gleefully highlighted on Twitter on Thursday night, does the teenager challenge for the coveted playmaker position, or does he retreat to a deeper role, allowing his skipper to remain in situ?
“Last season, I played behind two strikers and this season I started off at wing-back and then I came back, played on the right side on the front three which was a little bit different as a winger, and then coming back in the 10 or as an 8,” Weimann said.
“Sometimes you have to adapt but I still believe in my own strengths, I still know what I can do, it’s just the team is set up a bit differently so, yeah, maybe it took a few games to get used to that again. But now, the last few games, I’ve played in the position I would like to, which is in the No10 and I enjoy that.
“Through the middle is my best position, whether that be as a striker or in behind the striker. As a winger I know I can do a job for the team but I’m not someone who will take their man on and do three or four step-overs and get past someone, that’s not my game.
“My game is making the runs or the movement, or coming short and linking play. So obviously playing out on the right that’s a little bit different. In the middle is where I’m more comfortable because I can run everywhere. But, as I’ve said loads of times before, as long as I can get in the team, I don’t really care where I play.”
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